ktravula – a travelogue!

Browsing ktravula – a travelogue! blog archives for August, 2010.

Ernest Who?

I had a mojito today, for the very first time, like many other things I report on this blog. Thanks to the prodding and generous encouragement by a colleague in the department, I am discovering not just a new palatal delight, but a new lesson in (literary) history. Olga says it’s invented by Ernest Hemingway. Wikiepdia says it’s only Hemingway’s favourite drink. The indisputable fact however is that the man Ernest Hemingway liked his mojito very well that he went to a bar called La Bodeguita del medio and wrote “My mojito in La Bodeguita, My daiquiri in El Floridita” on the wall there. It can still  be seen today in his own handwriting.

A few more things about the bloody author. He was born in Oak Park, Illinois, he wrote Old Man and the Sea, A Farewell to Arms, among many other books. He liked his alcohol, and he won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1954. He was in Africa where he was injured and almost killed in a plane crash, and he committed suicide, the bloody guy, in 1961. He also “invented” the mojito.

The drink is made of : white rum, sugar (traditionally sugar cane juice), lime, sparkling water and mint. As opposed to KT Martini made only of Sherry wine and soda, the mojito is limy and less intoxicating. I guess that makes the mojito more family oriented, or so? Or maybe not. We need to find an independent assessor. In any case, I’m glad to find in Ernest a kindred spirit of the muse, the wine and the restless feet. Let’s take out the suicide and we may have something close to a match. Now I need to find someone to send me any of his books for free whether electronically or physically. \

Do you need my address?

Ernest Who? was published on August 27th, 2010, with the tags , , , , , under the Literature category. There are currently 2 comments on this article so far.

Discussing Toefl

I’ve had to write this exam called Test of English as a Foreign Language once upon a time, and my continued response to it was a big “WHY”! When Americans come to study in Nigeria, we never make them take UME or WAEC or even a simple test of Nigerian English proficiency, even though we probably should ;). Why then do we need to take a standardized test verifying our ability to speak like Americans? I got one of the highest score of the test, but I still don’t think I would ever learn to speak good enough for America, except for occasional comments of “You speak very well.” Neither do I intend to speak like Americans.

The class discussion on standardized test has brought the issues back to my mind. I doubt that British students get to take TOEFL so I don’t think that students from former British colonies should. I don’t know whether American students get to take German or Spanish proficiency examinations before studying in German or Spanish universities in Europe, but it would be fun to research that.

Discussing Toefl was published on August 26th, 2010, with the tags , , , under the Academic category. There are currently 7 comments on this article so far.

Casablanca

There are very many memorable scenes in this movie which I was seeing for the very first time but these two stand out. One is the emotionally charged scene of utmost patriotism in the face of danger and oppression. The German soldiers were singing Die Wacht am Rhein and Victor Lazlo comes to overshadow it with the beautiful and heartfelt rendition of La Marseillaise that would make the head of anyone swell, French or not. A very defining scene in fact. I couldn’t get enough of it. (The irony of this scene to a viewer like me lies, of course, in the fact that both the German and the French folks were engaged in that phychological fight for superiority while occupying Morocco, a country that technically belonged to neither of them.)

The other is a very tender love scene full of nostalgia and affection. A black man (perhaps from America, having fleed from the discrimination of the South) played a moving slow rendition of a now favourite song. It was my pleasure to discover on iTunes today that the song As Time Goes By has been remade after the movie by greats like Frank Sinatra, Nat King Cole, Billie Holiday and Louis Armstrong among many others. Even Kenny G did an instrumental version. A great song by many standards, and the movie gives a very strong emotional background to its appreciation. Play it Sam.

Full of laughter, drama, intrigue, action, romance and bravery, with very superb acting by Humphrey Bogart,  Ingrid Bergman and Paul Henreid Casablanca has suddenly become one of my most favourite movies of all time. A wonder I’m seeing it now just for the very first time.

Casablanca was published on August 25th, 2010, with the tags , , , under the Fun category. There are currently no comments on this article so far.

“Hi, My Name is…

…and I’m an alcoholic!”

That was what the scene of the first class looked like. Sitting in a circle in a way to make visible any member of the class who might be inspired to go to sleep without permission, the students all introduced themselves and what their motivations are. “My name is… and I’ve always been interested in language. I’m interested in what the possibilities are for language teaching and learning and I look forward to being able to teach it somewhere around the world in the nearest future.” Of course that’s convenient. A second way to answer the question could have been “My name is… and I’m bored with staring at the cielings in my house, and traveling, that I decided to come back to school and make something with my grey matter.”

That would at least have been honest, if hilarious, but this student wasn’t thinking that mischievously at the time as he sat quietly along with eleven other folks of different ages and convictions from different parts of the world… Taiwan, Mexico, America, China among others, and being introduced to the course that will make their lives miseerable for the next thirteen weeks. One of the other fun requirements of this course is finding someone learning English for the first time and tutoring him/her for at least once a week for three months of the course, and to describe and respond to their tutoring experiences in a weekly online journal posted on Blackboard. Isn’t that interesting? It’s about time to discover what thrill and frustrations there are in teaching, this time a new language, but one that is still new to the target student.

“Hi, my name is… and I’m looking forward to being able to go to St. Louis at least once a week to mentor one or even more refugee students and understand their attempt to learn English for the first time. Thanks for having me.”

“Hi, My Name is… was published on August 25th, 2010, with the tags , , , under the Academic category. There are currently 1 comment on this article so far.

Nokia Update

The Nokia C3 Competition will begin on August 30 when the first question will be pasted on this blog. There will be a question every day from then until September 2. Respondents will be required to send their response to an email address that will be provided. The first person to answer correctly all the five questions will be the winner of the C3 phone and will be presented the gift at the launch in Lagos on Tuesday 7th September.

Best of luck as you compete.

Nokia Update was published on August 25th, 2010, with the tags , , under the Uncategorized category. There are currently no comments on this article so far.