After spending a few days on the Island of Ometepe, we took a taxi to Managua, the capital of Nicaragua.
While we were there, we visited the National Museum to learn more about the history and culture of Nicaragua. Like we learned in Ometepe, the gueguense dance is an important part of their culture. Above, one of the Valpo students makes some new friends with traditional dancers.
Nicaragua’s history is very different from that of Costa Rica, so it was interesting to see the differences between the two countries. The cathedral above is no longer in use because of an earthquake that occurred in 1972.
Even though Nicaragua has faced some challenges in recent decades, the people there are every bit as friendly as Costa Ricans. Above, one of our professors (on the left) smiles with his host family in Managua.
The final stop on our Nicaraguan adventure was Granada, a popular tourist sight well-known for its colonial Spanish architecture.
Nicaragua is a unique country, and it would take much longer than the ten days we were there to experience everything it has to offer. We certainly learned a lot while we were there, but it is nice to be back with our host families. Now that we have hit the half-way point in the semester, Costa Rica feels like home.
I took my first Spanish class in ninth grade. I remember lamenting to my teacher that there wasn’t a magic pill that could suddenly render one fluent in a foreign language. In my mostly white, suburban community south of Cleveland, Ohio, I never really experienced international culture nor did I have to wrestle with diversity issues. Thus, foreign language remained a superfluity to me, a bland thing of academia.
Gavin with Professor Zamora-Breckenridge
In 2006 I came to Valpo as an eager young science student majoring in meteorology and with one final language course to knock out. I dispassionately enrolled in an intermediate Spanish course with Prof. Nelly Zamora-Breckenridge that fall. This course would prove to be the spark that ignited the passion for language and international communication that burns strongly within me today.
Prof. Zamora-Breckenridge, a native Spanish speaker from Colombia, succeeded in enamoring me with her birth language in two ways: first, the novelty of conversing in a foreign tongue with a native user was a skill that suddenly intoxicated me, perhaps with the same enthusiasm that young children often have for codes and secret communication. More importantly, the relevant global topics she worked into her lessons opened my eyes to a vast new world of social issues and complexities. I suddenly needed to devote myself to learning this new language, this lens through which I could continue to see the world more clearly.
Over the following three-and-a-half years I took almost every Spanish course that Prof. Zamora-Breckenridge offered and graduated in 2010 with a Spanish minor alongside a mathematics minor and a major in meteorology.
Recess with Peruvian kindergarteners
My one regret (truly) during my time at Valpo was that I didn’t pursue the opportunity to study abroad. Realizing this mistake upon graduation, I arranged to travel down to Peru in the summer of 2010 to volunteer for six weeks at a rural mountain kindergarten outside of Cusco. I saw more poverty than I had ever seen in my life. I also saw environmental damage that I couldn’t believe: the ceaseless inky spew of old vehicles, dirty streams choked with refuse, and plastic waste cascading down hillside after hillside. But I also had a ceaselessly full heart from interacting with so many people and especially children bursting with pure joy – all in their native tongue. The kids were wonderfully blunt when I would make Spanish mistakes, after which they would go right back to being my best friend. What an incredible way to hone one’s language skills without fear of judgment or shame!
I came back to the States and experienced the “reverse culture shock” that I had until then believed to be just an exaggeration – namely, utter apathy for acquisitive power, social media angst, and numerous other tritenesses of consumer America to which I was previously immune.
I am currently about a year away from obtaining my PhD in atmospheric science at Colorado State University. Science continues to interest me but language and international communication continue to interest me even more. I have served as a translator and blog manager for the International Environmental Data Recovery Organization. I have traveled to the hurricane-prone Yucatán Peninsula of Mexico during two summers to teach an introductory meteorology course in Spanish at a university that has a goal of starting their own atmospheric science department.
Valpo graduates on the border of Brazil and Argentina
And in 2011 I started teaching myself Brazilian Portuguese with my knowledge of Spanish, a fairly similar language, as a foundation. Learning and teaching through this beautiful language of Brazil is now a full-time hobby of mine. Brazil is a rapidly developing country, but with a population only 7% of which can speak English. I view this as an incredible opportunity: very infrequently do native English speakers have the chance to travel to a foreign country and be forced to speak the language of that country. This is a blessing and a curse. A curse, because it requires effort and non-laziness on the part of the American. A blessing, because communicating with a foreigner in their own language is truly an amazing experience. I mean it. In Brazil, this is not only possible but practically required.
Playing tambourine in a group of Brazilian capoeristas
Alongside my doctoral studies I now run a Portuguese-language YouTube channel for Brazilians who are learning English. Myself, my wife Lauren Roy [née Overstreet, VU ’11], and four other Valpo graduates traveled together down to the World Cup in Brazil in 2014. And I have aspirations of becoming a scientific translator of both Portuguese and Spanish in the future, helping to play a role in uniting the international efforts to address global climate change and environmental destruction.
There is no magic pill that will effortlessly grant one the ability to speak a foreign language. Learning a language takes years upon years of focus and dedication. But the ultimate reward of this effort is an unbelievably beautiful thing: there is no clearer way to “see” the world than by speaking with its inhabitants.
Gavin Roy is a 2010 Valpo graduate with a meteorology major and a Spanish and mathematics minor. During his time at Valpo, Professor Nelly Zamora-Breckenridge really instilled a love of language for him. After graduation, Gavin volunteered in a kindergarten for 6 weeks in Peru. He also traveled down to the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico during the summer semesters of 2012 and 2013 to teach an introductory meteorology course in Spanish in the Engineering Department of the Autonomous University of the Yucatan. Currently, he studies at Colorado State University getting his PhD in atmospheric science. Additionally, he has been aggressively teaching himself Brazilian Portuguese, which is an enchanting and rapidly growing (in influence) language that is somewhat similar to Spanish.
I just passed the halfway mark of my time here in Spain, so I thought it would good to share about what the study part of study abroad looks like for me in Zaragoza. I am studying at the University of Zaragoza in their Spanish as a Foreign Language course (Curso de Español como Lengua Extranjera). This program consists of a Monday through Friday 4 hour class with multiple groups of about 25 students in each group. These groups are formed according to the students’ level of Spanish.
When I first arrived here, I took a three week course in this program that had the purpose of helping students brush up on their Spanish before the regular university classes began. While I am not really a part of the “regular university”, I decided to take the three week class as a way of meeting more people, jump-starting my Spanish classes here, and lengthening my time in Spain. The majority of the students in this three week class are a part of the Erasmus Program. The Erasmus Program, which I was totally unaware of until I arrived here, is a European Union student exchange program. After these first three weeks, the Erasmus students started taking normal classes at the University and many of them will stay for the whole school year (until June) or for one semester (until February). I am very glad I took the three week class because I made a lot of friends through that class.
The entrance of campus
Once the three week class ended, I started taking the three month class. It is the same structure as the class before, but because it is for a longer time period, we have more a bit more in depth topics and homework including various projects and presentations. Like the three week class, the class is 5 days a week from 9 AM to 1:30 PM with a half hour break in the middle. Usually in the first half of the class is spent going over grammar together and in our textbook or learning different slang we most likely did not know before. The second half is a little less grammar oriented as we often play games, practice role plays, or even watch a Spanish movie. Some days, like today, we might even get some dancing in! One classmate really wanted to dance in class but no one else wanted to dance. Our professor told us that we had to use a certain grammatical structure and if we used it correctly, we did not have to dance. Whoever did not use it correctly had to dance. (Note: I took the photo and was not dancing.)
Through the day, we have plenty of chances to speak the language and listen. I am reinforcing my grammar knowledge, learning Spanish phrases I did not know before, and learning plenty of cultural aspects about Spain as well. There are many different countries represented in my class which gives opportunities to learn things from around the world. I have classmates from Ghana, Japan, Korea, Russia, Australia, India, and China. Most of my classmates will continue this class with the four month class next semester (January-May).
The university is very close to my homestay; it is only about a ten minute walk. The actual building my class is in is pictured at the beginning of this post. As I mentioned earlier, the class is scheduled to start at 9 AM every day. However, this is Spain and almost nothing starts on time. My professor usually does not come to unlock the door of the classroom until 9:15 and then class usually starts 5 minutes later. My classmates have really gotten used to this and many come even later than that. Usually there are a few that finally make it to class around 9:40. Class starting late is definitely not normal in the US, but I have gotten used to it as I usually bring a book with me when I wait for class to start.
The program also offers various excursions and field trips throughout the semester which is a great way to learn outside of the classroom. During the first week of the three month course, we went on a bus tour of Zaragoza and a walking tour of Zaragoza as a way of learning about the city we would be staying in.
Earlier in October, we visited two very charming pueblos, Albarracín and Daroca, and went on tours of both small towns. Albarracín is considered one of the most beautiful pueblos of Spain. After spending time visiting the Cathedral, walking the cobblestone streets, and climbing up to the ancient city walls, I most definitely agree. Daroca was also quite gorgeous. I love these field trips because it gives us the opportunity to go somewhere we probably would not have visited on our own. I look forward to the next class excursion!
Albarracín
Albarracín
Albarracín
Albarracín
I am going to class, doing homework, and working on projects while here. It isn’t called STUDY abroad for nothing!
As I am writing this, I am currently on my way to Melbourne. Excited for another weekend filled with adventures and memories. It’s crazy thinking I will be home in 2 months…
Last weekend I hung around campus for the beginning of my long weekend. I wasn’t planning any trips this weekend mainly because I had a trip with my program on Sunday to Bryon Bay. Bryon Bay is located in New South wales which is south of the Gold Coast and about a little over an hour of a drive.
So what did I do in Bryon?
Around 9am our two program advisors picked up us at Bond and we were off! There are I think 28 students in my group so to do surfing when we are in Bryon we had to split into two separate groups. I picked to go in the first group, which was probably a good choice because it is a little tiring having to keep going back out into the water when surfing. Our instructor made sure were aware of the water safety and then taught us the moves to surfing, which are pretty simple. To start, first lay down and put your toes a tad over the tail of the board. Then, once you are done paddling put your knees together in the middle of the board and sit on them while placing your hands just out side of your knees. Using your hands help yourself balance and stand up making sure your back foot is in front of this mark on the board. Now just balance! Seems easy, right?! I went a few times and was up for a couple seconds. I guess we were out there for a while but it didn’t seem like it because I kept getting pushed by the waves. I would like to go surfing again because it doesn’t seem that hard just need more practice. It was nice having a couple instructors out there in the water with us because they would help us turn around and then tell us when to get ready to go. Also, to note my board was very big and hard to carry because I have short arms. One of the instructors saw me struggling on the way back after surfing and was nice enough to carry it back for me.
After surfing many of us were hungry, so a small group of us went to this Mexican restaurant called Miss Magarita. As most of you know I love Mexican food so it was the perfect fit. I got a strawberry magarita and a snapper and mango burrito, which were both delicious. Bryon has a small area of shops so I picked up some postcards and a pin of course andjust looked around at the cute little shops.
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After my free time in the area both groups met back up and we went up to the lighthouse trail area and looked around there. The lighthouse, the trail, and beach were all beautiful. Many of us were adventerous and went on the rocks that were over looking the ocean, that were a little of the beaten path. I didn’t go too far though because it would have been a little ways jumping through the rocks to get back on the trail. After sightseeing we took the bus back home and well the bus was pretty quite from a long day.
To mark the halfway point of the semester, our cohort took a ten day trip to Nicaragua. The first place we visited was an island called Ometepe, where we learned new ways to reuse bottles.
First, we worked on a bench made from bottles, trash, rocks, and cement. The plastic bottles were filled with trash to make them sturdier and to keep the waste material from going into a landfill.
I know it seems like a strange idea, but it worked very well and the final product turned out great! From the outside, the bottoms of the bottles look like colorful flowers.
We also learned how to make these containers out of all sorts of plastic bottles. They can be used as garbage cans, recycling bins, laundry baskets, or anything else you can think of.
It was a long day, but it was nice to be doing something with our hands after spending so much time studying and writing papers the week before.
The island was a beautiful place, so while we were there we took the time to explore. Our guide showed us some spectacular petroglyphs made by indigenous people before the arrival of the Spaniards.
The youth of the island performed a traditional dance for us. Known as the gueguense, it portrays the trickery that the indigenous people used to avoid Spanish exploitation.
Even today, this beautiful place is threatened by foreigners. If the Chinese plan to build a canal through this lake becomes a reality, the natural land could be turned into resorts. Everyone we met there has mixed feelings about it, but I really hope that views like the one above will be around for generations to come.
Sorry for the delay in posts! We have been super busy during the last couple of weeks since we finished up classes at the Universidad Nacional. To finish up our class on the history and ethnography of Costa Rica, we took a trip to Longo Mai, an immigrant community in the southern part of the country.
While we were there, we took a hike around the community to learn about how they live. The individual families don’t own the land, but they have the rights to cultivate different types of agricultural goods like sugar cane, coffee, and cacao. The photo below shows cacao, the fruit used to make chocolate. The white part is covering the seeds that are later roasted and mixed with milk and sugar because by themselves, the seeds are quite bitter. We even got to make some of own chocolate, and the process will be outlined in a guest post later this semester.
We tried some other interesting foods while we were there as well, like fresh sugar cane and termites!
Some of us were brave enough to eat them, and they don’t taste that bad if you can get over the fact that you’re eating a bug. They taste sort of like wood.
Besides being an agricultural community, the people of Longo Mai work to preserve indigenous cultures and the natural beauty of the area. It is said that if you hug one of these giant trees, as seen below, they will take away your negative energy. We didn’t hug them for long enough to see if it worked, but we did enjoy the time we spent there!
Who am I kidding – the classes aren’t really particularly boring, but rather information about classes might not be the most interesting thing. Sorry about that.
First, I’ll focus on the classes offered through Valpo. These classes always take place in the same classroom, and all 16 of us are enrolled in all of them (not quite true, but I’ll get there later).
Here’s a video about our classroom and the building in which the classes occur:
Everybody takes one of the German classes, taught by Swantje. They meet in consecutive hours, and you enroll in whichever one better reflects your German abilities. 204 is the one you’ll need if you’re pursuing a German major or minor.
European Art & Architecture is taught by Dr. Walter Springer, an art historian from Tübingen. With Dr. Springer, we’ve discussed characteristics of gothic cathedrals (think Notre Dame in Paris), the structure of art (form, lines, colors, composition, etc.), and common themes in religious art. Prof. Springer often reserves the end of class for students to recreate famous paintings and sculptures, while he tries to identify the piece of art. He’s fairly good at this, and has even been able to correctly guess some more obscure pieces.
Economics is taught by Prof. Baldur Veit, who also runs the Reutlingen International Office and probably manages at least a dozen other things away from Hochschule. We’ve discussed how Germany and the EU work, what exactly went wrong with VW, and why Baden-Württemberg is a good place to live. We’ve been told that part of the final exam will be spelling “Baden-Württemberg,” a task which still seems to be difficult for many of us.
Utopian/Dystopian Literature and Social Theory is taught by Carter Hanson, who is also the director of the Valpo study center in Reutlingen for the next two years. This class can count for either English or social science credit. It features discussions of the questions raised by utopian thinking, regarding aspects of history, politics, culture, art, and morality.
Luther and Bach is also taught by Carter Hanson, and can count for history or theology credits. One of the early discussions was about how one can assess the validity of a biographical work. This class was also the basis of our second group trip to Leipzig, Erfurt, Eisenach, and Wittenberg.
These classes account for 16 credit hours, and fulfill general education requirements. Since one only needs 12 credit hours to maintain full-time student status at VU (and thus scholarships), not everybody is taking every class. Perhaps they already fulfilled their gen. eds., or perhaps they simply weren’t interested in taking a particular class.
Or perhaps they’re a VIEP (Valparaiso International Engineering Program) or EIB (Enhanced International Business) student, and have other requirements. For VIEP, we need to take one engineering class taught in German at the Hochschule. In the German academic calendar, the Wintersemester lasts from October to February, so you’re basically on two semesters at once. To be able to take these classes without a credit overload, one must drop a few of the Valpo courses. In my case, I left Utopian/Dystopian Literature and Luther & Bach. Though I had been looking forward to Luther & Bach, my schedule without either of them was a bit more conducive to travel.
This german course began for Nick and me three weeks ago. After initially attending a class that was well beyond our abilities, we switched into Kraft- and Arbeitsmaschinen (work and power machines), and found that to be far more appropriate for our level. Though lecture goes by somewhat quickly, between the two of us, we’ve been able to keep up just fine. However, the class so far has also been a review of thermodynamics and heat transfer, which has greatly improved our comprehension of the material. Though this class will certainly be a test of our skills, I’m confident that hard work will pay off for us both.
Although it’s only Thursday (and my last post was Sunday), I will be leaving for our two-week break with Jordan and Mackenzie tomorrow morning and won’t be able to post while on that break, so I’m squeezing one post more in! This past week was nice because the German 101 class met in the evening versus at 8am, so was a nice week to sleep in!
Tuesday afternoon I rode up to the top of the hill visible from my dorm room. We went up there as a group in the first week we were here, but the colors have changed quite a bit!
Wednesday morning the group was invited to a reception with the city of Reutlingen at an art museum downtown. We went on a short tour before the reception that has occurred for every group of Valpo students who have come here. The 50th anniversary of the partnership between Valpo and Reutlingen University will be during the 2016-2017 academic year. It is potentially the second longest U.S.-Germany university partnership.
Our study abroad group (plus Jon Cisneros, the intern from Valpo, our Economics professor, and two city employees) after the reception.
The group went ice skating with our German teacher Wednesday night before going to a Mexican restaurant later that night!
This weekend Reid, Ryan, Teddy, and I all went to Paris. The trip started out a little rough with a 2-hour train delay and mixed up Airbnb (people renting out rooms of their houses) plans, but in the end we all had a great time! We did most of the tourist sites including the Eiffel Tower, the Catacombs, Notre Dame, the and the Arc de Triomphe. Contrary to what some say, the city did not smell bad overall, just in very few certain areas, but that may be different during the summer.
Just me and my new friends in the Catacombs, they aren’t looking so hot!
Ryan posing for a picture in front of Notre Dame.
The Eiffel Tower made a good backrest for Reid!
The Valpo pin during the Eiffel Tower light show.
We rented bikes for part of the day on Saturday, it was awesome being able to see more of the city that way!
The view of the city from the top of the Arc de Triomphe.
Seems like it has been a while since I have posted, so I have lots to tell you. I even forgot to add Miami Marketta to my last post, which happened after my pool dive for my scuba certification. So just to prepare you this might be a long post.
So on the Friday, the night after I finished my pool dive I hurried around and met up with a girl named Julie. I met Julie through try and the dive the week before. She asked me if I wanted to go to the Miami Marketta because there was free transportation provided by the Bond Exchange Club. So I said sure, it was a night to get some different food instead of eating on campus. Miami Marketta is in this little Alley way with some shops, live music, and mainly food. I got some nachos and then some gelato after. We left at 5:30 and the bus back wasn’t going to leave until like 8:30. There wasn’t much to do after you have seen a couple of shops that they have, eat, and listen to some music. So we ventured out around the Miami area. There was literally nothing to see. So we just walked and decided to head back a little after 8, so we would be there early for the bus. We got back at 8:10 and the bus was pulling away. We pulled up the Facebook page and the post says “THE BUS IS LEAVING NOW” at 8:10. Not cool. Luckily, when Julie and I were walking around we knew where a bus stop was so we could get back. From there we had to go out of our way to Broadbeach which is north of Bond and Miami is directly east of Bond. We went to Broadbeach station and transferred buses to get back to Bond. Took a little longer than the free transportation would have but hey at least we know how to get around the area.
Miami Marketta
This past weekend I went on a trip to Moreton Island. It was a two day trip. Moreton Island is located east of Brisbane and where I am, Gold Coast is south of Brisbane. Brisbane is about an hour drive away by car and Moreton Island is an hour and a half ferry ride. The company I booked my trip through picked us up at the university and drove us to Brisbane to get on the ferry. I was a little shocked that it was going to take an hour and half, but I guess it would take longer because we were on a ferry. Moreton Island is the third largest sand island with Fraser Island (which is north of Moreton Island) being the biggest. So basically to get around the island you need 4WD if you are wanting to explore different part of the Island. On the bottom of the ferry many people brings cars over with them. Our tour guide already had his car there so we were already set. Apparently the police had been on the island that day so he didn’t want to put too many people in the sunrover so another girl and I just walked the beach to meet up with them. So we just met him somewhere so he could pick us up to take us to the desert to go sandboarding. Honestly, I was happy walking the beach because we saw so many starfish and it was just gorgeous walking on the beach.
West Side of Moreton Island
So we got picked up and started driving to the desert. Let me tell you, if you get motion sickness easily, walking may be better for you. The car rides can be rough because you are just driving on sand. If you are driving along the water you’ll be fine but in the middle of the island with the hilly trails and stuff it can be rocky, so if you get car sick easily SIT IN THE FRONT.
Sandboarding was fun! It was scary a bit the first time because I didn’t know what to expect. The second time was definitely more enjoyable. You have to make sure you keep your feet up in the back and your board up with your hands. If you don’t hold your board of up with your hand you will most likely get a lot more sand in your face than you are already going to get (close your mouth lol). The worst part is hiking up that dune. My calves killed! I got a good workout that weekend from just walking in sand all the time.
Next we drove on back to the west side of the island to go snorkeling around some sunken ships. But wait, hold up we got stuck first because a bus got stuck in the sand. Busses should not be allowed. Well and other cars get stuck too, but fortunately our tour guide was a really good driver. We ate our lunch because we didn’t know how long it would take but luckily it only ended up being ten minutes. Back to snorkeling… It was really cool to snorkel because coral had grown on the ships. There were lots of groups and groups of fish. I guess some people saw a couple smaller sharks, but I didn’t see any. They like to camouflage themselves into and under the ships. A couple girls said they saw one swim right under them. The water was so clear, a tad chilly, but it was still a gorgeous day out.
After snorkeling we went to our campsite, where there were tents set up and a place to eat. It was really a nice set up. We just relaxed for bit on the beach which was right out of our campsite. We got to watch the sunset, which was beautiful. We then ate some burgers and went back to the beach after to look at the stars. There were so many, it was ridiculous how man you could see. After gazing at the stars we headed back to a camp fire where our tour guide, Rhett played some songs on the guitar. We were all pretty beat from the day so we went to bed early. Oh and I almost forgot to mention at night we saw some pretty big spiders. The big spiders do really exist here in Australia. BEWARE!
The beach outside our campsite.
After sleeping in our tents for a night we got up and ate some breakfast. I had peanut butter with my toast and had a couple of oranges. I get happy when they have peanut butter! After breakfast half of us headed to Mount Tempest. The second group would come later. They past us on the trail as they were coming up and we were going down. The trail was pretty tough. Luckily we didn’t take the two and a half hour route we just took the forty minute one. Walking up sand is pretty hard as you can imagine so we all just kind of booked up the hill, taking a few small breaks. The top was gorgeous, you could see from all directions on the island.
Mount Tempest
Next we went to Blue Lagoon which was a fresh water lake on the island. Is was quiet. A few people ended up coming later but it was nice to hang out there for a bit. We then grabbed some lunch at another campground site that our tour guide company uses. We had a few last stops on our trip. We checked out the lighthouse area and then hiked around Honeymoon Bay which were both cool places. We took the afternoon ferry home and I was pretty exhausted just from those two days. I really had a great time and I am glad I had the opportunity to go to Moreton Island. Also, I didn’t know anyone on the trip and still really enjoyed it. For future study abroad students I strongly recommend going on a trip where you don’t know anyone, at least one. It makes the experience just that much better.
Next week begins Week 6 of classes. Which means I am half way down with classes. That is crazy to think but most of my assignments are starting to hit in the middle of the semester and towards the end. In just a couple days I’ll be home two months from now. Well I better go now. I got to rest up for surfing tomorrow at Bryon Bay. Can’t wait to tell you about it in my next post.
