Adeu!
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The final week and weekend I was in Barcelona I said goodbye to many friends over dinners and hikes and WhatsApp texts and letters, lots of letters! Below are a few of those letters to BAT 2 (Senior level) English students and 4ESO (8th-9th grade level) students who studied the European Union with me the past three months.
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Dear (4th of ESO Student)
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Excuse me! Excuse me! Perdon!!!! ; )
I spent some time reading and reflecting on the letters you wrote me yesterday evening and there are a few things I want you to know before I leave for my home in the United States.
First and foremost, I want to say thank you. I am very grateful to have spent the past three months with you. We accomplished a lot over that time! Think back to all of our projects: our models of Parliament building facades, our Pokemon cards of EU Council members, or our timelines showing the development of the European Union from its early stages as the Council of Europe and the Coal and Steel Community to the machine it is today.
If I was to choose, my favorite project was our most recent on the “Walls of the World.” It was my favorite for a few reasons. The first is because your research and the models you made were so well organized and accurate! I also believe many of the “Walls” still standing or being built at this moment are barriers that are shaping your future, whether you realize it or not. Which is why I hope you continue to look back on our experience, especially at the “Walls” project. Something I have learned along my way in Barcelona is how remarkable and grateful I am to have the opportunity to teach in not one but two Jesuit institutions committed to building bridges between themselves. Instead of remaining isolated, we must be bridge builders, welcomers, collaborators, peacekeepers. We must work to love others!
Our future depends it, on you!
Thank you again for a great experience. I will also miss you. Our world gives us opportunities to remain connected. We are blessed to only be a message away from each other! If you ever need to talk to a friend, know you have one in Jersey City!
Gratefully,
Russ
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And to my English students...
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Dear ,
I am overwhelmed by your gratitude and warm farewells. Your sincerity makes me smile. Three months have passed swiftly since I touched down in Barcelona. My luggage was light, my confidence speaking Spanish lighter. My heart was swelling with a mixture of emotions! I was burning with expectations, hopes, and wonder, while at the same time enduring whims of anxiety, doubts, and nerves that made my stomach flutter and my heart as heavy as stone. There were many days, especially in the first few weeks, when I felt incredibly lonely and fearful. Looking back, my feelings made sense. I knew no one, spoke very little Spanish and even less Catalan (which more or less remains the case!), and had never taught English language or a course on the European Union before. Challenges were everywhere!
Building relationships through conversation with you and your classmates nourished my spirit, especially during those difficult days. Conversation, whether at the beginning of class or in our informal exchanges in the hallway, ultimately forged a unique bond between us. I believe conversation is why our learning experience was so “different” as many of you expressed in your letters. Learning did not happen with rote memorization, workbook exercises, or multiple choice tests. We dared to go deeper, to see what was hidden beneath the grammatical concepts and vocabulary lists. We shared about our separate lives in Catalonia and the United States. We told stories and sang songs. We talked about the NBA, pandas, and your lives at school. My favorite moment was when we drew monsters. I know for most of you it can seem like school “isn’t your thing.” But when all of you were laughing and struggling to describe in English how to doodle cartoons of Daffy Duck or Martian, you were learning without even realizing it!
So...a wee bit of final advice. As you move forward in your journey, continue to look back at our monsters! Recall your feeling of joy in spite of being challenged and forced to grow. As you begin discerning a career, strive to do something that gives you that same joyous feeling!
I am grateful for each of you. You have taught me love and laughter have no bounds, no borders! Which is why waving a final goodbye is not easy. Yet I sense this is not the end! Our global world has not only afforded us this opportunity together, but opportunities to remain connected in the future. We are blessed to only be a message away from each other! If you ever need a friend, know you have one in Jersey City!
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With Love,
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Russell
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**Please look for my "Afterwards" reflection in a few weeks!
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