My Favorite Place

I have many favorite places but one that I remember fondly is the inner court of Stavropoleos Monastery, one of the most beautiful old monasteries in Bucharest, Romania. It was built in Brancovan style in 1724 and it's richly ornate with beautifully carved stone and frescoes. The monastery, also known as Stavropoleos Church,  is located in the old centre of the city, crammed in a small space between large buildings. It is just few minutes away from Lipscani street, which in the Middle Ages was the most important commercial street in Bucharest, now full of pedestrian shops, restaurants and outdoor cafes. Within the monastery there is a library and also a collection of old religious objects, many of which are from churches demolished during the communist regime. I used to go there each time I needed to regain my interior balance, to take a break from the stressful days of my life at that time. In the inner court of the monastery there is in the middle a small table with four chairs where you can sit for how long you want and nobody will disturb you. I used to stay on that table for hours, forgetting the passage of time: sometimes lost in my thoughts, other times thinking on some ideas for my projects... I remember one sunny afternoon when I went there: it was hot and I could hear only the bees buzz around the old ivy that climbs half way the pillars, and a nun was sitting at the table putting dried flowers in small pots to decorate the rooms. That peaceful image and the beautiful location left indelible marks in my mind. Bucharest has it's share of big-city noise and the inner court of Stavropoleos Monastery was my favorite place to escape.

Graphs

According to this graph the US oil production continued to grow steadily between 1920 and 1970, reaching its peak in 1970. While the US oil production was growing, the US oil imports remained steady at a very low rate of million barrels per day from 1920 to 1950, followed by a slight increase until 1970.
While the domestic oil production dipped in 1978, followed by a slight recovery from 1978 to 1985, the oil imports shot up and reached a peak in 1979. However, the imports production plunged in 1985. These trends could have been due to the oil crisis that started in 1973 when the members of OAPEC proclaimed an oil embargo.
After 1985 the oil production continued to drop until 2005, while the oil imports had a rapid recovery over the 1985-2005 period.







This chart illustrates the rapid expansion of China’s exports and imports over the 2003‐2006 period. It is clear from the graph above that Chinese exports and imports are following the same trend showing a continued growth over this period. The fluctuating growth at exports and imports witnessed two peaks: one in 2004 and another one between 2005 and 2006. However, this fluctuation doesn’t seem to bring a significant change in China’s exports and imports continue growth.

A possible explanation for this trend could be due to the fact that China has been actively participating in the globalization process, with a continuously expanding scale of international trade.