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Climbing Mt. Hiei

April 30, 2019 / studyabroad / 0 Comments

Author: Kate Mitchell

Location: Mount Hiei, Kyoto, Japan

Pronouns: She/Her/Hers

Japan is a mountainous country. No matter where you find yourself in Japan, it is likely you will be able to see the mountains in the distance. Japan’s most famous mountain is of course Mt. Fuji, but one of its most sacred mountains is Mt. Hiei, located between Kyoto and Lake Biwa. The mountain is home to multiple Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines. Monks travel up the mountain as pilgrimage while visitors can just take the cable car or drive their own car to the temples at the top. I decided I wanted to hike at least part of this divine mountain before I left Japan and with the weather becoming warmer with each day, I decided it was finally time to do it.

The mountain itself was absolutely gorgeous. It boasts different types of forests that change depending on how high up the mountain you go. Wild flowers grow on the side of the mountain and aside the walking trails. I decided to take the cable car halfway up the Kyoto side of the mountain and from that height, you can see the entire city down below. Since the mountain is known for its Buddhist affiliation, I spotted lots of Buddhist statues and monuments while walking. It became almost like a fun I-Spy game. From the Lake Biwa side of the mountain, you can see the lake and its coastal towns. My favorite part of the hike was the cherry blossoms barely still in bloom whose petals covered the walking path. Although I say walking path, it was covered in rocks, holes and tricky turns, so anyone who decides to hike on Mt. Hiei should be prepared. It isn’t an easy trek by any means, but if you do get too tired, there’s always the cable car.

I also visited the temples at the top of the mountain. Mt. Hiei has three main temple areas although I only visited two of them. The third was about 5 kilometers away in another section of the mountain. The temples have their own parking lots and transportation, so there are lots of visitors in contrast to the walking trails which had significantly fewer people. The temples, although old, are constantly maintained, so they looked like they were brand new. And while I didn’t enter any of them, I made sure to get a few postcards and pictures for posterity. However, I did take a visit to Mt. Hiei’s Inari shrine. Inari is a Shinto deity who is particularly famous in Kyoto because of Fushimi Inari. Having learned lots of Inari in my religions class, she is particularly near and dear to me, so I made sure to leave a few yen for her as an offering.

For anyone visiting the Kyoto area, I highly recommend visiting Mt. Hiei especially in the spring. The mountain is beautiful and easily accessible by car or cable car. The temples around the mountain are a great spot to visit and on the Kyoto side of the mountain, there is also a gardening museum. Determined hikers can make the climb up Mt. Hiei more difficult if they choose, but I preferred a leisurely walk for taking pictures and sightseeing. The path can also get pretty confusing at times, so make sure to bring a map!

Semana Santa

April 25, 2019 / studyabroad / 0 Comments

Author: Kayla Doyle

Location: Rome, Italy/Granada, Spain

Pronouns: She/Her/Hers

This semester I was fortunate enough to be able to celebrate Easter festivities in two countries: Italy and Spain. I went to Rome with a group of friends from my program for the first half of the week before Easter. The second half of the week we were back in Spain and able to participate in Semana Santa. Both experiences were different than I normally celebrate Easter back home in Michigan with my family, but it was very eye-opening and intriguing to witness.

When I went to Rome, we had to walk through the Vatican City just about every day to get to the center from our Airbnb. We happened to be there during Palm Sunday, so a few of my friends and I decided to go to the Vatican for mass with the Pope. On Sunday, we arrived at the Vatican and had to go through security to get into the main plaza for the ceremony. When we got through, we were given an olive branch to participate in the Mass and a rosary to commemorate the celebration. There were seats in various sections closed off to people who had reserved seats. We did not have a reservation, so we stood right behind a fence that blocked off the reserved seats that still had a decent view. The ceremony was three hours long, but we only stayed for the first half of it. There was a procession at the beginning which included people carrying palms, followed by bishops and the Pope. It was spectacular! Then there were a few readings and the pope gave a homily, however I couldn’t understand anything because it was all in Italian. After the Pope’s homily we left, but remained in awe of what we just witnessed. I have never been to a church service so enormous and surrounded by people from all over the world. I would highly recommend anyone to experience a mass at the Vatican City.

After we came back from Rome, we were able to see the processions in Granada that same night. It is very popular in the south of Spain to celebrate Semana Santa with huge processions the week leading up to Easter. In the processions there are people wearing a uniform that looks exactly like the clothes that the Klu Klux Klan wore, but the two are not associated at all. I’m not going to lie it was a little scary to see at first. There is also a band that plays music for the march. And my favorite part of the processions, are the floats that are carried by men below the structure. The floats are decorated in gold, flowers, candles, and porcelain objects, and the image differs each day of the week. The people in each city and “brotherhood” in charge of the processions planned all year for this week.

The processions are something that people from around the world travel to come see during Semana Santa every year, so the streets are full of people through the night. I enjoyed seeing the streets full of life, as it is a time of anticipation for the processions and the resurrection of Jesus Christ. I enjoyed experiencing Easter in a new way this year, but also missed the time together celebrating with my family back home and watching my little cousins hunt for eggs the Easter Bunny laid out for them. But I guess seeing the Pope makes up for all of that!

Exploring and Experiencing the Netherlands!

April 23, 2019 / studyabroad / 0 Comments

Author: Emily Neuharth

Location: The Netherlands

Pronouns: She/Her/Hers

A couple of weeks ago I went on a trip to exploring the Netherlands with two other cohort members and dear friends: Liz and Nolan. Similar to many other students here, England’s close proximity to mainland Europe was one of the reasons that led me to choosing Valpo’s Cambridge program. Europe’s airfare system is way more advanced and accessible than what we’re used to in the States— sometimes it’s been cheaper to take a plane than a bus! And without the time-demanding extracurricular and social commitments that we’ve all grown accustomed to at Valpo, it is actually been possible for us to take long-weekend trips.

Nolan, Liz, and I at the Keukenhof tulip gardens

Day 1:
(Cambridge > London > Eindhoven > Rotterdam > Kinderdijk > Den Haag)

None of us have class on Fridays so we started our journey very early (like 3AM early)— traveling through Europe can’t be glamorous all the time. We’re still poor college students so we’ll walk a mile to the bus station and take the 6am flight if that’s our cheapest option. Fueled by the adrenaline of traveling, we walked through Cambridge in the witching hour with our stuffed backpacks, talking about which parts of the trip we were looking forward to the most. We landed in Eindhoven, Netherlands, and immediately that instinctual difference between countries could be felt. Relying heavily on our offline translator app, and the good fortune of often finding kind, Dutch people who spoke English, we embarked upon the next leg of our journey: taking public transport to Kinderdijk. We had a hostel booked for that night in Den Haag, but the plan for our first day was to visit the small town of Kinderdijk to see the famous Dutch windmills.

Liz posing with a windmill at Kinderdijk

Compared to other countries’ public transport, the Dutch systems were very straightforward and accessible. We took a train to Rotterdam where we decided to explore and get lunch. As it often seems to happen, this spontaneous detour ended up being one of my favorite towns we visited! The sun was shining and there was a lot of beautiful public art.

Rotterdam, Netherlands

Getting to Kinderdijk was less straightforward than getting to Rotterdam; we ended up only spending a little bit of time at the windmills since we got there shortly before the site closed. But we were all still content with our adventuring for the day. Exhausted (remember, we started the day at 3am), we finally made it to Den Haag where we checked into our hostel.

We finally made it to Kinderdijk!

Day 2:(Den Haag > Keukenhof > Lisse > Delft > Den Haag)

We left Den Haag around 9am to start our journey towards Keukenhof, an incredible and trademark tulip garden. This was definitely one of the trip’s highlights for me. The garden was massive, and while there were a lot of tourists there, the atmosphere was light-hearted and jovial— it’s hard not to feel this way when you are surrounded by so much natural beauty!

(In addition to hundreds of flowers) There were food trucks, flower crown making stations, and
women painted like flowers and dancing on stilts!

It’s really hard for me to choose a favorite between making my own flower crown and the names of the different kind of tulips. Just to name a few: Aphrodite, Energy4All, Update, Destination, Endurance, Mistress Hot Pink, Paul McCartney, Beauty Trend, Blue Wow, Zoe, Desirelle, Pebble, Light and Dreamy, Time Out, Drumline, and Apricot Fox.

Keukenhof, Netherlands

After stopping in Lisse to get lunch, we made our way to a small town near Den Haag called Delft. One of the main reasons why I wanted to visit the Netherlands while I was abroad was to meet up again with my very good friend Cato. Cato and I first met in good ol’ Lankenau Hall at the beginning of my freshman year, where she was a Dutch exchange student. During Christmas break that year, Cato had stayed with my family for a few days so when Cato heard that we’d be visiting, she insisted that we spend a night at her family’s home in Den Haag.

Coen, Cato, and I reunited in Delft!

We met Cato and Coen (another Dutch exchange student that I’d met at Valpo) in Delft where they live and go to university. They proudly showed us around Delft; it was a charming, old town that was full of life. We all agreed that it reminded us a lot of Cambridge. After getting dinner, we rode the tram to Den Haag. We got to Cato’s beautiful home where we were welcomed so warmly by her parents and fluffy cat.

Day 3: (Den Haag > Amsterdam > London > Cambridge)

At this point, we were all feeling a bit overwhelmed from all of the traveling and sightseeing, but we rallied ourselves together because we still hadn’t been to Amsterdam! Unfortunately, we hadn’t booked tickets enough in advance to see the sites we had hoped for (like the Anne Frank House and the Van Gogh Museum) but, in retrospect, getting to wander the city with no real plan was probably what was best for our tired state.

The river Amstel, in Amsterdam (if you look very, very closely, can you spot the small orange cat
sitting on a windowsill?)

We took a river canal tour through the city, where we basked in the sunlight and listened to a guide talk about the history of Amsterdam, especially in relation to its river Amstel. After the tour, we explored for a very long time trying to find a restaurant that had a vegan option for Liz. Ironically, the winner was a gourmet burger restaurant.

With happy stomachs, tired feet, and our same overstuffed backpacks, we started the long journey home. We no longer had that rush of adrenaline that had fueled our travel to the Netherlands, but there was a contentedness in our exhaustion. As we walked the mile back from the bus station in Cambridge’s witching hours once more, we talked about how much we had missed the rest of our cohort and were longing for our beds in Cambridge— it’s interesting how it takes going away and coming back again to realize that a place has become home.

Nolan in Amsterdam

As I said, traveling to mainland Europe was one of many dreams I had for my time abroad, and this trip to the Netherlands was my first time traveling outside of the UK since the beginning of the semester; it felt really fulfilling to get to check off a bucket-list goal. Overall, it was an amazing weekend full of new memories and so many flowers. The best part though was definitely getting to see Cato again, and how generously welcoming her family had been to us. I also feel very glad that we were able to experience a less-touristy, and more authentic, varied taste of the Netherlands— I already can’t wait to go back someday to continue exploring.

The paparazzi (Nolan) documenting how much I loved Keukenhof

The Untold Stories

April 22, 2019 / studyabroad / 0 Comments

Author: Alyssa (Aly) Brewer

Location: Outapi, Namibia

Pronouns: She/Her/Hers

I distinctly remember before I left to study abroad in Southern Africa, my friend and I got lunch together for an informal “see you later.” We talked about our lives, school work, and how excited I was to travel to Namibia. I showed him a picture of Windhoek, the city I would be living in. To his surprise, the photo displayed towering buildings, paved roads, and modern cars. I am not telling this story to criticize his views, but to shed light on this mainstream idea of “Africa.” Africa is a continent full of rich intertwining cultures. Every country, every area, every city, is unique from the next. There is no blanket definition. Like in the United States, each family has their own identity, ethnicity, and language. And all of this became quite apparent to me when I spent a week living with a family in rural Northern Namibia.

Before we left to Outapi, the instructors taught us basic greetings and how to ask for food, water, and the toilet in Oshiwambo, the local language. All of us were jittery with nerves. We stocked up on toilet paper, portable chargers, and exchanged ideas of how to properly bathe from a bucket.

Surprisingly, the bucket shower became one of my favorite parts of the morning!

To be honest, I was holding in my anxiousness the whole 10 hour ride up there. As soon as we arrived and families started singing for us, my worries melted away. The families were as full of smiles as we were of exhaustion. But despite our heavy bodies, our spirits were up. We gathered around, greeted each other, and learned who we would be staying with for the week. My family welcomed me with open arms. I immediately felt loved by Meme Thusnelde and Tate Fillemon. (*Meme is the Oshiwambo equivalent of “M’am” as is Tate with “Sir”). Their daughter Margareth also welcomed and introduced me to her two year old son, Wofa (I never got the spelling but this is how it sounded). After the initial greeting, we were off! I climbed in the back of their pick-up truck and sighed my first breath of relief since we left Windhoek that morning.

While the instructors warned us countless times how hot it is in Northern Namibia, the heat still surprised us. It’s the kind of heat when you sweat, it evaporates before you can feel it. Hats are a necessity and sunscreen becomes your new best friend. Sleeping became a great challenge because my family’s tin house absorbed all the heat throughout the day. At night, I felt like I was sleeping in a microwave. Another surprising challenge was the food. While it was delicious and well-prepared, my body had a difficult time adjusting to it. But these minor inconveniences were drops in the ocean of this entire experience. My host sister and I laughed and danced with each other every evening. Her son and I chased each other around the farmstead. The stars every night speckled the sky is a brilliant hue. The fat chickens slept on tiny tree branches (which still makes me laugh just thinking about it). My host dad and I ran after a goat one night and planted a tree the next. My host mom hugged me warmly in the way only a mother can. While my body might have rejected the environment, my heart belonged in it.

There were dozens of fruit trees across the property. I was honored to help plant another!

I learned so much in my six days living with them. Greeting culture is the utmost importance. It took me until the end of the stay to fully get the sequence right.

“Walalapo Meme” (Good morning M’am)
“Walalapo” (Good morning response)
“Nawa?” (How are you?)
“Nawa, ehh?” (Good, and you?)
“Ehh” (Yes, good)

Even then, I do not know if that is completely correct. And the greeting changes depending on who you are speaking to and what time of day it is. It was difficult at first to get out of my American way of thinking. Here, you spend a whole five minutes greeting someone before you can carry on with your day. Back in the States I usually go for the classic Midwestern half-smile or “hey.” Here, you must face the person and acknowledge their presence- it is a form of respect. After practicing the greeting so often, it almost became second nature amongst us students. We even greeted each other that way at times.

This journey has changed how I view life in multiple ways. For one, time is fluid here. There is never a rush. At first, my American “go go go” attitude became frustrated with the lackadaisical atmosphere. Now, I embrace it. In the States, we value time as money. Even when greeting someone we are short and to the point. Here, time is what you make it. My host family never rushed me to wake up, they never had a set schedule. We awoke when we got fed up with the rooster crowing. We made food when we got hungry. We talked when we wanted to and sat in silence when there was nothing to say. There was no pressure, just peace.

Important side note! The picture above is my host family’s field. Normally it would be towering with mahango plants at this time. Namibia is facing an extreme drought due to no rain in the rainy season causing crops and livestock to die at alarming rates. In a nation where 70% of the population relies on farming to sustain themselves, no rain is a crisis. We might not see climate change’s effects in the US, but here it is undeniable.

Reflecting on the experience so far, I am blessed to have met so many people from different cultural backgrounds in Southern Africa. Each of them has their own story to tell. Some are graduate students studying to be doctors. Some are musicians living off donations from passersby. Some, like my host family, are farmers in rural Namibia struggling to overcome the most devastating drought in their lifetime. Every person I meet paints a more colorful picture of what Africa truly is. It is not a single nationality, race, or language. It is a beautiful blend of people who each have a story to share- a story that needs to be heard.

My family and I took a photo together at the goodbye party. They provided me with a traditional Oshiwambo skirt and Ostrich egg shell necklace to wear. I will miss them dearly! (Right to left) Tate Fillemon, Wofa the baby, myself, the cab driver for the family, Margareth. *Meme Thusnelde was not able to attend the goodbye party due to work.

Cheery Blossom Season in Japan

April 15, 2019 / studyabroad / 0 Comments

Author: Kate Mitchell

Location: Osaka, Japan

Pronouns: She/Her/Hers

In Japan, the beginning of April means the blooming of the cherry blossoms, or sakura. Trees with sakura line the streets nearly everywhere and once they bloom, the entire country is filled with the beautiful white and pink hues of the flower petals. During sakura season, Japanese people participate in a tradition called hanami, or flower viewing. People picnic underneath the cherry blossoms and enjoy their beauty and a good meal. I decided to study abroad in Japan during the spring because I wanted to do hanami. Lucky for me, one of my professors lead a field trip to visit temples and shrines in Korien and finish the day with hanami. Hanami is best experienced with friends, so I was excited to go on the field trip!

We set up for a picnic in a neighborhood park surrounded by blooming cherry blossom trees. A playground was right below us with dozens of children playing. They were surprised to see a large group of foreigners in their neighborhood, but they didn’t seem to mind. They were more curious than anything with a few kids saying hello to us in English. They were adorable! Usually people bring homemade lunchboxes or obento for hanami, but us students brought a cheap lunch from the nearest convenience store. However, we were surprised by the professor’s wife who brought us boxes of homemade food including fried chicken, dango, taiyaki and much more. Instead of eating plain onigiri and chips, we were able to enjoy delicious traditional hanami fare.

After eating, we had to take photos with the cherry blossoms before they lost their blossoms. The sakura only bloom for about two weeks, so it’s important to enjoy them while they are still around. The flowers make a wonderful backdrop for any photo! When the sakura bloom, the weather is usually quite good (especially here in Osaka), so making plans for a picnic is easy! Back at Valpo, there’s still a chance it might snow, but in Japan, spring is already in full swing! If you’re not the outdoor type, you can still enjoy the cherry blossoms from the view inside and take part in all the sakura merchandise that gets sold during the season. Be prepared to see pink flower decorations everywhere throughout March and April. If you have plans to study abroad in Japan, I highly recommend going during the spring semester just to see the cherry blossoms.

A Week in Patagonia

April 11, 2019 / studyabroad / 0 Comments

Author: Casey Bremer

Location: Torres del Paine National Park, Chile/El Calafate, Argentina

Pronouns: She/Her/Hers

In the very beginning of the semester, there was a week of classes that was not mandatory for the students. Since this was one of the only chances to travel for longer than a weekend, my friends and I decided to take advantage of the opportunity. Six girls and I planned a spontaneous trip to Patagonia, in the south of Chile and Argentina. We flew from Santiago to a southern city called Punta Arenas on Monday, then took a bus to Puerto Natales, which is the starting point for most people who want to hike in the National Park of Torres del Paine (the most well-known part of Patagonia). The next morning, we got up bright and early at 6am to go on a hike with the most well-known viewpoint in the park. It was the hardest thing I’ve ever done. It was mostly uphill, for over four hours, just to get there. However, it was well worth it. The views were incredible and since I was with great company, the hike was really fun.

The next day, we decided to take it easy and go on a much more relaxed hike in the same national park. We passed beautiful lakes, and actually stumbled upon a herd of wild guanacos (a South American relative of the llama), who were so calm and let us sit in the middle of their pack for about 10 minutes! It was so calming to see the animals quietly grazing around us. Definitely unforgettable.

The next day, after two days of hiking around the park, my friends and I decided to take a road trip over to Argentina, to a town called El Calafate. It’s pretty small, but very touristy because it’s really close to another popular national park in Patagonia. We wanted to go there because there is a well-known glacier called Perito Moreno in the park. After driving for about five hours, we finally arrived at the glacier, and it was more than impressive. It took my breath away. It’s one of the only glaciers in the world that is actually growing in size rather than decreasing, and scientists still haven’t figured out why! The pure size of the glacier was incredible. The width is over three miles wide, and the average height is about 240 feet above the surface of the water. It was a bit strange, but we could also hear the sounds of the ice creaking and splashing into the lake. It was so blue that it looked like someone had photoshopped it. It was definitely one of the most awe-inspiring things I’ve seen in my life so far.

After the glacier, we left Argentina to drive back to Puerto Natales in Chile, then took a bus back to Punta Arenas to catch a flight to Santiago, then took another bus back to Viña. Incredibly, despite the many modes of transportation and the many hours in transit, we got back to our houses in Viña del Mar in time for our early classes on Monday. And although my friends and I were exhausted from a week of traveling, we all happily went to class the next day with nothing but good stories and cherished memories from the trip.

As I reflect on my week in the southernmost part of the world, I have realized how happy I am to be here for this semester in Chile. Before arriving, I was second-guessing my decision to study abroad for my last semester of college. Because I chose to be here, I can’t walk across the stage at graduation, I’m missing my friends back at VU, and I can’t partake in any of the traditional “second-semester senior” activities. But as I continue to think about those things that I’m missing in Indiana, I’m also thinking about the incredible experiences that I can only get here in Chile. Because I am here, I can sit in the middle of a herd of wild llamas, watch chunks of ice fall from one of the biggest glaciers in the world, and have met the wonderful girls I traveled with. So although I am missing out on some things in Indiana, I am more than happy that I chose to study abroad this semester because I am able to experience these once in a lifetime experiences. So for those students who might be hesitant or doubting a decision to study abroad, I would simply advise them to stop hesitating and take the leap. Studying abroad has been one of the best decisions of my life, and I really believe other students should experience it as well.

A Nice Day Trip to Osaka: Osaka Castle

April 9, 2019 / studyabroad / 0 Comments

Author: Kate Mitchell

Location: Osaka, Japan

Pronouns: She/Her/Hers

One of Osaka’s most popular tourist destinations is Osaka Castle and being the good tourist I am, I decided to check it out. At first, I wasn’t expecting anything super impressive. I’ve seen the Emperor’s palace and a variety of other Japanese castles, so I was expecting more of the same. But I was delightfully impressed by what Osaka Castle had to offer. One of its most impressive features was its view both from the top of the castle and from the rest of Osaka. While walking around the area, you’ll almost always be able to see the castle rising tall and mighty in the distance. It made for lots of great photo opportunities. For 600 yen, you can also travel through the castle, its museum and go to the top of the castle. Once up top, you can look down on the castle grounds and the rest of Osaka. The view was incredible, and I recommend paying the entry price just for the view alone. However, I enjoyed the museum inside the castle which contains historical artifacts, a history of the castle and models of the castle and its warrior. It was a little crowded since Osaka Castle is one of Osaka’s biggest foreign and domestic tourist destinations, so be prepared to wait your turn to see an exhibit. And don’t be surprised if you stumble across a giant group of middle school students trying to take a picture with samurai armor. Osaka Castle is also a popular field trip spot!

If you’re feeling on the cheaper side, you can still explore the castle grounds which are huge! There’s a giant moat and large stone walls that surround the castle with signs that explain when they were made and their purpose. You can take a boat ride through the moat or eat a variety of restaurants and stalls outside the castle. My favorite part of the castle grounds was the plum garden. To the side of the castle, there are dozens of plum blossoms trees you can wander through and take pictures of. I love taking pictures of flowers, so I spent a long time walking amongst the trees. If you get hungry while you’re spending time in the garden, there is a handy convenience store right in the middle along with a few others scattered across the property. Although Osaka Castle is hundreds of years old, there are plenty of modern amenities to make the trip fun and enjoyable. I was surprised by how many convenience stores I saw, but they were designed to fit in with the aesthetic of the castle and its grounds, so it didn’t detract from the experience.

The best part of living in Japan is that there are always great places, like Osaka Castle, that are never far from where you are. Compared to the United States, Japan is rather small, and it has an excellent train, subway and bus system. You can get almost anywhere you want to go by taking public transportation and you can get their quickly. Getting to Osaka Castle took less than an hour and there were plenty of signs and instructions (in both English and Japanese) to help me get where I was going. For people traveling alone or with one another person, Japan offers lots of affordable and helpful options, so you can explore Japan the way you want to. Kansai Gaidai’s local station, Hirakata Station, is run by the Keihan Line which I recommend as one of the best trainlines to use in Japan. There’s lots of English assistance and also advertising and maps for places to visit. It’s really helpful for tourists!

Spring 2019 in Viña del Mar

April 8, 2019 / studyabroad / 0 Comments

Author: Casey Bremer

Location: Viña del Mar, Chile

Pronouns: She/Her/Hers

I’ve been in Chile for about a month now, and I absolutely love it! I live in a coastal town called Viña del Mar, which is about an hour and a half from the country’s capital, Santiago. I live in a cozy home with just my host mother, who is an amazing cook and loves to tell me stories about her life. The house is a five-minute walk from the beach, and the sunsets are incredible, so I’m spending a lot of time there with new friends. Viña is full of interesting things to see and do, and I’m a 10-minute bus ride away from a nearby town called Valparaíso, which is another great city with endless culture and artistry. Last summer I spent 2 months volunteering in Valparaíso (through another great VU study abroad program), and I loved Chile so much that I wanted to spend a whole semester here!

I’ve been spending a lot of my time with the other people in my program, who are from all over the world. I’ve gotten close to some students from Germany, France, Mexico, and so many other places. I joined the International Club at my university as well, which includes about 45 Chilean students and 100 foreign students. We get together often for excursions, like sand-boarding at the nearby dunes, hiking to the only waterfall in the region, and wine tasting in the Casablanca Valley. In addition, the club pairs up Chilean students with international students to learn more about the culture and to practice languages. A few days ago I walked around Viña with my Chilean “big brother”, Normann, to take pictures at some iconic places around the town.

There are a lot of differences I’ve noticed between here and the US. For example, there are so many stray dogs running around! I’m definitely not complaining, because they are very friendly and love to come up to people for a pet. But it does get a little sad when it gets colder at night and the dogs don’t have a warm home to sleep in. However, it’s not all sad because I’ve noticed that Chileans give jackets, warm blankets, and food to the street dogs.

Another interesting difference I’ve noticed involves the people. The Chileans I have met are so much more than just friendly. In the US, people are nice, but Chileans go above and beyond. They go out of their way to help a stranger, try really hard to make you feel welcome and comfortable, and they absolutely love when a gringa tries to speak Spanish! And when a Chilean enters a room full of their friends, they make sure to greet every single person with a kiss on the cheek. They also make sure to say goodbye with a kiss to everyone individually as well. It was a bit of an unexpected shock to see how warm and friendly everyone was, especially with foreigners like me.

Overall, I’m loving my semester here so far. I’m learning a lot about the Chilean culture, improving my Spanish, and I have met so many interesting people. I also have a few trips planned, like to Patagonia in the south or to Argentina, and I’m looking forward to blogging about them throughout the semester and showing everyone what a great place this country is! Before coming here, many friends and family members told me that they didn’t know much about Chile. They also warned me and said that it was unsafe or undeveloped, simply because it’s in South America and there is a stigma or stereotype attached to the continent and its people. However, I’m looking forward to using this blog as a way to show people how great this country really is!

Setting Goals vs. the Reality of Studying Abroad

April 4, 2019 / studyabroad / 0 Comments

Author: Emily Neuharth

Location: Cambridge, England

Pronouns: She/Her/Hers

Going into my study abroad semester, I knew that Cambridge was going to entail a change of pace compared to my constantly over-packed Valpo schedule; it was even part of what drew me to this program. As I was mentally preparing for this experience, I was making an ever-growing list of new habits that I wanted to implement while abroad, envisioning myself coming back from Cambridge as a well-balanced and just in general “better” person.

A candid of me in front of Kings College Chapel (sniped by my visiting friend Hayley).

Much of what made up my “New and Improved Emily” to-do list were things that I have been wanting to implement into my life for years. I always reasoned with myself that it’s not necessarily my fault that I had yet to make these changes— I’ve never had the time or margin; my academic, extracurricular, and social commitments at Valpo have always kept me me running straight from one thing to the next. This kind of lifestyle has always created the environment for me to best succeed, even though I always ended every semester completely burnt out. I kept functioning that way partly because it’s what I’ve always known but also because I truly believed that the impressive list of accomplishments that I’d have to show for my hard work would always make it worth it.

The semester before I went abroad marked my halfway-point in college, and I had started reflecting on my time at Valpo and what I wanted for my second half. That previous summer and second semester of sophomore year I had made significant strides in the academic and professional spheres of my life, but at what cost? I had been motivated during all of those late-late-nights and too-early mornings by the fulfillment that these achievements would bring me. While they did make me happy, helped me better discern what I wanted for my future career-wise, and the affirmation it brought from others fueled my self-confidence greatly, it was hard to truly enjoy everything when my mental and physical health were so depleted. I’d also somewhat subconsciously traded in a lot of what had been socially-fulfilling for more of those material accomplishments (like choosing to pour my energy into winning contests and getting good grades instead of relaxing or catching up with my friends). But at some point along the way I had stopped asking for help and leaning on others, so I realized too late that those victories are not very special anymore if I couldn’t celebrate them with my support team.

Taken at the Glasgow Necropolis, Scotland

Because I’d been fairly successful ahead-of-the-curve, if you will, I had always been prompted to keep going by comparing myself to others and by this voice in the back of my head always telling me that “it can only go up from here, you still have so much time left at college” etc. And it was effective. At least, it was effective in piling up external affirmations, but when I finally gave myself a little bit of time to reflect, I began to understand that those kind of achievements were not truly fulfilling me in the long-run. However, I do feel very grateful that slaving away for those past two years had given me a enough wiggle-room to pause and take a breath so that I could make those kind of observations when I did.

With all of this context in mind, I confirmed my application to study abroad in Cambridge. Remember that idealized dream I mentioned earlier? …Living independently in a small European city where I would wake up early without prompting and magically resolve all of my issues? My (unrealistic) list of goals went something like this:

Stop procrastinating all of my assignments
Write creatively on my own everyday
Learn how to cook and eat healthily everyday
Do yoga or workout everyday
Go to church every week, maybe join a Bible study
Get into a regular sleep pattern (i.e. stop staying up and waking up so late)
“Make the most” of my time abroad

While all of those goals are good ones, most of them have this “all or nothing” mindset. One of the first topics we covered in my British Life & Culture class were some of the differences between American and British lifestyles (shocking, I know). The difference that’s been the most relevant and difficult for me to adjust to has been in realizing that America encourages extremely competitive atmospheres where we have been trained to believe that “failure is never an option.”

Taken at one of my favorite places I’ve been to yet…A beautiful Medieval town: Lavenham, England.

Now, I’ll agree that achieving all of these goals in a few months would be unrealistic for anyone (and I’ll agree that I’ve also had an issue in the past with romanticizing new situations and the magical affect that it could have on me). However, I do have one caveat: there is definitely something about the idea of “studying abroad” that promotes this kind of mindset. At least in my case, everyone I talked to who were either promoting it or who had been abroad themselves, shared different stories with similar themes of unprecedented self-growth and that was what truly made me want to go abroad.

Perhaps needless to say, I am 3⁄4 of the way done with my time abroad and I have not fully accomplished any of those goals. I have certainly been working on a lot of those goals but I have also failed, repeatedly, at a lot of them. Almost everyday I have to resist the urge to just cancel all of the goals completely and wallow in self-criticism. But, I am slowly learning how to both function and make mistakes.

This kind of reflection has directed me towards a lot of self-exploration and questioning: Why do I struggle so much to find internal motivation? Have I been using over-packed schedules as a crutch my whole life? Why is “trying my best” or even “trying at all” not enough for me to feel proud of what I have accomplished?

Taken at Anglesey Abbey, Cambridge— in SPRING weather!!

3 Things I’ve Learned Over the Past 3 Months:

Failure is OK, half-way-done is OK, procrastination is OK (i.e. everything does not have to always be perfect).

I was blaming my unwillingness to take control of my life on having a super busy schedule.

There is no universally agreed-upon standard of “making the most” of my time abroad that I should be trying to meet. Everybody’s “most” will look different.

But I don’t want to come away from this experience with self-frustration and regret being the predominant themes just because I didn’t meet all of the unrealistic goals that I had set for myself. If my original intentions for these goals and for studying abroad in general was to grow, then I should challenge myself to work towards something that does not have an obvious, external destination or end-product.

I think I am learning that if I can set goals that will help me make “being present” my new habit, then I will certainly return home as someone who has grown and will continue to do so even once I’m back at Valpo.

3 (Realistic) Goals for My Last Month:

Try not to compare my experience to those around me or to others who have studied abroad.

Try to do one thing everyday that grounds me (e.g. going for a walk, journaling, Facetiming a friend or family from home).

Try not to get too caught up in final papers and exams or future plans. Instead, focus on making memories and spending time with my new family of friends— I am sure I’ll be missing them all so much this summer.

Eric and Nolan posing in front of a sign we stumbled upon in Glasgow, Scotland. We thought it was fitting for our Valpo family.

So Much Traveling!

April 3, 2019 / studyabroad / 0 Comments

Author: Sarah Rosa Germann

Location: All over Costa Rica

Pronouns: She/Her/Hers

The way I see it, my semester has been divided into four sections. For the month of January, I took a geography class on Central America with Heidi Michelsen, a Valpo professor, at Casa Adobe, the Valparaiso Study Abroad Center in Costa Rica. In February, I took six credits of Spanish at the University of Costa Rica and continued my class with Heidi. For these months, I was with my Valparaiso cohort, the other four students who are studying here and living in Santa Rosa from Valpo with me. In March, I separated from the usual Valpo program. While the other VU students began internships, I joined nine other students from various places across the United States in a field biology research program at ICADS, the Institute for Central American Development Studies. In January and February, those students had taken classes in Geography and Spanish similar to what I had done. This section of the program was called “Block 1.” In March, we began “Block 2.”

The focus of Block 2 was exactly what I had come to Costa Rica for. We traveled all over the country and we studied the environments we were in as they related to human geography, and sustainability of both human society and the natural environment. We traveled to two different places each week, staying 2 or 3 nights in each location, either in a lodge or with a host family. We touched base at our host families in San Jose, or in my case in Santa Rosa, briefly on the weekends. First we went to Longo Maï {Red Arrow on the map below}, a commune made up of El Salvadoran refugees. (Check out my blog solely about Longo Maï!) Second we went to Villa Mills {Orange Arrow}, one of the highest places in elevation in Costa Rica, where we did bird watching. Third we went to El Yuë {Yellow Arrow}, where we stayed in a lodge built for rural community tourism. Here we visited agroforestry farms and Cahuita, a beautiful beach. Fourth we went to Puerto Viejo {Green Arrow} for a couple of nights, which is a common place for many tourists to visit in Costa Rica, with its beautiful beaches and thrilling night life. During our stay there, we visited the Indigenous community of Bribri. Fifth we went to Isla de Chita {Dark Blue Arrow}, which is an island in between the Peninsula of Guanacaste and the mainland. Here we had the opportunity to go into a mangrove and learn how to harvest pianguas by the roots. Sixth we went to the community of Ortega {Purple Arrow}, in the mainland of Guanacaste, where we learned about the sugarcane plantation, what life is like in the community, and community opinions on tourism. Having seeing all these places, I feel like this program has truly given me a chance to see many different places in Costa Rica. What a great way to learn about a country.

The past three weeks have been an intense and exciting learning experience. One thing that greatly impacted the experience for me was the fact that, aside from in Puerto Viejo, I did not have any access to WiFi and very limited cellular connection. This allowed to me to “unplug” and focus more on my experience in the communities I was in. The people in these communities live a simpler life than I am used to. They live more slowly than I am used to, and most need to focus on the land and the local community around them. This gives me a new perspective on my fast-pace western life-style, where it is common for a lot of people to have no interactions with their neighbors. Being in these communities, which I was not used to, and speaking a language that is not my first language required me to be intentional about forming relationships, having conversations, and figure out what my host families rhythm of life was like.

The field experience I gained from my time was also invaluable. I had a chance to dip my toes into many methods of research, both for ecological and social purposes. We analyzed the biodiversity of insects on an agroforestry farm, tree and plant density on the agroforestry farm, the sustainability of harvesting a species (pianguas) from its natural environment, biodiversity of birds in both a region with human activity and in an undisturbed area, community relations with a monoculture pineapple plantation (Pindeco), community relations with tourists, challenges in rural youth education, and we participated in aquatic river monitoring by catching and identifying fish and macroinvertebrates. I have learned so much about conducting research and about the areas we visited in Costa Rica. These past three weeks of March has to have been one of the most influential and educational experiences I have had in college. I highly recommend this program to any Environmental Science or Geography student who is planning on studying abroad.