Ρ Ε Π Ο Ρ ΤΑ Ζ
MONDAY, OCTOBER 7 - TEACHING BEGIN
For the next two weeks, we spent our evenings, 6:30 to
10:30 p.m., at Morfosi School (which means “Knowledge”
in Greek), a private school five miles from our hotel in the
neighboring town of Gazi. The school’s director, Matina, is
a Greek-American New Yorker who visited Crete 20 years
ago, fell in love, married a local business man and never returned to the U.S.
To prepare for the first class, our small group chatted
about how to make the best possible impression and learn
as much as possible about the students and their interests.
After a wonderful seafood dinner, we made our way to the
school and met our students. Each of the three classes had
a half-dozen teens and pre-teens, ages 9 to 14. We introduced ourselves and then they used their limited English
to ask us the type of questions that teens around the world
ask Americans. “How much are iPhones in the U.S.?” “What
kind of music do you like?” “Are New Yorkers and Americans friendly?” The students were genuine, inquisitive and
enthusiastic. It was a successful first encounter.
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 8 FEELING LIKE A LOCAL
Our days were mostly free and I was craving a Starbucks
so decided to venture to the bigger city, Heraklion. After a 20-minute bus ride, 20-minute walk and a few
wrong turns, I spotted the familiar green umbrella. On
the way, I passed so many quaint authentic Greek coffee
houses with wonderful aromas of baked local specialties that I changed plans. I skipped Starbucks for a local
spot, sat outside and enjoyed the morning with Greek
coffee, spanakopita and people watching. After a short
1
2
walk in the afternoon, some reading and Greek pizza
for a quick dinner I was off to our after-school program.
For the first real evening of teaching, I was working
with two boys and one girl, aged 14. We practiced vocabulary and I asked them to complete sentences. My
student, John, had a few struggles but tried hard and
was genuinely interested in learning English. At the end
of class he asked me if he could bring in his mandolin
one night to show me how well he played. I was thrilled
he wanted to share his talent with me. It was a fun and
very rewarding night.
SPECIAL REPORT
dox wedding procession heading towards the church,
along with, what looked liked, the entire village.
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 9 - LOVING CRETE
In the morning I headed back to Heraklion to spend
some time at the Historical Museum of Crete, eat the
most amazing Greek spinach pies and explore the beautiful port. October weather was gorgeous, and a joy
to be outdoors with blue sky, mountain backdrop and
warm, friendly people.
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 10
In the evening class I experimented with my iPad mini
and the “Endless Alphabet” app. They were excited to try
something new and, of course, like all young people, got
the “swipe” down instantly. Bright eyed and clearly having
fun, the students asked, “Will you be here next week?”
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 11 - HOSPITALITY
This morning Matina, the school owner, invited me to
Heraklion, an easy 20-minute bus ride from our hotel in
Amadoura, to get a quick tour of the best places for outstanding Greek cuisine, snacks and sweets. The hospitality
and warmth from everyone I encountered was wonderful
and heart-warming. They were so appreciative of our time
and wanted to be sure we also enjoyed ourselves.
3
1. My student Nefeli who has an interest in design and fashion. 2. First time I pad “swipe” – very exciting! 3. Making friends in the
local café.
KPHTH | WWW.PANCRETAN.ORG
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