Fulbright Greece/Bulgaria

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.