Green Bay Packers And Guatemala

This morning a note appeared in my email from a friend who retired from her job and lives for the most part in Guatemala. 

It is 7:15 am and I was puttering around the apartment, making coffee and half listening to the TV morning news.  All of a sudden, I was sure I heard the words “Green Bay Packers.”  My first thought was that I was having some kind auditory hallucination/flash-back.  I turned the look at the screen and, there they were.  A group of Packers, their helmets off, saluting the flag while some woman I did not recognize (but who is undoubtedly famous) was adding unnecessary vocal flourishes to the national anthem in an attempt to disguise her lack of range. 

Even in Guatemala, there is no escaping the Super Bowl. ( I wanted to tell her “Oh, you should be here.”)

Stay warm and keep shoveling,

Former Madison Teacher, Living In Guatemala, Writes Blog

A new site is now listed on my blogroll that I think some of my readers will find to be a pleasant departure from politics.  The Room Beyond by Debra Stanko muses about living in a foreign country, and outside of one’s comfort zone. 

Debra Stanko is a former Madison teacher from Wright Middle School where she kept pupils engaged in learning for 30 years.  Now she spends half of each year in Guatemala.    It is from there that she offers insight and perspective on a blog, her latest undertaking since retiring. 

Truth is Debra Stanko is a friend who has worked hard to understand the best way to get a blog started, and how to make it look polished.    That she succeeded is not surprising. 

One of her stories about a little girl named Melanie is one fine example of Stanko’s writing ability and concern for others.  She starts her post this way…

When I taught seventh grade, one of the topics that most reliably sparked an animated discussion was the subject of school uniforms.  My students never failed to produce outraged defenses of their god-given right to express their individuality through the choice of clothing.  That is not a sentiment shared by their Guatemala counterparts. Here, the children go to  school dressed in some version of what I remember from the 1950s as a classic Catholic school uniform—plaid skirts in green or blue, white blouses, leather shoes and knee socks  for the girls; dark slacks, white shirts and leather shoes for the boys.   This uniform is required—without deviation—of every child who walks through the front door of a Guatemalan school, regardless of the economic circumstances of the parents.

I am glad to be able to promote Debra Stanko’s blog, and know that the candor and grace of her writing will be a joy for her readers.