I met more volunteers in the town of Craiova over the weekend. I ate McDonald's for the first time in a month, surprisingly it did not settle well!? Craiova is a pretty big city (population is over 310,000) it has a nice center and is considered a college town.
Karen created a nice write up and I just wanted to post some additional pictures she took as well. She can write (unlike myself).
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“PCRO Diversity in a Severin Classroom”
by Karen Lindquist (Group 19)
Drobeta Turnu Severin
Ah, the waning days of a school year. Just a few more days to hold the attention of 9th, 10th and 11th graders. What can I pull out of my teaching ‘bag of tricks’. Something special, hmm, let’s see, what to do. Ah, I’ve got it! Special guests!
An invite to visit my Colegiul National Traian classes was quickly accepted by Severin’s new Group 22 PCVs, Heather Ferguson, Justin Almeida and Steve Manio. And, my oh my, how those young faces brightened with the announcement: “special guests are with us today.”
While enjoying the stories of enthusiastic PCVs, proudly holding their map of the USA, my TEFL counterpart leaned toward me and said, “look how attentive the students are; they haven’t given me such attention for ages.” Were the kids listening? Who knows. Were they visually attentive? Absolutely. Standing before them was a fine representation of American diversity – more diversity in our small PCV group than these kids have ever previously encountered.
Drobeta Turnu Severin, at least for a brief time, is proudly served by four PCVs. Our merry band of diverse volunteers represents:
· All four PCRO sectors: Education, Environment, Institutional Development, Community Development;
· Two PCRO-PCV groups: Group 19 and Group 22;
· Age Range: from 24 to 64;
· Cultural Diversity: Filipino-American, Mexican-American, Scottish, Norwegian/Swedish;
· Fascinating Physical Features: and last but not least, a few “can’t take your eyes away from” big muscles, big tattoos, bald head, red hair and freckles and those fascinating Asian eyes.
Each PCV story illustrated not only our diversity but a few hard-to-grasp American values and/or traditions. With map held high for all eyes to see, Heather said “listen closely and count the number of states in which I’ve lived”, as she spoke about her round-the-USA life of mobility because of her father’s work with the National Park Service. Americans’ ease in picking up and moving from place to place is such an uncommon practice for Europeans.
Steve and Justin each shared their family story of parents emigrating to America (from the Philippines and Mexico) and in their efforts to ‘fit in’, speaking only English in public. Their offspring now speak English only – and the families’ native language was never passed along. That’s a tough concept for students in a bilingual school where studies are offered in English, French, German and Spanish and every student speaks adequately three or more languages.
Students shook their heads in disbelief when Steve declared that he now speaks more Romanian than the native language of his parents. Having studied and daily put to use their new Romanian language skills, these young PCVs have made a commitment to learn their families’ languages following Peace Corps service.
Pictures are captivating to a young audience and Justin’s laptop computer and Steve’s IPOD were loaded with glorious photos of the United States and world travel sites. End-of-class bells rang and no one moved, no one! How could that be? Aren’t these the same kids who crash their way to the door each day as the school year winds to an end?
One of a teacher’s joys is to observe a classroom full of enthusiastic, interested students – as they closely study new and unusual faces, listen to stories from the lives of others that are so different in many ways from their own, and gather round to view pictures of sights and sites they’ve never previously seen.
And, in the end? Many requests for e-mail addresses and two wonderful invitations – one for pizza (thank you, 11th graders) and one for a day in the countryside (from my counterpart, Mrs. V. to one and all, to the PCVs and her dirigente class of 9th graders).
Now then, if we can just find a few good sources of home-cooked meals for Steve!
by Karen Lindquist (Group 19)
Drobeta Turnu Severin
Ah, the waning days of a school year. Just a few more days to hold the attention of 9th, 10th and 11th graders. What can I pull out of my teaching ‘bag of tricks’. Something special, hmm, let’s see, what to do. Ah, I’ve got it! Special guests!
An invite to visit my Colegiul National Traian classes was quickly accepted by Severin’s new Group 22 PCVs, Heather Ferguson, Justin Almeida and Steve Manio. And, my oh my, how those young faces brightened with the announcement: “special guests are with us today.”
While enjoying the stories of enthusiastic PCVs, proudly holding their map of the USA, my TEFL counterpart leaned toward me and said, “look how attentive the students are; they haven’t given me such attention for ages.” Were the kids listening? Who knows. Were they visually attentive? Absolutely. Standing before them was a fine representation of American diversity – more diversity in our small PCV group than these kids have ever previously encountered.
Drobeta Turnu Severin, at least for a brief time, is proudly served by four PCVs. Our merry band of diverse volunteers represents:
· All four PCRO sectors: Education, Environment, Institutional Development, Community Development;
· Two PCRO-PCV groups: Group 19 and Group 22;
· Age Range: from 24 to 64;
· Cultural Diversity: Filipino-American, Mexican-American, Scottish, Norwegian/Swedish;
· Fascinating Physical Features: and last but not least, a few “can’t take your eyes away from” big muscles, big tattoos, bald head, red hair and freckles and those fascinating Asian eyes.
Each PCV story illustrated not only our diversity but a few hard-to-grasp American values and/or traditions. With map held high for all eyes to see, Heather said “listen closely and count the number of states in which I’ve lived”, as she spoke about her round-the-USA life of mobility because of her father’s work with the National Park Service. Americans’ ease in picking up and moving from place to place is such an uncommon practice for Europeans.
Steve and Justin each shared their family story of parents emigrating to America (from the Philippines and Mexico) and in their efforts to ‘fit in’, speaking only English in public. Their offspring now speak English only – and the families’ native language was never passed along. That’s a tough concept for students in a bilingual school where studies are offered in English, French, German and Spanish and every student speaks adequately three or more languages.
Students shook their heads in disbelief when Steve declared that he now speaks more Romanian than the native language of his parents. Having studied and daily put to use their new Romanian language skills, these young PCVs have made a commitment to learn their families’ languages following Peace Corps service.
Pictures are captivating to a young audience and Justin’s laptop computer and Steve’s IPOD were loaded with glorious photos of the United States and world travel sites. End-of-class bells rang and no one moved, no one! How could that be? Aren’t these the same kids who crash their way to the door each day as the school year winds to an end?
One of a teacher’s joys is to observe a classroom full of enthusiastic, interested students – as they closely study new and unusual faces, listen to stories from the lives of others that are so different in many ways from their own, and gather round to view pictures of sights and sites they’ve never previously seen.
And, in the end? Many requests for e-mail addresses and two wonderful invitations – one for pizza (thank you, 11th graders) and one for a day in the countryside (from my counterpart, Mrs. V. to one and all, to the PCVs and her dirigente class of 9th graders).
Now then, if we can just find a few good sources of home-cooked meals for Steve!
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