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Team Member : Tamar Melen
Oi, brasileiros! My name is Tamar Melen, and by the time you meet me in Brazil I will have turned 26 years
old. For the past three years since I finished my undergraduate college degree at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York (which
is also my hometown), I have been involved with various endeavors which focus on my number one passion – children. I
have worked as an assistant teacher in a preschool class for two-year-olds, developed after-school and summer recreational
programs for youth of under-served communities, and organized a music and arts enrichment program to expose kids with limited
financial resources to all the benefits participation in the arts can have on positively developing their academic, social
and behavioral skills. The young ones of today are, literally, the future of the world, and to me it only makes sense that
we invest as much of our time, energy, and resources into making sure they have all the tools and advantages necessary to
succeed in not only surviving, but also thriving.
Besides work, I have much on my plate of ‘things to do’ during the course of my life, many of which I have
only just begun to explore, including: traveling all over the world; learning new languages (I can speak, to varying degrees:
German, French, Spanish, and little bits of Hebrew, Japanese, and Swahili – and now Portugese!); hiking and climbing
mountains; and singing, dancing, playing and listening to all kinds of music (in anticipation of my visit to Brasil I have
recently started playing tamborim with a samba band, Deixa Sambar – I was onstage for the first time at a Carnaval party
– tudo bem!). Music has truly been a major guiding influence in my life, as I began playing piano at four years of age.
To this day I am fascinated by the way the musical beat connects people across class, cultures, and continents, and nothing
puts a smile on my face as quickly as a danceable rhythm. I look forward with great excitement to witnessing firsthand the
joy and vibrance of music and dance in Brasilian culture – and hopefully also getting the hang of dancing samba just
like the brasileiros!
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| On Mt Rainier, Washington State, USA |
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| I love to dance! |
Team Member: Jenny Rosenzweig
Driven by a passion for museums and learning, my career path has lead me to the Upstate History Alliance where I am the
Program Coordinator. The Upstate History Alliance is a non-profit organization, which provides support, advice and training
to historical societies, museums, historians and others interested in history in upstate New York. As Program Coordinator,
I am responsible for organizing all of our programs, events, conferences, and other activities and services that we provide
throughout the year.
I live in Oneonta, NY, a small city in upstate New York, with my precious cat Delilah. I am lucky
to have my mother, also my best friend, living nearby in a neighboring town. I grew up in Brooklyn, NY, a borough of the city
of New York, until I moved to Oneonta in May of 2004. My older brother, Jeremy, still lives in Brooklyn and is a 7th grade
English teacher. Jeremy is also getting married in July 2006, which I am very excited about.
Some of my other interests
include films and reading, and of course SHOPPING. I have also (unsuccessfully) tried to grow a flower and vegetable garden
for the past two years. Perhaps third time is a charm.
Team Member: Zoren Bullock
My name is Zoren Bullock. Our home is in Newfield, New York a small town located 120 kilometers south of Syracuse, New
York and 370 kilometers west of New York City. I live with my fiancé and our two dogs in a house on 10 hectares of farm land
and forest. I am a 34 year old senior systems engineer working for BorgWarner Morse TEC in Ithaca, New York. BorgWarner is
a global supplier of automobile parts to most of the automobile manufactures in the world. I started four years ago as a test
engineer, working with auto parts and their effects on engines. I now design engine components for European car makers and
manage the customer programs for these components. I engineer valve timing components and work with our customers to supply
them with prototypes and test data on these parts. It is very challenging work but also very exciting to know that your parts
are in cars sold all over the world. I have been working on my MBA degree at Syracuse University and have two classes left
to complete before graduation. My family lives in Jasper, New York a small town 1 hour west of our home. My parents own a
hardware store that has been in our family for 3 generations. I have 3 brothers and a sister. Two are teachers, one an engineer,
and the other a police officer. My fiancée Shelly is a social studies teacher at a high school in a town 50 kilometers from
our home. We are planning our wedding for October 7, 2006. In our spare time we enjoy studying, running, auto-racing, traveling,
gardening, and cooking. I especially love baking and barbeque! I am very excited about the GSE trip to Brazil and look forward
to all I can learn and share from the fellowship with our hosts.
Team Member: Christine Liggio
My name is Christine Liggio. I live in Cooperstown, New York, a small town located about 4 hours north of New York City,
which is home to The National Baseball Hall of Fame, Fenimore Art Museum, The Farmers’ Museum, a world-class opera company,
and more. With only 2,000 year-round residents and 500,000 visitors a year, Cooperstown, has become a major tourist destination
for baseball and non-baseball lovers alike. The village is situated along the beautiful and picturesque Otsego Lake.
I graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in international business from Ithaca College in 1998. Currently, I am the
public relations manager for the New York State Historical Association and The Farmers’ Museum, two premier cultural
institutions located in Central New York. I have held for this position for the past five years. My primary responsibilities
include media relations, development of quarterly calendar and members’ newsletter, and community relations.
I grew up in Queens, New York, a very culturally diverse area located on the perimeter of New York City. My family also
had a vacation home in the country, where during my childhood I would spend my summers. So it began during my youth, my love
for the country and city, traveling, different cultures, landscapes, and many outdoor pursuits.
My family, which consists of my parents, twin sisters and myself, moved to a small town outside of Cooperstown when I was
in high school. We now live in different states and cities, but remain very close. While I am in Brazil on this exchange,
my sister will give birth to either my niece or nephew.
In my spare time, I enjoy traveling, reading, listening to music, playing guitar, attending cultural, visual and performing
art events, running, boating, swimming, hiking, and other outdoor activities. I am looking forward to a rewarding personal
and professional experience through this exchange and am honored to be a member of this GSE team.
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