Cu exceptia introducerii, acest articol este in limba romana. As promised, I publish the answers received to the questions posed over the past few days with the deadline set on May 15. We did not specify a time for the deadline and as we write this article, it is possible that someone else may be sending us a reply. If that’s the case, comment on this article to let us know.

As previously announced, I am presenting here the questions to ask euro candidates. I don’t know when I’ll have a chance to pose the questions, which is why I am posting them here, in the hope that someone else might help asking them and returning the answers.

The elections for the European Parliament are coming up soon, and this time around, I decided to ask all candidates a few questions and post their answers. But before sending these questions, it makes sense to look at the details, the first and most important being that the voting day is May 26 between 7:00 and 21:00, local time (EST) and there’s not voting by correspondence.

So many scandals in Romania, so little time. It's hard to decide what to write about. I can't read Romanian news - everything is clickbait and when I try reading something, I invariably find grammar, spelling or logic (or all of the above) mistakes. I choose to write about a "scandal" that happened toward the end of March, because none of the opinions I've read explain what's going on to my level of perception.

@Simona_Halep’s win is an amazing victory and an event we’ll be remembering and talking about at least until her next Grand Slam.  Sadly, it was only hours before all those hungry to for publicity started to throw shade, claim ownership and speculate it for their own nefarious ends.

#WTA has recently confused #Romania anti-#corruption #rezist #protest with people coming out in the streets to welcome and congratulate Simona Halep in her recent Grand Slam triumph (gsp-tnr). It’s not only foreigners not getting what’s going on, but even some of those protesting.

I’ve watched (a bit late) @Simona_Halep’s win @RolandGarros and I think it’s enough of a milestone to come out of my springbernation and tell you about it.

Recently, a friend asked me to provide Romanian lessons. I directed her to Duolingo and, as I occasionally listen to Romanian eTeatru (or “teatru radiofonic”), it occurred to me that this is something worth sharing with the rest of the world.

Recently, on the WhatsApp group I share with my former classmates, one of us posted an article about Soros. I don’t know exactly why he did so – there’s a small chance he shared it because it’s such a dumb article that it’s funny, but this is a good opportunity to look at the mythology created around the boogeyman Soros. As it happens, this article would be best written in Romanian, as anyone capable to follow an article in English has already made up her mind, which is why a summary in Romanian will soon follow.

..except in Romania. Part of the reason why is that I’m not in Romania. But it’s also because so many have left the country and the population is in a precipitous decline.

I have previously echoed on this blog news about Romanians in the #diaspora. This time, we’re discovering the story of a girl born in an #Austrian refugee camp to a Romanian mother and an (absent) Italian father, who was reborn in an aboriginal village.

In Romanian, “firea”, the articulated form of the noun fire, is part of many idioms. It is also the name of the current Bucharest Mayor, who recently had to shamefully backtrack on announcing the winner for a logo contest, due to a likely case of plagiarism. This fickle-mindedness seems to be common to her entire party, PSD, struggling as it is with the conflict between its deep desire to "forget and forgive" cases of corruption and the public commitments, forced by weeks or #rezist protests to the contrary.

I just had today, on WhatsApp, a conversation with a former classmate, who posted some photos from Baile Herculane (Herculean Baths? – a touristic destination from Roman times with geothermal springs). The situation is dire. I advised her rather strongly to fight, to which she countered with the refrain I constantly hear in this situations: “you are disconnected from the Romanian reality”.

A recent “viral” video clip shows the Romanian president, Klaus Iohannis, moving the Union Jack (the UK flag), out of the way as he talks to reporters. This act of “elimination” is probably the least interesting of the ones discussed herein.

I watched it a few days ago and promised myself I’ll write down my thoughts before this forgettable creation disappears from memory. On the plus side, I identified a Romanian actress in it.

I’m becoming a Nastase hater. Can’t this guy just disappear from news altogether, or realize that we’re no longer in the 50s and the 70s are over?!