Kosovar-Albanians visit Holmdel High
December 2001 brought
two Kosovar-Albanian students from Pristina, the capital city of Kosova,
to Holmdel High for a visit. Majlinda Kamberi and Zana Zeqiri were
in New York state visiting family, when Mrs. Cerqueira invited them to visit.
The girls took the train through New York City, and arrived at Hazlet Train
station. They followed the normal schedule at Holmdel, attending period
1 through period 8. They told Holmdel students about their school,
how difficult it was during the war. They talked about Madonna and
musical groups. We then taught the girls how to play “Seven Up”,
a traditional American school game!
The highlight of the day was a school-wide pep rally
for the winter sports teams. With the cheerleaders cheering and dancing, basketball
teams dunking basketballs, and the music blaring, the girls got to participate
in an American high school tradition that dates back forever and a day!
That night, Majlinda and Zana went to the movies with
some Holmdel students, seeing Vertical Limit. They ate sour
patch kids and popcorn. Again, they were immersed in American
culture, taking photo after photo after photo! These would be shared with
their classmates back at the Xhevdet Doda School when they returned home.
The next day, the girls again came to Holmdel.
They spoke about their lives in Kosova, and what it was like during the war.
As Holmdel kids jokes about what they’d do during a war, the girls grew
somber.
“If you had experienced war, you would not laugh
about it”, Zana remarked. It seems both groups of students had learned
something. After school, the girls visited with Vlora and Olimpia
Zherka, who gave them the tour of Holmdel. New York State filled with
stories and tales of Holmdel.