"Jas Sakam"

Monologues from Macedonia No. 1

(A kitchen in Macedonia. THE PROFESSOR talks to his niece. His rhetoric is artfully emphatic.)

THE PROFESSOR: You say bi sakala because you don’t know any better. But what is bi?...Bi sakala is not our culture. It’s not Macedonian. It’s conditional. I would like. But what is the condition?...Why would you walk into a store and say I would like…something?...You would like something if what? If…what?...It’s not a hypothesis. You’re not implying you want something. You want something.

Bi sakala is not our culture. It is an American imposition on our language. It’s not polite. It’s passive. It's corporate terminology that turns the power structure upside down. Bi sakala is American. Not Macedonian.

In America, you walk into a store and the person behind the counter says Can I help you?...I have a problem with that. I don’t go to a store to be helped. I go to be served…Can I help you?...I need help if my leg is broken…not if I want coffee. I have a problem with that. It’s a corporate construction. It doesn’t make sense.

Did you know that in America, you park on a driveway and drive in a parkway?...It’s not logical. It makes no sense. And tell me…where is the apple in pineapple?... Hmm? Where?! They call it a pineapple, but where is the apple?...Tell me! There is no apple!

There’s no logic. It doesn’t make sense. So why should I take America’s corporate terminology and apply it to my language? It’s not our culture.

You young people don’t get it. You don’t even know what you’re saying…Bisakala. I would like.

 Jas sakam. I want. That’s our culture. That’s Macedonian.

 

 "Thirty"

Monologues from Macedonia No. 2

(Resen, Macedonia. A fall morning. MAJA, a woman in her mid-twenties, kneels by the carcass of dog on the side of the road. She touches the dog. It is still warm. This is recent. Several other dead dogs are within sight. A friend stands behind her.)

MAJA: I know it’s not a nice thing to say, but I hope whoever did this has the same kind of end.

How can someone do this? There are other…ways…

So there are too many of them. So what? The world has too many people, but nobody is poisoning my food. Nobody swerves to hit me when I’m crossing the street.

Thirty dead dogs. Thirty. In one night.

(She stands and takes her time brushing off her hands.)

The little black dog didn’t show up this morning. Yesterday when I was petting him he cried. Real tears. I’ve never seen an animal cry. He wanted to live.

(She looks at the carnage.)

I think they all want to live.

 

* The views expressed on this site do not represent the views of the Fulbright Program, the U.S. Department of State, or any of its partner organizations. They are the observations and reflections of someone who likes good stories. 

A Case for Virtual Exchanges

Students at Krste Petkov Misirkov in Bistrica, Macedonia connect online with students in Pensacola, Florida.

A student in Macedonia holds a pair of handcrafted leather shoes in front of a computer screen, engaging in a cultural “show-and-tell” with a class in America. Her teacher explains, “These shoes are part of our traditional dress. Do you have anything like them?” Next, the American class describes the game of lacrosse. “We will send you some videos of the game,” their teacher promises. Later that afternoon, she sends videos through an online forum where students can easily communicate and collaborate with their international friends. This is a classroom that spans an ocean — thanks to technology.

Like traditional educational exchanges, their virtual counterparts also seek to connect students from different parts of the world through experiential learning. Admittedly, nothing can replace the experience of learning about a culture by living in it. However, virtual exchanges have proven to be an exciting, effective, and desirable option for adding an international dimension to classroom education.

In contrast to traditional exchange programs, virtual exchanges might seem to be at a disadvantage in the excitement department. A chat with the participants in Dreams and Friendship Exchange, however, tells a different story. The Dreams and Friendship Exchange is an initiative designed by the Public Affairs Office at the U.S. Embassy in Macedonia in collaboration with Julijana Georgievska, a primary school teacher at Krste Petkov Misirkov in Bistrica, Macedonia. The project, funded by a grant from the U.S. Department of State, is a year-long virtual exchange that partners Julijana’s classes in rural Macedonia with classes lead by Catherine Bauer in Pensacola, Florida. As evidence that virtual travel has its thrills, students in the Dreams and Friendship Exchange consistently report that online meetings are one of their favorite parts of the project and something they look forward to each month. In fact, it is not totally off-base to compare the students’ enthusiasm before an online meeting with the excitement of boarding a plane.

When students are intrinsically motivated, learning happens effortlessly, which is an exciting and practical reason to put classroom learning in the context of a virtual exchange.

 

The students in the Dreams and Friendship Exchange will never actually board a plane as part of the project, of course, but they will have the opportunity to experience another culture firsthand. Even through the window of a computer screen, students soak up what they see in unexpected ways. For example, after the first online meeting, one of the favorite topics of discussion amongst students in Macedonia was the library that the American class was sitting in. The library made an impression in the same way it might have if they had actually been there. Realizing that students are affected by their virtual surroundings in this way challenges preconceived notions and doubts about the effectiveness of online exchanges.

Students participated in a cultural show-and-tell during January’s online meeting, in which they addressed the topic My Culture.

In addition to giving students a firsthand experience of another culture, virtual programs are especially effective at aiding language acquisition. Ann Tran, the Education and Youth Outreach Coordinator at the U.S. Embassy in Macedonia and a supervisor for the Dreams and Friendship Exchange, explains that improving students’ facility with the English language was a main impetus for the development of the project.

“The idea for the Dreams and Friendship Exchange,” she says, “evolved from Julijana’s previous experiences connecting with one or two classes abroad. These connections, while fun and engaging for her students, were one-off and ineffective at improving students’ English language skills. We proposed the idea of a more substantive exchange experience. By giving the students one full year, they have the luxury of time to develop relationships, [which is] the key to the success of the project. The kids in Macedonia will be intrinsically motivated to improve their English in an effort to better communicate with their new friends.”

A local television station interviewed students after an online meeting in January.

Tran and team have the right idea making language learning a central goal of their initiative. Improvement of language skills seems inevitable. Through media such as video conferences, online forums, and blogs, virtual exchanges require students to use their speaking, listening, reading, and writing skills in order to communicate with their international friends. As Tran points out, the learning that happens as a result is set apart from classroom learning by the source of motivation, which comes, not from teacher or performance pressure, but from the students’ desire to connect. When students are intrinsically motivated, learning happens effortlessly, which is an exciting and practical reason to put classroom learning in the context of virtual exchanges.

Borka Taneska, a Cultural Affairs Assistant at the Embassy who has also been involved in the development and execution of the Dreams and Friendship Exchange, speaks to how the educational impact and benefits of virtual exchanges and technology in the classroom go beyond language acquisition. “As students make visual connections and combine pictures, text, numbers, and spoken word,” she explains, “they build fundamental skills not only in reading and writing, but also in math, science, and social studies.”

She also agrees that while “nothing can replace the richness of face-to-face classroom dynamics…video eliminates distance, invites collaboration, and increases opportunities for both the student and the teacher.” Taneska makes a significant point about the role of video in projects like the Dreams and Friendship Exchange. The video platform is the consummate interactive teaching tool. It is the reason why students in Florida have seen traditional Macedonian shoes. It is how classes in different countries can read a poem or sing a song together. Video makes the virtual exchange experience immersive, encouraging students to apply all their senses and engage with learning on a personal level. Taneska also notes video’s ability to put students in different countries in the same room, closing the physical gap. It likely closes a psychological gap, too. Interacting with someone in real time, even if that someone is on a screen, cannot help but suggest that it is, in fact, a small world after all.

According to the Exchange 2.0 website, “evaluations have already demonstrated that virtual exchange programs can increase participants’ empathy for other cultures and perspectives, develop their willingness to engage constructively with peers of diverse backgrounds and views, and provide participants with the experience of being heard and respected.”

 

Video also has the pragmatic—and revolutionary—function of significantly reducing the cost of international exchanges. Decreased cost means increased participation. Tran affirms that the possibility of including more students is a major advantage of online programs. She says, “[Traditional exchange programs] are very effective, but because they are costly, we are limited with the number of people we can send each year. The virtual exchange concept addresses this issue because aside from start-up expenses related to technology and equipment, it doesn’t cost much to sustain. [The U.S. Embassy] is able to ‘send’ one hundred students on a year-long exchange.”

The potential impact of these numbers is huge. The Exchange 2.0 Coalition, a group of organizations that facilitate and support virtual exchanges, and the Saxelab Social Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory at MIT are currently working to quantify just how huge. According to the Exchange 2.0 website, “evaluations have already demonstrated that virtual exchange programs can increase participants’ empathy for other cultures and perspectives, develop their willingness to engage constructively with peers of diverse backgrounds and views, and provide participants with the experience of being heard and respected.”

Empathy, engagement, respect, having your voice heard, and constructive collaboration with peers from diverse backgrounds — this is the stuff of a true education…and a robust case for virtual exchanges.

 

* Read this article on the official blog of the Dreams and Friendship Exchange here. To learn more about the Dreams and Friendship Exchange, please read our initial blog.

* The views expressed on this site do not represent the views of the Fulbright Program, the U.S. Department of State, or any of its partner organizations. They are the observations and reflections of someone who likes good stories.

Observation and Communication: Foundations of Understanding

Students compared what they saw, heard, and felt at school with what students in Florida observed in their surroundings.

It’s the end of January and the beginning of a new year. In Macedonia, the spring semester of school has just begun, and at Krste Petkov Misirkov, the Dreams and Friendship Exchange is gearing up to explore new themes. In the fall, we discovered details about our friends in Florida and, together, examined our schools, families, and communities. Over the next few months, we will engage in dialogue about our cultures, languages, rights, and dreams.

This spring, as we consider topics that move us further towards the heart of the initiative—mutual understanding—our explorations from the fall will serve us well. Beginning the project with themes like All About Me and My School helped students build friendships and trust without requiring too much vulnerability. The concrete nature of the fall’s topics also helped students establish the skills of observation and communication, which arguably is the most significant outcome of this program and intercultural exchanges in general.

If understanding is the heart of an intercultural exchange, observation and communication are the hands. They make it happen. Before we can attempt to understand, we must first learn to stop and objectively observe the world around us and then communicate what we find. Observation and communication are essential to understanding our own rights (or lack of) and dreams, not to mention the rights (or lack of) and dreams of others. These skills are the foundation of compassionate and productive dialogue, which ultimately, is why initiatives like the Dreams and Friendship Exchange are important to the global community.

In his poem, “Theme for English B,” Langston Hughes writes, “I guess I’m what I feel and see and hear.” The poem goes on to express what we are learning through the process of the Dreams and Friendship Exchange — that sharing concrete details from our lives, like what we see, hear, and feel, can help us realize that no matter our differences, we are all a part of each other and we all have hopes and dreams.

After studying “Theme for English B” in October, students practiced observing their surroundings at school and sharing their findings with the help of a camera. The following short film is a reading of Hughes’ poem over primarily student-shot-and-directed footage taken around the Krste Petkov Misirkov campus.

 

* Read this article on the official blog of the Dreams and Friendship Exchange here. To learn more about the Dreams and Friendship Exchange, please read our initial blog.

* The views expressed on this site do not represent the views of the Fulbright Program, the U.S. Department of State, or any of its partner organizations. They are the observations and reflections of someone who likes good stories.

Creating "Nani Nani"

Collaboratively Writing a Lullaby Inspired by Langston Hughes' Poetry

Nani Nani

 

I said to the day / Nani nanay / Where will you sleep tonight? / The day said to me / Sweet as can be / Nani nani nani

I said to the sun / Nani nanun / When will you stop your shine? / The sun said to me / Sweet as can be / Nani nani nani

I said to the stars / Nani nana / Who shines for you at night? / The stars said to me / Sweet as can be / Nani nani nani

I said to the moon / Nani nanoo / How do you change your smile? / The moon said to me / Sweet as can be / Nani nani nani

I said to the night / Nani nanae / Will you be ‘til the end of time? / And night, she held me / Sweet as can be / Nani nani nani / Nani nani nani

__________________

 

Langston Hughes’ poem “Lullaby” is tender and ethereal. Hughes’ symbolic, repetitive language crafts an image of night swirling around a mother and baby, engulfing them in sparkling darkness. It feels as if the mother is hugging her baby with words, even as she searches for a way to convey the depth of her love. The mother settles on a senseless series of night words for her baby’s “sleep-song lullaby:” 

Stars, stars

Moon,

Night stars,

Moon. 

In its irrationality, the string of words perfectly expresses the inexpressible, which mothers are universally known to feel for their children.

The sixth graders at Krste Petkov Misirkov studied “Lullaby” as part of November’s Dreams and Friendship topic, My Family. We focused our study on Hughes’ use of repetition and his word choice. We then extended our study to lullabies from Macedonia and America, tracking words and phrases we heard over and over. Here are the words and phrases we heard repeated across songs and cultures:

stars, moon, sun, night, day, sleep, tomorrow, today, yesterday, mommy, daddy, little baby, diamond, good night, sweet dreams, peace, world

Inspired by our list of words, we set out to write our own lullaby using our favorites.

First, we asked ourselves what questions we had for the stars, moon, sun, night, day, and earth. Then, each student placed a dot in a place of their choice on five lines, i.e., a music staff. Using our questions and “found” musical phrases pulled from the dots, the lullaby “Nani Nani” was born.

The term nani, which the students describe as a sweet word for sleep, is common in lullabies throughout the Balkans. It is a word mothers use as they wrap their babies in night and sweetly sing them sleep-song lullabies.

 

 

 

 

* Read this article on the official blog of the Dreams and Friendship Exchange here. To learn more about the Dreams and Friendship Exchange, please read our initial blog.

* The views expressed on this site do not represent the views of the Fulbright Program, the U.S. Department of State, or any of its partner organizations. They are the observations and reflections of someone who likes good stories.

Dreams and Friendship Blog

The blog I am managing for the Dreams and Friendship Exchange is up. Dreams and Friendship is an embassy-sponsored virtual exchange between elementary school classes in Bistrica, Macedonia and Pensacola, Florida. Read more HERE.

 

* The views expressed on this site do not represent the views of the Fulbright Program, the U.S. Department of State, or any of its partner organizations. They are the observations and reflections of someone who likes good stories. 

This one

Piece of the Moon,

Silver Sliver Mirror.

You fit in the palm of my hand

For now.

 

Just one

Blanket of Joy

Two does not make twice.

How simple, my Silver Sliver

Mirror.

 

* The views expressed on this site do not represent the views of the Fulbright Program, the U.S. Department of State, or any of its partner organizations. They are the observations and reflections of someone who likes good stories. 

 

Staff Party 10.6.14

 

Play something American!  He releases a laugh that can only be conjured with his arms in the air. A baseline demonstration—Bom-bom, bom-bom! He is librarian by day, enthusiast by party.

 

The band plays "Oh, Susanna."

 

The principal orders more wine—The better kind, please.—and fills the inspector’s glass.

 

Blackout. No one blinks. Candles are lit. Circle dancing, of course. A circle fits between rows of tables, you know.

 

The lights blow out the candles. Only the happiest guests remain, singing and testing the integrity of the tables. 

The better wine's run dry, but their glasses are full.

 

* The views expressed on this site do not represent the views of the Fulbright Program, the U.S. Department of State, or any of its partner organizations. They are the observations and reflections of someone who likes good stories. 

Prespa, Macedonia

This is a poem for more than one voice written by three of my students and me for a celebration of the high school's namesake, Car Samoil, on the one-thousand-year anniversary of his death. One voice reads the left column. Another reads the right. Two--or three, in our case--voices read the words that appear on the same line.

 

I am                                                              I am

 

A farmer 

                     An old man

A student

                                                                     A young mother

 

I am                                                              I am

 

A stray dog

                                                                     An apple

An ancient building

                                                                     A village

 

We are                                                        We are

                                                                     the community

                     of Prespa, Macedonia.                      

 

I feed this community

with the crops I grow:

apples, grapes, and cherries

peppers, tomatoes, and carrots.

I drive my tractor and

take care of my animals. I work

 

all day.                                                        All day,

                                                                    I have pain.

Life is good, but

it’s hard.                                                      It’s hard

                    when you can’t do

                                                                    the things you want.

                                                                    But then I hear the voices

                                                                    of my grandchildren

                                                                    calling me Grandpa

                                                                    for the first time.

                                                                    These are the best

                                                                    moments in life.

                                                                    They make

 

Waking up in the morning                         waking up in the morning

Ugggg!

                                                                    worth it.

 

I don’t know if it’s even

worth it! I mean,

I like learning everything.

That’s my work!

And, I love seeing my friends

in all my classes.

But waking up?

Everyone hates waking up.

Still…being a student is

 

the best feeling.                                          The best feeling

                                                                      is knowing my kids are safe

                                                                      in Prespa.

                                                                      I can watch them grow up

                                                                      in a community where

                                                                      they don’t have to be afraid

                                                                      to go outside or stay out late.

 

For me,                                                         For me,

                                                                      as a young mother,

as a stray dog,                                                                                       

my biggest wish is                                       my biggest wish is

                                                                      for my kids 

to be safe and happy.                                  to be safe and happy.

And to have a full stomach,

of course. I need food and

I need a place to stay

through the night.

Even though the people

don’t always help me—and

sometimes they hurt me—

I still love them.

They don’t know it, but

I’m their best friend.

                                                                       I’m the best thing

                                                                       about Prespa.

                                                                       The people here love me.

                                                                       They love eating apples.

                                                                       They love picking apples.

                                                                        I taste sweet.

                                                                        I make them happy.

                                                                        I even make them money.

                                                                        Autumn in Prespa is my season.

                                                                        Everything is red and

                                                                        Everyone is singing and

                        having fun picking apples together.

 

I am alone.

 

People say, “If only walls

could talk.” But I say, if my

walls could talk people might

not like what they hear.

I have seen a lot of sad things—

things that I cannot tell.

I have seen people

be discriminated against

just because they are

different. I have seen

wars and hard times.

People like to live in peace, so

 

I don’t talk.                                                     I don’t talk.

                                                                        I see things.

                                                                        I hear things.

                                                                        But, villages don’t talk.

                                                                        Everyone wants to know my story.

                                                                        Everyone wants to know my history.

                                                                        But, no one knows for sure…only me.

                                                                        If you want to know, come live here.

                                                                        Make me your home, and then maybe

                                                                        I will come to you in your dreams

                                                                        and tell you secrets about

The farmers,

                                                                        who have always fed Prespa,

the old men,

                                                                        who have lived and died here,

the students,

                                                                        who you think spend their nights studying,

the young mothers,       

                                                                        who you know spend their nights with

                                                                        babies in their arms,

the stray dogs,

                                                                        who live on bread and bones, and

the apples:

                                                                         that fill this land.

                         I will tell you what the ancient buildings know

                                                                         And even some things they don’t, and

Together,                                                                   

                                                            together, we’ll find out why

we call this place home.                                we call this place home.

 

* The views expressed on this site do not represent the views of the Fulbright Program, the U.S. Department of State, or any of its partner organizations. They are the observations and reflections of someone who likes good stories. 

                                                                                           

 

To Be An Apple

To be chosen as The First Apple To Be Sliced is an honor. That’s what Jonagold tried to tell himself as 22 business suits escorted him to an unfamiliar row in the orchard.

As the group rounded the curtain of apple trees, Jonagold saw the square table with the white tablecloth and the sharp knife on the starched red napkin. He had heard about this place from last year’s apples. This was the altar where the season’s first apple is sliced and from which word seeps through the orchard: Apple season has begun.

Jonagold’s insides felt like mush. He had learned only last night that he was going to be The First Apple To Be Sliced when the head business suit plucked him from his tree and proclaimed, “I found it! This is the one!” Jonagold watched his leaf twirl to the ground and had a sinking feeling. Being “the one” is a lot of pressure for an apple, even with reassurance from last year’s Granny Smith—or what was left of her.

“Jush be yourshelf,” she had managed to squish out as Jonagold was carried away.

Granny’s words were wise. Jonagold was not afraid of the unknown. He was not afraid of going to an unfamiliar row in the orchard. He was not even afraid of being sliced and eaten. He was afraid he wasn’t good enough.

As he neared the white tablecloth and the red napkin, the pressure of being The First Apple To Be Sliced weighed heavily on Jonagold.

“Golden apples are more delicious,” he heard one apple whisper.

“He really should be wearing red,” remarked his distant Aunt Gala.

He struggled to let Granny’s words into his core. Then, he felt the cool September breeze on his skin, and something shifted.

Instead of worrying about his mushy insides, Jonagold focused on the crispness of the orchard air. Instead of wishing he still had his leaf, he felt grateful for the nutrients in his fruit. Instead of trying to be what the other apples wanted him to be, he just was what he had been his whole life. He was an apple. And that was good enough.

 

* The views expressed on this site do not represent the views of the Fulbright Program, the U.S. Department of State, or any of its partner organizations. They are the observations and reflections of someone who likes good stories.

 

Apartment Search: Resen, Macedonia

List of Characters

THE OPPORTUNIST: He is the kind of man who feels okay charging 350 euros for an apartment without a bed in a town where a normal salary is 200 euros.

THE SERIAL LANDLORD: He is the kind of man who looks like a landlord, acts like a landlord, smells like a landlord, and is known around town as a landlord.

THE YOUNG BUSINESSMAN: He is the kind of man who says he won't negotiate. But he probably will...kind of.

THE SUNSHINE LANDLORD: She is the kind of woman whose tenants change their locks.

 THE ART PROFESSOR: She is the kind of woman who can create beauty between a gas station and a car wash.

THE ELDER: She is the kind of woman who considers the number of people who have died in the apartment she is renting a selling point.

THE ENTHUSIAST NEIGHBOR: She is the kind of woman who gives potential neighbors wet kisses in the ear.

THE HYPER-ACTIVE SALESWOMAN: She is the kind of woman who probably drinks too much coffee and is better left alone to deal with a finicky deadbolt.

 THE DUDE: He is the kind of guy who always keeps company with at least one expressionless friend.

 THE NON-NEGOTIATOR: She is the kind of woman you only talk to once and there is no reason to meet.

 THE TEAM PLAYER: He is the kind of man whose way of doing business is best exemplified by the sound of clinking glasses.

 

* The views expressed on this site do not represent the views of the Fulbright Program, the U.S. Department of State, or any of its partner organizations. They are the observations and reflections of someone who likes good stories.