Queen cities, a teacher's travel story
Through the narration of my own travel story I will model reflective practice for my students and demonstrate how this process is evocative of memory and metaphor.
The twin cities are not equal, because nothing that exists or happens in Valdrada is symmetrical: every face and gesture is answered, from a mirror, by a face and gesture inverted, point by point. The two Valdradas live for each other, their eyes interlocked; but there is no love between them. 18
The city of my birth is Cincinnati, Ohio. She nestles along a gentle curve of the Ohio River anchoring the corners of three states and then spreads her arms upward around seven gently rolling hills. Her topography, similar to that of the city of Rome, provided inspiration for her name in honor of Cincinnatus theRomangeneral and dictator, who saved the city ofRomefrom destruction and then quietly retired to his farm. Settled by immigrants who valued hard work and industry, her prosperity rose rapidly. On May 4, 1819, Ed. B. Cooke wrote in the Inquisitor and Cincinnati Advertiser, "The City is, indeed, justly styled the fair Queen of the West: distinguished for order, enterprise, public spirit, and liberality, she stands the wonder of an admiring world." 19 'Cincinnati, the Queen City' continues today as a marketable identity and an affectionate moniker. My ancestors were European immigrants from Germany who settled in small towns just north of the city. They raised their families, working hard in trades and contributing to their communities. Generations later I called upon their courageous spirit, as I became an immigrant too. In 2005 I uprooted my home and family from Cincinnati, Ohio to accept a position to teach in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg School District in North Carolina.
The city of Charlotte, North Carolina is also nicknamed theQueen City, named for Queen Charlotte, wife of English King George III (1738-1820). She was born in 1744 directly descended from Margarita de Castro y Sousa, a black branch of the Portuguese Royal House.She was the youngest daughter ofDuke Charles Louis Frederick of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, Prince of Mirowand his wifePrincess Elizabeth Albertine of Saxe-Hildburghausen. In moving from her German homeland to marry King George of England, Charlotte too was an immigrant. That Queen Charlotte's ancestry was black is an interesting fact in consideration of the ethnic diversity of the present day city of Charlotte as a city of the south. Queen Charlotte was an ardent patron of the arts. People of European descent established Charlotte in 1755 at the intersection of two Native Americantrading pathways. The crossroads, perched atop thePiedmontlandscape, became the heart ofUptown Charlotte. 20
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