Hip Hop Under the Big Top: UniverSoul Circus

Hi Meltingpot Readers,

It probably won't come as much of a surprise to you that one of my dreams as a child was to join the circus. Once I discovered that there was actually such a thing as clown college, I figured 'clowning' must be a legitimate profession. I mean, if you have to go to college first...

Something about the bohemian lifestyle, the traveling, the performance, it all spoke to me. But my parents weren't feeling it, even with a degree from a prestigious clown college. So, you can imagine my thrill at being assigned a story to write about the UniverSoul circus for the Philadelphia Inquirer. (The story comes out in a few weeks. I'll link to it then.)

Honestly, I always assumed the UniveSoul circus was a little circus that only featured Black performers. Boy was I wrong. I got to interview the CEO and founder of UniverSoul, Cedric Walker, while he was in Ecuador searching for new acts,  (No, I didn't get to jet off to Ecuador, we spoke by phone.) and by the end of our almost two-hour conversation, I was ready to run off and join the circus again. UniverSoul features performers from far flung places like Gabon and Belarus, China and Chile. The performers are young and creative and they bring their own culture, language and music to the show.  Walker told me that while UniverSoul did start out only featuring Black performers, he had to go international to find new acts. And what's really great is that he is giving a lot of talented circus performers from countries in Africa and Latin America a chance at international exposure. Good for them and good for us.

Walker told me that just hanging out behind the scenes at UniverSoul, listening to all of the different languages being spoken and watching the interaction between the performers during their down time, is just as exciting as what goes on under the Big Top. Apparently the common language between them all is hip hop and they share a kind of global youth-led urban culture. I love it. And that's why I'm giving the UniverSoul Circus The MyAmericanMeltingpot Mention of the Month.

Have you ever seen the show? What did you think? Here's a little taste.


Peace!

American Kids Living Dangerously Abroad

Hi Meltingpot Readers,

I don't know about you, but I admit I've been riveted by Amanda Knox. I didn't necessarily feel that she was an innocent wrongly accused or a guilty murderer who got what she deserved, I was just drawn into her horrific experience. And in some ways I could sympathize. I was an exchange student in college. I did things in Spain in the name of freedom and experimentation that I would never do in the States. I fell in love with dangerous European men (not el esposo of course) and I probably made decisions that in retrospect could have gotten me into a lot of trouble. A lot of trouble. No, I never killed anyone or even broke any laws, but still, my 'year of living dangerously,' could have turned out with a far more sinister outcome. So, maybe Amanda Knox was in Italy and was feeling free to experiment, to live dangerously, to abandon caution and it somehow backfired on her. I don't know, but I can imagine several scenarios.

But now, as a mother, I look at Amanda Knox, accused of murder, and spending four years in jail and I look at those poor American hikers, accused of spying in Iran, who spent two years in an Iranian prison and I cringe at the thought that one day my children will want to go abroad and experience a different way of life. Suddenly, as a parent, I see the inherent risks of my children wanting the chance to 'live dangerously' in another country, in another language. How, I wonder, do parents these days let their children go?

I asked my uncle this question before he passed, as he allowed his two young teens to travel to Germany when they were in high school on an exchange program. He told me he had simply raised his children right and that he trusted them. I rolled my eyes at that answer and decided he was just too lenient. But then I looked back on my own childhood. My parents sent me/allowed me to be an exchange student in Morocco when I was 17 years old. My first experience abroad and I was on a plane to Africa. There was no internet back then and letters took at least 10 days to arrive. That trip was life changing for me. (By the way, the program I went on, AFS, still exists today and is wonderful.)  I experienced myself and the world in a totally different way. I made lifelong friends and became part of a new family. I also learned how to speak a little bit of Arabic and French which I still remember and use on occasion today.

And then of course, I did go to Spain in college. I was a little more reckless, but look what I got out of the experience. A husband, a career and the fodder for my memoir, Kinky Gazpacho. Not bad for a year abroad.

So, at the end of the day, I'm sure I will be scared to death when my kids inevitably ask to go abroad alone. I'll probably try to secretly insert a GPS monitor under their skin or in a back tooth to keep track of them, but I'll let them go. Despite what happened to Amanda Knox and the hikers in Iran, I will keep the faith that I raised my kids right and I will trust them to 'live dangerously' ... but with caution. Is that too much to ask?

What do you think dear readers? Will you let your kids go abroad with no reservations? At what age? What will you do to prepare them?

I'm so listening.

Peace!

Growing Up Global: Homa Sabet Tavangar Will Now Take Your Questions (And a Giveaway Too)

When I first met Homa Sabet Tavangar, I had just moved to Philadelphia. Homa was about to leave the city. Temporarily. She said she was about to take her three young daughters and move to Africa, to The Gambia specifically. Why? Because she wanted them to experience the "oneness of humanity."

Soon after, Homa left the United States with her girls in tow, to live out her principles. Her oldest daughter should have been in her last year of middle school, her youngest was only three-and-a-half. Once there, Homa did not search out an expat community or try to find an exclusive private international school for her girls. She enrolled them all in private local schools with some of the same families they were living amongst as well as some other international kids. She chronicled her journey in a fantastic blog for the Philadelphia Inquirer.

Personally, I loved reading about her adventures on the blog, but Homa's gone one better. She's written a fascinating and useful book called, Growing Up Global: Raising Children to be at Home in the World. In the book she talks about her motivations to take the trip to Africa but the majority of the tome is a parenting primer, offering wonderful tips and activities to raise real global citizens. With chapter titles like "Be A Friend," "Go to School" and "Celebrate with the World," the book is chock full of ways (from learning a new language to attending an international children's film festival) to make our children (and ourselves too!) understand their place in this big wide world. I love it! And one of you will too.

Homa has given me a copy of Growing Up Global to give to one of my Meltingpot Readers. AND she's offered to answer any of your questions about raising a global citizen. So post a question here for Homa in the comments section and you'll be entered to win the book. We'll post the winner and answers from Homa next Friday so get your questions in by Monday at midnight.


For more information about Homa and her own fascinating background, check out her beautiful Growing Up Global website.

Peace!