Valpo Voyager

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So Short, Yet So Sweet

September 20, 2010 / Allie Sauber / 0 Comments

In response to my most recent post, God brought this blessing into my life: http://bit.ly/99Z2nQ

In short, I am committing to feeding two beloved children a month. Until another opportunity arises in which I can give on a more profound scale, this will be my commitment, my sacrifice, yet my greatest joy over the next few months.

“Give, and it will be given to you” –Luke 6:38

Whether you are abroad or home, I challenge each and every one of you to commit to something that challenges you; whether it is financially, emotionally, timely, or physically.

The Hourglass

September 20, 2010 / derekschnake / 0 Comments

Approaching five weeks, I already feel as though I’m running out of time. The calendar suddenly feels much smaller when you think in terms of weekends rather than days or weeks. It then gets even smaller when measured against the ambitiously naïve list of destinations compiled at the outset of this adventure.

Where the heart leads, the wallet stubbornly remains. The dollar sign—or pound sign rather—looms hauntingly in the backdrop of every travel scheme. Energy, the only currency that matters, can be hard to find if one doesn’t know where to look. The fabled virtue of patience also seems to depreciate these days, while fear of the steadfast hourglass slowly grows with each grain of falling sand. If I’m not careful stress will soon settle in, and much like sand, stress will find its way into every crack of the human consciousness.

But I do feel my priorities shifting. I feel resigned to the unshakable truth that I will not see everything I want to see or visit every destination I wish to visit. The only comfort I get is from my own fervor to make every second count and confidence that I will be back. After all, there is not much else I can do.

I think that once the end of the semester arrives, everyone will have the initial conviction to come back and experience what they missed. The challenge is to not allow that conviction to pass into nostalgic regret—a veritable list of things “I should’ve done.” Ultimately, if one makes the most of every opportunity, then there is nothing more anyone can do.

Sunset over the Thames.

Mexico City (Part II: Out and About in the City)

View from the top of Torre Latinoamerica-maybe it’s not as grand as Chicago, it still look my breath away!

Despite a lively celebration of Independence Day and birthdays, I was able to see a lot of the Mexico City and gained an overall view of the city. On Wednesday, my friend Ciceron and I traveled to the Historic District. There was an anticipating energy throughout the city as everybody prepared for the Independence Day. We visited the Torre Latinoamerica (Latinamerica Tower). This is like the Sears Tower in Chicago; you realize the grandness of the city-it’s spectacular!

Thursday night we went to the Zocalo, the center area of Mexico City. This is the heart and soul of Mexico City and includes the Mexico City Metropolitan Cathedral and the National Palace. Every September 15th, the president gives a speech to the citizens of Mexico to thousands of Mexicans celebrating the independence of their country.

The buildings in the Zocalo were covered with bright lights-here is the headpiece of the Aztecs.

The entire plaza was decorated with colorful light designs including historical figures such as Hidalgo, Morelos and the pyramids of the Aztecs. There is nothing like the Zocalo, you can just feel the pride and energy of Mexico all in one place!
On Friday, our group went to the Museo de Antropologia (Anthropology Museum). The museum is extremely well organized with an outside plaza with the different areas for the cultures of Mexico. An excellent representation of Mexico’s history and a must for those traveling here! For more information about Mexico City check out this website: http://www.mexicocity-guide.com/.

Palacio de Bellas Artes-a famous place for the arts from around the world (and you thought Mexico was a third-world country!)

During the five days I spent in Mexico City with Ciceron and his family and friends felt like a mere two days, I got a sense of the energy of this city but of this country as well. In Mexico City, the energy is evident as the buildings were dressed in red, white and green colors but also through the energy of the people. Mexicans love life and their country. I felt so honored and privileged to be a part of the celebrations with Mexicans. Like the US, this country fought hard for its freedoms and continues to do so. The enthusiasm of the culture and people make this country very contagious…so Viva Mexico!

Challenge?

September 19, 2010 / Allie Sauber / 1 Comment

I’m praying for a challenge.

After looking at some photos of individuals participating in other study abroad programs, I’m realizing more and more that there’s something I feel is missing from my experience. After some questioning and prayer over the past couple of days, I was in a state of bafflement as to what could possibly be missing with regard to my experience. I have my boyfriend of five years, two dear sorority sisters, and some new and emerging friendships taking place. I’m even meditating on this at the most beautiful café in Reutlingen, drinking a cappuccino! What more could I want?

But maybe that’s it–I have (most) everything I could want with me in Germany. This very blessing has reaped so many benefits thus far and I thank God for them every day. However, now that I’m almost a month into the trip, I’m ready to start bringing in an element of sacrifice or challenge every single day. There have been (laundry) and will be (low-rated hostels) days that present several challenges and require of me certain sacrifices, but when the day does not call for it, I want to pursue it. Whether this pursuit is emotional or physical in nature is not of importance, what is of importance is that I am pursuing a greater purpose.

This idea became increasingly clear to me as I took a long run among paths I had yet to travel. The sun set as my body shed goosebumps and I realized how truly lucky I was to have this experience–to be able to run along these paths–to be able to run at all. It was a weird feeling to feel both blessed and guilty all at the same time. I didn’t know what to make of those feelings I was experiencing, but I do know that my feelings of guilt could be energy toward action.

They say God works in mysterious ways, and I’m willing to bet that calling me to greater challenges is all a part of His plan. I don’t know how or what this entails, but I know He prevails.

Here’s to a new perspective, and many new experiences to come!

In between two hectic cities, there were a few moments of peace.

September 19, 2010 / Amber Will / 0 Comments

The past two weeks have been absolutely crazy. With the class, we all went to Berlin for the entire week going to museums, palaces, and a concentration camp. By the end of the week my feet hurt, my thoughts were filled with historical information, and my whole body ached for sleep. In a brief overview, I visited the Checkpoint Charlie Museum, Neu Palais in Potsdam, Sachsenhausen concentration camp, Deutsches Historisches Museum, Jewish Holocaust Museum, Pergammon Museum, the Berlin Wall, and a lot of random tourist sites. With all of the rain that occurred that week, it made the time absolutely draining but totally worth it. The Berlin Wall at the East Side Gallery was especially amazing.

After all the craziness of Berlin, a couple of the girls decided to travel down to Wittenberg before going all the way to Augsburg for the weekend. The small town atmosphere was a welcome change after all the hustle and bustle of the capitol city. The entire town of Wittenberg was such a quaint area that was entirely devoted to Martin Luther. The Castle Church and the City Church were relatively easy to walk to and venture inside. I stood right over Luther’s grave and got a picture in front of the infamous doors where the 95 Theses were supposedly nailed. To imagine that the basis of my religion started here almost 500 years ago was truly mind blowing. Walking through his house made it all the more real since I was able to see one of the Bibles he had copied hundreds of years previous. It was, simply put, peaceful.

And then… more craziness. Probably the craziest of all craziness: Oktoberfest. Being there on opening day of the 200th Anniversary of the festival was most definitely the busiest day we could have picked to go there. People were everywhere, and we were lucky to get a table outside. We deserved it though since we got into the festival at 8:30am. Beer was officially served at noon, and the craziness just got crazier. We met some awesome people from Koln and elsewhere, and overall it was a great time to socialize with everyone. Although I am officially the most exhausted from traveling as I have ever been, every minute was worth it. Now to rest up for the next adventures in Dresden and Leipzig come Friday!

Once Traveled, Twice Shy

September 19, 2010 / Julie Johnson / 3 Comments

Now that I have my first (successful) trip to the European continent under my belt, here are a few tips I can offer after the valuable lessons I learned from my trip to Munich this weekend:

1) Research, research, research: The only information I had actually looked up about Munich before I left was the address of my hotel and what time my flights left. As soon as we stepped off the airplane, I realized this was an awful idea. I had no idea how far out of the city of Munich the airport was, and had totally misjudged the taxi fare, among other things. We also had a free day on Friday that we had planned on using to explore Munich, but we soon realized we had no idea of anything to do in Munich, other than Oktoberfest. With no access to the internet, we aimlessly wandered around Munich, finding little to do, and being pretty disappointed.

2) Brush up on the language: Coming to Germany, I had the assumption that almost everyone would be able to communicate with me in English, at least well enough to get around and get everything done. I assumed wrong. Although most people could at least talk to us enough to give us directions, we had some bad experiences with the bus systems, taxi drivers, and some of the hotel staff from where we were staying. When I go to France in a month, I will be sure to bring along a book of common French terms in order to make this much less of a problem. Luckily, we didn’t end up in any dire situation where we needed to know the language.

3) Pack once, recheck your packing, and pack again: Although some European airlines, such as RyanAir and EasyJet are cheap, it is only worth it to not check a bag and just pack a carry-on. Both airlines have strict restrictions as to how big your bag can be, so no matter where you’re going, you have to pack extremely light. The 100 mL liquid restrictions are also a pain, just like in the United States, so plan to spend some money in a drug store when you get to the airport (after they confiscate all of yours). Through our hurried packing, worried about not having enough clothes, we also forgot our electrical adapter, and therefore weren’t able to use any of our hairstlyers the whole weekend. Boo.

4) Enjoy the culture as much as you can: Oktoberfest was quite the experience, and its’ reputation aside, it gave me a really good insight to German culture. We met a lot of great German people, as well as others from around the world, who we compared lives and customs with, and it was really interesting. We also had the pleasure of enjoying German food and shopping, and it was very insightful. No matter where you are, it’s important to have a lot to remember it by and compare it to.

Traveling is a blast, and I look forward to my trip to Portugal this coming Thursday. Although things can get a little complicated at times, the experience you have is always ultimately worth it in the end!

Cheers, Julie

Guten Tag Munich!

September 19, 2010 / Jeff Harbert / 0 Comments

Enthusiasm and anxiety. I’m not sure which I felt more of when I stepped off the Easy Jet plane for my first taste of German Air. I was thrilled to be in a new country for the first time, well sort of. Visiting when you’re two years old doesn’t count in my books! After all, this was me embarking on a brand new experience with four of my closest friends – all of whom had never been to Germany before either. The anxiety had set in as soon as I looked around the airport and only saw signs written in Deutsch, which, for a person whose extent of knowledge of the language is “hello” and “bless you”, can certainly be daunting.

I refused to let that stop me from being adventurous and making the most of my two day trip to Germany. My first task was finding an ATM, because without any Euros, I might as well have just camped out at the airport for 48 hours. Fortunately we found one rather effortlessly and then set off in search of a bathroom which luckily for us the German word for “Toilette” is similar enough to the English term in order for us foreigners to figure out. After taking care of business – and raving over how clean the bathrooms were – we headed off to find a taxi. We didn’t take long to find one that could seat all five of us, but unfortunately the driver’s knowledge of English was just as basic as my knowledge of German, which admittedly, is terrible. We wondered if our entire trip would be similar to this.

Somehow we still managed to reach our bed and breakfast in the southern part of Munich, however. From then on my initial feelings of emotion after getting off the plane were unchanged. The following morning I found myself extremely excited to go tour the city and get a taste of the country’s culture- as well as their famous schnitzel’s. At the same time, the anxiety of not knowing any of the language or where a single thing in the city was remained in the fore front of my mind. My first trip to London felt like a piece of cake compared to this. Fortunately for us, we had several maps of the city and bus and train routes to help guide all of us, even if they too were all in German.

If wasn’t for the friendliness of the people it could have turned out to be a difficult weekend for all five of us. Instead, almost everyone was willing to try and give us directions and offer us advice on where to go and what to see. I can’t count how many people, even with their broken English, made an effort to help us. It was their friendliness, along with the fascinating sights in Munich that made it a weekend to remember. We were even fortunate enough to be able to attend the 200^th anniversary of Oktoberfest, which is another story for another day!

Prost! (Cheers)

Host Family

September 19, 2010 / John Webster / 1 Comment

One of the big perks of my program is that we stay with host families, which greatly increases the Spanish we are exposed to and forces us to speak in Spanish. Last summer I went to Chile, and while that’s where I really became fluent, I would have learned a lot more had I not been speaking English in the dorms our group stayed in.

My host mom and dad are on the elderly side, super kind, a little quiet at times, but very reasonable and communicative. At first I was concerned they weren’t going to speak to me much, but I soon learned that they are more used to students with only a few classes of Spanish experience. I have to ask them to repeat themselves often, but we understand each other pretty well most of the time. On the first day of orientation my host parents walked me and some other students that live near me to the Centro de Lenguas Modernas, which turned out to be about a 20 or 30 minute walk (Google maps). We’re all ready to have super calves by the time we leave in December.

In Spain, meals are between 8-9AM, 2-3PM, and 9-10PM. Sometimes people have a “merienda” around 6 or 7, which is usually a coffee or a beer with tapas. Lunch is the large meal of the day, dinner is lighter, usually just one plate and maybe a salad. Meals are when I interact the most with my host parents, Ascension and Miguel (I think, still haven’t gotten clear on his name…). Miguel always has the TV on during meals. While at first I found this annoying, it’s really a blessing in disguise because it’s a great source of conversation, and great exposure to the language as it’s spoken naturally. I can’t wait to be able to understand the awesome Spanish soap operas on Univision when I return to the states.

My typical lunch in Granada.

When I mentioned to my host mom that although I don’t eat red meat I do eat chicken and turkey, she of course thought I realllllly love chicken and turkey. I don’t think I’ve had a lunch or dinner without a bird in it yet!

Mexico City: Part I (There is Much to Tell)

September 18, 2010 / Lydia Mertz / 0 Comments

First of all I would like to apologize because after a rapid packing session to meet my friend Ciceron before we left for Mexico City, I forgot not only my hair dryer but my battery charger for my camera so sadly, this particular post will not feature any photos. No worries my friends, upon my return to UDLA (my university), photos will be displayed!

Currently, I am in Mexico City staying at the home of my friend Ciceron and his family. Mexico City is a vibrant city (with 20 million people, it better be) and HUGE! As we drove into the city on Tuesday night, all I saw was an endless sea of lights. This city just never seems to end.

On Wednesday and Thursday, we celebrated the Independence Day of Mexico. This was especially exciting because this year was the bicentennial and I’m in the heart and soul of this country! In addition to celebrating 200 years of Mexico, we also celebrated the cumpleaños or birthday of Ciceron’s grandmother. Before coming to Mexico, I wanted to celebrate Independence Day with Mexicans and oh man, did we celebrate! Initially, I thought a party for a grandmother would be somewhat quiet-nope, we’re in Mexico!

To make a long story somewhat short: in all honestly, I have never been to a family event or birthday party where it was so crazy and where I had as much fun as I did at this particular party. We ate delicious traditional Mexican food, had the best drinks, laughed and danced all night long By dancing, I’m talking family members from age twenty to seventy out there on the dance floor (pardon my expression), strutting their stuff as we danced salsa, merengue, and norteña. Oh, God bless the Mexicans. Celebrating life and independence to the maximum-this is Mexico. It’s a principle that is sticking with me. Having an experience like this was certainly unforgettable and a dear pleasure of mine-my hope is that there are many more to come.

More to come about Mexico City as we travel around the city.

Saludos and Viva Mexico!

It Takes a Village to Raise a Child: Families in Namibia & South Africa

September 17, 2010 / Christiana Redman / 1 Comment

A lot of people in the States are surprised when I tell them that I have only 5 cousins. In turn, they’ll tell me they have 10 or 12, sometimes quite a few more. I never really thought my family was all that unusual, but hearing about families here in Africa is a whole different ballgame.

First, most everyone I have met have several (think 7 or more) siblings. Their spouses have the same amount. Then those siblings usually all have kids, most often several. You can see how quickly that adds up! In addition, families typically live very close to each other. Therefore, cousins grow up as siblings & aunts and uncles often function as second (and third, and fourth) sets of parents. The family works as a team to instill culture, values, and norms in the children.

Alright. So we have the blood relatives. Then, add some non-blood relatives into the mix. Many places you automatically become relatives after getting to know the family well. For example, during my urban homestay I became family right away. My host sister’s son has been lovingly calling me “Auntie” all week.

It is interesting to observe the dynamics of Namibian families. As I type this in my bedroom, there are several cousins running around outside playing basketball, a couple aunts chatting over “cold drink” (a southern African phrase for what is usually a soda), and uncles chatting in the corner: just a typical Saturday in Windhoek.

Student Stories from Around the World