Note: This was written in December while I was finishing up my term in Novi Sad. A group update touching upon the transition to Niš is forthcoming.
“Why Serbia?” Every time I interact with a new group of local people, I get asked the same question. For many youth here, it seems puzzling that I chose to leave behind “The American Dream” for a whole year--and, even more so, that I chose to spend it in Serbia. My response is always the same: the service opportun
Archive – February 2012
It is almost 7:00pm but the darkness of the sky resembles midnight from where I come from. I am in the front seat of a rickety taxi with my four friends cramped in the back like, as the cliché goes, sardines in a can. We are leaving the center of the city back to our homes, a drive that should have taken half an hour but is protracted to three times its length because of the bad roads.
t’s obvious that language is an important part of our lives. Most people understand that we speak one or possibly two languages natively, and that some of us learn a few more on top of that. Travel, adventure, and self growth are what we usually associate with the acquisition new languages. The appeal is clear; think of language as a window, through which we can see and experience the world. No window, no matter how big, can offer a complete view of life outside its panes.
I'm working for World Literacy Canada -- which right off the bat is a name that inspires a lot of confusion here. In explanation, the organization is based here in Varanasi, India, but it receives much of its funding (and management) from the Canadian government's outreach programs. WLC is an NGO (non-governmental organization) that works to promote basic Hindi literacy...