Kansas City

Another weekend came, in another field trip we went.  Last Sunday it was Kansas City, Missouri, with its constrasts, traditions and contradictions.

The first stop was to get Jose Faus, a Colombian artist and poet, into our bus.  He took us to the heart of an immigrant area where we could feel the social tension and the difficulties of that segment of the American society.  Through his art, Jose expresses social problems and promotes opportunities to help people - other artists and street gang boys.

After that, we went to 18th & Vine to visit the American Jazz Museum and the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum, diving into the African-American culture. 

It was amazing to be in the center of the music life of this area of America and to know more about great musicians who are part of the musical tradidion in jazz and blues.  Names like Charlie Parker, Billie Holiday, Duke Ellington among others create the perfect atmosphere to a trip to the roots of American black music.  The feeling, the rhythm, the beat in an absolutely interacting experience makes the American Jazz Museum an unique place, where we are touched by music.

"Music is your own experience, your thoughts, your wisdom.  If you don't like it, it won't come out of your horn." - Charlie Parker

Being in a baseball  field, by the side of the players, catching their views of the game, even though it was just a replica of the field with statues, was amazing!  Listening to talks and watching to a player from the Negro League singing the American anthem before a game, moving...  But what stroke me the most at the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum was the figure of John "Buck" O'Neil and what he represents to the American culture, having been such a wonderful player, a manager and the first  African American coach in Major League Baseball.  Like the children in the video sing: "What a man!"

http://vimeo.com/18718916

Lawrecence

According to the Merriam-Webster, Florescence is "a start or period of flourishing".  It happens that I came to flourish once again in my life here in Lawrence, Kansas.  Having being selected to a 6 weeks program to enhance the teaching of English in Brazil, I am one of the 30 Brazilian English teachers who came to the University of Kansas to develop the ability and techniques of teaching a foreign language.

 

Well, here we are: floureshing in a whole knew perspective; getting to know the American culture 'in loco'; reflecting on new procedures and tools to make our work better; and growing as people and teachers.

 

One of the activities which struck me the most was our first field trip last Sunday.  We went to Topeka, the capital of Kansas to learm about the history of the state.  We visited Old Prairie Town and immediately were immersed in the the 18th century through the history of the Ward-Mead family, which is blended to the beginnings of Kansas.  Then we took a tour throughout civilization and culture of the state, living its history and having fun in learning.

 

This kind of experience enriches the process of learning, for it provides a effect learning, no matter what is your learning style.