Rome

Last week was extremely enriching. I topped it off by meeting my cousin Brandon in Rome Friday morning. It was so good to see someone I’ve known fro years!

We set out immediately to explore the Forum. It was captivating and larger than I imagined. We spent several hours their. It was interesting to see how the perspective and angles of the ruins changed based on where I was standing. I’ve always been enthralled by ruins and abandoned buildings.

Hanging out with Brandon was fantastic we caught up, made jokes, etc etc.:):):):) After the Forum we had some delicious pasta and then we joined a tour at the Colosseum.

Our guide told us about the Colosseum’s glory days and the tragedy of gladiators who were enslaved to perform violent entertainment. After centuries of looting and abandonment the Colosseum has been partially restored to entertain tourists.

The Colosseum tour led right into another 45 minute tour of the Forum. We’re pretty sure this was a mistake on the guide’s part because we only paid 5 euro. We went along with it, and the Forum was even better the second time around. We saw a part that we accidently missed the first time, the lighting was better for pictures, and the history was fascinating.

After the tours we walked around Rome and then went back to the hostel to relax. That night we went out with our very awesome hostel mates. Everyone was truly lovely. The most interesting conversation I had was with t a Jewish-American man who spent three years in Israel.

At the bars we learned that there are a lot of Americans in Rome. They are all illegally living the Italian dream as under the table English teachers, tour guides, and leaf letters. Sounds exciting to me!

Patience

Teaching has provided plenty of opportunities for me to practice patience, acceptance, and living in the moment. It has also been a humbling reminder that I still have such a long way to go. When I start to master being patient in one context, I am inevitably provided with a new situation and I start the process of practicing patience all over again.

Some of my students are really strong in English, others can’t conjugate the verb to be. Some students are willing to participate, others are like stone. Since I only see each student once every two or three weeks it is hard to know what I am in for. Sometimes I take on a group of students who I know are strong, but they are tired and having an off day. The result is; I have to live in the moment, and work with what I’ve got.

I know that if I become frustrated or impatient my students will become withdrawn and they will feel bad about themselves. My defense against impatience is encourage, encourage, encourage. Slowly, I’m genuinely starting to be more patient and truly happy with however my students arrive to me. It’s been work though, and I have a lot more work to do. It’s hard to be patient if I’m tired or having an off day, but I’m getting better. Fortunately I don’t have very many tired days.

Poverty

Last year, when I applied to Teach for America, I learned that schools In the United States are primarily funded by property taxes. Therefore, a school that is in a neighborhood with a lot of public housing receives less property taxes, ergo less funding. Less funding, means less of everything. Less salary for teachers, less supplies, after school programs, honors programs, music programs, theater programs etc. Lack of funds is seen as a major player in the under education of millions of children. The solution that was presented to me through Teach for America is that more money and a few hyper-motivated teachers would render better schools and better students.

In France I teach in an Education Priority School. This means that the students in my school underperform on national exams and they are largely economically underprivileged. At my school over 50% of the students failed the national exam. In addition to poverty my school has a high percentage of students who are immigrants or come from immigrant families. The students at my school have a reputation for being difficult.

There are numerous schools in the United States that fit the above description. However in France, all schools have the same amount of money per pupil. Despite the socioeconomic status of my students, my school is in a new building, and has plenty of supplies. Teachers are paid extra to compensate for teaching in a challenging school. My experiences here in France have presented a challenge to my cultural assumptions about how to deal with educational disparity and cyclical poverty.

I think all students regardless of social status should have equal access to high quality education. Their is no doubt that education has an important equalizing force on society. However it is clear to me that education isn’t the only thing needed to stop cyclical poverty. In analyzing culture there is far more than one variable. France, for example, doesn’t have the same tradition of afterschool programs, music programs, and honors programs. It’s hard to measure the extent that supplemental programming contributes to the development of students. Nevertheless, it seems clear, that money and teachers are not the only things necessary to solving poverty. How do we bridge the gap between the haves and the have-nots?

Next year I’ll be a tutor for AmeriCorps at an underprivileged school in St. Louis. I’m excited for the opportunity to compare next years experience with my experiences in France. Hopefully I’ll have a better understanding of culture, education, and poverty.

Sad

Today I found out that an arrest was made in connection to the murder of Jeremy Scully, who was one of my pole vaulting coaches.

I’m sad all over again for the loss.

I’m sad for the person who killed my friend. Two types of people commit crimes; those with big hurts and those with severe mental illness.

I’m sad that I don’t know what to do with the person who killed my friend. All the great religious profits would undoubtedly say forgiveness. Forgiveness seems to have magical powers of healing and peace making.

But how? How do I see past my own hurt, to connect with the hurt of the person who hurt me and so many others?

Can I still continue to hurt and forgive? If not, how do I stop hurting?
I have some reading and thinking to do. There are a lot of incredible stories out their. I would really like to take an abnormal psychology class as well.

I’m sad that as a society the best idea we have come up with for dealing with social hazards is prison. Prison isn’t a place of healing.

I’m sad that the person who killed my friend will be dehumanized into nothing more than a murderer. I am sad that we will probably take our collective hurt to the point of murder.

I am hopeful that one day society will acquire such a heightened state of collective consciousness and responsibility that prisons will be archaic and crime unheard of.

French High School

If a French middle school student passes a national exam they are invited to three years of high school. Upon entering high school students choose a track of study. Either they go for a language/literature track, a science/math track, or a mixture. The same legislation that is trying to reform French kindergarten is trying to reform the high schools to be more like the United States.

In France high school students are responsible for purchasing their own books. I was pretty shocked to learn about this, especially since University is nearly free. There are book scholarships for economically disadvantaged students but it still seems difficult to buy books in high school. Education prior to 18 is a gift from the state. It is in a countries best interest to have an educated population, and it seems like buying books is a bit of a hurdle.

Despite buying books, 80% of students receive the BAC. The BAC is roughly equivalent to the American high school diploma. Those who don’t go to high school or for some other reason don’t get the BAC receive education in a trade.

Perhaps it is my own cultural assumptions, but I don’t have any sense of school community in France. The schools here don’t have any school sponsored sports or dances. I have never seen anybody wearing school paraphernalia. Every class has a representative, but their isn’t a student government.

Hotdog

Ursula wanted to buy a hotdog at the end of a cold and windy day in Stockholm. So we stopped at the next vendor, which was staffed by a man in his 20’s. I translated the details of her hotdog options from English into French. After shivering, I tried to sympathize with the man fixing the hotdog.

“You must be cold out here all day! And you can’t even wear gloves!”

“You get used to it, and the fire helps” the vendor replied. “Are you French?”

“No, I’m from the Untied States, and she is from Chile, we live in France and teach our mother tongues, but we speak French to each other because I don’t speak Spanish and she doesn’t speak English. Where are you from?”

“Iraq.”

“I’m so sorry.” I immediately started fighting tears.

“It’s just politics.”

“How long have you been here?”

“I’ve been here a year and a half. They killed my family so I escaped Iraq.”
Ursula and the vendor exchanged the hot dog for the money. “I’m so sorry.”

“It’s politics.”

The second my back was turned on the vendor I couldn’t stop crying. Ursula had no idea what was going on, and I couldn’t speak for a while. How cruel that coming to a foreign country to sell hotdogs in subzero temperatures is a life improvement. I thought it was nice of him to use the impersonal “they”. After I got back to the hostel it took several hours of quite time and journaling before I felt ready to socialize.

Why I Travel

I feel compelled to travel. I have an insatiable curiosity about the world that can’t be satisfied by books. I’m an extremely physical person. My body buzzes when I engage all of my senses and expand my limits.

I want to seek out all the knowledge that I can. I don’t know what I am going to do with this knowledge, but I’m sure it will come in handy someday. Once I went to an informational meeting on French drivers license. The subject couldn’t have been less interesting, but I wanted to practice French. Later, my seemingly useless store of information came in handy when my friend got pulled over. Maybe I’ll have more experiences like that.

A short list of things I learned on my latest trip….
1.) Francophone Swiss bisous three times starting from the left.
2.) Norwegians start learning English at four years old
3.) 80% of Swedes speak English.
4.) Gustav Vigeland
5.) Gustav Klimt
6.) Theater etiquette
7.) Basic Tango
8.) New Foods
9.) New French music.
10.) Swedes like to celebrate travel with a drink, even at five in the morning.
11.) 10-15% of Jordanians are Christian.
12.) The opportunity to get a perspective on culture and politics in Jordan.
13.) Challenging conversations
14.) History
15.) Bauhaus

I don’t go looking for happiness in other countries. I’m not disappointed when I find that at a very fundamental level other countries are similar to my own. People are tired of work, they like to talk and eat. Everyone everywhere wants to be safe, happy, and loved. People are doing their best to take care of themselves and their families.

A big theme from my latest trip is wandering around towns, and talking with folks. It doesn’t sound that interesting; I don’t have to leave the United States to do that. There are pretty towns and interesting people everywhere. Every country has a psudo national identity as well as subcultures, and countercultures. So why buy plane tickets?

I get along with travelers. All my best friends in life are travelers. The people I meet on the road are kindred spirits. I appreciate and recognize fundamental similarities between other countries and my own, but I like details too. SAD didn’t affect me at all this winter because I was so stimulated by the newness and excitement of details like funny caddy’s in the grocery store.

My latest trip was particularly interesting, because it was the first time that I traveled in countries where I don’t speak the national language. The majority of people in Norway and Sweden speak English, but travel isn’t the same if one doesn’t speak the language. There is a big difference between travel and tourism. I’m cautiously willing to say that tourism is almost inevitable if one doesn’t speak the language. I don’t know anything about Swedish culture for example. Couchsurfing does a little bit to bridge the tourism versus travel gap. Nevertheless, I can’t say that after four days with one Norwegian that I have an understanding of Norwegian culture. I think of travel as a long stay, genuine cultural sharing, and language. I’m leery of the comodified element pervasive to tourism. Yet tourism has advantages, so I proceed with caution.

Indeed travel and tourism aren’t without problems. Travel is a privilege and it’s not great for the environment. I could easily be spending my time and money in more philanthropic ways. At it’s base, I believe travel is important to building a sense of global identity, compassion, and understanding. Travel also offers an invaluable opportunity to really understanding one’s mother culture. Even if someone never gets intimate with another culture, it doesn’t take much tourism to open a new perspective on home. Travel as an idea isn’t really problematic; it is the structures that surround it. Quitting travel isn’t an acceptable option; instead travelers should unite to make travel more accessible, less corporate, and more environmentally friendly.