Hajde Pranvera Hajde

COME ON, SPRING!

Two-thirds of The Eagles, after school Writing Olympics! Perhaps my favorite photo of the season :) We're short a couple of boys here.

Writing prompt: "Be the change you want to see in the world"  What does this mean for you?  Give an example.

Note the hefty dictionary - hard-fought battle

Adult Beginner's Course, braving grammar and relaxing with Memory after school on Thursdays

Head Shoulders Knees - 10th Grade Boys v. Girls in the ultimate anatomy showdown

There was some artistic interpretation of the original choreography

With balletic precision

Valle shqiptare (traditional dance) in the teacher's room :)  OPA!

Niko had just wrapped up a music lesson and was in the mood for a pushim i madhe (long break) hoedown

Class 8 wrapped up a health activity and mugged it up in front of their 2011 New Year's Resolutions

Food vocabulary and nutrition lesson - taught with our lovely and amazing school nurse/life skills teacher/former chemistry teacher, Bruna.  She is a veritable encyclopedia of health in Albania, shines in the classroom, and is also a skilled dressmaker and truly gifted cook

Succulents thrive in third-floor classroom windows

Absolutely NO smiling is permitted in our classroom, NONE!



 

8th Graders, Crayolas and creativity in hand



Babai Sufi, vend i shejnte - Father Sufi, burial ground of three Islamic mystics and now a holy site and good outdoor reading location (view of the entire valley on the road to Gline, a nearby village).  We came to light candles and then circled the tombs three times, kissing their headstones on each turn

Visa's usual order: nje makiato te gjate me shume qumesht (a long espresso pull with extra milk froth on top)

Aaaand, two glasses of water :)  A very well-hydrated young woman

Intellectuals, revolutionaries, and general shaker-upers from our region of Albania.  Many local towns and villages are named for these ladies and gentlemen

Our famous tree in the center of town; a mountain spring is piped up through its roots.  This rendering, which I covet, hangs in the director's office

Waiting for a furgon or handy vehicle to pass so we can catch a lift back to Leskovik after teaching at the village school in Shelegur 

Marinela, the village school teacher

The reservoir (built during Communism) in Shelegur, snowcapped mountains yonder

Prudent student footwear for a muddy day

Our students in Shelegur with home-made speed racer on salvaged string

Gearing up for food vocabulary + nutrition

Diana, school librarian and Albanian lang. and lit. teacher, with her youngest child, Megi

Pavllo, the most senior of senior teachers at Jani Vreto, canceled class on a beautiful day, took all the kids outside, "borrowed" a student's bike and took it for an impromptu spin.  The kids cheered, as did I :)

Seniors, front steps

Senior boys, during a town mapping excursion.  Evidentally they were working on topography at this point

Sweetheart and a half



Seniors, nailing their pose of choice on our 15 mai 1943 (15th of May - day of local liberation from the Nazis) monument

Note how he's about to leap onto the other student's shoulders?  Exactly what I did not want to happen

The seniors are planning to do a hip-hop + breakdancing performance in English for this year's 15th of May outdoor celebrations

Our mountains are still covered in snow

Last load of wood, half-stacked.  I was trying to explain to a friend how much wood is actually stacked in there.  The easiest answer is a pick-up truck bed and a half

Still snowing, but it's beautiful!