07.25.05
Tagged as Travel
While the flight to Charleston was relatively uneventful, the return flight was … problematic. We left Charleston pretty late, arrived in Houston with very little time to spare, then waited on the tarmac for over half an hour before we were allowed to exit the plane. I missed the flight to Sacramento, and spent the night with a couple of fellow stranded passengers before a morning flight, which fortunately included an upgrade to first class. My new friends Darian (a nurse from Davis) and Hervi (an architect for Gallo wineries in Modesto) made the wait bearable, and I managed to catch a couple hours of sleep on the floor of terminal E-8 despite the inescapable blare of CNN on TVs throughout the airport.
Slate provides a little insight in an article today about why so many flights are delayed at hub airports—and sure enough, Houston is one of Continental’s biggest hubs.
Also: there must be something about me that tells my seatmates I want nothing more than to hear about their religious beliefs for the duration of the flight. This is incorrect. Please make a note of it.
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07.21.05
Tagged as Education, Travel
The conference is going well—I really like the Charleston Latin curriculum, and am going to recommend that my school adopt it for grades five and six. It involves teaching Latin by immersion, believe it or not, and then stepping back periodically to connect the Latin lesson to English and Spanish vocabulary and Roman history. It’s very structured, but can be adapted to fourth through eighth grades.
It surprised me to learn that Latin is much more commonly taught in the South than it is in the North. In the Sacramento area, for example, St. Michael’s is the only elementary or middle school I know of that still teaches Latin, and Jesuit is the only high school that carries it. In the South, however, it’s apparently not at all unusual to take Latin in public school starting in fourth grade. I’m the only participant in the conference who teaches in a Northern state. (One teacher is originally from Long Island, but now teaches in Louisiana.)
Today in Charleston there was an extreme heat warning and a severe thunderstorm warning at the same time. Also, I am sorry I missed this exhibit:
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07.17.05
Tagged as Education, Travel
From Wednesday through Friday of this coming week I’ll be in Charleston, South Carolina for a conference on teaching Latin to elementary and middle school children. I can’t easily afford a rental car right now and my employer is only willing to pay cab fare to and from the airport, but I’ll be staying in Charleston’s historical district, so I’m hoping there will be things in the area to keep me entertained in the off hours. If you know of anything around there to do, or have a favorite restaurant nearby, please leave advice in the comments.
I’ll have internet access while I’m there, and I hope to get a few pictures to share.
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