Coming Home to a Place You’ve Never Been Before

What’s it like going to a place where you don’t know the language or culture? Where you don’t have any family or friends? Where you don’t know what you’re eating or where you’re sleeping? Where you have almost no money in your pocket? And now it is your home!? Could you do it? Did you do it? Participants will have the opportunity to discuss and share their experiences as a new settler and/or native greeter.

Rodo spent his first few years in a tiny village called Rijeka Crnojevića, Montenegro—former Yugoslavia. His family fled to Austria and later immigrated to the United States. He speaks, reads, and writes Serbo-Croatian and German. Interestingly, the Montenegrin connection brought him to Arizona in 1974. This diversity of cultures and languages inspire Rodo to read, write, and enjoy sharing stories. As a teacher, translator, mentor, and community organizer, he has worked with people of all ages—from birth to over 100—and in numerous settings, including over 25 years at the university level. Rodo‘s award-wining work embraces varied storytelling, the latest being four fun children’s books.