Homemade french toast from fellow Fulbright ETA Kelsey, followed by some delicious tea and honey.
Mmmm, Kosovo.
Mmmm, Kosovo.
Homemade french toast from fellow Fulbright ETA Kelsey, followed by some delicious tea and honey.
Mmmm, Kosovo.
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Halloween is my favorite time of year. Autumn is at its peak, the leaves are golden and red, apple cider is readily found in most stores, the air is crisp, and costumes are publicly acceptable. I'm definitely missing the Halloween season. So, I thought I'd compensate by doing something fun at the American Corner.
Unfortunately, Halloween is not really celebrated in Kosovo. People definitely know it exists. Some people do dress up and celebrate--children walk around the streets in witches hats and wigs; teenagers paint their faces (nothing specific, as far as I can tell); and young boys run around throwing eggs at people and cars. However, there's not a lot here that portrays the real essence or spirit of Halloween. It's more of a fad-based celebration, which makes sense. Halloween hasn't been embedded into their very being. So, I attempted to bring Halloween to Kosovo. In the absence of orange pumpkins, we made apple “jack-o-laterns” to celebrate. It was a lot of fun, and the students already knew the appropriate decorations without me having to show them pictures or talk about how we usually carve pumpkins. We turned on Malificent, which was chosen by the students, and had our own low-key Halloween party with cookies and fruit. We even found a mask a witch's hat at the Corner, so you can be sure that there were many selfies taken this day! I got a surprise visit from Micaela this weekend! She is the Clinton-Fellow working in one of the Ministries in Prishtina. Today was her first day in Prizren, so, of course, we went out for some drinks at one of my favorite hangouts. The owner of Casbah lived in New York for many years, and always enjoys the presence of Americans.
One of the projects I'd like to do during my time in Kosovo is to develop a lesson plan that will help U.S. students learn more about Eastern Europe (and, specifically, Kosovo, of course). Right now, the U.S. Social Studies curriculum is still very Western European centered and doesn't allow for much of the world's history. Where was pre-colonized Australia in our history classes? Eastern Asia? Yugoslavia? There is so much left out of our history classes, but so much that we can (and should) learn from.
So, I've requested the help of my American Corner students! Today we discussed what makes Kosovo unique, and students wrote letters, lists, and essays that can be utilized by U.S. teachers, students, and people who want to be more informed global citizens :) This time, many of my Remzi Ademaj students came. Almost too many, actually! We filled the place wall-to-wall. I was proud of them! Outside of the high school I’m working at, I also spend my time running workshop at The American Corner—a State Department sponsored initiative to bring American culture, language, history, and government to people of all ages in the form of conversation, activities, and events. There are nearly 400 American Corners in 60 countries across the globe. And in Prizren, I am—in fact—the only American at the American Corner.
Today, I had a great mix of students from two of Prizren’s high schools (aka gymnasiums), university students, as well as adults. The participants have a wide range of backgrounds, but all are seeking to improve their English and connect with other language learners at the Corner! |
AuthorCassie Ganzak is a current Fulbright ETA teaching in Prizren, Kosovo during the 2014-2015 academic year.
DisclaimerThis site is not an official Fulbright Program site. The views expressed on this site are entirely those of its author, Cassandra Ganzak, and do not represent the views of the Fulbright Program, the United States' Department of State, or any of its partner organizations.
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