Food and Music -Cultural exchanges
at their best
!
“If it is fun, the teens will participate. If they participate, they
will learn.” thought Mrs. Cerqueira as she was planning out the first activities
of the Global Connections project in October 2000. Creating cultural
understanding by participating in another country’s holidays is not a new
idea, and the Global Connections started with the ‘tried and true’ practice.
Halloween, a traditional holiday celebrated by any ethnic or religious group
in America, was the perfect holiday to export to Kosovo.
It would be easily adapted to conditions in Kosovo, it was fun, and emphasized
the right values.
On October 31, 2000, students poured into room 402 dressed up in their
costumes, ready to celebrate. Potato chips, soda, pretzels and cookies,
scary music like “Monster Mash” and a video camera met the revelers.
We laughed, we ate, we joked about each others costumes, and we talked to
our Kosovar friends on video. “It was so much fun,” said Andrew Pachero,
“I sang ‘The Devil went down to Georgia’ song! The whole thing, they must
think we are crazy.” Emails later confirmed that the Kosovar students
did!
Photos, videos, and all kinds of Halloween candy and decorations were sent
to the schools in Kosovo. “They had their own parties, sharing the fun
with us. We received letters telling us how much fun they had and how
they appreciated us sending them “Halloween-in-a-box”, said Mrs. Cerqueira.
Holmdel students celebrated their first Albanian Flag Day, downloading flags
and wearing red to class. Mrs. Zherka, a Holmdel parent, prepared traditional
Albanian spinach bread and stuffed peppers. Olimpia Zherka spoke in
Albanian to our Kosovar Albanians friends on video. Students in
unison shouted, “Miredita! Gezuar!” which translates to “Greeting and
Celebrate”.
Serbs in Kosovo are Eastern Orthodox Christians. They wrote letters
explaining why their calendar is different from the Christian calendar used
in the United States. This was a relevation for many Holmdel students.
Again, students learned to say “Hello- Zdravo” in Serbian.