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In this issue:
Eye On: Wales
So you've taken your Brit Lit students to Canterbury, Stratford and Dorset and you want some fresh material for your next Literary Tour of Britain?
Then perhaps you should venture to the other side of the UK - to the ancient land of Wales or Cymru (pronounced CUM-REE) to our Welsh brethren. It's no less a literary paradise than its more visited next-door neighbors, England and Scotland.
For starters, Wales is home to Europe's oldest living language, and you'll find traces of Welsh everywhere from road signs to BBC Wales news programs to casual conversations in the local pubs.
Of course there's no missing the Welsh language if you visit the tiny village with the big name - Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch. Precisely translated to "The church of St. Mary in the hollow of white hazel trees near the rapid whirlpool by St. Tysilio's of the red cave," the name of this village has the quirky distinction of being the longest in the United Kingdom. It also happens to be the longest single-word domain name on the Internet.
While we're on the subject of peculiar Welsh villages, be sure to stop in Hay-on-Wye, the used book capital of the world, where almost every other shop is a bookstore! Known locally as Booktown, this tiny town of only 2500 residents plays host to the world's largest literary festival every May.
If it's lore you love, the Legend of Arthur abounds in Wales. Take an excursion to the scenic and historic Snowdonia National Park. Its most-climbed mountain, Snowdon, is said to be the burial place of the giant ogre Rhita, vanquished by King Arthur. Then travel to the southern Welsh town of Caerleon reputed to be the site of King Arthur's fabled Camelot.
The area around Llangollen, in northwest Wales, is chock full of Arthurian connections including the ruins of Castell Dinas Bran also called Crow Castle. According to tradition, the castle was home to the Celtic King Bran, who invaded Ireland and then lost his head, which was subsequently buried in the Tower of London. It was King Arthur who retrieved said head and thus safeguarded Britain.
No literary tour would be complete without hitting the trail of some famous writers, and Wales has got them - Martin Amis, Caradoc Evans, and Richard Lllewellyn to name a few. Dylan Thomas, however, is undoubtedly the writer most associated with Wales. You can follow in the author's footsteps in his birthplace of Swansea while visiting the Dylan Thomas Centre. Then continue on to Laugharn, where he lived beside the sea, worked in a small wooden boathouse and was eventually buried.
CQ Capers
CQ Joins SYTA
CQ is proud to announce that it has just been accepted as a new member of the Student Youth and Travel Association (SYTA), a non-profit, professional trade association whose mission is to promote and support integrity and professionalism among student and youth travel service providers.
"I had no doubt that Culture Quest would meet SYTA'S strict membership standards," said the company's director, Josette Bonafino. "This stamp of approval will only enhance our reputation as an established and reliable educational tour company to principals, teachers, parents and students.
In addition to maintaining a minimum of $1,000,000 in liability insurance, each SYTA member is required to earn annual gross revenue of at least $1,000,000 from student/youth travel, be in business at least three years under the same ownership and have a consumer protection plan.
For more information on SYTA, click here.
Teachers Talk Back
Michael Tomasso
As a social studies teacher with a love of all things Italian, I've been leading class trips to Italy for the past ten years. But four years ago, I realized that students traveling with me would have a more meaningful educational experience if given a well-rounded background on Italy not covered in my regular history curriculum.
I decided to design a six-month independent study course, offered at night to qualified 11th and 12th grade students, which would provide a foundation in the art, culture and language of Italy. The course, naturally, would culminate with a trip to Italy. I proposed my curriculum to the school board, which accepted my proposal as a pilot program.
My vision from the start was that the students would utilize coursework to enhance their experience of Italian life. For instance, using their newly-acquired conversational Italian, students order meals on their own and seek directions from the locals while in Italy. Similarly, a field trip to the Philadelphia Museum of Art primes students for a critical visit to the Uffizzi Art Gallery in Florence.
The first students who participated in my course have just entered their junior year of college, and many have chosen to spend a semester abroad studying in Italy. This outcome has been its just reward for me.
Michael Tomasso
Pottsgrove HS
Pottstown, PA
Travel Tidbits
Uncover Offbeat Rome
Been to the Vatican? Done the Coliseum? Try these odd museums on for size.
Catacombs Of San Callisto And San Sebastiano
Via Appia Antica 110 and 136
Visit the underground 'Cities of the Dead' where persecuted Christians hid in the first two centuries A.D.
Criminology Museum
Via del Gonfalone 29
This collection is devoted to the history of crime with sections on torture, capital punishment and prisons. See instruments of punishment including the guillotines used by the papal executioner.
Crypt Of The Cappuccini Monks
Church of Santa Maria della Concezione, Via Veneto 27
The ceiling and walls of this crypt are eerily decorated with the bones of 4,000 Capuchin Monks. Not to be missed.
Excubitorium Of The 7th Cohort Of The Guards
Via della VII Corte, Piazza Sonnino, Trastevere
Located about twenty-five feet below modern street level, this barrack was excavated in the 1800s and is remarkable for its graffiti.
Keats - Shelley House
Piazza di Spagna
This "Casina Rossa" sits next to the Spanish Steps and celebrates the lives of Keats, Shelley and Byron with such memorabilia as Keats' death mask and original letters.
Museum Of Roman Civilization
Piazza Giovanni Agnelli 10, EUR District
Two amazing scale models bring Rome back to life exactly as it was during the early Republic and at the height of the Empire.
Museum Of The Souls Of Purgatory
Church of the Sacred Heart of Sufferance, Lungotevere Prati 12
This one-room museum displays objects allegedly "signed" by some souls in Purgatory who came back to thank those who had prayed for them.
National Museum Of Pasta Foods
Piazza Scanderbeg 117
Learn the history of one of Italy's staples while viewing the tools of production and photos of celebrities eating pasta.
Necropolis Of St. Peter's Basilica
St. Peter's Basilica, Piazza San Pietro
Below St. Peter's Basilica and the Vatican Grottoes lies a pagan necropolis with Christian tombs including the legendary burial site of the Apostle Peter. Prior authorization is required to visit this site.
Santa Maria Dell'orazione E Morte
Via Giulia behind Palazzo Farnese
Formerly a storage hall for corpses retrieved from the Tiber each morning, this 18th century church is embellished with images of death. Notice the plaque near the door where a skeleton announces "Hodie Mihi, Cras Tibi" or "you are next."
Multicultural Corner
Art of Community Service - Isla de Chira, Costa Rica
In July 2005, Culture Quest's non-profit little sister - MYX: Multicultural
Youth eXchange - debuted it's Art of Community Service program on the remote Costa Rican island of Chira, a small community of 3000 fisher people located in the Nicoyan Gulf.
The Art of Community Service is a unique program intended to pair American high school students with their foreign counterparts while they collaborate on a community enhancing art project like a mosaic or sculpture garden.
During the Chira program four Philadelphia-area teens collaborated with Chiran youth on a large, outdoor mural at the island's small port.
"This mural is the first thing visitors to Chira will see as they arrive by boat (the only mode of transportation to the island)," says MYX co-director, Michelle Ortiz. a Philadelphia artist. "The Chiran community leaders asked MYX to do this project because they're trying to bring tourists to the island as a source of sustainable income." she continued.
The mural took six days to complete during which time the American students experienced authentic Chiran life - living with local families, taking fishing trips through the island's mangroves and learning traditional folk dances.
Said Conestoga High School senior, Stephanie Belliveau, "It was very rewarding to see the final product and the community's reaction to the mural. It was so special to see how thankful everyone was for our help and work on the island."
In Summer 2006, MYX will bring two teams of students back to Chira to build a library for one of the local schools. Two trips are also planned to the Caribbean island of Montserrat, now in recovery after 10 years of intermittent volcanic eruptions. Students will create a large-scale mosaic out of ash and other found materials on the island.
For more information about MYX and the Art of Community Service, click here.
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Fall 2005