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.

Hey Jude

There are many challenges that one confronts when living overseas for an extended period of time, most notably a language that is "foreign" to your ears.  While Greece has many culinary delights to offer, I do find that from time to time I "hunger" for more American fare.  However, my most quixotic task since my arrival in Ioannina was finding "food" for my soul, in other words, books written in English.  There is a bookstore in downtown Ioannina.  Upon discovering it, I was initially optimistic that I might find a few New York Times bestsellers and, indeed, I did find them.  However, they were in Greek (I must admit that it was entertaining to see Stephanie Meyer's books in Greek).  When I asked a salesperson if there were any books in English, she directed me to a modest shelf that contained mostly classics with an occasional romance novel or murder mystery in the mix.  I hoped that my disappointment was not too discernible and I thanked her and proceeded to take a closer look.  As I was standing there I remembered thinking, "Who wants to read classics?  I have probably read them all."  Yet, as I cocked my head sideways to read the titles, it became apparent to me that I had not read most of them.  I found this a little embarrassing.  I have always believed that I received a first-rate education through the Lincoln, Nebraska Public Schools (LPS), but before I even got to Henry James (the titles were in alphabetical order) I was already concocting a letter in my mind to the Superintendent of LPS asking why I was never required to read Jane Austen or Charlotte Bronte?  Was LPS discriminating against women writers at the time?  Was there a problem with Dostoyevsky?  Of course, I realized that LPS and my teachers exposed me to some fine works.  Furthermore, I realized that there was no way an English curriculum could expose you to every important work.  Still, I found it ironic that I was on a Fulbright grant trying to learn about a foreign country, when knowledge of my own country, specifically its writers, was not too impressive and my knowledge of British and Russian novelists was even worse.

After standing for a long time, I eventually got over my disappointment of having only classics to choose from and my embarrassment that I had not read many of them.  I boldly chose a couple of titles.  When I was sophomore at the University of Nebraska, I decided to read Tess of the d'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy.  I am not sure what prompted me to buy it, but that book affected me like few others.  To this day I still feel badly for Tess.  Oddly enough in the intervening thirty years or so I never read another book by Hardy.  Therefore, I decided to pick up Jude the Obscure.  I couldn't walk out of the bookstore with just one book, so I also picked up The Last of the Mohicans by James Fenimore Cooper.  As I read the foreword while I was debating whether to buy it, I learned that Cooper's contemporaries, such as Mark Twain, viewed him as a hack writer.  I thought to myself, "Cooper may not be the best writer, but how many novelists from the 19th century can say that their book was turned into a movie starring Daniel Day-Lewis?"  With that I checked to see if I had enough Euros to pay for my purchases and I was on my way.

As a postscript I found Jude the Obscure as sad and as tragic as Tess.  Hardy used many words that I had to look up, which I loved doing.  Cooper wasn't a stellar writer, but I enjoyed The Last of the Mohicans, especially his style of writing which was probably typical of the early 19th century.

So have you read any classics lately?  If so, I would appreciate your suggestions and I will see if I can find them at my bookstore in Ioannina.

Defining America

This past Friday I had the opportunity to interview six Greek teachers for a scholarship to study at an American university for six weeks next summer to learn about the American educational system as well as educational strategies and techniques.  This is part of the 2011 Study of United States Institutes Program.  One my colleagues on the panel asked each candidate to suggest a Greek book, song, or poem that could give an American an idea of what it means to be Greek.  As each candidate answered this question, I wondered what American book, song, or poem I would recommend to someone from Greece that would give him or her an idea of what it means to be American.  Today on the bus ride from Athens to Ioannina, I had a lot of time to ponder that question.  The following is my somewhat traditional, but also somewhat eclectic baker's dozen of what I believe would give someone from Greece an idea of what it means to be an American:

1.  Gettysburg Address (1863)-President Lincoln succinctly described what America was and what it hoped to become.
2.  The Preamble of the Declaration of Independence (1776)-If anything defines what it is to be American, it is the first two sentences of the Preamble.
3.  America (1968)-When I return from Greece, I bet when the wheels of the plane touch down on the runway of the Philadelphia Airport that the voices of Simon & Garfunkel will be wafting through my  mind as they sing how "they've all gone to look for America."
4.  My Country Tis of Thee-The video of Marian Anderson singing this song at the Lincoln Memorial on Easter Sunday of 1939 is iconic.
5.  Adagio for Strings (1936)-Whenever I hear this piece by American composer Samuel Barber, it stops me dead in my tracks.  I have always had a strong streak of melancholy and this piece resonates like no other with that pensive gene I have.
6.  As I Lay Dying (1930)-There are other books by Faulkner that just of easily could have been on this list, but a person from Greece would have to appreciate that the title was derived from Homer's "Odyssey".
7.  To Kill a Mockingbird (1960)-Whether it is the book or the film, it is a powerful American story.
8.  The Grapes of Wrath (1939)-  Although this story took place in the 30's, it is still relevant.  Although Greeks may not be familiar with John Steinbeck, they can relate to his story of hard times and the will to survive.
9.  Ansel Adams-Moonrise, Hernandez, New Mexico (1941)-Because I lived in Santa Fe, I am partial to New Mexico.  This is a great photograph.
10.  Our Town (1938)-Thornton Wilder created the quintessential play about small town America.
11.  West Side Story (1957)-Immigration is an issue in Greece as it is in America.  In this musical, Leonard Bernstein, Stephen Sondheim, and Jerome Robbins remind us that diversity is the spice of life.
12.  It's a Wonderful Life (1946)-Frank Capra reminded us that no man is an island and that we do make a difference in each others lives.  It took place in America, but it could just as easily have been filmed in Greece.
13.  Just Kids (2010)-I am reaching on this one.  Patti Smith wrote a memoir of her relationship with Robert Mapplethorpe.  I haven't read it, but it just won the National Book Award.  It is not your typical relationship, but it is a uniquely American story.

If I did this list over, I would have 13 different entries.  What would you have included?

Metsovo

On Friday, I had the opportunity to visit a middle school and an elementary school in Metsovo.  Another Fulbright grantee, Stephanie, was asked by the U.S. Embassy in Athens to give some presentations to students learning English in schools in the area of Ioannina.  She asked if I would like to participate and I jumped at the opportunity.  Stephanie's typical Fulbright assignment is teaching English at an elementary school in Athens.  Stephanie is from Massachusetts and recently graduated from Seton Hall University.

Metsovo is a mountain village about a half hour from Ioannina.  The village has an elementary school and a middle/high school.  It is built on the slopes of Mount Pindos at an altitude of 1200 meters. 

Chryssa, an administrator for the Ioannina Schools, was our host and driver.  She oversees curricular issues related to environmental studies and gives presentations to students in the Ioannina area on this topic.

We began our day at the Metsovo Middle/High School.  Stephanie gave a presentation on recycling to a group of middle school students.  Chryssa informed us that her husband designed the school.  It was beautiful.  After finishing at the middle school, Stephanie gave a presentation on Thanksgiving to four classes of students at the elementary school.  At both schools I became the unofficial photographer.

The most memorable moment for me came when Stephanie presented on Thanksgiving to the elementary students.  She showed a slide of typical foods related to the holiday.  As she named them in English, the students spontaneously and as a group responded with the correlate in Greek.  For most of the students, Stephanie was the first native speaker of English that they had ever encountered.  When it came time for Q & A, some students were not confident to ask questions in English so they would ask in Greek and Chryssa would translate into English.  However, some of the students displayed excellent English skills although they sometimes mixed up wh-questions (e.g., using "What" when they meant "Who").  Some of the questions that they asked Stephanie included: What is your favorite color?  What is your favorite animal?  Do you have a pet?  Do you know Kobe Bryant?  Do you like Michael Jackson?  Do you like Lady Gaga?  Are you famous?  Are you married?  Do you have a brother or sister?  Where do you live in America?  What is your favorite Greek dish?

The photos below feature Stephanie presenting at the Metsovo Middle/High School (the screen didn't work very well so Stephanie showed the slides on the wall).  You will notice above the slide a depiction of Jesus.  Religious pictures and symbols were common in school classrooms and offices.  Chryssa is featured in the second photo.  The third photo features middle school students.  Stephanie and I are standing in front of the school library in the fourth photo and in front of the middle/high school in the fifth photo.

Thessaloniki

Last Wednesday, I was invited to be part of a panel discussion sponsored by the Fulbright office in Thessaloniki to talk with Greek students interested in studying at American colleges and universities.  Over a hundred students showed up.  I kept my comments fairly brief for a couple of reasons:  first, by the time we got to the panel part of the evening, the audience already had been sitting for about an hour and a half and the former professor in me knew that their attention span was getting to its upper limit; second, the other two Fulbrighters presenting with me, John and Kate, had just graduated from college and, therefore, could speak with more credibility what it is like to attend college in the States at this moment.  Furthermore, they were close in age to those in the audience.  I am glad that I didn't speak for long, because John and Kate did a great job and the audience applauded enthusiastically when they finished.  The highlight of the evening for me was being able to meet Argyroula, who is deaf.  She received a Fulbright in 2001 and studied at National Technical Institute for the Deaf in Rochester, New York.  She can speak in Greek or English and she can use Greek Sign Language or American Sign Language.  She is in the middle in the first photo; her Greek Sign Language interpreter is on the left.

The next day I walked from the Hotel Luxembourg (featured in the second photo) to the University of Macedonia, which took about twenty minutes.  I planned to meet with a professor in speech pathology, Dr. Areti Okalidou.  When I got to the university I was examining a map of the school trying to figure out where the Education Department was located.  A young man approached me and in English thanked me for my lecture.  For a moment, I thought he was confusing me with another American professor.  For all I knew, Americans might look all the same to a student from Greece.  However, he mentioned Fulbright and then I recognized him from the night before.  Although I had kept my comments brief that night, it was nice to know that someone remembered what I had said.  He made my day.  Still, I was dumbfounded our paths crossed and that he recognized me.  He kindly walked me to the Education Department where I met with Dr. Okalidou.  She studied and lived in the U.S. for over ten years.  Over lunch, we discussed deaf education  in Greece and the impact of cochlear implants.  In December, I will return to University of Macedonia and guest lecture for one of her classes.

The Hotel Luxembourg was only a block from the Fulbright office and only a block from the Aegean Sea.  You will notice that I frequented a Starbucks that was only two blocks from the hotel.  Ordinarily, I stay away from businesses that I can find in the U.S., but this Starbucks had a great view of the Aegean Sea.  The Starbucks that I frequent in Doylestown has a view of the Acme Grocery Store, but no major bodies of water.  On Friday morning just before I left for Ioannina, I stopped at the Starbucks to have a Chai Tea Latte (ironically I don't like coffee).  As I sat outside gazing out on the Aegean Sea, some young men rowed by in their scull.

The bus from Thessaloniki to Ioannina takes about three hours.  Apparently, it used to take over six hours, but recently Greece completed a new road through the mountains with numerous tunnels that makes the trip much quicker.  On the bus, I usually just read.  However, on this day I sat by a student named Yannis.  He was going home to Ioannina to vote (Greece has elections on Sunday).  We ended up talking for the whole trip.  We discussed Iraq, Afghanistan, global warming, architecture, engineering, the construction of bridges (there is a beautiful bridge in Patras, Greece), universities in England (he plans to study engineering there), and Pan-Hellenic exams (these are exams that all high school students in Greece have to take).  His father is a chemistry professor at the University of Ioannina.  I got to meet him at the bus station in Ioannina and he gave me lift home.  Yannis thanked me for giving him the opportunity to practice his English skills and his father took my phone number so we could meet again for dinner.

As I have mentioned previously, one of the important facets of the Fulbright experience is to promote cultural awareness.  I believe that this occurred on this trip, but in an unusual way.  I never expected that a Greek student would pick me out of a crowd at a huge university and thank me for a presentation that only lasted one to two minutes.  Furthermore, I never expected that I would have a three hour conversation with a student on the bus.  That is what makes the Fulbright experience so interesting: you never know when you are going to have an impact and you never know who you might meet.

Eighth Wonder of the World??

Around almost any corner in Greece you will come upon an archaeological site or an antiquity.  Ioannina has several of these.  However, there is one site in Ioannina I cannot get enough of although it is admittedly more modern: Carrefour.  If you have traveled in Europe or even Asia, then you have probably encountered Carrefour.  It is the French version of Wal-Mart and there happens to be one about a mile from the campus of the University of Ioannina.  I must admit that I eagerly look forward to my biweekly trips to Carrefour so I can stock up the tiny refrigerator in my dorm room with all kinds of delicacies that are not good for me.  There is no greater joy for me than to have breakfast cereal, milk, and sliced bananas on top and never have to leave my room.  Now, that is heaven. 

The trip to Carrefour is not without its challenges.  There is a two-lane road leading from the university to Carrefour.  It is a busy road and there are no sidewalks.  If you live in Bucks County, it is somewhat akin to walking along Route 413, which I have rarely seen anyone do during my 15 years of living there.  I find the experience unnerving at times, but I invoke the Satchel Paige maxim and I refrain from looking back to see what may be gaining on me!  My hearing is good enough that I can hear or "feel" a bus or dump truck coming and then I take evasive action.  When I get to Carrefour it is an exhilarating experience knowing that I am still alive, but also knowing that I will soon be filling my basket with all kinds of goodies.  I take great delight in going up and down the aisles and marveling at the small sizes of the containers (Everything in Greece is small from cars to milk cartons).  Of course, if I need clothing, hardware, notebooks, or anything else I can find it there, too.  Best of all, they have an ATM for Alpha Bank, where I have an account.  Well, I better stop.  I think it is time for milk and cookies.

A Guest Lecture

On Tuesday evening, I gave a guest lecture to about fifty Greek general education and special education teachers from Ioaninna.  My topic was the Individual with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).  I picked this topic for a couple of reasons.  First, this is the 35th anniversary of President Ford signing into law the Education for All Handicapped Children Act in 1975, now known as IDEA.  Second, all three branches of American government were involved in its passage.  I started off by focusing on the Brown v. the Board of Education case of 1954 (i.e., judiciary branch), which was about school desegregation, but would prove to be the impetus for IDEA about 20 years later, especially the famous line from this case stating that "separate but equal is inherently unequal."  Next, I discussed two court cases involving students with disabilities in the early 1970's that helped shaped the basic tenets of IDEA as well as advocacy efforts of various groups for the disabled with Congress (i.e., legislative branch).  Finally, President Ford signed this Act into law (i.e., executive branch).

I put a lot of time and effort into this presentation and I was rather pleased with my key points as well as the catchy graphics and photographs that I included.  However, as is so often the case when I give a lecture, the audience became animated in reaction to a minor point to which I only made a passing reference.  I happened to mention teacher accountability and, in particular merit pay, that all of the sudden resulted in a cacophony of voices being raised.  The teachers were extremely interested to know if merit pay was widespread.  They seemed apprehensive that Greece may adopt a similar strategy in determining teacher salaries.

Just in case you were wondering, I lectured in English.  My colleague, Dr. Eleni Morfidi, summarized my points every couple of minutes in Greek.  She also included Greek translations just below my English text on my PowerPoint slides.  I could only imagine how tired she must have been listening to me in English and then interpreting that into Greek and then listening to the teachers' comments and interpreting that into English so I knew what they were talking about.  However, it was evident to me that the teachers for the most part could follow me in English, but they were hesitant to respond in English.

After the presentation, I stopped for dinner at the student cafeteria nearby.  Unwittingly, I sat down at a table next to two of the teachers who were at the presentation.  They invited me to sit with them.  They had many questions about American education.  To my surprise they had more questions about the Brown case.  They wanted to know more about Linda Brown, who was the central figure in the case and was ten years old at the time.  They were some awkward moments while they tried to find the English words needed for the questions that they wanted to ask.  They kept apologizing for their English skills.  At the conclusion of our discussion, one teacher asked me for the time; she was impressed that I was able to tell her in Greek.  With that they were off to catch their bus home, which was about an hour away.

The Pickpocket

Last weekend, I was in Athens visiting my Fulbright colleagues.  We decided to have dinner at a restaurant called "Keyoopee".  My friend, Alan, frequented this restaurant often, and he knew the owner well.  Upon finding the restaurant, we descended down the stairs and were immediately greeted by the owner.  Besides liking the food, Alan was interested to hear the chef perform on the bouzouki, which he did in the evenings.  On this particular night, there was a party.  It appeared that it was related to a christening, because there was a little girl in a white dress who was the center of attention.  Alan and I grabbed a table for four and awaited the arrival of Stephanie and Kate.  My back was to the entrance. 

To put this story in context I need to return to my initial flight into Athens.  Once I landed, I caught a taxi to the Fulbright office.  The first thing the taxi driver told me was to be careful of pickpockets.  When I travel, I am typically vigilant about who is around me and always put my wallet in my front pocket.  If I get in a crowd, I place my right hand in my pocket and wrap my fingers around my wallet.

As I was sitting in this restaurant I felt comfortable with the surroundings.  The owner was attentive to our every need and the family and relatives of the little girl were welcoming of us.  Because no one was sitting behind me, I decided to move my wallet from my front pocket to my back pocket.  Once we left the restaurant, then I planned to return my wallet to my front pocket.  Eventually, Stephanie and Kate showed up and I became engaged in conversation with them.  After a few minutes, the owner came over to Alan and discreetly leaned down and whispered something in his ear.  Alan then leaned over to me and said that the owner wanted to warn me to be careful, because there was a man sitting behind me that he believed to be a pickpocket.  I calmly placed my right hand on my back pocket and breathed a sigh of relief, because my wallet was there.  Immediately, I moved it back to my front pocket.  Next, I turned around and discovered, indeed, there was a man sitting at the table behind me, not more than a foot or two away.  He was alone.  Not more than a minute after the owner warned Alan of my predicament, another man approached Alan and asked him to warn me to about the man sitting behind me, because he also believed he was a pickpocket.  Shortly thereafter, the man sitting behind me departed without ordering anything.

There are two reasons why I tell this story.  First, even when you are vigilant, sometimes you let down your guard.  Even in the benign setting of a child's christening party, I allowed myself to become complacent.  I will not do that again.  Second, this is not the first time that people in a foreign country have displayed concern for my well-being.  If you get to know people well enough, they will take care of you even if you do not speak the same language.  I am always thankful for these "angels" that seem to watch over me wherever I am.

Love, Love, Love

Dr. Morfidi and I are engaged in a project where we are interviewing Greek special education teachers about their perspectives on the inclusion of students with disabilities in the general education classroom.  Two years ago Greece passed a law mandating that students with disabilities be educated in the general education classroom if at all possible.  To put this in perspective the United States is celebrating the 35th anniversary of the passage of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). 

As is true with any questionnaire there are some questions that work and some that need further refinement.  However, there is one question that is generating some interesting responses.  In this question, we ask if a teacher could be granted three wishes that would help their student educationally, what would these be?  The first teacher we interviewed, a male teacher who works with high school age students with developmental disabilities, responded to this question by saying, "Love, love, love."  My first reaction to this was to be analytical.  Of course love was important, but a teacher with specific skill sets to teach students with disabilities was more important in my opinion.  However, upon further reflection, I had to admit that this teacher was expressing a universal truth.  If a teacher of students with disabilities is lacking in love or compassion for his or her students, then the battle is over before it begins.  Truly, you need a teacher that can recognize that a student with a disability can learn and can become a productive citizen.  Most importantly, you need someone who can recognize the innate human spirit that resides in every student, no matter how severe the disability.  Perhaps Lennon & McCartney are right: All you need is love.

Zorca the Greek??

The other night it was my pleasure to have dinner with Zorca, a student living in the international dorm.  She is not Greek!  She is actually from Montenegro, but lives and works in Serbia.  She is a high school teacher of Greek.

My dinner with Zorca happened quite by accident.  There is a student cafeteria that I sometimes frequent.  I always eat by myself, which is fine.  Typically, the cafeteria is crowded with undergraduates who are far too busy catching up with each other to notice a guy who looks British or American.  For all they know, I am just another parent visiting.  When you enter the cafeteria, you grab a tray and then stand in front of a Lazy Susan on steroids.  As it spins around approximately six students at a time stand in a semicircle around it, picking and choosing amongst the entrees, salads, cheeses, and fruits.  As I was standing there I thought I heard someone say "hello", but I decided I was hallucinating.  In Greek, students will say "yah-sas", but not "hello".  I heard "hello" again so I turned to look only to discover that it was Zorca.  We exchanged pleasantries and then I went off to find a table assuming that she was with friends.  Much to my surprise and delight, she asked to sit with me.

Zorca is typical of the students I have met in the international dorm.  She speaks six languages (i.e., Serbian, Russian, English, Greek, Italian, and French).  On top of that, she is extremely nice. 

For the next hour, Zorca and I compared and contrasted Serbia and the United States on a variety of issues including immigration policies, typical family size, entrance requirements to universities, tuition for universities, languages offered in elementary and secondary schools, and elections.  We concluded by discussing a foreign film series that the university is offering.  However, I probably won't be able to take advantage of this series: the films are subtitled in Greek.  My Greek is improving, but not that fast. 

As is so typical of an experience like this it is the chance encounters that are the most memorable.  I will have many memories from my time in Greece, but I don't think I will soon forget my dinner with Zorca. 

My Lunch With Eleni

When I first arrived in Ioannina, Dr. Eleni Morfidi, took me for lunch at a former monastery that was high on a hill overlooking the campus.  It offered a great view of the campus as well as of Ioannina and the mountains in the distance.  We started off with, of course, a Greek salad accompanied by feta cheese (every meal includes feta cheese).  The main entree was a rice, meatball, and tomato sauce combination that was quite tasty especially when followed by a glass of Greek white wine.  Who needed three martinis when you could have such a delectable glass of wine?  We dined at a table underneath the portico pictured above.

During lunch, I had the opportunity to explain to Dr. Morfidi about the research project I wanted to initiate during my semester at the University of Ioannina.  Specifically, I told her about my plan to interview special education teachers in Ioannina about their experiences with the inclusion of students with disabilities, especially teachers of the deaf and hard-of-hearing and speech-language pathologists.  As we talked, she said that she was more familiar with quantitative research designs whereas this project was more qualitative in nature.  In other words, this project focused on interviewing and observing of teachers rather than developing a research design to test a hypothesis.  She seemed to enjoy the challenge of implementing a project with a qualitative focus.  She informed me of a colleague in the College of Education, Spiros, who was in the Ioannina schools often and could act as a liaison between the teachers and us.  That was reassuring to me because nothing helps more to gain entree into a school than to have someone who has a good relationship with the teachers and the principal of a school.  We then discussed the type of questions to ask.  Dr. Morfidi offered to translate the questions into Greek and to act as the interpreter when it cane time to interview teachers.  Although most of the people I have encountered speak English, Dr. Morfidi said that the teachers would probably be most comfortable answering these types of questions in Greek.  While someone else may have found it awkward or odd to go from one language to another while interviewing subjects, I was perfectly comfortable with the concept because of my work over the years with sign language interpreters. 

After lunch, we lingered for a bit looking at the rest of the monastery.  I learned that it was not only a restaurant, but that the university allowed guests to stay there.  We accomplished a lot over lunch, which whetted my appetite to return again soon.

A Good Omen

Whenever I make a major decision, such as accepting a Fulbright grant, I look for signs that it was a good decision.  In the year since I applied for this grant, I have encountered several situations that appeared to be signs that this was a good decision.  The following are a few of these good signs or omens.

First, Montgomery County Community College offered a course on introductory Greek during the spring semester of this year.  Even though I had not been officially selected for the Fulbright grant to Greece, this seemed a sign to me so I took the class.

Second, once I was selected for the Fulbright, then began a lengthy process of completing a variety of tasks and forms before being allowed to leave for Greece.  The most nerve wracking was getting fingerprints and sending these to the FBI office in West Virginia.  I had been forewarned that the turn around time on this could be from 8 to 12 weeks.  I was planning to leave on September 21, but without the FBI clearance I was not going anywhere, because I could not apply for my Greek visa.  The middle of August came and went and I started getting nervous.  Finally, the third week of August I got my FBI clearance.  I exhaled and breathed a sigh of relief.  Another good omen.

Third, I caught a Trans-Bridge bus the following Friday to the Port Authority in New York City.  From there I caught a taxi to the Greek Embassy, which was near East 79th and Park Avenue.  Up to that moment, everything about this process seemed unreal.  However, once I walked through the doors of the Greek Embassy, it suddenly became real.  I filled out a variety of forms and then waited to be interviewed.  I thought that I had all the forms that I needed, but the person interviewing me asked for my airline itinerary.  I wasn't expecting that.  I began thinking that this would stop the whole process and that I would have to return the following week with my airline itinerary.  That would mean one less week for the paperwork to be processed for my visa, and my timelines were already tight.  However, my penchant for checking my voice mail from wherever I am in the country saved me.  In my file folder that has my teachers' voice mail numbers, I quite by chance had placed a copy of my airline itinerary.  I quickly found it and produced it.  Again, a good omen.

Fourth, I had to give up my passport while my visa paperwork was being processed.  I was informed that it might take one week, possibly two weeks for it to be processed.  I had to walk over to a post office on Lexington Avenue to get a prepaid envelope in which to mail my passport to me.  For the next several nights I would lie awake wondering whether the passport with my Greek visa would show up in time or if it would get lost in the mail.  A week later I came home from work to discover my passport with my Greek visa in my mailbox.  Another good omen.

Fifth, when I got to Ioannina, Dr. Eleni Morfidi, the professor that I will be working closely with for the next four months, showed me around the University of Ioannina.  Finally, she took me to the International Dorm where I would be staying.  When I got out of her car, I noticed a rosebush next to the entrance of the dorm.  While a rosebush may seem inconsequential, it was the first and only rosebush that I have encountered in Greece.  More significantly, my mother loved roses and devoted hours tending to her rosebushes.  My mother has been gone for two years, but suddenly I was keenly aware of her presence.  She was here with me.  That was, indeed, a good omen.

Mutual Understanding

One of the basic tenets underlying The Fulbright Program is promoting mutual understanding between the people of the United States and those of other countries.  When I think about mutual understanding between countries, I often have visions of diplomats or heads of state sitting in chairs while a horde of photographers take a picture of them shaking hands.  While I am sure that mutual understanding does take place during these meetings, I have learned that mutual understanding often takes place in more subtle ways, away from the photographers. 

Three examples of mutual understanding in my brief time in Greece come to mind.  The first took place while I was waiting to catch a bus from Athens to Ioannina.  As I sat waiting for the bus, an elderly gentleman sat down next to me and smiled.  He said something to me in Greek and I shook my head to indicate that I didn't understand what he said, and then I pointed at myself and said, "American."  His actions indicated that he did not know English.  However, I was resourceful.  I had my Greek/English dictionary with me so I quickly looked up the Greek equivalents for visiting, professor, four, months, and university.  He took great delight in my attempts to say these words in Greek and, best of all, he understood.  From that point on he took care of me all the way to Ioannina.

The second situation occurred yesterday at the little cafe in the Education Building that is frequented by students.  I bought some hot tea and sat at a table to warm myself up on what proved to be a rainy and cold day.  An older man was sitting at a table next to me and began speaking German to me.  Once again, I indicated that I was American and that I didn't understand German, or for that matter, much Greek.  He was undaunted.  He  moved over to my table and in a mix of German, English, and Greek explained to me that he had lived in Athens, Rome, Boston, and Ioannina.  He also wrote the number "28" on the table to indicate that he had been a professor at the university for 28 years, but was retired.  He also gestured that he was a photographer. 

My last example involves the man who works behind the counter at this cafe.  His English skills are great.  However, he delights in providing me with Greek words associated with ordering food.  He also likes to help me with my pronunciation.  I must admit that I am struggling with the "X" sound in Greek; it is a mix of "h" and "k".  It is not quite a fricative and it is not quite a plosive.  I can hear it, but I cannot quite master it.  Unfortunately, it is present in the Greek word for "thank-you" (i.e., ef-ha-ree-sto).  Every time I tell him "thank-you', he smiles and repeats it again with the proper pronunciation waiting for me to try again.

While these encounters are not changing the world, I do think that I am doing my small part in promoting mutual understanding.  I find that the Greek people are more than willing to meet me halfway, especially when I try to use the few Greek words and phrases I know.  Benjamin, a student from Thailand living in my dorm who is studying Greek, watched me as I listened to a couple of other international students engage in a long dialogue in Greek.  When they finished, he looked at me and said, "Was that all Greek to you?"  Surprisingly, I understood quite a bit of the conversation.  I guess there is hope for me.

My Window to the World

My new home is the international dorm, called Starros Niardos, at the University of Ioannina.  The window for my room is in the upper left hand corner of the first photo.  My room looks to the east.  The next three photos were taken from my window.  In the second photo, I am looking north.  In order to take that photo, I leaned out my window and over the balcony.  You can see some of Ioannina in the distance nestled up against the mountains.  The third and fourth photos are facing directly east; one features the sun setting on the mountains and the other the sun rising over the mountains.

The dorm is truly international.  There are a variety of students here to study Greek for the year.  They hail from the following countries: Armenia, Egypt, Japan, Kazakhstan, Macedonia, Thailand, Ukraine, and the United States.  I am sure that there are other countries represented, but I haven't met all of the students in the dorm yet.  For several, this is their first time outside of their countries.  Every one of them is able to converse fluently in English with me.  They all speak and read several languages.  My favorite is Arthur from Armenia.  He knows six languages.  Yesterday, I saw him on the couch in the common area of the dorm reading a textbook in Greek.  He said for fun he likes to read something in Greek and then translate that word or phrase into Armenian, then into Russian, and then into English.  They have become my tutors while I practice Greek with them.  I enjoy them thoroughly.  When I am around them, I find their curiosity, intelligence, and kindness invigorating.  Because of young people like them, I think that there is hope for the world.

Fulbright Foundation of Greece

The first two photos are not necessarily the most exciting, but they offer positive proof that I found the Fulbright Foundation-Greece office in Athens.  The first photo displays the plaque for the Fulbright Foundation-Greece office (the middle plaque), which is located at 6 Vassilissis Sophias Avenue (i.e., Princess Sophia Avenue).  The second photo is the door to the Fulbright Foundation office located on the second floor.  By walking through that door, I eventually encountered all of the "Fulbrighters" featured in the third photo.  We are standing in front of the Temple of Aphaia on the island of Aegina that was built in approximately 500 B.C.  The Temple is built high on a mountain that overlooks the Aegean Sea and you can see Athens in the distance.


The people in the photograph are as follows (from right to left):  Angi-Staff person for Fulbright Foundation-Greece; Kate-Teaching English at an elementary school in Thessaloniki, will attend graduate school at Boise State next year; John-Graduate of Seton Hall, doing an environmental studies project with the School of Law at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki; Dallas, doctoral student in history at Ohio State University, affiliated with the American School of Classical Studies at Athens; Stephanie-Graduate of Seton Hall, teaching English at an elementary school in Athens; Tatiana-Staff person for Fulbright Foundation-Greece; Georgia, graduate of Florida State, doing a nutrition study with the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Crete; Kevin-Supervisor for the Bucks County Intermediate Unit, Doylestown, PA, doing a project at the University of Ioannina focused on teachers of the deaf and hard-of-hearing; Artemis-Executive Director of the U.S. Educational Foundation in Greece; Nicholas-Educational Advisor for the Fulbright Foundation-Greece; Alan-Professor in Linguistics at Michigan State University, doing a study on Broca's aphasia at the National & Kapodistrian University of Athens.

The Runner

On my second day in Athens, all of the "Fulbrighters" packed our bags (I never got time to actually unpack my bags after arriving from Philadelphia the day before) and took a ferry ride for a little over an hour to the island of Aegina.  We had a two day orientation there that consisted, at least in part, of getting to hear two local experts lecture on antiquities in the area.  This was followed up with tours of two temples on the island dating from the B.C. era.  I will discuss these in a later posting and provide some pictures of the temples.

However, for this posting I want to focus on a dinner that we were all invited to on the Thursday evening of the orientation.  The dinner was at the home of Costas Varotsos, a world-renowned sculptor, who lives with his family on the island.  His home is on top of a mountain that overlooks the Aegean Sea.  The topmost picture is the view from his patio.  It is breathtaking.  If you look real close, you will notice tiny fiber optic lights in the patio itself that give the patio the appearance of having stars.

The photo below is of Costa's sculpture, The Runner, which is in Athens near the Hilton Hotel.  He specializes in working with plates of glass.  Again, if you look closely you will notice that the sculpture is made up of hundreds of sheets of cut glass layered on top of each other.  This medium does give the appearance of the "runner" breaking the wind.

Costas was a former Fulbright recipient to the United States several years ago.  We had a wonderful dinner and then he gave us a tour of his studio, which was in the basement, again with a great view of the sea.  There were many sheets of glass ready to be shaped.  The visit to Aegina was memorable, but this was the most memorable.  If you are interested in visiting his website, it is www.costasvarotsos.gr.

At the Acropolis

After being in Greece almost a week I made it to the Acropolis.  Not wanting to be a typical tourist, I was ambivalent about visiting the Acropolis.  However, my American friend, Vicki, who lives in Athens, coaxed me into it.  She proved to be an adept tourist guide.  It was hot day, but we walked up many steps and made it to the top.  However, we stopped for a break at the Theatre of Dionysos where you see me sitting above.  After a few minutes, we continued our trek and made it to the Parthenon.  Photographs do not do it justice.  Even though it is in serious disrepair, it is majestic.  It is amazing that architects and engineers so long ago could have built something bordering on perfection. 


Vicki and I descended to the other side of the Acropolis and got to stand on a small, rocky hill called the Areopagus.  This is where the Apostle Paul stood to address the Athenians, just before he departed for Corinth (you can read about this in Acts 17:15-34).  We concluded our day by visiting a museum of the Acropolis, which just opened last year.  In excavating the site for the museum, the builders discovered a small village from antiquity.  They ended up building the museum over and around the village.  As you walk through the museum, some parts of the floor are transparent so that you can see the village under your feet.  The museum is a fitting tribute to the Acropolis, especially the Parthenon.