Kenneth Spiegelman visits an abandoned Jewish cemetary in Ukraine.
By Miriam Kolker
This summer brought fresh perspectives to three teachers who left the school setting to embark on their own journeys. Mr. Spiegelman, Ms. Lewandowski, and Mrs. Duval spent their vacation traveling to places they had never visited before.
Social Studies teacher Kenneth Spiegelman spent two weeks halfway around the world in St. Petersburg, Russia for a writer’s conference. Using his knowledge of European history, he noticed how the architecture had not been changed since around 1917, and looked very Western because of the Scandinavian influence, while the rest of Russia was much more Asian.
After Russia, Spiegelman took a personal trip to Ukraine for one week to trace his family roots.
“I was the first person in my family to be there in 90 years,” he says.
Spiegelman was able to track down the village his grandfather lived in, called Shepitivka, in the Western part of the country. There, he found a 100-year-old woman, and talked to her to see if she knew anything about the Jewish history of Ukraine. It turned out that her mother worked as a cook for his great-grandfather, who owned a hotel in the little village.
“It was bizarre,” he says.
Spiegelman pointed out how different Russia and Ukraine were from the United States. He found the main reason to be the language barrier.
“The Russian language is a beautiful language when it’s spoken well,” he says. “It’s just fascinating because it’s so completely different.”
He felt especially separated from the United States in the old countryside of Ukraine.
“Kiev [the capital of Ukraine] is so modern,” he says, “but you go to these little villages and there’s still ox-carts pulling [people around].”
Spiegelman also spent some of his summer a little closer to home. He was the Florida representative at a government program for teachers. The group went on private tours of special places like the Senate and the Gettysburg field.
English teacher Sunday Lewandowski took an exotic trip to Brazil for her summer vacation. She visited Sao Paolo for two days, Rio de Janeiro for another two days, and then stayed with a family friend for three weeks in Salvador.
“It’s just like living in a dream,” she says of her experience.
In Salvador, Lewandowski and her family enjoyed boat rides throughout the islands, museums, forts and beaches.
“The beach was one of the most beautiful beaches I had ever seen in my life,” she said. “Your feet melt into the sand.”
She already plans to go back next summer. “I suggest everybody go to Brazil. It was the happiest country I have ever been to.”
English teacher Nina Duval’s annual summer escape plan this year developed into a 10-day road trip throughout Florida, Georgia, and the Carolinas with her husband, something she had never done before.
“I think it’s always good to get away,” she says. “It’s always good to change your routine because that’s what vacations are, not looking at your watch.”
Duval was particularly touched by the historical aspect of the trip.
“I got very embroiled in the Civil War,” she says. “When you go through those areas you can’t help but be drawn into the history, especially of the slaves.”
Her favorite part of the trip was seeing the old Georgia settlement of Savannah. The city, designed with squares and lots of oak trees, reminded her of being home in Yorkshire, England.
Duval and her husband succeeded in driving non-stop back to Miami from North Carolina in about 18 hours.
“That was horrible,” she says. “I never want to do that again.”
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