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Misbehaving Locks, Good Food, and Preppy House Parties: My Weekend in Vera Cruz

February 8, 2011 / Nick Derda / 0 Comments

Taking that “seize all ye roses while ye can” mantra to heart, I jumped on my Mexican friend Jorge’s offer to come home with him this past weekend to Vera Cruz. This was a very gringo-filled weekend, as I would also be traveling with my friends Katie and Skylar who go to the University of Wyoming and who are completing their second semester at UDLAP. We left on Friday afternoon at around 3p. After the 3 ½ hour bus ride on one of those coach buses, we finally made it to his mom’s apartment. When we got there, however, we ran into quite the snafu. Unbeknownst to Jorge, his Mom had changed the locks a few weeks ago so we had to wait about an hour outside in the unseasonably cold Vera Cruz elements until his mom came with the new keys.

This is a statue of Porfirio Díaz, one of the most important political figures in Mexico. It was located near the port, which was one of the few places we actually got to visit.

After finally getting inside, his Mom took us all out to dinner. The restaurant was weird because it was basically the living room to somebody’s house, which I’m beginning to realize is a pretty common setup in Mexico. After pigging out on tortas, empanadas, and fried tortillas, and falling for one of Jorge’s try-it-because-it’s-not-that-spicy-although-it-really-is jokes, we went back to the apartment and waited for Jorge’s friend Zelma to come pick us up.

At about 10.30, Zelma arrived in her SUV that looked like it had been a contestant on MTV’s “Pimp My Ride.” We went to this rather pricey bar where the smallest thing of beer they sold was three liters. Everything was expensive because we were in Vera Cruz, a place that has been described to me as “The Hills of Mexico.”

The next morning, we woke up late. Jorge had locked the door the previous night and we just now realized that the lock had broken and we were trapped inside his apartment. There were bars on all the windows for safety reasons, so there was really no other way to get out. This situation was just too ridiculous to be real. But then again this was Mexico, a place as I’ve come to learn where anything can happen. After some failed DIY-tries to get the door open with a screwdriver, Jorge finally got one of his neighbors to call a lock smith who was able to open the door in about 2.5 nano seconds, making all of us feel slightly incompetent.

By the time we were able to actually leave the apartment, it was about 9p. Zelma came over and picked us again and took us to a party she was having at her house. Her house seriously looked like something off an episode of MTV’s “Cribs” (sorry for all the pop cultural references today btw. I just don’t know how else to describe this stuff). The house was one of those modern-looking pads made out of concrete in a gated community that made it feel like we were in a prison. In the middle of the house was a courtyard with an in ground pool. In the guesthouse, where we were hanging out, her dad had a private music studio and a 15-person movie theater with mood lighting that kept changing colors!

As if I didn’t feel out of place already, Zelma’s friends were all those Abercrombie and Fitch model wannabes who live for partying, don’t care about school, and don’t really have to worry about their futures because daddy’s trust funds will take care of them for the rest of their lives (sorry if this comes off as bitter…I’m just not used to being around people of this social class). It made for a really interesting social dynamic because I had essentially nothing in common to talk to them about. It’s hard when your interests are more along the interests of human rights, social justice and liberation theology and all they talk about is their new Ray Ban sunglasses or who had just hooked up with who at so-and-so’s last beach house party.

The next day was Superbowl Sunday. We took it pretty easy and went to a bar to watch the game. After that we headed to another bar just to get some drinks and talk.

Here’s a pic of the Zocalo in Veracruz. One of the few places that I actually made it to this weekend.

That was pretty much my weekend in Vera Cruz. Although I’ll probably have to go to Vera Cruz again to know what it was actually like, I’m still glad I went. I had a really good time with my friends even though I did feel kind of out of place a lot of the time. Hopefully my next adventure will feel a little less like a wannabe Ke$ha music video and a little more oh hey I’m in Mexico 🙂

The fountain in front of the Veracruz aquarium. It’s one of those cheesy spots where everyone snaps a pic for the family Christmas card.

Jorge described Vera Cruz as a place where people drink, party, sleep, rinse and repeat. So if clubbing and partying aren’t really your scene, then you may want to consider going someplace else in Mexico. In case you want to learn more about Vera Cruz, I have posted a couple of links to some interesting touristy stuff. Enjoy!

Check out the Vera Cruz Aquarium or the Vera Cruz Soccer team.

What a beach should actually look like in Veracruz when the weather isn’t terrible.

Packing for Procrastinators

February 7, 2011 / Emily Royer / 0 Comments

Confession: I did not prepare at all for studying abroad.

My packing buddy

It was my own fault, the combination of bad habits and an entire month off before I took off on the biggest trip of my life gave me the perfect excuse to engage my procrastination skills. I spent the month before my departure working at a local bookstore and during my downtime I’d make lists of things I needed to do or buy before I left, then would promptly ignore them when I got home. By the time my last week at home arrived, my job had ended and I had no more excuses to ignore what I knew I needed to do. Unfortunately, by the time I finally got up the motivation to shop and prepare, I’d lost all my lists. So, I spent the last week half-heartedly gathering my things in various piles. This was a pretty decent strategy. I separated my clothes into things I was taking with me and clothes I would be taking back to school with me when I came back. This really helped me figure out what I was missing and needed.

Disorganization

Now, my main concern with the upcoming semester and packing was cost efficiency, this meant space efficiency. This whole semester abroad will be lived on a fairly tight budget thus skimping whenever possible is necessary. I determined that I needed to get everything in one suitcase to avoid the additional luggage charge and planned my wardrobe accordingly. I opted for dresses and skirts instead of bringing jeans and shorts. Honestly, I’m not the kind of girl to wear dresses, never have been, but when I started thinking about this trip last summer I realized all the advantages of changing my wardrobe habits. To all the girls going abroad out there: believe me, it was a good decision. Not only did I have the ability to bring more skirts and dresses and thus have more options for outfits, but made packing for multiple seasons so much easier. Layering leggings, tights, and sweaters with dresses or skirts transition very easily from winter to spring to summer clothing, and honestly, I blend in better. People in Europe dress much more formally than people in the states. Jeans, t-shirts, and tennis shoes are a pretty easy way to be spotted as a foreigner.

A giant roll of clothing

So, I ran out and grabbed a couple pairs of leggings to guard against the month of lingering French winter I’d be experiencing and set to packing clothes. I brought along two pairs of jeans, all the dresses and skirts I owned (not a lot) and quite a few tops. I was very good and decided I didn’t need 11 different colors of cardigans, 10 would do just fine. I packed 3 pairs of shoes, one of which I wore on my feet, deciding I would buy an extra spring/summer pair when I got there, and I forced myself to only bring 5 t-shirts, most of which would be for any kind of exercise I would be doing. I threw in quite a few camisoles and all of my undergarments to prevent the necessity of doing laundry too frequently. The fewest amount of clothes providing for the greatest amount of outfits and honestly, I think I still brought too many clothes.

I bought huge bottles of any kind of toiletry I needed knowing they’d take up room on the trip over but would provide free space on the way home. Now that I’m here I realize how smart that choice was. Shampoo and similar items are pricier in Europe than they are in the States and I think I’d have a difficult time finding something comparable to what I use at home. I should have packed these in some kind of plastic bag. By the time I got to my room in France and began unpacking I realized that my conditioner had exploded all over my suitcase. It may have actually been a good thing as my clothes were ok, and I salvaged most of the conditioner, the only consequence was the fact that my shoes smelled (and still do smell) absolutely fruity.

Before

The next step was getting everything else I’d bought that wasn’t clothing to fit in my suitcase. A suggestion from my friend who’d just recently come back from a trip to England really saved my life. For some reason I hadn’t heard of the space saver bags everyone’s talking about. They’re just large plastic Ziploc bags that you remove the air from with a vacuum. I bought a box of 3 large bags from Target for around $13 and I could not believe how well they worked! I fit a roll of dresses, the two towels I brought (one to use one to wash) and my roll of tank tops into one bag. You can see how much of a difference they made in my photos. I used my packing buddy as a scale, even though she was terrified of them after I took the air out. All together the bags fit perfectly into my suitcase, leaving just enough room to throw in my shampoo, conditioner, body wash, lotion and shoes. I also brought along a few small mementos for my walls and, in retrospect, I wish I would have brought more. I recommend bringing a poster or wall hanging of some sort. They’re light and will do wonders for curing homesickness or “oh my gosh what have I gotten myself into?!” freak outs (believe me, I had one).

After

I threw all of my electronics into my carry on along with a couple changes of clothes, travel toiletries, and the two books I brought. It was heavy, but worth it to save the space in my suitcase.

When everything was said and done it probably took me about 3 hours to pack. I made it an all night affair, dragging it out with phone calls to friends and a last minute decision to make cookies for my brother at 4AM. My partner stayed up with me all night and after a one hour nap, we were both just exhausted on the way to the airport.

Worn out after a long night.

Just a Relaxing Weekend

February 7, 2011 / Lydia Mertz / 0 Comments

So, the weekend turned out different than planned.

We don’t have classes tomorrow and due to some circumstances, I am not able to travel. Yeah, it’s a bummer when you’re abroad and want to travel, but (sigh) life is not always the way you want it. On Tuesday, I have an exam AND a presentation to do. No rest for the wicked, eh?

Just chilling on a Sunday afternoon

Anyways, I just stayed home. It sounds boring and lame but somehow it was deliciously refreshing in a way. I chatted with friends on facebook and just rested up in my apartment. The week before had been crazy, so a weekend of nothing felt so good! I watched one of my favorite movies “Under the Tuscan Sun” and made pancakes this morning. Later, I went with two dear friends of mine to see a fantastic movie, “Los Ojos de Julia”.

Yeah, it wasn’t much but sometimes, the simplest things i life are the best. The times where you think you aren’t doing anything, you’re really doing something-renewing yourself. It’s so hard in the American culture because we’re always, go, go, go! In Mexico, I feel more comfortable “just doing nothing”.

So, take time to rest and renew yourself. No sense in hurrying up in life because you’ll miss the simple and beautiful things. Maybe it’s time with friends, eating a fresh orange or listening to soulful music…just sit and well, do “nothing”.

Saludos!

Stir-fry for lunch! Majority of my food is bought from the local market here in Cholula

Living La Vida Loca

River Cam downtown Cambridge

So this semester I plan to be in England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland, France, Spain, Italy, Switzerland, Germany, and Greece. I’m traveling the world, but I have it on special request to tell my readers about what my life is like here in Cambridge when I am not traveling. Considering I am spending around 70% of my semester in Cambridge going to class, I guess that is logical.

First of all, I love it here. Maybe the British people don’t think we are the coolest thing since sliced bread, but I think they are fantastic! And if you spend time finding the right ones, not all of them have negative preconceived notions about you either. The streets that run through town are pretty small so only taxis and buses are allowed on them. Oh and bicycles, lots and lots of bicycles.

But as for my classes, we are four weeks in and I still don’t know my schedule. I know that I go to class at 9:15 every morning (all of our classes take place in the same room) and that the first class ends at 10:30 at which point I collapse on the couch and take a deep 15 minute nap before I go back for the second class of the day. The only day we have another class after those is Monday, I think. I don’t know which classes are when, but it doesn’t really matter with the way things work around here. I love being done by 12:00 3 days of the week!

At a Pub Quiz, homework for English Life and Culture

I am taking Theology, History, Art Appreciation, Classical Mythology, and English Life and Culture. Our Theology professor is the Reverend at the church next door, runs the seminary attached to it, and is about the sweetest British man in the whole world. We went to church one day and sat behind him and his grandkids came in and were so happy to see him, it just melted my heart! Our History teacher is an Irish born English man who has an opinion about everything. His teaching is interesting, opinionated, and keeps everyone on their toes. Our Art teacher is a sweet Welsh woman who sure can talk about Art. Mark Farmer (our leader here at the center) teaches the last of the two classes and even though they involve the most work of any of our other classes, they also teach us a lot about things that are relevant to our stay here.

My Common Meal

As awesome as all these classes are, my favorite thing about the week here is by far Wednesday nights, when all the hands of the household gather in our two kitchens and set to work chopping, boiling, pounding, and anything else the head or second-in-command chef tells them to do. Then we eat what is always our best meal of the week and we talk and laugh and it is wonderful. We share our highs and lows from the past week, which is always nice when you don’t always know what your house-mates have been up to.

Two weeks ago I led my common meal and it was so much fun! I made Chicken Parmesan and it turned out just wonderfully. I hope that I take these excellent cooking skills home with me!

Group Picture Before Common Meal

Maybe I’m Nowhere Close to Cathedral-ed Out

February 4, 2011 / hannahbauer / 0 Comments

Ely Cathedral Outside

Mark told us not to expect too much, we saw the cathedral at Glasgow, this would be about the same. Wrong. From the second the cathedral came into view we could tell it was massive, and from the second we walked through the (very) large doors we could tell that it was stunning. We wondered the premises for about 20 minute (waiting for our tour guide), the whole time delighting in the way the stone was bathed in warm late afternoon sunlight spilling in through the stained glass.

Inside Ely Cathedral

When our tour guide arrived, I could When our tour guide arrived I could tell right away we’d lucked out. Not a performer, John knew his stuff and could not have been happier to be sharing the information with us. He was thorough, interesting, and even funny. He took us around the main floor, explaining the columns and the windows and the intricate roofs that towered above us.

And then we entered the first stair case. The first of four, tiny staircases winding up the inside of the building, after one flight we landed on a balcony overlooking the main floor. After the next flight we emerged from what appeared to be a hobbit door on the roof of the main building. From there the city spread out below us and the cathedral huddled us in tightly. We entered another (ridiculously) small door and went up another (unbelievably) small staircase and what we saw there was frankly kind of boring. Huge wooden beams held up what was obviously the center tower we had seen from down below. Wooden panels covered in graffiti circled around, but what happened next took my breath away.

John reached in front of me and lifted up a huge metal latch and the wooden panel swung open revealing an angel on the other side and angel panels 360 degrees. Far, far below us the cathedral floor sprawled out covered in pews that looked like caterpillars they appeared so small. Directly above us we got a close up view of the ornate roof of the cathedral. It was so beautiful I just couldn’t stop smiling, like when you know you’re in the presence of something great and wonderful and you just can’t believe you are lucky enough to be there.

View Inside Tower

And as if I needed more of a reason to be blown away, John led us up another staircase that was even smaller than the last! At the top of this one we came out on the roof of the tower with the stained glass windows being the only thing higher than us. I knew God was on our side that day because right as we got up there the sun started to set over the city and the building and it was just gorgeous.

Sunset on Roof

I hope you take a while to check out the whole album from this mini-trip, maybe you can get a glimpse of the beauty I was blessed enough to take pictures of for you!

Real Homework and Adventurous Eats

February 4, 2011 / Molly Kestner / 1 Comment

This week we started working our way into a semi-normal schedule. I say semi because travel or homestay interrupts our schedule at least every two weeks. We began our internships and two of our classes and that means lots of reading! Some of it is interesting, some of it…not so much. It’ll be difficult to get done because it is super easy to get distracted in this house!

Family Bonding!

On Tuesday we headed outside of the city for the day for a team building retreat with the group and the CGE staff. Since I love my group, it was nice to spend a day getting to know everyone better. We were only the highway out of the city for a few minutes when we got off and encountered the gravel roads which dominate most of Namibia. It was certainly an adventure, especially navigating over the shallow rivers and streams. I’m pretty sure if it had rained while we were there that we wouldn’t have been able to get back!

Wednesday night, a few of us headed to Joe’s Beer House which is a popular tourist spot for trying game meat! I sampled zebra, ostrich, and oryx, all of which were pretty good! All three tasted a lot like beef from home. And for those reading at home, an oryx is a kind of antelope, my high school mascot! People do not eat most of these things on a regular basis, they eat the same meats we do in the states. It was a really cool restaurant and a fun night.

Ostrich, Zebra, and Oryx, oh my! (There's some crocodile and Kudu in there, too.)

Finally, last night we left for our urban homestay. My family is a mother, father, daughter (23), and two sons (19 and 20). It was just a quiet, laid back night, but I’m eager to get to know them better.

The quintessential German town.

January 30, 2011 / Hayden O'Shaughnessy / 0 Comments

View of Tubingen houses from the river.

Another amazing view of the houses of Tubingen along the river.

Remember me telling you in an earlier blog that Reutlingen was the quintessential German town? LIES!! Tubingen totally takes the cake. Tubingen is an adorable college town. It was one of the few places in Germany not destroyed during the war. All of the medieval aspects of the town are preserved. It has narrow cobble stones streets that wind around the town. According to our Professor, Herr Springer, it is super easy to get lost if you don’t know what you are doing. Veronica, Katy, and I loved Tubingen so much that have been there twice since we got to Germany. It is just gorgeous! The first time it was rainy and Herr Springer took us on a short tour and told us a little bit of the history of the town. Herr Springer is our Art History professor and he is pretty awesome! He lives in Tubingen and has done some pretty interesting things in his lifetime. He crossed the US from Boston to Los Angeles hitchhiking, and he won a semi-offical race contest on the big water slide of the open-air pool in Tubingen.

Frau Brixner cutting Nate's food. Nate broke his arm and isn't great with utensils.

The same day Herr Springer took us on the tour of Tubingen, we had our first faculty dinner where we met the Brixners for the first time. We all LOVE the Brixners!!! They are our German language professors and are a ton of fun! The Brixners have been with the program since its beginning! Our group is Reutlingen-87, just to give you an idea of how long the Brixners have been with the program. I have Frau Brixner for my German 101 class and she is a hoot! There are only 4 of us in her class so we all get a lot of personal attention. The other day she asked me to “springen sie!” which means to jump. That is the first time a professor has asked me to jump during class. I wish I knew how to say “how high?” in German.

Graffiti house

Katy, Veronica, and I went back to Tubingen the next weekend when it was warm and sunny. During our second trip, we ate at this cute little Italian restaurant, and the food was delicious. After spliting a banana split we continued our walk around the Tubingen and took a ton of pictures! We will definitely be returning again soon!

Welcome to the future…

January 30, 2011 / Hayden O'Shaughnessy / 1 Comment

Mercedes-Benz museum view from the outside.

Professor Szaniszlo took us on a class trip to Stuggart, capital of Baden-Württemberg. When we arrived we took a tour of the Mercedes-Benz museum. The beginning of the movie Get Smart with Ann Hathaway and Steve Carell pretty much exemplifies the atmosphere of the Mercedes-Benz museum. When I walked into the state-of-the-art facility I seriously thought I had become a secret agent and was entering headquarters. It was SWEET!!! It was probably the coolest museum that I have ever been to. The museum was modeled after Frank Lloyd Wright’s Guggenheim in New York and was finished in 2006. The entire building is state-of-the-art; every building material is top-of-the-line, even down to the cement which has a higher concentration of cement than the normal stuff making the walls feel like marble. Pretentious much?…I think so! Our tour guide dressed like a secret agent and took us to the top floor using a futuristic looking elevator where the walls were lined with the leather in a Mercedes Benz. Seriously, look up pretentious in the dictionary, you will find Mercedes Benz.

We only had around an hour and forty-five minutes to spend in the museum, and according to the guide one could spend more than forty-two hours in the museum in order to see everything! Crazy, I know, but totally true. Unfortunately, my camera ran out of battery early on during the tour so I didn’t get many pictures, but I took a lot of mental ones! Click!

Futuristic elevator we took to the top floor where we started our tour with our guide, the secret agent.

After the Mercedes Benz tour, we got lunch at the train station and then we were off to take a bus tour of Stuggart. Our tour had both English and German speaking people so our guide spoke in both languages! First she would speak in German, and then she would start speaking in English! I was flabbergasted! Even though we had an awesome guide, I regrettably suck at bus tours. I tend to fall asleep within five minutes of the tour; I think it’s a combination of sitting down, the moving bus, and listening to a person with an accent that just puts me straight to sleep. Ask my parents about our trip to Ireland… So, I missed like two-thirds of that tour. I did wake up just in time to go up in the TV tour. I don’t remember how tall it was (I was asleep for that part of the tour), but the view was gorgeous. The sun had just come out and you could see for miles. I had to take a mental picture for that part of the tour too. Click!

The World of Beatles and Potter

January 30, 2011 / hannahbauer / 0 Comments

The Great Hall Christ's Church

Four day weekends are a magical thing. This week we decided to use them to our advantage in a new way. Instead of traveling from the second classes ended Thursday to late Sunday night, we left Friday morning and got back Saturday night. Only staying one night in a foreign city instead of three really cut back on expenses and having some down time in our beautiful “home” city of Cambridge really cut down on the brain damage. We were still able to see a lot of Oxford and Liverpool, even though we only spent one day in each location.

The Staircase from Harry Potter

On Friday we caught a train early in the morning, even though Thursday’s late night had us begging for more sleep. Luckily, trains aren’t horrible locations to catch up on some lost shut eye. We got into Oxford right around noon and had lunch at a pub called The Grapes (turns out there is one in Liverpool and in Cambridge too!). Then we walk to Christ Church where they did some filming for Harry Potter. Being a big fan, it was kind of awesome to see the staircase where the first years line up and the dining hall that the Great Hall was based on. After looking at the rest of the campus and walking around the town a bit we decided we were happy to be “from” Cambridge and could start calling Oxford “The Other Place,” like the Cambridge locals do.

After deciding we wanted to wait until Liverpool for dinner, we got on the train. BAD idea. By the time we got into Liverpool and checked into our AWESOME hotel, it was almost ten o’clock and we were sooooo hungry. We finally decided on a little Italian joint because most of the pubs’ kitchens had already closed. The food at the Italian restaurant was really good, albeit a little expensive. We splurged a little, but aw well. Then we went back to our hotel for some much needed cuddling, snuggling, and sleep.

Our Beautiful King Bed

The next day I reluctantly tore myself from my center spot in the comfy king bed and got ready for the day. We went to The Beatles’ Story which is a museum dedicated to– you guessed it– The Beatles. After learning as much as possible about the four biggest rockstars, um, ever, we went to go find lunch. With the help of our own personal map reader, Lauren, we went into The Cavern where The Beatles supposedly played the majority of their show. Ok, it was only a replica built from the same bricks as the original Cavern, but it was still cool. Sadly, they didn’t serve food so we ended up eating a couple doors down at another Grapes! Now this was pretty cool, they had pictures posted of The Beatles sitting in the seats of that very pub! Plus the food was cheap and tasty, my kind meal.

At The Beatles' Story

After a little more walking and another museum, I was glad to be on another train heading for King’s Cross and before I knew it, I was out. Before too long we were back in our temporary home, which is starting to feel like a real home more and more every day. My seven comrades and I had figured out that Oxford shied in comparison to it and the Liverpool(ians?) were extraordinarily kind. Then Sunday I slept in til noon and made myself crepes. Man I love studying abroad.

Be sure to check out the rest of my album here!

It’s hot here.

January 30, 2011 / Molly Kestner / 1 Comment

And it’s wonderful. Everyone got a little pink/tan this weekend. It has actually stormed significantly every day since we’ve been here, but at least half the day is usually sunny and warm.

Namibia is still beautiful and Windhoek is just a lovely little city. When I say little, I just mean smaller than Jo’burg which was HUGE. There is still quite an expanse to explore here both by foot and taxi. And of course there’s the rest of the country which I cannot wait to see as well. Just to give you and understanding, the country of Namibia is twice the size of California but it’s population is only 2 million people. That’s less people than live in just the city of Los Angeles. It’s even hard for us to wrap our heads around, especially since we’ve just been in one of the only major cities in the country which contains a lot of people.

Our time here hasn’t been quite as packed as South Africa was, which is good, because I don’t think I could keep up much longer with a schedule like that. Thursday and Friday we did some touring of the city, especially Katatura which remains almost 100% black since apartheid, similar to Soweto. (Namibia was under South African rule until 1990)

Saturday we attended our first soccer game in Africa! It was the Namibia Women’s National team versus the Angola women. We met a local student who had been a guide for us around Katatura and walked to the game with him because his sister (who is only 16!) is on the team. Luckily I grabbed my raincoat before leaving because of course the rain started just in time for the game. And apparently they play through lightning and thunder here. There weren’t a ton of people there so we were able to sit under the overhang and keep a little dry. Despite low attendance, the crowd was still wild and loud and had plenty of vuvuzelas! The kids at the game were so lively and excited. The game was pretty exciting, but it ended in a 0-0 tie.

Last night we went out for our first big night on the town to celebrate two birthdays in the group. We went to the bar up the street and then to a club called Zanzibar. I think of 20 of us went dancing and we had a great time!

I just keep thinking about how we’ve only been here two weeks and I feel like we’ve done and seen and learned so much and it blows my mind! This program is definitely what I wanted. What we’re doing is so beyond just site-seeing and appreciating culture. We are actually placed into the culture through homestays and are pushed to see the issues in this region through so many different perspectives. There were definitely other study abroad programs that I would’ve been happy to go on, but I don’t know if they would’ve made me think as much as I have here. However, if you’re a prospective student, regardless of the program, if you even think you want to study abroad then look into it. I’m only two weeks in, but I know I’m going to learn way more here than I could ever learn in a classroom. (Too bad I had to write that french paper on the importance of travel before I came here!)

Tomorrow we start our internships! I was placed with the Namibia Development Trust which is an NGO that focuses on promoting rural development. It seems right up my alley. I’m excited and nervous to see what my time there brings and I’m hoping I gain some good experience!

Student Stories from Around the World