The Last Lecture

This week I traveled to Karditsa and Trikala to give guest lectures to teachers of English in both cities, which are about a half-hour apart.  These were my last lectures in Greece.  Speaking with teachers of English was new to me, however, I felt confident in talking with them because teachers of the deaf and hard-of-hearing are ultimately teachers of English, too.  In the first photograph, I am giving the lecture to the teachers in Karditsa.  In my speech, I talked about Groundhog Day and, surprisingly, at least to me, they knew about it.  Afterwards, they took me out for dinner at a local restaurant.  We discussed American writers such as Faulkner and Steinbeck.  They were impressed that Michael Cunningham, the author of The Hours, was in my car (when I was on the Friends of the Library Board for Doylestown, PA, I had the pleasure of picking up guest writers).

I stayed overnight in Trikala at the Hotel Panhellion.  It was an old hotel that had been refurbished recently.  I liked it a lot.  The best feature was the large bed in my room in contrast to my twin bed at Stavros Niarchos.  Just outside the hotel was a river that runs through the city.  In addition, there was a monument to Greeks in World War II.  Wednesday evening, five teachers of English took me out for dinner at a restaurant near the hotel.  It was excellent and they were wonderful company.  On Thursday, I gave another lecture to the teachers of English in Trikala.

After the lecture in Trikala, the Advisor for the Teachers of English, Marina Kollatou, dropped me off at a bus stop for the trip back to Ioannina.  I would have liked to stay longer in Trikala, because nearby are monasteries that are on top of mountains.  Fortunately, I was able to see them from the bus.  However, I felt I better get back to Ioannina.

When I began my Fulbright grant at the end of September, February seemed like a long way off.  Yet, I knew that the day would come when I would need to pack my bags and begin the process of returning home.  That day has arrived.  Tomorrow, I will depart from Ioannina for Athens.  A good friend and colleague from Children's Hospital of Philadelphia will meet me in Athens on Tuesday.  I intend to be a tour guide for a couple of days and then we will depart on Friday for Sarajevo and then Tuzla, Bosnia to give guest lectures on working with children who have cochlear implants.  I return to Athens on February 8th and depart for Philadelphia on February 10th.

It is difficult to put into words what this experience has meant to me.  Greece is a beautiful country, but the people are even more beautiful.  I came here knowing no one and now I leave with dozens of new friends.  I met numerous students, teachers, and professors and each one was kind and welcoming.  Several invited me into their homes, especially during the holidays, which I will always remember.  Each time I met someone or gave a guest lecture I was keenly aware that I was the face of America and I hoped that I represented my country well.  Furthermore, I also knew that I was representing my home state of Nebraska (which I mentioned in several of my presentations), my colleagues and teachers at the Bucks County Intermediate Unit (whom I also mentioned often in my lectures), and, most importantly, my family.  No matter where I go in the world, it is never far from my mind to conduct myself in such a way that brings honor to my family, especially my mother and father. 

The day after I returned to Ioannina I received an email from Marina thanking me for speaking to her teachers.  Without realizing it, she succinctly described my ultimate goal while here in Greece.  She said, "It's so valuable to have the opportunity to hear what is happening in other places of the world and be able to compare and contrast.  That opens a window to the world and brings people closer, helps understanding, and self-awareness, isn't that right?"  If I accomplished this, then my time here was well-spent.

Thanks to all of you that have followed my blog over the past four months.  I have appreciated your feedback and comments.  My fondest hope is that I will get to talk with each of you upon my return to the U.S. and regale you with stories of the wonderful experience that I had in Greece. 

My Birthday Party

For those of you that know me you may find it surprising that I was celebrating my birthday in January when my birthday was really in October.  Actually, I did celebrate my birthday on October 26th by going to the bar at the Olympic Hotel in downtown Ioannina and toasting my health with a couple of Kaiser beers.  It was a delightful way to spend a fall afternoon.

So you may be still be wondering why I celebrated my birthday in January.  In November, we celebrated several birthdays of the students living in the Stavros Niarchos dorm.  The students always made a point of inviting me to their parties.  That planted a seed.  I decided that I would throw a party for all of the students living in Stavros Niarchos to thank them for inviting me to their parties and other events.  More importantly, I wanted to thank them for allowing me to be a part of their lives for the past four months.  Thus was born the idea of celebrating my birthday three months late!

There is a small cafe in the building next to Stavros Niarchos that is managed by Kostas (He is featured in the fourth photograph).  He also runs a catering business.  He prepared all of the dishes and he bought all of the Greek wine (featured in the third and fifth photographs).  Just in case you were wondering about the menu, it included spinach pie, pastitsio (Greek version of lasagna), meatballs, chicken with red and yellow peppers, two different types of pasta, a plate of local cheeses and salad.  In addition, the "house mother" for Stavros Niarchos, Mrs. Konstatina, prepared three birthday cakes.  Tomoko, from Japan, was the official photographer (she is featured along with Olga from Kazakhstan in the seventh photograph).  My job was to be the host and cut the cake; I think that I handled both functions deftly.

In the first photograph, I decided to pose with some of the guys.  From left to right, Farouk (Egypt), me, Chris (USA), and Hassan (Egypt).  The second photograph features Marguerita on the left and Domenica on the right; they are both from Poland.  The sixth photograph features Dijana who is from Romania.  In the eighth photograph, I am talking with Tetev and Shoshan from Armenia.  The ninth photograph features Marina on the left from Brazil and Olga on the right from Russia.

In Greece, there is a tradition of putting a coin in a birthday cake.  If your piece has the Euro coin, then you will have good luck in the coming year.  Aleksandra from Macedonia featured in the tenth photograph was the "lucky" person; her piece of cake had the coin.  Fortunately, she did not swallow it.

Christina is in the eleventh photograph.  She is actually from Greece.  She is in another program at the University of Ioannina, but Stavros Niarchos has adopted her.  Obviously, she is fluent in Greek, but she is also fluent in English and Spanish.

The last photograph features Yanni and Dr. Eleni Morfidi.  Yanni is in charge of technology for the Education Department at the University of Ioannina.  Whenever I had a "tech" problem he was always able to help me.  He was bemused by my MacBook; Apple does not have a huge presence in Greece.  Eleni made it possible for me to come to Greece and she was the one who suggested that I live at Stavros Niarchos.  If not for Eleni, there would have been no birthday party three months late!  She has been a great help to me and has proved invaluable in helping me find special education teachers to interview for my study and, even more importantly, translating their interviews from Greek to English.

I asked that the students not buy any gifts for me.  I am at a point in my life where I have most everything I need and I really did not want them spending their limited resources on me.  However, the students came up with a gift that I had not anticipated, but was perfect.  Marija from Serbia got all of the students to write a few lines to me in a notebook featuring a Greek artist's works.  Each student wrote a paragraph in their native language and then translated it into English.  It really is precious.  When I want to "transport" myself back to Greece, all I have to do is open this notebook.   

Program for Children Who Are Deaf or Hard-of-Hearing

Just before the Holiday break, I got to visit an elementary school program serving children who are deaf or hard-of-hearing in Ioannina.  It is a side by side program, meaning that it is next door to a regular elementary school.  The children are worked with intensively in their building and then participate in various classes and activities with the children at the elementary school.  The first photograph is of the elementary school.  Behind this school is the program for children who are deaf or hard-of-hearing, which is featured in the second photograph.  The blue sign above the door indicates that this is the program for the deaf and hard-of-hearing. 

I had the pleasure of meeting two of the students, Popi (the little girl on the left) and Kostas (the little boy on the right).  Popi has a severe to profound hearing loss while Kostas has a mild to moderate loss.  They both spoke in Greek to me.  My colleague, Eleni, said she could understand what they were saying in Greek. 

The next photo features the physical education teacher who acted as the interpreter for me and the teacher of the deaf and hard-of-hearing.  The next photo again features the physical education teacher as well as the speech-language pathologist who serves these children.  I took a photo of the speech pathologist's room; you will notice the Greek alphabet in sign language on her mirror. 

The next photo features a map of the seasons in Greece.  I thought it was pretty.  Finally, if you want to learn how to tell time in Greek, then the last photo is for you.  It features the ubiquitous Judi Clock that must be in every elementary classroom in the world.

Overall, it was a great visit.  Popi made a picture for me which I plan to hang in my office back in the States.  I hope to visit this program once more before I leave.

Christmas Eve and Christmas Day

Whenever you are away over the holidays, it is hard knowing that you will not be with your family.  However, I have always been fortunate that wherever I may be in the world someone always invites me to be a part of their family on a holiday.  This year was no different.  On Christmas Eve, I received an invitation from a doctoral student, Eugenia, to spend Christmas Eve with her husband, Kostas, and her son, Thiomondes.  They have a flat in the mountain village of Metsovo, which is where Kostas grew up.  His parents live downstairs.  Eugenia's home was filled with beautiful pillow covers and traditional blankets and rugs as you can see in the first photograph, which also doubled as my bed. 

Throughout our time in Metsovo, Eugenia's father-in-law made guest appearances, bringing groceries, herbs he found during his walks in the mountains, and whatever else was needed for the preparation of the meal.  Her in-laws are pictured in their flat in the second photograph. 

There is a tradition in Greece on Christmas morning that involves children going door to door singing Christmas songs and tapping a triangle in exchange for candies and money.  The third photograph is a good example of the children I met thoughout Christmas morning although they didn't quite know what to make of this guy who was taking their picture and speaking to them in English.

The center of attention on Christmas Eve was Eleni, who is wearing the red Christmas suit and hat.  Seated around the table from the left are Kostas (her uncle), Aphrodite (her mother), and Thiomondes (her cousin).  She was a good baby and quite photogenic.

Kostas and Eugenia took me for a drive to a lake above Metsovo.  We basically had this huge lake to ourselves.  The scenery was breathtaking. 

On Christmas morning, Eugenia took me to a Greek Orthodox service.  She did me a favor and waited until only about a half-hour was left of the service and then we went.  The whole service can last up to three hours.  I think she intuitively knew that Methodists start to get impatient if a service goes beyond an hour!  The service was unlike anything that I have experienced as a protestant.  Greek Orthodox churches are ornate.  Pictures of Jesus, the Virgin Mary, and various apostles were everywhere.  There was limited seating, but for the most part people stood.  Interspersed throughout the service were men chanting.  The hymns they sang seemed to echo down the centuries unchanged.  This gave me some sense of what early Christian services must have been like.  The photograph is after the service let out.  Obviously, it was raining.  The umbrellas added a pleasing array of color to what was mostly a gray morning.

On Christmas Day, Eugenia, Kostas, and Thiomondes and I drove to their home in Ioannina for lunch.  We gathered at Eugenia's father's flat, which is next door to their place.  He prepared a special bread, which featured the cross.  He also made the wine we had with our meal.  The meal and the wine were delicious.

The evening of Christmas Day I received an invitation from another doctoral student, Dimitris, to have dinner with his family and relatives.  In the first photograph, Dimitris' son, Emmanuel, and his grandfather toast each other.  After the meal, Emmanuel found his way to his mother, Maria.  The last photograph features Dimitris and me.  Not only is Dimitris a doctoral student, but he is also my tutor for Greek.  Fortunately, I did not have to rely upon my meager Greek skills, because everyone spoke English. 

I have never eaten so well over the course of two days.  While I missed my family for Christmas, I know that I will remember my Christmas in Greece for many years to come.

A White Christmas

When I found out that I received a Fulbright grant to Greece, I think most of my friends and colleagues thought that I would be basking on a beach on some Greek island while they were freezing back in the U.S. at this time of year.  Believe it or not, it does snow in Greece.  I awoke last Thursday to approximately four inches of snow on the ground in Ioannina.  A few days prior to that the mountains surrounding Ioannina took on a decidedly white tone.  This was the first time that students from Brazil, Cameroon, Chile, and Egypt saw snow.  Unfortunately, I didn't get to see their reaction. I left early that morning for Athens where the weather while not exactly balmy was quite pleasant for December at least in comparison to Philadelphia.

Last Wednesday evening the Stavros Niarchos staff hosted a Christmas party for the students and they extended an invitation to me, too.  The evening consisted of students performing Christmas songs or dances typical of their countries:  Dominica and Margarita (Domenica is dressed up as an angel) sang a Polish Christmas song;  the students from Ukraine, Georgia, and Russia performed a skit featuring a sheepherder and his(or in this case her) entourage;   Peter from Macedonia along with students from several countries performed a Greek Christmas carol; and Olga, Anna, and Anastasia performed a dance from Kazakhstan.  Afterwards, we got to enjoy a lovely dinner and were entertained by a high school saxophone quartet that performed traditional Christmas songs;  they were excellent.

I have spotted Santa Claus around the campus and in Ioannina.  In one photograph, you can see Santa up on the roof of the student center.  In another, you can see him ascending a ladder of a gift shop next to one of my favorite restaurants.  In addition, someone placed Christmas ornaments on the bush outside of Stavros Niarchos. 

Several of the students from Stavros Niarchos have already left to go home.  Some others will be spending the holidays with the families of classmates.  For example, Tomoko from Japan will be spending Christmas with Maria and her family in Macedonia.  Some, like me, will remain here for the break.  I am glad that I will have some company.  However, I am afraid that I will experience "empty nest" syndrome until the rest of the students come back the second week of January.  In the meantime, I received an invitation from a doctoral student, Eugenia, to spend Christmas Eve with her husband and son at their home in Metsovo, which is a mountain village about an hour outside of Ioannina.  That will be great.  On Christmas day, another doctoral student, Dmitris, invited me to spend the day with his wife, Maria, and their 15-month old son, Immanuel.  It will be fun to hear a toddler starting to say his first words in Greek.  Of course, it will be great to see the look in his eyes when he opens his presents.

It looks like Santa is going to be busy in my part of the world.  I am pretty sure that he is going to check up on the students from Stavros Niarchos and their respective families, which means he has about 21 countries to visit before getting on his way to the U.S.  However, there is a seven hour time difference so I think he will make it.  Whatever language you speak, I hope that you have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

These Are The People In My Neighborhood

In tribute to Mr. Rogers, I would like to tell you about the people in my neighborhood.  I live in the Stavros Niarchos dorm on the campus of the University of Ioannina.  The dorm is filled mostly with students who are here to study Greek language and culture.  They hail from 20 countries, mostly European, but a few from Africa, Asia and South America.  Even though I am not here to study Greek language and culture, they have embraced me.  Altogether there are 55 students in this program so a posting cannot do justice to all of them.  However, I will tell you about the students in these photographs and, hopefully, this will give you a good idea of the wonderful neighborhood that I inhabit.

The students at Stavros Niarchos love to celebrate birthdays.  We had eight in November!  Pictured in the first photograph is Aleksandra.  She turned 23 years old on December 10th.  She is from Romania.  The second photograph is from a birthday party in November.  It features Anastasia and Anna who are from Ukraine and sitting between them is Maged, who is from Egypt.

In the third photo, are the students in the program from Egypt.  In the back row from left to right: Farouk, Romali, and Maged.  In the front row, from left to right: Hassan, Mina, and Roida.  Farouk was one of the first students that I met when I arrived and I talk with him almost everyday.  Hassan and Mina love to play soccer and I enjoy watching their fancy footwork.  Romali, Meget, and Roida, tend to be more introspective, but they will always talk to me.

The next photo was taken on the steps of a monastery that is above the campus.  I shared pictures of it in one of my earlier postings.  The countries represented include Egypt, Kazakhstan, Thailand, Japan, Romania, Chile, and Ukraine.

An amphitheater from the B.C. era in the area of Dodoni is the scene for the next photo.  Benjamin from Thailand and Peter from Macedonia are featured.

Next up is Farouk whom I mentioned earlier from Egypt and Zorca who is from Montenegro and whom I mentioned in an earlier posting.  There are so many of these students that I enjoy, but these are two of my favorites.

The last photo features three students from Armenia: Aleksandra, Arthur, and Latef.  Arthur was also one of the first students that I met when I arrived.  He knows six languages and never ceases to amaze me as he switches from one to another effortlessly.

These are just a few of the students that I see on almost a daily basis.  I feel so blessed that I am living in Stavros Niarchos.  These students have enriched my life and I hope that I have done the same for them.  There is much that I will miss about Greece when I return to the U.S., but I will them most of all.  There are many times when I worry about the state of the world, but these students give me hope that the world will be fine after all.