Fulbright Greece/Bulgaria

It’s kind of interesting:  This thing seems to run in cycles.  About when I think the Fulbright and its follow-up has run its course, something new comes along.  I get the chance to look over my notes, review PowerPoints, and talk again about the amazing trip I took almost two years ago.

Last fall Jill and I met Amy in Washington for the Fulbright Alumni Conference.  It was really kind of fun.  I prepared a display for the poster session and talked about Greece and Bulgaria with other Fulbright alumni.

Now it’s March, and I’m being asked to talk about the Fulbright again. Earlier this month Nick from the Fulbright Foundation in Greece asked us to submit a brief article on the impact of the Fulbright for a web site at the Johns Hopkins School of Education.  Yesterday I talked to Ms. Hibbert’s mythology class about Greek mythology and showed slides of the mythological sites I visited in Greece.  In the middle of April I’ve been asked to talk to the Geneva Rotary Club about the Fulbright program.

So the cycle continues almost two years after our group first met in Chicago.

In a few days it will be the first anniversary of the start of our Fulbright-Hays adventure.  I don’t think I finished packing until it was almost time to leave for the airport.  I wore a sweatshirt to the airport because it was cool here when we left.  The plan was to leave the old sweatshirt with Jill before I boarded.  But I walked through security wearing the it, and as it worked out I was glad to have it.  I was cool that weekend in Chicago.  It even rained one day, and another layer was welcome.  I’d packed for mostly hot weather, not cool and rainy. 

Every once in awhile I get the feeling that most people have forgotten about the trip and the program, but then something happens to change my mind.  Quite a while ago, Jennifer mentioned that the sixth grade classes in the intermediate building would be studying Greek mythology.  Maybe I could talk about my trip when they were finished with their projects.  That discussion was months ago.  Well, about three weeks ago Jennifer asked if I was still interested in talking Greek mythology to four classes of sixth graders.  I said yes immediately.  I decided to show pictures of the landscape and talk about how the physical environment could shape some of the concepts and stories of the ancient Greeks.  This presentation would be a version of the original project required by the program that I completed back in the fall.  The students were great.  Since they had finished their projects, they knew about Zeus, Mt. Olympus, Athena, and Delphi.  They came up with questions only kids could think of:  “Did I do any hunting while I was in Greece?”  “Why don’t a lot of Greek statues have any arms?”  They were very attentive, and the best part is they applauded after every presentation.  You don’t hear applause very often with high school students.  It made it all quite worthwhile.  

I’m pretty sure this is what they had in mind when we were selected:  It’s been almost seven months since I returned from my amazing trip to Greece and Bulgaria.  Back in January, we went to Tim and Ann’s for dinner.  Trudi and Fred were there.  I was the after dinner entertainment.  I narrated a Greece and Bulgaria PowerPoint that I had shown for the Sodus Lions Club the night before.  Every time I look at the images on the screen some memory, or feeling, or smell comes back that I hadn’t crossed my mind since I returned.  Last week the Sodus High School art department hosted an exhibit of student and staff photographs.  I submitted six pictures from Delphi, Sozopol, Rila, and Pella.  On Wednesday I presented another PowerPoint for Rob’s high school art students in Geneseo.  I had to do some research to prepare, but I think his students enjoyed it.  Rob’s student teacher Thea spent ten weeks in Greece studying the art and architecture in many of the same places I went to.  In addition, she’s a big fan of Bulgarian pottery.  She has tried to no avail to duplicate the distinctive Bulgarian designs.  So she and I had a lot to talk about. I showed a Bulgarian bowl and a ceramic bird whistle to Rob’s classes.  I wish I had brought back more.  Hopefully, Rob’s students learned a little about Greek and Bulgarian art and art history.  And I think I’m probably doing what Sen. Fulbright had in mind when he started programs that foster cultural exchange.

So I’ve had dinner parties, service club meetings, photography exhibits, and art class presentations since I last posted.

I finished the year by meeting up with the two Fulbrighters who are the geographically the closest.  I had already planned to go to New Hampshire after Christmas to see Jill’s parents, so I contacted Ann and Mark to see if they would like to get together.  After a couple e-mails we decided to meet at the Athens restaurant in Manchester, N.H., about an hour and fifteen minutes from Keene.  The Athens is owned by a Greek family and serves authentic Greek food.  Ann and Mark had met there prior to our trip. I had never been to Manchester before.  I had to circle the downtown with its one way streets several times before I found Central Avenue and the restaurant.  Ann was already there, and Mark arrived soon after.  The food was good; the portions big.  Mark  selected an appropriate Greek red wine, of course. The three of us talked as if no time had passed.  We caught up on news we each had heard or read from Greece and Bulgaria.  We talked about the Greek riots that occurred near places we had visited like Syntagma Square in Athens and the Roman arches in Thessaloniki.  The riots seemed puzzling to us.  From our point of view, it seemed difficult to understand the reasons behind the violence in such an outwardly peaceful country. We felt that there must be underlying problems that sparked them.  And we also talked about the status of our projects.  Mark brought pictures from Greece and Bulgaria he had printed.  He let us chose our favorites to bring home with us.

Several people have asked me about what has happened since I returned from our trip, so I’ve decided to update the blog.  I’ve done a presentation at the public library recapping my trip and taught a lesson on the environment of Greece as it relates ancient mythology.  I’m scheduled to do a presentation at the BOCES Library Leadership Conference in January.  I’ve submitted my required education project.  I have my Greece posters up in the library.  And when I thought maybe most people have forgotten about my trip, the study hall monitor and the night cleaner have both stopped me in the hall at different times to ask me about my trip.  It kind of seems like a long time ago until I look at the pictures again, and it all comes back with a rush.  Would I do it again?  Yeah, in a minute.

The picture above shows me and my granddaughter at a cottage on Conesus Lake wearing matching Bulgaria shirts last August.