Valpo Voyager

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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

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.

Food for Thought

September 17, 2010 / Christiana Redman / 2 Comments

You might have guessed by now that I am really interested in the eating habits of people around the world (I’ve only posted about it 3 times!). Namibia is no exception. From my experience, South African and Namibian food is blander than American food. That is not to say that it doesn’t have flavor, it is just that the flavors are on a smaller scale with fewer extremes. In my opinion, food here tastes more “natural” somehow. Things in general are less processed. It is not unusual to pet a chicken in the morning and the eat it for dinner.

Fatcakes on the top, then macaroni salad, fish, and potato salad – all homemade by my host mom!

I’ve found that many people here don’t let many things go to waste. It is not unusual for people to eat every part of the chicken, including the feet and insides. Luckily people are also very understanding that those parts are not in the typical American diet.

I have also found some of my favorite foods here. I mentioned in an earlier post about the amazing ice cream. I have also had some delicious stews and potato dishes. Just the other night my host-sister and I made something that was a cross between a French fry (called “chips” here) and a potato chip (called “crisps” or “crispies”) by slicing potatoes into coins and frying them in oil. YUM!

One last comment about food: THERE IS A LOT OF IT! Especially at my homestays, I was stuffed full at all hours of the day. During my Soweto homestay, there were a couple times where I was having multiple lunches and multiple dinners in the same day. People love to cook for guests and serving food is one of the ways people welcome you into their home. You’ll never go hungry at a homestay!

A Taste of Home

September 17, 2010 / Christiana Redman / 0 Comments

The chocolate chip cookies I made for my Urban Homestay family. Very yummy, despite having to alter some ingredients.

Whenever I’ve been abroad and staying with a host family, I have found that it is a good idea to bring along some of my favorite recipes. I have done it with past trips to France and Germany, and now to Namibia. Host families enjoy getting a little glimpse into the culinary aspect of American culture.

Five things to remember when cooking for your host families in Namibia:

1.) Not all of the same ingredients are available – avoid recipes with bizarre ingredients or recipes that require very specific name brands; get creative if things can be flexible (ex: there are no chocolate chips, but a chopped up chocolate bar works just as well)

2.) Accommodate cultural norms – Namibian meals are not complete without meat & vegetarianism is not widely understood. If you’re planning vegetarian meals (like me), be sure that there is a way to add meat to them for your host family, such as adding (a lot of) browned ground beef to a sauce or perhaps cooking an entirely separate meat dish in addition to your planned dish. Sometimes it works to do a dish with half meat, half vegetarian (think pizza).

3.) Cook with your host family whenever possible – this goes for the food that you are making and the food they make

4.) Bring a variety of dishes – main courses, salads, soups, sides, and desserts

5.) Don’t be offended if your meals are not outwardly well-received – some Namibians don’t care for very sweet things, but they will be glad that you put forth the effort to make something for them

**Helpful hint (that I wish I would have thought of before): Have recipes converted into metric units prior to trying to make them!

Some ideas for American recipes to make: Rice Krispy Treats, chocolate chip cookies, homemade macaroni & cheese, no-bake cookies, lasagna, brownies, French toast, pizza, homemade French fries, apple pie, American chop-suey, Shepard’s Pie, chicken parmesan

Bon appétit!

What the heck is Couch Surfing?

September 17, 2010 / ajarratt / 0 Comments

Couch Surfing, in its most basic definition, is essentially spending a night in a stranger’s house, which they offer for free. You find them through the couch surfing website, where both you and they have a profile.

Before I go any further, I would like to say to my mother, who is likely more than a little worried at this point that couch surfing is a very legitimate way to be housed for the night and is quite safe. I am convinced that she believes I do the craziest things, but is not really surprised. Pastor Chris sent me a quick email, saying that he added me to the prayer list and that my mom told him that if I went to the moon, she wouldn’t be surprised. Just so long as I call home when I get there.

Even so, there is little worry about couch surfing. On the website, www.couchsurfing.org, both people who are willing to open their homes and people looking for a place to stay create profiles about themselves and what they are looking for. The homeowner describes their home, when it is available and usually about themselves and what kind of people they want to host. They also include what the sleeping accommodations are like. The traveler creates a similar profile, about who they are, where they come from, and where they are going. The homeowner can then accept or reject a request from the traveler.

Almost every place we looked at in Saarbrücken (in Saarland, which is bordering France and Rhineland-Pfalz) seemed fine. Well….except for one. This particular guy wrote that he is only looking for hosting guys, you would sleep in the same room as him, and he requests “interesting and curious men”. No thank you.

It turned out that couch surfing was the best choice we made. Our host Elen met us at the train station and gave us a ride to her place, which was much appreciated after trekking all day with our heavy backpacking packs. She took us around the city and told us the places of interest, good bars and clubs, and some historical background. We even got to go into Saarland’s parliament and sit in the state president’s seat. Awesome.

Matt and I, who had to work on a class project on Saarland, arrived at about noon. We were a bit curious about how Elen could be spending so much time with people that she just met on a work day. It turns out that she is a police officer in the city, and was working later that night. Well Mom, you don’t needn’t worry about my safety on this trip!

The three of us went to a beer garden and chatted about the differences of life in America and Germany. Elen has never been to America, and even as a cop she could not believe that just about anyone can own a gun. Hurray second amendment! As a thank you for hosting us, we bought her dinner at a nice restaurant with amazing local food. I had about the best sauerkraut in my life.

Afterwards, Elen left for work and we headed on back home, and turned in for the night. She was asleep in the morning, but bought us French baguettes with chocolate on and in them. She was very thoughtful.
One more difference between America and Germany: as I hopped into the shower, I realized that the hot water heater was literally on the wall above the tub. As you turn the hot water on, you can see the flames heating the water. Strange.

Our trip to Saarbrücken was very pleasant, mostly due to Elen’s kindness. I would certainly recommend couch surfing if you are looking to save some money and want to meet new people. Possibly not for the faint of heart, but Mom knows that has never been me.

The Simple Things

September 14, 2010 / ajarratt / 0 Comments

Lesson learned today: Sometimes the best parts of traveling come from the most unplanned and unexpected places.

Today (14.09.2010) is the fourth full day that we have been in Berlin as a class, and while it has been one of the best trips of my life, constant travel can be exhausting. Our days here have consisted of a class trip to something in the Berlin area for the morning and early afternoon, and then the rest of the day is ours. Today, we had planned to go to the Berlin Art Museum, and then a smaller group of us would go to the German History Museum and then the Holocaust Memorial and museum, and then go from there.

All of these museums are highly acclaimed for their beauty, detail, and serving their function to the highest degree, and I can agree with all of them. The art museum had many Renaissance works, which are of interest to me. The history museum had German life and culture from 100 A.D. to 1990; I love history and could have probably spent two days there. I was especially moved by the underground Holocaust museum. But honestly, after four days of constant trips and museums, including three in one day, I was pretty wiped and probably cared more for my bed than the plethora of history and culture in front of me.

After a nap, which was planned for ten minutes but ended up being 3 hours, and waking up completely disoriented, my group decided to get dinner. It was getting late, about 9 at night, and we had not eaten since noon. We passed some coupons in our hotel and grabbed one for an Indian restaurant in east Berlin. Why not? Prices seemed right, and Indian food would be a nice change of pace.

That turned out to be the best experience of the day. The restaurant, called Yogi-Haus, had a great traditional Indian atmosphere, including candles. And our waiter, as I like to say, was “the man”. If you are unfamiliar with German culture, most waiters and waitresses will be polite and fairly prompt, but not overly friendly; their goal is efficiency. Our waiter, after 5 minutes, seemed like an old friend. We asked about what the best dishes were, and he told us plainly that he really couldn’t say, because they are all very good. Sure….but as we started eating, he was exactly right.

The best part about our meal was the meal experience. We had a flat, spicy bread that felt like a chip at first, with a tea on the house. Then the meal, which I had Bombay Chicken with rice. This is the best way to describe it: When you have 9 college age students, literally the entire meal talking about how good their food is, it must be near perfection. And if you’re worried about spicy food, Matt Slentz put it well: Unlike Buffalo Wild Wings, where the spice and flavor hit you at the same time and it’s hard to enjoy, the spiciness comes after the flavor, so it only adds to it. Well-prepared spicy food seems to be this way. Also, the drinks were great, and at the end of the meal our waiter brought us mango shots, on the house. The best food I’ve had so far, period. For only 10 euros.

If you are in Berlin, I highly recommend “Yogi-Haus”. You could not do any better. If you are in the area, you can find them at Belzinger Straße 42. Sometimes the simplest pleasures are the best travel experiences.

Student Stories from Around the World