Can storytelling be slowed to a walking pace in an age of nano-headlines? How do you share a journey that spans not seven days — but seven years? This was the question — and challenge — that Paul Salopek’s Out of Eden Walk posed. St. Martin’s-in-the-Field Episcopal School, a preschool-through-8th-grade school in Severna Park, MD, set about finding a local response.
We decided we’d have a Global Bazaar — a festive event that would feature student-learning about the countries Paul has traversed and would involve both a circumnavigation of the campus and display booths of student work and country artifacts. The Global Bazaar would connect the wider world with familiar places and thought with action.
Many schools, both public and independent, host international fairs. Basing a school’s international fair on the Out of Eden Walk — a real-time, ongoing, contiguous journey — helps students make sense of the often bewildering, conflict-ridden image of the world portrayed in media. Paul’s practice of “slow” journalism allows immersion, familiarity, and connection to develop. It reminds us that being human isn’t always about conflict; it’s often about hospitality and kindness to strangers.
With a grant from the National Association of Episcopal Schools, we made the Global Bazaar the most visible feature of our global studies program at St. Martin’s. The bazaar showcased the food, clothing, art, religions, science, literature, animals, heritage sites, and biomes of the countries Paul has tied together geographically through his Walk. And, of course, it had a walking component.
Like a bazaar, our event was colorful, exciting, and had lots going on. On May 7, 2015, a beautiful, sunny day in the Mid-Atlantic, mercifully not too hot, the walking groups were set in motion around the axle of the Parish Hall, the center point that had display booths and tables with Lebanese and Turkish food donated by local restaurants.
The route outside around the campus was scouted a few weeks earlier by the 5th grade class. We wanted destinations representing Ethiopia, Djibouti, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Israel, the city of Jerusalem, Cyprus, Turkey, the Republic of Georgia, and Armenia. We wanted some “bodies of water” such as the Red Sea, the Jordan River, and the Mediterranean. As it happened, once we looked, our campus seemed a microcosm of the world. The 5th graders found it interesting that in looking for landmarks or demarcations at a walking pace, we found them.
Where to start? Our plan was to gather all-school (preschool through 8th graders) in front of the flag pole and say the Pledge of Allegiance, with special thoughtfulness to the last phrase, “with liberty and justice for all.” Also, it seemed a good place to start because all journeys start from home. From there, small groups were assigned to their “tour guides” — 7th graders and teachers who conducted their groups around the sites. Groups were assigned different starting points, so that there could be a continuous and circular flow around the exhibits.
The learning goals: Our goals were to learn about different countries, to be observant, to be good listeners, to take notes. In preparing for the Global Bazaar, students drew maps of the various countries and researched major cities, rivers, world heritage sites, animals, and cultural contributions.
What to pack: Students were told to bring St. Martin’s passports, journals (or writing paper), pencils or pens. Passports were made ahead of time with a photo of each student; they filled in their birthplace and date of birth. (From a first grader: “What does ‘DOB’ mean?”) As they went around to the “countries,” they got their passports “stamped.” These were stickers with the country flag and name. The pre-Kindergarteners did not have passports, so they got stickers on their shirts. This was a student’s idea, and by the end of the walk they preschoolers were proudly showing off the countries they had visited.
The infrastructure: We had been loaned large wooden booths that a nearby church uses once a year at its Christmas fair. These were wood frames, 7’ high X 4’deep X 7’ wide, stabilize by twine tied in a taut line hitch. This presented a “hitch” for us until a local Eagle Scout came by one afternoon and taught our Boy Scouts how to make the knot. After that, eight frames went up quickly. In lieu of booths, tables and display boards could be used.
Working with the local community: When we approached local restaurants and merchants, we were heartened by the response. Two local restaurants, one Lebanese, one Turkish, donated a great amount of food celebrating their homelands. A local shopkeeper loaned treasures from Turkey, some of them museum-quality: clothing, tent drapes, rugs, furniture, flags, maps, and water pitchers and coffee servers. The students especially like dressing up. I think this sense of welcome and hospitality — which Paul is fortunate to find often on the Walk — we find in our own communities when we ask.
Finding storytellers in your midst: Paul makes the point that we all have stories to tell. We wanted to find storytellers in our school and church families who could tell stories that would bring alive some of the themes of the Walk. One Oral Historian, whose family had donated the agricultural fields that became our church and school, spoke about the human impact on the landscape. Another Oral Historian, whose family had emigrated from Cyprus, spoke of family history and migration.
The route:
Parish Hall: Here students, faculty, and families could tour country booths and observe exhibits: Math Booth, Time Line of Human Evolution, Treasures from Turkey, Student-driven country exhibits (maps, currency, animals, language), Kindergarteners’ camel and Name-the-Camel Contest. They could enter booths, sit on Oriental carpets and use iPads for the Out of Eden Walk Map Room. There was food and music. The idea of a sort of “museum” came from Paul’s Dispatch of 4/1/15, Glance Back: Mule Checkup, in which he tells of the saddle he used for his mule Kirkatir being archived from the Walk.
Pine Grove: Students walked peacefully and quietly through St. Martin’s pine grove, alert to the senses of smell, sound, touch, and seeing. (In the future, we might designate one tree as “the storytelling tree” and invite students to tell a story under its sheltering branches.)
Field Fence Boundary Line: They walked along the boundary of the field. Students could use a compass to point north, south, east, and west. These cardinal points correspond to the cardinal points of our global studies program — global, local, think, act.
Oral Historian — Human Impact on the Land: The Oral Historian centered her talk on the theme of human impacts on the landscape. In any setting, connections to local habitat and environmental stewardship can be made. She told the story of what our campus looked like years ago: cornfields, dirt roads, deciduous forest, creeks and rivers flowing into the Chesapeake Bay.
Desert Campsite: A contribution of the 1st graders, this site featured a lean-to for shade, sticks laid for a campfire, sleeping bags, and cooking implements. Traveling groups could rest here and bring their notes and journals up to date. There was also a “well” (water canteen) nearby.
Ethiopia/Herto Bouri: In Ethiopia, students visited Herto Bouri (Mile Zero, the sandbox) for a paleoanthropological dig. The students had their passports stamped. They dug for bones at this “early human” site. This was especially popular with the preschoolers through 2nd graders.
Djibouti: “Customs officials” here requested a physical exercise test (for fun). The Global Bazaar was multi-disciplinary, encompassing science, math, physical education, writing, history and geography, and environmental studies.
Saudi Arabia: The customs official and tour guide told visitors that they were in a desert area of Saudi Arabia bordering the Red Sea called the Hejaz. Paul entered through the city of Jeddah. In the Hejaz are the holy Islamic sites of Medina and Mecca. The Hejaz is a crossroads where Africa, Arabia, and Asia meet, and it has been long tied to Europe by trade-caravan routes. In the Stone Age, people hunted and fished here in savannahs, now long-vanished. Humankind’s first civilizations roamed here, trading incense and gold. Romans invaded the Hejaz and died of thirst in high numbers. Islam was born here in Mecca and Medina. Lawrence of Arabia, the British soldier-explorer, blew up trains of the Ottoman Turks, allied with Germany, here in World War I. Because of the harsh desert and the number of pilgrims visiting holy sites, the original people, the Hashemites, became known for their hospitality, establishing drinking wells a day’s journey apart. Students could stop here and get a drink of water.
Jordan: After getting their passports stamped, students observed the River Jordan (our marshy area). Our tour guide made environmental connections to the Chesapeake Bay.
Israel/West Bank/Jerusalem: Student tour groups skirted the wetland. Jerusalem was at the picnic tables. The Jerusalem tour guides spoke of how Paul walked this multi-layered city, sacred to the Abrahamic faiths of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.
Island of Cyprus — Oral Historian — Family Migration: Our Oral Historian told the story of her family’s emigration from Cyprus and their arrival in the United States. She invited visiting students to tell her their family history.
Turkey: To reach Turkey from Cyprus, students crossed “the Mediterranean Sea” — our driveway — and entered a large grassy area.
The Republic of Georgia: Paul Salopek Skyped with our students during his stopover in Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia. Because of the Dispatches by Paul about walking through the Caucasus mountains, our students have a good idea of the mountainous, rugged setting of Georgia.
Armenia: Armenia is represented by a brick-paved area.
Home: Students return to the United States (the flagpole) and their classrooms.
Cynthia Barry is a Librarian and Special Projects Director at St. Martin’s-in-the-Field Episcopal School in Severna Park, Maryland.