We just spent Spring Break in Rome with some friends from work, Will and Pauline. I was delighted to be able to eat the gelato, creamy pastas, and cheese over there- after a year and a half of lactose intolerance, quatro fromaggi pizza never tasted so glorious! (You can see my pizza in one of the pictures). Rome is gorgeous, of course. Some highlights included the Coliseum (the guys, inspired by the gladiators, bought wooden swords), Vatican City, seeing the pope (he blessed you all!), the Sistine Chapel and Vatican Museum, Palatine hill (where Rome started), catacombs, Tableaux Vivants (see us looking like statues), and countless amazing church frescos. I learned so much and am amazed that artifacts are so preserved after so many years!
Of course, you will see that our time was filled with laughter as well...
Monday, April 19, 2010
Saturday, April 3, 2010
Traveling with Teenagers
I had the wonderful opportunity this year to work with twelve 7th-grade choir students who participated in the MAIS honor choir in Valencia, Spain. I brushed up on my rehearsing-a-choir chops, for sure. Taking them on tour was a bigger learning curve; the students were at times exhausting, and other times made me laugh with joy. I learned a great deal about the cultural differences between my students and me, and many of these differences were more socioeconomic-based than country of origin-based. (The kids really just wanted to go shopping.) I wanted to share with you some photos of travelling with my well-to-do students, as well as some photos of Valencia…
Our Group. On Left is Paige, the MAIS honor choir director. Front right is Marti, the colleague who organizes this at our school each year. I thought it was funny that for the "silly" picture she's focusing on the kids.
(By the way, Valencia is underrated! It has a wonderful historical old town as well a fantastic modern architecture that houses museums, aquariums, and malls. We just missed the yearly tradition of Fallas, where people burn intricate wax sculptures; but we did see the museum. Valencia is known for oranges and paella, both of which I enjoyed.)
Our Group. On Left is Paige, the MAIS honor choir director. Front right is Marti, the colleague who organizes this at our school each year. I thought it was funny that for the "silly" picture she's focusing on the kids.
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| From MAIS |
Posing with some wall art
My student bought so many gifts at the mall that he had to buy a suitcase to accommodate them.
REALLY excited about the dog
walking through a cool aquarium!
One of the entrances to a famous cathedral in Valencia. Built over hundreds of years, and one of 5 places in the world thought to hold the Holy Grail.
Feed the birds...
Graffiti in Spain is so cool!
Old train station. You can't really see, but all along the walls and ceiling are glass mosaics. Gorgeous.
Flamenco dress in a shop.
-Karissa
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| From MAIS |
My student bought so many gifts at the mall that he had to buy a suitcase to accommodate them.
 |
| From MAIS |
REALLY excited about the dog
 |
| From MAIS |
walking through a cool aquarium!
 |
| From MAIS |
One of the entrances to a famous cathedral in Valencia. Built over hundreds of years, and one of 5 places in the world thought to hold the Holy Grail.
 |
| From MAIS |
Feed the birds...
 |
| From MAIS |
Graffiti in Spain is so cool!
 |
| From MAIS |
Old train station. You can't really see, but all along the walls and ceiling are glass mosaics. Gorgeous.
 |
| From MAIS |
Flamenco dress in a shop.
 |
| From MAIS |
-Karissa
A Weekend in Madrid
We decided to live every moment fully: we would wander all day, eat as much tapas (Spanish appetizers) as we could, drink plenty of good Spanish wine and sangria, visit museums, and not go to bed until we completely collapsed. We did NOT make it as long as the locals- the nightclubs and live music started at about 1am.
Wandering around our first evening, we found the recommended El Tigre in our neighborhood. El Tigre is crammed with young people, enjoying the social atmosphere and 1 Euro beers with greasy Tapas. Tom and I visited two nights in a row, we liked it so much.
After starting with "dinner" at El Tigre, Tom and I next wandered into a Museo Jambon, where you can buy sandwiches and sliced meat at the counter, to enjoy with a glass of wine or beer. This place was really fun…
Next, we went to Valor chocolates, where Tom ordered liquid chocolate and churros (I stayed away with my lactose intolerance). We closed the place…not too bad for our first day!
We didn’t go into the Prado museum because old, dark Christian art isn’t really our style. But we did appreciate the statues outside…
We DID visit the Museo Reina Sophia, which is a fantastic modern art museum. We marveled at Picasso’s Guernica. The exhibit included two rooms of Picasso’s sketches and artistic process; I especially liked seeing how he played around with the composition and with the forms of the horse.
Walking through Madrid makes me feel connected to history. The old buildings and squares of fountains made me feel peaceful.
-Karissa :)
Dubai
In the beginning of March, I went to Dubai (U.A.E.) for IB Music training. The training was fantastic- I met wonderful people and became very excited about starting the IB music program at my school next year. I am so thankful for the opportunity.
I had to laugh when I got on the plane; because international travel is less of a big deal for me, I hopped on the plane ready for a little flight…and was dismayed to learn that I would be stuck there for 6 hours and would be in a 5-hour time difference! I would’ve dressed differently… Once in Dubai, I LOVED the clean bathrooms, trains, and taxis in Dubai; it was my first time out of Morocco since we got here and I savored the organized cleanliness! I had to learn how to use an escalator again (not without amusement), and didn’t mind enjoying a soy latte for the first time in almost a year. I laughed when a guard on the train scolded our friend for eating.
Dubai has obviously made huge efforts to be modern and touristic. For me, this was both enjoyable and disturbing. Seeing deliberate city planning is fantastic. One of my favorite parts was the huge fountain, found at the base of the world’s tallest skyscraper and next to one of the world’s largest malls, where I was brought nearly to tears seeing music synchronized so sensitively to water. I loved eating dinner one night outside next to the fountain, stopping every 20 minutes to enjoy the show.
The beach (on the gulf) was lovely as well, and very clean. I was struck by the lack of sunset. The sun was there, and then it was gone, without a vibrant display of color.
I am not a mall magnet. Going to a new country, I wanted to eat Dubai food, see Dubai culture, shop for cultural things in the market. The opposite opportunities were true; most of the people there are expats and so the “culture” was Indian, Iranian, and a mix of many others. I spent my time in three different malls, and several times in one of the biggest. Of course, you can’t go to Dubai without spending time at “Ski Dubai,” an indoor ski park in the biggest mall. For about $60 USD (which included rentals and nifty matching outfits) we skied for two hours on the two slopes. I marveled that I was skiing in the desert, and that my fingers were freezing in this massive indoor fridge. We had a blast, one in our group even learned to ski for the first time. I couldn’t get over the sign inside that read: “Shell helps us keep the environment clean.” Yes, the gas company and the oil country are helping each other keep the environment clean, and I’m helping out too by supporting their endeavors in this energy-sucking desert ski slope.
I was sad to leave my new friends but happy to get back to earthy, dirty, cultural, random Morocco.
-Karissa :)
-Karissa :)
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