Time is moving way too fast or not fast enough?
The dream of traveling the world to learn more about the people and cultures that exist on this big blue marble began in January of 2018 when I applied for the Fulbright Fellowship for Global Education. For months I waited to hear whether I had been selected, and then on July 23 I received the email that said, “Welcome to the Fulbright Family”! That felt like a visceral tectonic shift to my reality, and the happiness I felt brought a thousand tears. Life was hard and sad at the moment as I was losing my mother day by day. Good news was unsettling.
The Fall was disorienting as well as I threw myself into teaching my classes, and studying for the Teachers For Global Education class that was required as part of this journey. My mother was still very ill, but (good news!) my daughter was expecting a baby any time. Frannie arrived and weekends were spent traveling north to see Mom and south to help with the new baby. Mental shifts were rather frequent. On December 23rd we finally learned which country we would be traveling to: Senegal, Morocco, Columbia, Peru, India or Indonesia. While I was very excited that I would be going to Peru, I was also very nervous (mountains aren’t my favorite places, but I’m working on that!)
In January my mother passed away and in February I prepared to travel to Washington for the Fulbright Teachers For Global Education Seminar. The Seminar was orchestrated perfectly. We learned a great deal about the countries we would be teaching in, global etiquette, and problems that beset our world. We had wonderful speakers from the State Department, and the Fulbright office. Dr. Hakim Williams spoke and I believe that many of us will carry his words with us forever, he is an amazing educator, researcher and friend of the world. https://hakimwilliams.com . The absolute best part of the seminar was meeting the other 75 teachers that received the Fulbright and my new friends, The Peru Crew! We were so amazed to find how quickly we banded together as a team, and I cannot wait to meet up with my people in Peru!
May is always an interesting month for teachers: students are checked out, schedules for next year aren’t solidified, Spring has sprung (or not in Ohio), vacation planning is in full swing, so many family celebrations and for this teacher – packing for Peru! We leave on June 17th and while I am mentally ready, I’m in near panic about what to bring as gifts for the students, how to write lesson plans for the classes I will teach (do not know age of students yet :)), how to dress appropriately for winter in South America, making sure I have all of the vaccines I need…but, I am so very grateful that I have been given this opportunity for growth in my life.
worldwidedeb 