Today was another exciting day in Máriapócs. The highlight was the two classes that Daniel and I had with our Grade 2s this morning. We started the second lesson by trying to teach the kids a new classroom game, but they weren't particularly interested in it, so we switched tactics and taught them the 'Jack and Jill went up a hill' nursery rhyme instead. I'd never really thought about it before, but it's actually not a very nice story. Two siblings set out on a simple journey to complete a household chore (fetching a pail of water), only to both fall down a large hill. One of them sustains a nasty head injury and manages to make it home, only to find that the medicine cabinet holds little more than vinegar and brown paper.
As I was trying to teach the rhyme to the kids, their little eyes were widening in horror. Now that I think about it my gory depiction of Jack's head wound on the blackboard probably didn't help. At around this point in the rhyme, one of the kids raised her hand and asked 'Jack is dead?'. In spite of my assurances that he was still very much alive, the kids decided amongst themselves that Jack's tumble down the hill had indeed been fatal. They refused to budge from this conclusion even when I explained that Jack was able to get back on his feet and make his way home. In fact, they concluded that this was only possible because Jack was now a zombie!
So, for the rest of the lesson we had pairs of students come to the front of the classroom to act out the rhyme, and each time that Jack made his way home after falling down the hill, he did so with his arms outstretched and his eyes half-closed in true zombie style. It was pretty funny.
In other news, flocks of storks are currently making their annual migration to Europe from Africa. We first saw some of their nests on the drive back from Mohács a few weeks ago, but last week one of our Grade 3 students pointed out a nest right here in Máriapócs. It's in the central square, just in front of the famous church.
These huge birds build their massive nests just about anywhere, and in much of Europe it is considered a blessing if storks deign to build their nests on your house. It is thought of as a sign of good fortune, creativity and fertility for the coming year. However, it seems that in Denmark, the opposite is true. If a stork builds a nest on your home, then according to superstition someone who lives there will die within a year.
In any case, I had quite a nice time watching the stork couple in Máriapócs fussing over their nest a few days ago and thought I'd share some photos. Storks form monogamous breeding pairs, and these two certainly seemed quite smitten with one another. I'm really looking forward to keeping my eyes and ears open for their chicks over the coming weeks - I imagine that it's going to be pretty crowded up there soon.
Finally, here is a quick video of Daniel playing the citera at the school's musical gala on Saturday. I think he did really, really well and lots of people came up to congratulate him on his performance afterwards. I find it hard to believe that he's only been learning to play for about 6 months.
- Amanda
very good, daniel!!!
ReplyDeletelove the stork pics, too :D