The week of love

February is Relationship Month at Project Bridging Cultures, and this week, we have been discussing the subject of romantic love.

For the Question of the Week, we asked "What is the difference between loving someone and being in love with someone?" We got many interesting responses from students:

In love is more romantic. Love is more like respect.

Being in love is w/ just one person. "Love" can be for all of us.

To love someone is to care for a person a lot. To be in love is to not want to be away from that person and will do anything for that person, or you can't live without them.

To love someone is to get attracted by his/her characteristics; to be in love with someone is to be deeply affected by his/her soul and behavior as well, I think.

In Conversation Club, we talked about dating, and in Reading Club, we read love poems from poets like Pablo Neruda, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, and Langston Hughes. Our room is now decorated with valentines given to us by students at Radnor Elementary School, and this afternoon, we will also hold a workshop for our students to make their own valentines.

Happy Valentine's Day to everyone!

What makes a home?

We had a very arts-and-culture filled month in January: we completed a quilt, a student led a workshop on Chinese paper cutting, we discussed the speeches and poetry of the inauguration, and we visited the art museum. And of course, there was One Book, One Philadelphia.

This year's book selection was The Soloist, an account of a friendship between a reporter and a homeless musician. We brought copies into our room, talked with students about the story, and read the original LA Times column about the musician, Nathaniel Ayers, written by Steve Lopez (the author of The Soloist).

When reading the book, I realized that it was not just about homelessness, but the meaning of home in general. Nathaniel Ayers called Skid Row in downtown Los Angeles home because Pershing Square was the home of a statue of Beethoven, his hero. He also found a home in classical music despite not being able to find peace in his own mind.

We wanted to connect our One Book, One Philadelphia event to the subject of the book. So we asked students "What makes a home?" We got some very terrific responses in the form of writing and artwork. On January 31, we had them on center stage at the South Philadelphia library. Students read their work and had their art displayed all around the room. It was a terrific afternoon. Stay tuned for more on these stories.