Hi there,
Finding out about your project made me very excited, because I found something that I truly believe it makes sense and it can help Bucharest. And this fits well to my …plans. You see, five months ago I came back (for good) to Bucharest after 7 years spent in Munich. 7 years of scientific endeavour (I did my PhD and worked there for a while), 7 years of socially trying to make sense, in the end 7 years of somewhat failed experiment. Why? Because in the end I figured, no matter how well I spoke the language, no matter how many friends I had, no matter how much beer I drank, I didn’t really belong there, that was not my home, those were not my people. These here are my people. Bucharest is my home.
Yes, Bucharest is loud, yes it is noisy and dusty and rude and maybe sometimes indifferent, but it’s marvellous in its spirit, it’s daunting in its colours and nurturing in its vibrance.
So I came back and I wish to help, do something and put this amazing city on the map so that others can appreciate it the way I do.
My experience in the area of “helping” is not very rich. I was an engineer and I know a lot about aerodynamics of SCRamjets and helicopters, but when it comes to connecting communities or people, I can just trace it back to some literary endeavours where I touched social topics specific to my home and my adoption countries. Since I opened this door, it has become clear to me the engineer clothes don’t really make me (they never did), so I have to walk through it and see what is out there.
Currently I have more personal projects I want to see through. First of all, I am involved in an educational project - I write articles on related educational topics on a blog. Second of all, after my entire experience as an emigrant (and given the high inclination of people my age to leave the country), I have decided to gather all my notes and publish them, online or on paper - I think that people constantly underestimate the changes required to built a decent life outside the country, thinking that satisfying the material needs is a guarantee for personal happiness and success. This subject is very vast and complex I am aiming of raising awareness on this topic, since it’s quite alarming how many people are leaving Romania.
The challenges in doing everything that I have in mind are mostly financial. It is quite hard make a living out of writing or raising awareness about this and that. To that I don’t have a sure plan yet. Another upsetting thing is the raised eyebrow that some people have when you express your enthusiasm about this country and its possibilities. Fortunately I have learned not to pay attention to them and mind my way.
And lastly, Spot the Future can help put us on the map. As I mentioned before, we have a great city, hell…a great country, it’s just that people lay in this pool of carelessness and laziness and they have been used to be given. Pointless to say who is guilty for this, the point is they need a push, a small impulse to get moving, to start actually contributing. And the energy is there, it just needs some channelling.
Ok, I wrote a lot, I get very passionate about these things. 
I hope we can get to see us and talk about all of these…
Cheers,
Ida