Wednesday, March 05, 2014

Tana (Dreaming of You)



         
In the streets, children are kicking newspaper soccer balls bound with twine, looking forward to Sunday’s football match in Antananarivo’s Stade Municipal de Mahamasina.  I stand at my window and watch their street-story unfold below me.  In the distance, the colossal stadium looms, an enormous open horseshoe surrounding a worn field of grass.  In just under a week, after the soccer match, I’ll be playing there.
         
My band:
q  Me – guitars, vocals, harmonica.
q  Akiba - electric guitar, kaboasa (a guitar-like instrument), vocals, tavo (flute of Madagascar).
q  Denis Tsivitsoke – He will play the bass and sing.
q  Rasolofonirina Khadri – apongo, marovany, drums, percussion, singing.
q  Niko Tsivitsoke – the higher singing.

I hail a cab and direct the driver to the Araben ny Fahaleovantena and the Blanche Neige where I’ve been eating breakfast the past few days. 
The air sizzles with sound.  I eat at a shaded table and watch the people dancing like colourful spirits through the streets.  Afterwards, in the shade of an ylang-ylang tree, I sit and dream.  A warm breeze kicks dust.  I feel so at home, a vazaha (foreigner) in name only. 

We practice in Denis’ bedroom.  It is a bit cramped but the view of the City gives us good feeling.  His windows catch the breeze and the sun and inspire us.  I’ve learned a few words and phrases in Malagasy and several in French.  In English Akiba knows to say “Too long,” and makes twirling motions with his fingers when I get lost in a solo, but he laughs when he says it.  I say “Maika aho!” – I’m in a hurry – in gentle mockery, and everybody laughs.  We sit after practice on the porch and drink bitter tea and watch the sun burnish the ancient city.
Denis’ wife Niko prepares mounds of rice and simmering vegetable broth for us.  We tell stories after dinner.

I’ve been staying at the Hilton, the tallest building in Madagascar.  I’ve a great view of the middle city and the distant Kianja ny Fahaleovantena (Palace of Independence) and leaf-strewn Lac Anosy.  The French have erected a towering monolith in the middle of the lake, accessible by causeway, in honour of their World War I dead.
Our band, which we’ve called Tromba (meaning spirit in Malagasy), has been practicing for about two weeks.  Everyday I wake to the cacophony of morning and the thrill of the zoma (market) and write for an hour or so.  I shower (in an unpredictable - often tepid - trickle) and then hail a cab and breakfast at the Blanche Niege where I’ll snooze or read in the shade until the noonhour.  I walk over to Denis and Niko’s house and meet the band at about one.  We sit on the porch and tell stories or just watch the city until three or so and then we practice.  We start with a slow improvisation that Akiba calls “Gathering the Spirits.”  Sometimes it falls flat in laughter.  Sometimes we fill the room with glorious noise.  “We shall make the city dance,” Rasolofonirina yelled on one occasion; Denis translated for me. Rasolofonirina’s laughter sounds like music and makes me smile.
These three men have taken songs that I’ve played for years and breathed a yearning new life into them, and Akiba’s tavo has more than once made my hair stand on its ends.  This, I’ve thought often, was the whole reason for coming.
Sometimes we play into the twilight, watching the lights of the city sputter on.

One evening, as the thunder rumbled like a sullen god, Denis told a story.  He told it first in Malagasy, making pictures with his hands, his voice melodious, full of sparkling humor.  I was told that his English translation was drier, but the story thrilled me nonetheless.
As best I can recall it went as follows:
In the time before our father’s father’s fathers there lived a cruel and wicked king.  This king refused to respect any fady (taboo) and turned his back on Zanahary Himself.  He would stand on the edge of his village’s sacred lake and proclaim that he was greater than God, that he was greater than the rain and the mountains and the thunder that came from the mountains.  “The wind blows only to grovel at my feet,” he said, “and the ocean waves sing my praises from far distant coasts!”
This king lived in a palace with ten thousand windows.  It stood on a hill and sparkled like glistening gold.  He demanded outrageous tributes from his people and they were made very poor.  They lived in miserable huts down in a muddy valley, shaking and starving through their short days in the shadow of his castle.
The king often walked the streets of town in golden boots, surrounded by his armed soldiers, collecting tributes.  If he saw a beautiful woman, he would order his soldiers to bind her and take her to his castle.  If the woman had a husband, the king offered a small payment for her; if the husband refused this payment, he was killed.  At the end of each of his trips through the town, the king would stop at the lake, which the elders considered the hallowed home of the ancestors that watched over them, and, as a final insult, piss into it and order his soldiers to do the same.
After many years the king had taken all of the town’s beautiful women - except for one.  Her name was Monika.  She had hair that shone like water in the moonlight.  Her husband, who was called Rola, had managed to keep her hidden from the king in a secret crawlway that he had dug beneath his shanty. 
Rola worked very hard, but the king’s high tributes kept him poor.  He asked Monika why she didn’t go to live with the king in his palace with ten thousand windows.  She told him that her love was stronger than any hardship.  “I’d rather shiver in your arms than sleep warm in that palace.  I’d know a million hungry moonrises before I knew one gorged morning without you.”  Rola took her in his arms and kissed her shining hair.
In the springtime, Rola accompanied the village hunters into the highlands in search of game.  Monika was left to work her loom and sell what she could in the village market.  Before he left, he told her to watch for the king and his men.  “If you see them, hide yourself quickly.  I could not bear to face my life without you.” 
They said their good-byes on the edge of town.  The wind swept in from the north, bringing the fragrance of new life.  The moon twinkled in her hair.  She led him down to the river and there she held him close.  They said goodbye as the first of the shorebirds rose to the dawn.
The king heard rumors of a beautiful maiden that still lived in the village.  “Impossible!” he said.  “Every woman, except for the hags, lives here with me.”  But he was curious enough to venture down from his palace on the montagne to see. 
Late at night, he passed through the main street; all of the village’s hearths had long gone cold.  The moon shone full and bright on the town and the lake.
When he reached Monika’s paillote he stopped.  Something flashed in the moonlight and caught his eye.  He hurried to the doorsill and looked in – a beautiful woman, asleep at her loom!  The moon poured through the window and gleamed in her hair, turning it from black to silver.  The king stood, so taken by her beauty that he could only stare until the moon had moved down the western sky and hid her sleeping form in shadow.  He walked back to his castle in a daze. 
He immediately roused his guards and bid them summon Monika to him. 
Monika heard them coming in a dream.  She woke and moved quickly to the crawlway, but the men caught the shimmer of the new dawn on her hair, and they dragged her from the crawlway and bound her.  The king bid the servants prepare a feast.  “She shall be the queen of all the land!” he said. 
Rola returned from his hunting in the mountains that very night.  His neighbors told him what had happened.  They told him that the king would send his payment by week’s end.  “And no small one at that.  You are rich, Rola!” they said and danced and made fires all around his cabin.  But Rola, beset by grief, set out immediately for the palace of ten thousand windows.  The cries of his neighbors followed him out of the valley.  “Come back!” they called.  For to march to the castle was to march to one’s death.
He reached the palace just as the moon rose over the hills.  Hearing the sound of music through the open windows and smelling the rich food of the banquet, he uttered a brief prayer to Zanahary and then called for the king.  “Come out, coward!” he bellowed at the castle walls.  “You have stolen my love and I have come for her.”
The king, holding Monika by the arm, stepped out into the courtyard, flanked by his guards.  “Dare you raise your voice to your lord and master?” he asked.
“I raise my voice to a coward!” Rola yelled, clenching his fists.  “I challenge you.  Will you fight like a man or will you have your guards do your work for you?”
The king laughed.  “You are either very brave or very foolish, man.  But either way, you have taught me something tonight.  I’ve been blind.”
“Yes you have,” Rola said, “blind to the ways of love.”
“No,” the king said.  “I was talking about the approach to the palace.  I shall have to post more guards.  I can’t have peasants walking up to my door like this.”  He turned to his guards.  “Kill him and feed him to the crocodiles.”
Rola fought valiantly, but the guards eventually overwhelmed him.  He died without a sound. 
Monika, on the other hand, shrieked so loudly that the villagers down in the valley heard her.  And when the king went to comfort her, she spat upon him.  He raised his hand to strike her, thought better of it, and made his way back inside.  In the doorway, he stopped and addressed his guards again.  “Feed her to the crocodiles as well.  But…” he looked at her with contempt, “don’t kill her first.”
As she was being led away, Monika turned to the king.  “I shall return,” she said in a voice as low as the wind.  “And I shall taste the bitterness of your flesh and the contamination of your blood.  The child that I carry in me shall taste you and spit you out in disgust! So too shall my descendants and those that spring from their loins.  We will nourish ourselves with your anguish!”  The king only laughed and turned away.  From inside the castle walls the sounds of the gala recommenced. 
The story of Monika and Rola spread quickly through the village, where it incited in the long-suffering people a full-scale revolt, and after many moons of bloody battle, the king was banished to the spiny deserts - where legend has it he wandered until he fell to insanity and died.  The villagers moved into the palace and set to work spending their tribute money on things they could use. 
After many years of communal rule, the kingdom spread all the way to the sea.
Monika became a legend.  They say that her screams reecho over the valley whenever the planting moon is full.  It is said that she and Rola were reborn as crocodiles in the sacred lake, along with her child and all the children that he bore.
It is said that the king, whose reign was swallowed by time, returned as well – as a sacrificial zebu.  He was slaughtered, his blood and flesh fed to the grinning crocodiles.  Some even say that he returns every year to the lake and is sacrificed each time.  A lone jacaranda tree grows where the palace of ten thousand windows once stood. 

*
The next day, I arrive at Denis’ house before three.  Niko is bent over a fire, wrapped in a ruffled lamba of gold and green, frying rice cakes.  The day is warm and thunder rumbles to the west.  A black veil of clouds has sprung up over the fields and hills.
I hear Denis from inside.  He is playing his guitar and singing one of my songs in his thin but strangely affective tenor.  The sun shines on the wall of clouds, turning it coal black.
“You’re just in time for a snack,” Niko says in her rich and happy voice.  “These are my specialty.”
Misaotra – thank you,” I say.  We sit and drink cool tea and nibble on the cakes.  The wind smells of rain and lifts my hair and plays with Niko’s lamba.  I fall into a thin sleep.  In my dream it is the day of the concert.  I look out on an expanse of empty seats.  No one has come.  The music makes a sad echo on the empty stadium.
I awake to thunder and Rasolofonirina’s warm hand on my arm.  “It is time to gather the spirits,” he says.  I stand and walk into the house.  Akiba has just arrived.  He is in the doorsill, smoking a cigarette and looking at the sky.
We play a slow minor chord progression accompanied by Akiba’s tavo.  It rises and rises; I close my eyes just as the sun disappears from the window.  There is thunder but I hear only music.  I feel myself rising with it, dancing over a plain of flooded rice paddies and steep hills and houses – there is lightning then and my eyelids redden, but I no longer see from my eyes.  People are moving in from the rain.  I make a shadow on the green and muddy valleys.  The music goes on and on.  The tavo rises higher and Rasolofonirina thunders beside it. 
At once we stop and look at each other.  I feel unsteady on my feet.  “Wow,” I say in a small voice.  “That was amazing.  We will make the city dance.”
We stand in the middle of the small room and join hands.  There is rain on the windows now.  Niko brings a tray of candles and puts it in the middle of the room.  She lights them and nods. 
“The spirits are here – we have gathered them,” Denis says.  He strikes a note on his bass and we all join in.
*
We practice until the storm has spent itself down to a sad drizzle.  The air through the windows comes cool and refreshing, filled with the sound of crickets.
Niko suggests we go into the city for dinner, and Akiba suggests the Chez Le Palmier. 
We decide to walk.  The night is splendid.  Stars appear in the spaces between clouds.  The workday traffic has thinned and the muddy roads are nearly empty.  We descend down into the main part of the city on massive stone staircases, and snake through twisting streets and alleys, some of which are so narrow that I can touch the houses on both sides. 
We pass Lac Anosy into Haute-Ville, skirting the Palace of Independence.  Everywhere there is laughter and the smell of food.  “It’s like a festival,” I tell Denis.  “Every night,” he says and rolls his eyes amiably.
The Chez Le Palmier is not crowded.  The tables are covered with a wide awning, which is ringed with coloured bulbs that swing in the breeze.  Candles flicker on the tables.
We sit near the street.  I order rice cakes and frites and a Coca-Cola, and Denis looks at me with a raised eyebrow.  “I forgot that you do not drink,” he says.  “I’ll just have to drink yours for you.”  He orders frites and two beers.
We talk about the practice and the upcoming concert.  We are playing next Sunday evening, after the soccer match, just before dark.  “The fliers are up in the city and my friend has put the word on the radio,” Denis says.  I ask him how tickets are selling and he shrugs.
“I can’t imagine that too many people have heard of me here,” I say.  “I don’t think anyone will stay to hear us.”
“The tickets are very cheap.  And people here don’t get to hear western music very often.  It will be an event.  I’m sure it will sell out – and the people will stay.”
“How many does the stadium hold?”
“Many thousands,” he says.  I feel a twinge of nervousness at this. 
Our food comes and we eat in happy silence listening to the faint city music and the wind ruffling the canopy.  I order another Coca-Cola.
“We are really coming together as a band,” I say.  “It feels like I’ve played with you for years.  I feel like we’ve known each other for years.”
“Maybe we have,” Denis says.  Rasolofonirina looks up from his plate and smiles.  He puts his hand on my shoulder.  “Welcome back,” he says in English. 
We finish the meal with a pot of bitter coffee.  It is after ten when we leave and make our way through the Palace of Independence.  We walk by Lac Anosy under the jacaranda trees.  I see my hotel but don’t really want to go back alone.  “Let’s walk by the stadium,” I say.
We head south down the Lalana Mohamed y.  The stadium looms in the starry darkness, looking bigger than I had imagined up close.  Are we really going to play there?” I ask.
Eny,” Rasolofonirina says and smiles.  “Yes.”  I see a flier advertising the show.  The word Tromba is written in balloon letters over a picture of the band. 
“What does Alahady mean?” I ask.
          “It means Sunday,” Denis says.  “Sunday at 6 o’clock.”

          We climb out of the heart of the city, back towards Denis’ house.  The stairs are steep but it feels good to work off my greasy dinner.  We sing as we climb, the words to a song we wrote together.  Niko sings highest.  I am amazed that she is not out of breath.
          November 26-December 1, 2003
Millsville, Antananarivo

Tuesday, January 22, 2013


Your Name
Address
Phone Number
Email Address


Summary of Qualifications

Licensed educator with (7) seven years of tutoring and teaching experience.  Highly proficient in incorporating state of Indiana standards with individualized lessons plans for students.

Education

B.S. Secondary English Education (2007)  Purdue University Calumet
        -Semester Honors (2003-2007)
License - Secondary Language Arts (2007)
Certification -TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language)  (2005)


Employment Background

English Teacher                                                    Calumet High School, Gary, IN
(October 2010 - Present)
·         Works as an English teacher with various levels and grades
·         Creates lessons centered on the State and Common Core Standards and provided “real world” application 
·         Creates curriculum map which aligned State and Core Standards.
·         Creates interim assessments that assesses student understanding and mastery


Instruction and Curriculum Coordinator   Jeremi Learning                 Hammond, Indiana
(September 2009 – 2010)
·    Developed systematic and comprehensive curriculum in accordance to state standards
·    Provided essential progress indicators for all Site Coordinators (ie. Pre-tests, mid-tests & post-tests)
·    Performed periodic assessments/evaluations of tutoring staff
·    Conducted professional Development Meetings (new-hire orientation & training) to newly hired tutors
Ÿ  Served as a Substitute Teacher in various classrooms as needed (K-6)


Tutor                                                                         Jeremi Learning                          Hammond, Indiana
(2008 – 2009)
·    Taught the subjects of math and reading in classes Kindergarten thru sixth grade.
·    Created individualized lessons and learning plans for each student.
·    Worked as Site Coordinator and collected plans from teachers.
·    Created worksheets of information on students


Writing Tutor                                                        Purdue University Writing Center               Hammond, Indiana
(2004 – 2006)
·         Tutored in the Writing Center
·    Tutored ESL students as part of the international program
·    Prepared students the TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language)


REFERENCES AVAILABLE UPON REQUEST

Wednesday, March 07, 2012

Dénouement Presentations

Slide by Slide Requirements

Slide 1: Title Slide – names of group members with pic

Slide 2: Picture related to story/ essays - and titles of story/ essays

Slides: 3 – 6: Teaching slide…restate the plot/ synopsis/ characters of the story of your choice and tell how the story affected you.

Slide 7: Theme slide. Write the theme of the stories in your own words, as a complete sentence (and not a command or a cliche.).

Slide 8: Tell what, in general, you will take away from these story/ essays – the denouement.  What did you learn from these stories?

Slide 9: End/ thank you slide with a picture.

You should use note cards - no reading from the slides - and rehearse thoroughly. Presentations begin Thursday, April 24! No excuses.

Monday, February 20, 2012

Seeing the Perfect Person/ The Interrupters Presentation

Slide by Slide Requirements

Slide 1: Title Slide - names of group members and picture.

Slide 2: Title of presentation, picture related to it.

Slides 3 -7: Character slides (with pics). Tell about the character from The Interrupters your are focusing on. How did he/ she change the way you thought of gang members/ troubled people and how society deals with them? Give background information on the character - and research how they have changed since the film was made.

Slides 8-10 : Tell how can this person's story help law-enforcement officials and members of Lake Ridge School's administration deal with similar situations. Be sure to talk about the way these situations are handled now. Include pictures. Persuade!

Slide 11-14: Compare the character from The Interrupters to someone you know in real life. (You do not have to tell who this person is if you do not want to; you can simply describe him or her). Talk about how you personally can help this person knowing what you know now.

Slide 15: Theme slide. Write the theme of The Interrupters in your own words, as a complete sentence.

Slide 16: End/ thank you slide with a picture.

You should use notecards - no reading from the slides - and rehearse thoroughly. Presentations begin Friday! No excuses.

Tuesday, February 07, 2012

Theme Presentations

Slide by Slide Requirements

Slide 1: Title Slide - names, names of story your are presenting.

Slide 2: Title of story, picture related to it.

Slide 3: Character slide (with pic). Tell about the character and how he/ she changes.

Slide 4: Conflict slide. Tell what the main conflict is and how it is resolved. Example: John is scared to travel to the Place of the Gods, but...

Slide 5: Title slide. Tell what, if anything, the title of the story suggests.

Slide 6: Tell what, in general, the story reveals about life or people.

Slide 7: Theme slide. Write the theme of the story in your own words, as a complete sentence.

Slide 8: End/ thank you slide with a picture.

You should use notecards - no reading from the slides - and rehearse thoroughly. Presentations begin Thursday! No excuses.

Sunday, April 17, 2011

Travel Brochure Project

Introduction

Congratulations! You and four of your classmates have been chosen to present to potential clients a trip that you have planned for them via a digital brochure, representing your new company, Adventure Travel Agency. Your new company will take the hard work out of researching places to visit for your clients so that they can focus on enjoying the trips that you plan for them. Not only will this new venture offer you the opportunity to obtain clients for your company, but it will allow you to explore places that you have yet to see!

Task

You and your partners will create a sample product which Adventure Travel Agency will use to advertise its services. You will plan a trip (anywhere in the world outside of the United States). Your team will design and create a digital brochure by using the World Wide Web and Microsoft PowerPoint. In the brochure you will include general information about your selected destination, areas of historical and recreational interest, and choice of travel packages. In addition, you must include pictures and images to appeal to the eye of your future clients. Remember, travel advertising is a very visual experience.

Process

The first thing on your agenda is to decide on a destination for which you will create your first travel brochure. Your group needs to identify who will play what role on the team: Destination Coordinator; Historian; Recreation Director; Visual Planner and Travel Agent. Below is a list of these roles in more detail. In the Resources section of this webquest, you will find a list of websites to consult in order to complete each job effectively and efficiently.

Destination Coordinator

The Destination Coordinator will be the person who provides a complete profile of the destination.
The Destination Coordinator should provide the following:
A detailed map of the destination
Geographic, demographic, and environmental descriptions
Population and weather reports
A list of major cities or locales to visit
Language(s) spoken there
Currency used

Historian

The Historian is responsible for providing a brief history of the destination. The Historian researches and includes the following:
At least three specific historical locations
A map and brief description of the significance of each location

Recreation Director

Everyone likes to have fun on vacation, so the Recreation Director has an important job to do. The Recreation Director will research and identify the following:
A list of activities that vary from indoor and outdoor, land and water, and during the evening or during the day
Names and locations of areas of interest (e.g., dining and entertainment; mountain biking or safaris; boating or skiing; etc.)
Maps, schedules and prices for activities
Other specific instructions or restrictions that accompany the activities (e.g, equipment needed; age limitations; hours of operation; etc.)

Travel Agent

Without a Travel Agent, travelers would not be able to get to their destination. The Travel Agent will:
Find transportation by carrier to the destination (e.g., name of airlines, bus service, taxi company, rental agency, etc.)
Find transportation within destination and accompanying information (e.g., car rentals, subway and bus fares, etc.)
List lodging accommodations and room rates
List dining accommodations and average price of a meal
Travel itinerary with budget for lodging, food, and travel fares
Once all roles have been assigned among the team, each member should visit the given websites found in the Resources section and begin to compile all of the information and images for which he or she is responsible.

Visual Planner:

The Visual Planner will coordinate the layout (and look) of the travel brochure.
S/he will serve as liason to the facilitators and create all artwork related to the project.

Once all information is collected, select the important stuff and begin designing your digital brochure. The following is a list of criteria that you will base the design of your brochure, using Microsoft Power Point:

Brochure Criteria

Each team member will contribute a section that presents the information compiled. For example, there will be a Destination section, a History section, a Recreation section, a Visual section, and a Getting There section.
The first slide will be an Introduction slide that will entice the potential client to get excited about your chosen destination.
Each of the four sections will be 5 slides each.
There should be one image per slide.
There will be a Conclusion slide that will summarize the brochure into a persuasive format that will entice a potential client to choose your travel destination.
The total number of slides in your digital brochure will be 22 slides.
There will be one digital brochure submitted per team of four members.


Resources

The following are links that will be extremely useful in researching your chosen destination. Links open in a new browser window.

Travelocity

Fodor's Online

Nations Online

iExplore

Yahoo Travel

The CIA World Factbook

Outdoor Travel Adventure Solutions

The Flight Centre

The Africa Guide

World Atlas.com

AskAsia.org

Evaluation

As potential clients will judge your work, so will your peers. Each group presentation will be voted on by a group of your peers for Best Adventure Travel Destination. Judging criteria will be based on the following:

The fulfillment of the digital brochure’s criteria
The quality of the material included in the digital brochure
The content and organization of the digital brochure, to include listing information representing at least 6 different websites listed in the Resources section
Collaborative creativity used to execute and complete the group project
Zero typographical errors in the text included in the digital brochure
Overall group presentation

Conclusion

The World Wide Web can be a very quick and fun source for people to investigate travel options by getting information quickly. “Traveling” on the Web can be just as exciting as it is for on ground tourists.

By completing this webquest, you have collaborated with your peers to gain knowledge about your selected destination, demonstrated your technological skills to create digital products and practice public speaking. Awesome job!

Wednesday, December 01, 2010

Students. First of all, remember you need to take your Accelerated Reader tests. Here's the link.

To submit your stories for publication after I return them to you:

1. Edit your story based upon the suggestions Mr. Zimmer or I made...if you lost it, you must find another teacher to edit your story and bring that to me. Be sure to save it.

2. Edit the business letter you wrote to include the information of the magazine you're sending your story to. (Remember, the sample business letter is below.) Be sure to save it.

3. Copy your business letter into the body of your e-mail. Be sure the magazine's e-mail address is correct in the "To" bar. Be sure to send it to me, too: brugiond@yahoo.com.

4. Send your story (unless the magazine wants otherwise) as an attachment. If you're not sure how to do this, ask a pal first, then either Mr. Zimmer or me.

5. Send it.