Tag: westtown school

סבבה: sababa = awesome, cool

On By hannahzuckerbergIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

As the days go by, things get easier- being busy is good! I’m even learning a little Hebrew.

I went to Haifa (Baha’i Center) and Akko (Sufi monastery and a Mosque). It seems there is peace and tolerance and that Arabs have a good life there.

I spent the Sabbath on Kibbutz Magal. A Kibbutz is a neighborhood of communal living. It feels a bit like a university campus- with a dining hall, convenient store, a cafe, and lots of homes. Each Kibbutz has their own thing, and Kibbutz Magal has a Netafim factory that makes drip irrigation systems. This kibbutz also has an amazing stables (with jackals, bunnies, snakes, dogs, goats, birds, horses, and more) where mentally and physically disabled youth come for rehabilitation. I stayed with a wonderful family and enjoyed the sunshine and peace of the countryside. The Kibbutz lies between Arab cities and very close to Palestinian territories. I’ve been hearing a lot of different point of views because everyone I meet has one.

Today I met up with close family friends Arnie and Ellen in a residential area of Tel Aviv. We walked down on the beach and had many conversations about life in Israel, where they come for a few weeks throughout the year.

Here are some pictures from my travels!

 

The Baha’i Garden in Haifa
The Baha’i Garden in Haifa
The Baha’i Garden in Haifa
Arab market in Akko
View from Kibbutz Magal, the far left mountains are Palestinian, the right mountains are Arab Israeli, and the farm is the Kibbutz
Drip irrigation examples
Horses at the Kibbutz’s stable
Animals at the Kibbutz’s stable
View from the road
The wall goes over the road through this Arab city
Great view of North Tel Aviv

 

All is well. Much love,

Hannah

Twitter Takeover

On By acovaleskiIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

It’s Women Only Week over at When the Gramophone Rings! I had one of my pieces posted on Wednesday (which can be read here) and today I am managing the Twitter account for the blog. Women Only Week has been quite a treat to see unfold. All of the ladies that write for the blog are incredibly talented and we all have our own approach to choosing music and writingXYLO-wow-900x540.jpg about it. It’s also really neat to see all of the wonderful female artists who are out there right now and uplift them. This week we have two types of posts. The first type is just the standard write up we do, but this week they’re all about songs from women. The second type is very special. We have guest posts where female musicians talk about a female inspiration, either musical or otherwise. We had a great piece from LOOP talking about why pop queen Christina Aguilera is her musical inspiration and I loved seeing how women can encourage and help each other. We’ve also got a piece from Amber Bain of The Japanese House coming and that will be something spectacular. Bain is one of the most gifted females working in music right now and it will be the perfect ending to a girl power week!
Taking over the Twitter account is a lot of fun. People really like to interact with the blog and it’s nice to see how they enjoy reading what we post. A lot of artists even give feedback about what we write about them. I think Twitter is a great vehicle for sharing music. It’s easy to interact with people and it’s always short and sweet because of the character limit on tweets.

On the SXSW front, I’m finalizing my schedule and starting to pack. The number of bands that are performing for official and unofficial showcases is insane. It’s impossible to see everyone because so many venues have shows at the same time, so I’m having a hard time picking and choosing which artists I want to see. I’ll probably end up running around like a headless chicken between venues, but at least I’ll get to see more artists!

-Amanda

 

 

Dropping Like Flies

On By rebeccaw2016In Ghana 2016Leave a comment

Yesterday, we went to Mankessim’s market. People were bustling around us and staring at us because of our obvious difference in looks that they are used to. Many of us bought fabric so that we could have one of T. Melissa’s friends make us dresses, shirts, or aprons.

Today was our third day teaching, and everything seems to be falling into place. Students are consistently coming to our class and wandering off a little less than before (quite an accomplishment we think). Yesterday, I finally got the correct class, the wrong students came the first class. My class yesterday caught onto my choreography really well and quickly, and I believe they enjoyed it because today they came to class and started dancing the moves I taught right away.

On a less happy note, many of us are getting sick in one way or another. Dehydration has been a problem because we are not used to the temperature or humidity here in Ghana. Also, many of us, including myself, are having to deal with some really itchy heat rash. As Hannah likes to say, she has chicken skin on her legs. Unfortunately, the other blogger on this trip, Brooke, is one of our friends who is sick.

Westtown, I Don’t Think we’re in Pennsylvania Anymore

On By rebeccaw2016In Ghana 2016Leave a comment

(From March 9th because of internet issues)

People always tell you right before you leave for another country that you’re going to experience major culture shock. It’s difficult to prepare yourself for what you see in a country like Ghana. People are everywhere, walking on the side of the roads that are covered with trash. Goats are everywhere, and yes I mean everywhere. Unlike in the States where cars move out of the way for people, people walking on the side of the road are expected to jump out of the way for cars because they drive all over the roads, on whatever side they can to avoid holes or just where ever they want.

For the first day, after the ten and a half hour long plane ride with a screaming toddler just two seats away from me, we took a bus two more hours to the guest house we are staying in for the next two weeks. We met some people from the village we are in and struggled to keep our eyes open so that we could adjust to the time difference.

The next day, Monday, we had to adjust our schedule because it was Ghana’s Independence Day, so there was no school. Instead of teaching, we went to Coconut Grove Resort and relaxed at the pool and the beach all afternoon.

Today was our first day at Heritage Academy. Throughout the day we taught classes that we planned weeks ago and led reading groups to help the seventh and eighth graders with their reading skills. My class, a dance class, was definitely a big learning experience. The teachers had warned us that the students don’t pay attention too well sometimes, but I was not expecting it to be at the degree it went to. I definitely had struggles with getting the students to commit to the activities and not to be self-conscious about dancing in front of each other, and students looking out from different classrooms. It has helped me learn about how important it is for teachers to be able to adapt and change lesson plans depending on what interests the students and at what level they are.

Tomorrow, is another teaching day but in the afternoon we are going to a nearby town to visit the market.

A Stranger in a Strange New Place: A Jewish Right of Passage

On By hannahzuckerbergIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

It’s 12 am, the end of my second day in Tel Aviv, Israel.  I just finished writing 15 pages in my journal and have yet to cover today… so yes, a lot has happened, and yes, I am exhausted.  The thing they don’t tell you about traveling is how challenging it is, especially alone.  At Westtown I can go into a friends room, but here I am my only support.  Thankfully I have wifi and can keep in touch with my friends, but in the end when I turn off my phone it is just me here.  I still try to dive into every situation with an open mind and have learned so much already.

 

The El Al flight was easy and, luckily, I slept through most of the chaos.  I have never been on a plane where people walk around so much.  At day brake, the Orthodox Jews stood in the aisle to do the Amidah (morning prayers) while crew maneuvered around passing out glatt kosher breakfasts and children ran around.

 

My first day in Tel Aviv was warm like the sun and cool as the sea breeze.  I had a wonderful roof-garden lunch with Nurid (with whom I am staying) and went out that night with some young Israelis.  The people here are so friendly and open, but they are very intense.  Everyone has served in the military and there is a sense of urgency about the impermanence of life.

 

Today I went to the Pelmach Museum and met young visionaries who work to improve the lives of Ethiopians and Palestinians. Tonight I had a very interesting talk with Avishay about Israeli politics and it is just as, if not more complicated than American politics.  I feel like this trip is a “right of passage” for a Jew because I am facing the contradictions of a Jewish state.  It is a state founded in the name of freedom, to be a refuge for the suffering, but has not fulfilled its promise to all its people.

 

I am safe and am in good hands.  My mind is expanding!  Part of me wants to run away and return to the safety of my own bed and the other part is filled with the adrenaline of the adventure.  Tomorrow, I am of with Amos to tour Haifa and Akko and then I will spend the Sabbath at a Kibbutz.

 

Until then, much love,

Hannah

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Creative Writing

On By carolinetien16In Uncategorized, westtown schoolLeave a comment

Hey, everyone! Just got home after a long train ride, and I’m excited to really kick off my creative writing-centered senior project! As some of you may know, writing is a passion of mine, but between cocurricular sports, club meetings, and academics I unfortunately can’t often find the time to do it at school. I’m excited to have the opportunity to write intensively over these next few weeks, though, and hopefully I’ll produce enough good work to be able to submit some for publication! I’ve been brainstorming ideas for a few months now, and I think I have a couple good ones I could turn into poems, short stories, or maybe even something else…

Anyway, I’m curious to see what I come up with over the next few days! This is a time for me to experiment and move beyond my  comfort zones, and I hope I grow as a writer over the duration of my senior project. Check back in often to see my progress!

-Caroline

 

 

Israel: Goodbye “peace,” hello “shalom”

On By hannahzuckerbergIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

I can’t believe I’m actually starting my Senior Project. I’ve been planning trips in my mind since freshman year- and now I’m finally off.

 

For the past few weeks, people have been asking me what I’m doing. “I’m going to Israel,” I say. “But not on the school trip, I’m going by myself.” This is often surprising, so I elaborate, “I’m studying water in the Negev Desert, working with Jewish feminists, meeting Bedouin teens…” and that’s not even the half of it. I am going to be traveling the country meeting, living, and working with many Israelis from all different realms of life.

 

Tomorrow, my trip starts and I will arrive in Tel Aviv and meet Avishay. Now, however, there is much packing and preparing to do!

 

I will be posting all about my trip, so check back in often.

 

Shalom

 

 

 

 

 

 

Beyond Beaches and Bikinis: Making Change in Rural Dominican Republic

On By CharlotteIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

Today I took my last hot shower for the next three weeks. Tomorrow, I get up at 5:00am to fly to the Dominican Republic. From the Santiago airport, I’ll be headed out to Batey Libertad, a tiny town that mainly revolves around the nearby rice plantation and factory. My homestay in the batey (the Spanish word for a plantation town) will be quite a shift from the extremely privileged, comfortable life I live at an American boarding school. If you’re wondering why, here’s a picture of Batey Libertad:

Short Term Volunteer Arrival Packet (1)

Like many plantation towns, Batey Libertad is primarily populated with Haitian-Dominicans and Dominicans of more distant Haitian ancestry. But to many Dominicans, any person of Haitian descent–or maybe anyone who looks like they’re of Haitian descent because of their darker skin–is simply one of los haitianos. People of Haitian descent can face severe discrimination in the Dominican Republic. In some ways, they’re perceived much the same as many Mexican migrants are in the United States–as outsiders who don’t belong, who take advantage of the country, who steal jobs, who are immoral criminals: much of the same racist, xenophobic rhetoric is applied to Haitians in the DR. Under Trujillo, the dictator who ruled the country until the 1960s, thousands of Haitians were even massacred.

Today, especially in bateyes, los haitianos are denied civil and human rights (like citizenship and the right to freedom of movement) and can be deported to Haiti even if their families have lived in the Dominican Republic for generations. Many bateyes have limited access to clean water, health care, and education. Fortunately, some organizations have stepped forward to improve life in bateyes, and this spring I have the privilege of working with Yspaniola, an organization that has helped bring improved sanitation and clean water to Batey Libertad. I’ll get the opportunity to work with Haitian-Dominican kids to improve literacy in Yspaniola’s Learning Center, learn about the plight of Haitians in the Dominican Republic alongside students from Yale, and learn about Dominican life from my host family. I’m nervous, but excited, and armed with a few choice Spanish-language picture books.

I know in the Dominican Republic I’m going to get sunburned. I know I’m gonna miss the conveniences that come with my cushy American life and that I’m going to have awkward language mishaps with my muddled, poorly conjugated Spanish. I know that I am going to face uncomfortable truths and realities I have never before had to confront, of poverty, racism, and discrimination. But I am going to do to what I learned at Westtown and lean into my discomfort rather than shy away from it, and I know I will come back to school having made deep connections across cultural barriers. I hope I will also return more humble, more grateful, and ready to continue on my journey to make change. This is just how I take my first step.

Saludos,

Charlotte

Getting Ready and the Week of Anticipation

On By lascanadasmexicosrprojectIn Mexico 2016Leave a comment

Hello! We are Leif, Mekhi, Dahoon, and Sam, of the Las Cañadas Mexico Senior Project. This time on Friday we will be in the Mexican Cloud Forest! We are all extremely excited. The goals of our project are to learn about sustainable living, eco-technologies, sustainable agriculture, and reforestation. We will be planting giant Chicalaba acorns to reforest the area, practicing our Spanish, interacting with local children, and living a sustainable lifestyle. Here is a list of goals for our trip that we compiled at our last preparation meeting:

2016 Mexico Cloud Forest Senior Project anticipated RESULTS
  • experience an “all-vegetarian” diet
  • get to know the cloud forest eco-system
  • give your best to every activity
  • empowerment (“we can do this!”)
  • immersion in Mexican culture and Spanish language
  • have FUN — forge memories that will last a lifetime
  • live sustainably
  • connect with plants at a new level
  • discover things about our inner lives (personal discovery)
  • through new perceptions, gain greater clarity about life choices for the future
  • conclude with a profound optimism about life on Earth
  • make a new connection to Mother earth
  • live without electronics
  • get to know one-another better
  • use what is learned
  • earn and show mutual respect
  • learn from one another
  • connection = unique experience

Here are our individual thoughts about the Week of Anticipation:

Mekhi: We are off in three days and it’s finally starting to hit me. Unfortunately teachers are still cramming in tests and projects before the short quarter ends. Yet, the excitement of Mexico is still creeping in. I’m an avid traveler with a ton of Spanish experience. I can’t wait to be in nature, see the nature, and hopefully give back to the nature. Mexico, here we come!

Leif: This trip one of the most exciting things that has ever happened in my life! Sustainability and nature are the most important topics in the world to me, and I cannot wait to learn more about agriculture, reforestation, and sustainable structures. With one week left to go,  my brain is jumping around in disbelief at the fact that we will actually be in Mexico soon. I am so looking forward to living with and learning from Teacher Paula, Teacher Alan, my wonderful classmates, and the natural world! I am determined to take what I learn on this trip to minimize my damage to the Earth and improve my environmentalism. In the meantime, I have a feeling the next two days will go very slowly…

Dahoon: The week before we leave for Mexico only enforces the fact that for me, every week before any big break from school seems so busy. I’ve been preparing to think about the trip and what to pack and am very excited from what I’ve learned so far. I’m excited about spending two weeks with great fun people and eating vegetarian for such a long period of time for the first time in my life! Im glad that I chose to go on the Mexico trip and am very excited about what we will learn and experience during our senior project.

Sam: Although it has been a busy week, I haven’t spent too much time stressing over schoolwork. I honestly can’t stop thinking about Mexico. I’m a practice of positive thought and energy, and honestly say that even thinking about the trip makes my day warmer. Waking up has been easier the past couple days, knowing that in only a couple more, I’ll be with my friends in Mexico, being exposed to new means of learning and living. Knowing I’m going to experience such a changing, powerful, and simply fun environment is the fuel that I’m living off of at the moment. Peace.

Live Music, Live Passion

On By acovaleskiIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

Hello! My name is Amanda and I will be going to the South by Southwest (SXSW) music festival in Austin, TX for Senior Projects. I write for a music blog, When the Gramophone Rings, in my spare time (my posts can be found here) and I even dedicated a semester-long independent course to my blogging. In the fall, I did an Independent Seminar in English where I music blogged and researched what makes effective blog posts.

I love music and how it forces emotions upon listeners. In my opinion it’s the only art form that elicits specific emotions from audiences. One of my favorite quotations is, “[Music] has the power to command people how to feel. Imagery, words, they’re very suggestive, whereas music can command somebody how to feel on an emotional level, uncontrollably,” said by Matty Healy of The 1975. I decided to pursue SXSW because I love live music more than any other form of music. It’s much more personal than listening to music digitally, which is what we do on a day to day basis. Live music gives a space for musicians, their music, and their fans so that everyone can feel the same emotions and feel attached.

My personal goal for this project is to soak up as much music and fully live the experience since SXSW is such a unique festival. Other major music festivals like Coachella in California, Bonnaroo in Tennessee, and Glastonbury in England, are held in big open fields with multiple stages where artists play at all times of day. SXSW is different because it happens right in the heart of Austin in the hundreds of music venues that already exist in the city. These venues host showcases, which are basically like any normal concert but with about 4-5 bands playing in a night. During the day, companies and record labels host “unofficial parties” which allow companies to push their product while providing entertainment through the bands that are in Austin for the festival. Since SXSW is so different from other festivals, I want to take advantage of its set up and see as many artists as possible.

My more professional goal is to go see artists that I wouldn’t normally see and to push myself out of my comfort zone with music. I usually review similar songs (usually ambient/dark indie rock or beachy indie pop) for When the Gramophone Rings, so seizing this opportunity to really discover music will be an interesting and challenging change for me. My assignment from my editor at the site is to write something along the lines of a ‘Best Discoveries at SXSW’ piece. I think that works well with my personal goal and it will allow me to see artists I wouldn’t necessarily see if I was going to SXSW on my own, without an assignment from the blog.

One major obstacle that has come up already is that a large amount of venues for showcases and unofficial parties are 21+. I’ve had to narrow down which artists I can see since only some of them are playing venues I can get into. I thought that would limit me a lot, but after looking at the line ups for venues I can go to a little more closely, it looks like there’s a great range of smaller, unheard of bands. I don’t think any other obstacles as big as this will come my way but we shall see…

Going to SXSW is the main part of my project, but I will also be writing for the blog for the first week of Senior Projects before I go to SXSW. Since March 8th is International Women’s Day, When the Gramophone Rings will be doing a women-only week from March 7—March 13. All the female writers will be covering female artists for the whole week, no men allowed. I’m really excited to be writing for that week since I think it’s a great showcase of women in music. That will keep me busy for the first week then I’ll be off to Austin.

I’m really excited to start my project. I think that it will be a great opportunity for me to discover new music in a way that really interests me as well as a way for me to connect with artists and write about what I enjoyed at the festival. The women’s week will be really neat to watch unfold since there’s a ton of women getting involved, both writers and musicians. Writing for this Westtown blog will also help me process what I’m seeing and give me a way to reflect on what I see and do. T minus 16 days to Austin!

-Amanda