On February 24th, ETA Elena Dietz held her local WORDS Competition at SMKN 4 Malang. While the competition was a success and fun for all involved, there was one guest at Elena’s school that made the day extra special.
One of the judges from the competition, Rina, is a lecturer at Brawijaya University in Malang, whom Elena met last fall at a dinner. Elena and Rina’s friendship is a special one because they both have one thing in common: Dubuque, IA. While at the dinner last fall, Elena overheard Rina talking about how she fulfilled her grant to the USA in Iowa. Practically yelling across the table, Elena asked Rina what city in Iowa she went to. Rina answered back, “Dubuque!” Elena was so surprised to hear this because she is originally from Dubuque, a town of only 60,000 people, and grew up there before moving to a different city to attend university.
Elena and Rina have stayed in touch since the dinner and Elena thought the WORDS Competition was the perfect opportunity for her two worlds to collide with this one extraordinary friendship.
Elena Dietz is currently teaching at SMKN 4 Malang, East Java
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