Two Wicked Awesome Classes

It’s been months since I posted last – and I have every intention of getting you people caught up on the last three months. But there’s a post that’s pouring out of me – it’s begging to be written – so I must obey the forces of inspiration.

The last two classes I’ve had were the most inspiring and enjoyable I’ve had in six months here. The first was at the teacher-training college (profesorado) I’m working at now, which is an extremely interesting and innovative institute and also the most prestigious profesorado in Argentina. My story starts here: I visited a U.S. history class that’s a requirement for students in the English Department. After getting to class and meeting the professor (her name is Paula López Cano), I found out she’s a fellow Fulbrighter! She won an Argentine Fulbright grant in the 1970s to do a Master’s program at the University of Kansas. I’d say she was even more enthusiastic than I am about the Fulbright program, as well as the U.S. in general. After thinking about it, I can relate to that – I’ve fallen in love with Argentina, and I’ve met a lot of Argentines who are mopey and critical about Argentina and all the issues the country has to face. More on that next time.

While we were discussing the Fulbright program, Paula mentioned certain aspects of the program’s early history that, to be honest, I had forgotten about. The program was founded in 1946 thanks to legislation introduced by U.S. Senator William Fulbright, a Southern Democrat who supported racial segregation but yet had a progressive, idealistic, and philosophical view about the merits of international exchange programs. Fulbright’s ultimate hope was that starting a program for cultural exchange would help countries avoid the horrors and atrocities the world had just seen in World War II. In other words, the program aimed to create a new world order in which countries shipped students and scholars around the world instead of soldiers. In the words of the Senator: “The Fulbright Commission aims to bring a little more knowledge, a little more reason, and a little more compassion into world affairs and thereby increase the chance that nations will learn at last to live in peace and friendship.” Pretty damn cool, if you ask me.

My fellow Fulbrighter also surprised me with this: later in her career she went to a summer conference at Boston College – so she’s walked the Freedom Trail and she’s even been to a Red Sox game. But get this – while in Massachusetts, Paula and the other conference participants headed west on the Mass Pike so they could get to know the greatest place on earth: Western Mass!!!!! She’s been to Springfield, Umass, and even Sturbridge Village!! I was practically jumping on top of my desk and doing backflips when she told me all of this. I’ve been away for six months now, so it was incredible to meet someone who’s been to all of these places – which span not only my personal and work life nowadays, but my childhood as well (Sturbridge Village!!!). It helped me get over my halfway-done homesickness, and it made me both inspired to keep putting everything into this, and really excited to get home in a few months.

The second class was just last night, and it was at a friend’s private English-language institute about 30 minutes outside of the city. This was my third time visiting her night class, which is for adults, and since I’m familiar with the students now I wanted to do something fun and different. So I prepared a class on Tupac Shakur, the renowned West Coast rapper who was shot to death in 1996. I shared a couple of quotes from my favorite article about Tupac, and then we listened to “Changes,” perhaps his most famous song that talks about the problems African Americans face in the U.S. today – in terms of racism and hatred; complacency on the part of the government and the authorities; and the issues facing African American communities from within. The students were really interested, if a little lost by the lyrics (their English is intermediate/beginner). I thought it was a valuable class because Argentines consume a massive amount of American pop culture – music, movies, TV shows from the U.S. – but they tend to know very little about hip hop and its significance. I’m definitely planning to use the same lesson with some classes at the colleges I’m working at. It should be fun and interesting.

I’m back in the game! I’ll try to post again soon. No promises, but I’ll do my best. A big shout-out to Granny, whose birthday I missed a couple of weeks ago, and Brother Bear, whose birthday I’ll miss tomorrow. Feliz cumpleaños a los dos, y los extraño mucho! Hope everyone is well!