The Many Faces of Viona

Viona came to America as a very bright girl, but she will leave as a maturing young woman.  She is inquisitive with a deep intellectual groove:

She is also simple, straight-forward:

She is also becoming more complex and hard to figure but seemingly sure of where she wants to go:

And yet she has so much to do in the next few years as she looks to return home and move on to University.  She will be challenged by the unknown:

But for now, Viona has just gone to Prom with "George" (see Moon Over Buffalo entry)

Afterall, 18 or not, she is still just one of the kids

Youth in Government

Twenty five years ago I was fortunate to engage in the Youth Legislature of the State of Texas  -- the coup I plotted was unsuccessful.  Viona was able to participate in the New Jersey Youth Legislature this spring.  We talked about potential bills that she could propose and she finally stuck on a bill to start taxing religious organizations, which to me seems highly appropriate given the transformation American culture has undergone in the last 20 or 30 years.  People seek spiritual and social refuge in a number of places -- the gym, for instance -- and it's taxed.  Of course it is for profit, not merely prophet, ahhhhh.  But when you see evangelists like Benny Hinn living in multi-million dollar homes and driving $100,000 cars bought and paid for through a so-called church, then it is time for them to chip into the community pot.  Viona's point was probably even better.  American society looks to government as the primary care giver in society rather than private social organizations, and the average tax payer makes a large contribution for that government service.  Since that is so it would be most worthwhile to fully fund the more capable outlet for public services more equitably.  Of course, charitable work done by religious organizations should find exemption along with upkeep and maintenance of facilities, but the days of living free of charge should be over ..... the bill got out of committee but did not pass in the assembly.  Thank God.

Ms. Maloku Goes to Washington

So far I have devoted all of the blog to life with Viona, but it is a fast approaching reality that she will be going home in a few short months.  This weekend is a reminder of that, as Viona is on a FE trip to Washington D.C.  The FE people picked the right weekend as this is cherry blossom season in DC and it should look spectacular.  Viona will blossom as well with the new duds that she got for the trip -- the cutest dress and a new vest.  Viona's English is remarkably flawless but in parading off her new clothes she proudly displayed her new "West." 

We miss her already.

A Little Taste of Home

Viona has done remarkably well with at least appearing not to be too homesick.  Last night we took her to a Turkish Restaurant and she was so happy, happy to speak Turkish, happy to have a familiar dish, happy to have dessert and coffee that was so sweet it even was sweet to the American palate .... happy for a little taste of home.

Kosovo Independence Day in NYC

Thanks to Aunt Alaina the City of New York recognized the 3rd anniversary of Kosovo's independence in a ceremony in Times Square.  Viona got to meet many significant members of the Albanian Kosovar-American community, including the Ambassador of Kosovo to the United States, the Ambassador of Kosovo to the United Nations and the publisher of the most noted Albanian language publication in the United States, The Illyrian.

On the way up Viona got her first trip through the Lincoln Tunnel and then into Mid-Town Manhattan

We arrived early so we engaged the heart of capitalism in its left ventricle, McDonalds and then off to the square.

Times Square did not disappoint it is spectacular, although far more diamond shaped in person than it seems on television.

And then the ceremony where several dignitaries honored both the United States (in its role as Kosovo's sponsor in movement away from Serbia) including the host of the event, Manhattan Borough President, Scott Stringer.  Mr. Stringer even mentioned Viona in his speech.  Quite an honor for a seventeen year old foreign exchange student living in Mount Holly NJ

And then the show stopper .... a billboard proclaiming the liberty of Kosovo, with our favorite Kosovar Viona right in the middle of the action.

A Day in the Life

When we found out that Viona was coming to live with us this year, I did a little searching of terms in Albanian and Turkish, the two languages she spoke at home.  The Turkish word for daughter, Kiz, seemed to stick with me, though I must confess I never felt as though I got the pronunciation correct.  The i is not a typical English I sound, neither short nor long but some schwa in between -- but I did notice that my pronunciation was getting very close to the local term of endearment (and sometimes derision), Cuz.  So I combined the two -- in my mind I think Kiz, but I say Cuz. 
The Kiz and I usually start our day at quarter till 7 with the teenage girl occupying the closest bathroom to the bedrooms:  Age before beauty evidently does not apply.  Viona usually makes her lunch or dries her hair while I take Lottie outside (our dog) and then we depart together at about 7:20.  The ride to RV (her high school) is a nice time for the two of us to chat (or not depending on how tired we are) and we have had a number of interesting conversations in the 5-7 minutes it takes before I drop her off -- anywhere from movies to hearing the news of Cliff Lee signing with the Phillies (that was a rather one sided conversation) to issues that Viona finds interesting.  Our present engagement is a sort of Tayloristic experiment to see which route to RV is most time effective.  I will certainly report back with our findings.
When I drop her off at RV Viona claims that she goes to classes, but who knows -- the straight A's on the report card could somehow be computer manipulations.  But lets assume that she goes to class -- currently she has a history course (along with whatever else of less importance).  They will be seeing 3 films this semester:  Saving Private Ryan, Iron Jawed Angels (brilliant movie on woman's suffrage and Alice Paul) and something else .... but 7 hours of film designed for entertainment?  come on, what are my taxes paying for?  that's not education, and I find it insulting to my academic field that these pieces of hollywood ..... ok.  Nicole has advised me that I am not allowed to show my displeasure at the curriculum choices of the Kiz's high school teacher.  Humbug.
Viona normally comes home around 2:30 though at times she does stay after school for an activity.  She plays with the kids, maybe has a snack and then studies.  What a wonderful student she is.  It is too bad that some teacher is wasting her mind on an entertai .... alright.  We eat dinner together at 5:30-6:30.  Most recently, Jack has taken to asking Viona for a lollipop when he is finished with dinner, presumably because he does not think that Mommy or Daddy will get it for him.  Viona, sometimes with my help, cleans up after dinner.  She has been very forthright and assertive in helping around the house.  We have seldom asked her to do anything -- but we don't have to.  She does almost everything on her own.  A testament to her family in Kosovo. 
Maybe we watch TV together or view a DVD -- the last one I remember we showed her was The Emperor's New Clothes, a what if story about Napoleon if he had escaped from St. Helena (and yes Jeff, I did explain to her).  But if there is school work to be done then Viona is upstairs on the internet like any typical American high school student -- or studying.
The other night we had to go to the store together to buy her something for school.  On our way home I wanted a drink, or perhaps I should say Soda, and so we stopped at a 7-11.  When we entered Eddie Grant's "Electric Avenue" was beatin' through the store.  The people behind the counter were cheerful and of course 7-11 is filled with all our favorite treats.  Viona turned to me and said, "this is the happiest place."  I smiled and walked down electric avenue for a moment and thought, "it sure is." 


We went home with soda and ice cream.

A Very Viona Christmas

 

This was Viona's first American Christmas.  She sat on Santa's lap at Macy's in NYC.  She decorated a Christmas tree with her FES Family and she got lots of presents from Santa because she was a good girl this year (or at least since August that we know of.  Pictured above is Viona with "Super" Momma and the FES coordinator Nancy and her FES daughter Husnia.

Is the best thing about Christmas the presents or the cookies?  In the Empire we decided that there is always room for more than one best, and I think Viona agrees -- at least she liked the cookies.