Valpo Voyager

Student Stories from Around the World

Page 31 of 124

Nicaragua

May 12, 2017 / / 0 Comments

Blogger: Kortney Cena

Program: San Jose, Costa Rica – Study Center

During Holy Week, the Costa Rica study abroad program took an educational trip to Nicaragua. Though the trip was technically to teach us about the realities of poverty, the impacts of historical events upon current day circumstances, different types of healthcare systems, and many other things about the unique Nicaraguan culture, it conveniently served the dual purpose of fulfilling Costa Rican immigration law, which only allows foreigners to stay in the country undocumented for up to 3 months at a time (After a week in another country, we were safe to re-enter Costa Rica for another couple months)!

To make sure we are all on the same page here, geographically, Nicaragua and Costa Rica are so close to each other on the map that they share a border (neither Costa Rica nor Nicaragua is islands, they are both small countries that make up part of Central America, connecting Columbia to Mexico). So, driving up into Nicaragua from Costa Rica only took a couple hours. The weather in Costa Rica is amazingly temperate most days– Ticos say it’s cold when it gets down to 65 and they complain of heat when we get to the upper 80s. I expected Nicaragua to be similar since it is so physically close to Costa Rica on the map.

But Nicaragua is different. Now I have experienced heat—I was born in Arizona, have lived through a Midwest summer, and even have visited Texas during the hot month of July—but heat is different when there is no air conditioning, no ice, and no possibility of a break from the constant heat. The only moment of any day when I did not feel smothered by heat was when I was taking a cold shower (which was good because warm water was not really an option). Nicaragua has the kind of heat that makes your clothes stick to you, that makes it hard to concentrate, and that saps all of your energy. Being in the car felt like being in an oven, and opening the windows only let more warm air in. Erin, Daniella, and I, who were riding in the back seat of the car, ended up plugging in little USB powered fans into the phone charging port of the car order to survive car trips!

Knowing that us extranjeros were delicate, my Nicaraguan host family provided a fan for me. I became very attached to this fan— It is funny how valuable something so simple can be when it is all you have. My first host family was a middle class, typical family in Managua. It consisted of about 11 people living in one (relatively) big house. There was one shower and one toilet, both in the backyard. I didn’t mind using them, though I haveto say, there is a special trick to being able to put on new clothes while in the shower, with sandals on, in the dark, without dropping all of your stuff or old clothes in the soaking wet. They fed me gallo pinto most meals, a simple mix of rice and beans and a staple for poor families in Latin America. But often, wanting to make something special for me, they were nice enough to make me fruit juice from purified water, since I couldn’t drink the ordinary water which often harbors bacteria or even parasites.

After only a couple of days, the people of my host family were talking about me as part of the family, and I was amazed how fast these people had accepted and decided to love me. The mama of the house, a delightful older lady who loves to tell stories, wanted to share everything she had with me. She even paid a motorcycle-taxi to take us to the house one night, just so I could have the experience of riding in one (which was very exciting by the way). The little girls of the house did my hair, gave me stickers, played games with me, and one even translated my homework for me! The stories go on. From these people, I learned about the openness, kindness, and willingness of the Nicaraguan people to share their lives, their limited resources, to teach what they know, and to welcome you into their midst.

More than learning about generous hospitality, I also learned some practical skills as we traveled in Nicaragua. I learned to wash clothes by hand and hang them up in the courtyard to dry overnight. I also learned to play “duck duck goose” in Spanish. Some ladies taught our whole group how to handmake corn tortillas, laughing at our weak hands which get burnt so easily, and explaining how some days they make over a hundred of these tortillas. We also learned to make some traditional Pascua (Easter) deserts. When it came to the farm, we learned how to milk a cow with your bare hands and how to catch a baby chicken (tip: you get a local kid to do it).

Of all these things that I learned, the most impactful experience was in rural Nicaragua, a small town called El Bonete. The people in this town were severely impoverished and had little access to resources. It was explained to me that the only way to have a real house is to have a family member in the States. Despite the fact that every adult in the village had at least one school degree, and many had two or three, they were all struggling hard and fighting to get by. Recently, this has become a fight against their very environment, as each year it gets hotter and the rain starts later. Most of the livelihood of this community comes from agriculture or livestock, and those things directly depend on the environment. As I looked at each dusty, brown field where herds of emaciated cows tried to find shelter from the sun in the scant shade of a couple trees, I wasn’t sure who was going to win this fight. The change in the environment for these farmers has been partially due to the deforestation of Nicaragua. Most Nicaraguans still cook with wood rather than electric or gas stoves, and as the land is deforested it gets hotter and has worse soil. But additionally, Nicaragua has the severe misfortune of being geographically situated where climate change has great effects. “Our children don’t know what it was like before, they only know what it is like to grow up in this heat,” said one mother. “Go back, and tell the United-Statesians, how we are suffering from the heat,” said the Pastor of the town. As we drove out of El Bonete, seeing the heat waves radiating off of the road in front of us, we noticed on the side of the road a bony, white horse laying in the dead grass, unmoving.

 

Homestay at a Kindergarten

May 10, 2017 / / 0 Comments

Blogger: Katie Karstensen

Program: Windhoek, Namibia

I had the privilege this past week to spend time with a family in Soweto, a neighborhood of urban Windhoek, at Pashukeni Kindergarten. My household consisted of “Meme,” the fantastic, inspirational, independent principal as well as matriarch of the family, and one older sister and brother. My host brother, at 24, is currently studying at University, and my sister helps with the kindergarten and has two children, one boy (age 8), and one daughter (age 2). Meme also took my youngest brother (age 7) into her home as an orphan when he was a young child. Besides the property holding a Kindergarten school, Meme rented out the other buildings for community members to live in, so I felt as if I were meeting new people every day. The setup of the property was interesting as I’m used to one central house and perhaps a garage as the only buildings. But there were many small buildings making up a collective of rooms with the yard almost acting as the living room or the main sitting room.

I had the blessing of being there for Meme’s birthday. We had her favorite meal, which happened to include a dish very similar to one of my favorite dishes from home. They didn’t have a name for it, but as soon as I tasted it, I started tearing up because it tasted almost exactly like my mom’s German potato salad, a dish we make every holiday, family reunion,  and  birthday. It is the food my mom makes for me to take to take back to school with me, so I eat well for the week. It was my favorite dinner while I was there.  The simple potato dish led to a conversation where I shared some of my own family’s traditions while Meme shared important traditions to her and her life story with me. Meme did not grow up with an extensive education, but she had a job at a primary school as a janitor. She said she would do her work, but she would always make time to play with the children. Her supervisor told her if she did not stop playing with the children and neglecting her cleaning duties, he would fire her, but Meme continued her work, visiting with the children as normal, but hid from her supervisor to not get in trouble or fired. Meme grew tired of the supervision at her place of work, so she told them she would be leaving to open her own Kindergarten school. The rest of the staff responded by laughing at her as she left, not believing she would be able to begin her own business, especially without an education, money, or even a place to begin such an establishment.

Meme began with nothing but has now taught over one hundred children, and has multiple classrooms and teachers. Her business has been rapidly growing over the years, always with children as a priority in her life. Next year she plans to extend her Kindergarten into a pre-primary through fifth-grade school. She’s done a lot of hard work to get where she is today and received support from many people over the years. She returned to her original place of work to tell them about her kindergarten, and they again responded by laughing at her, not believing she could have done it. People ask her all the time how it’s happened, and who is the man of the household behind all of these operations. They accuse her of having a secret man or lover who gives her the money and land that she needs to continue her business, but it isn’t true. Meme told me if people have enough of a problem and keep bothering her about who this man is, she points to her oldest son. She says because he’s tall people seem to believe her and are satisfied. I’m honored to have been able to be in the presence of such a strong, independent woman. She is also very involved in the political system. While I was there for the week, I went with my host brother to pick up Meme from a SWAPO party meeting. She told us about how difficult it is to make all the much-needed changes that are happening in the country, but they’re doing what they can to solve them. At the end of the week, when Meme was showing me pictures from her life, she even shared a picture of her and the first president of Namibia, saying that they are good friends and were very close to one another for a time. I’m so thankful to have met Meme. When I left, she kept telling me never to forget her, to come back and visit whenever I’m able, and that I would always have a job as a teacher at her kindergarten.

I spent most of the week with my host brother. He is studying at University and currently doing an internship working on the newest skyscraper in Windhoek that can be seen right across from the Independence Museum. He is very intelligent and curious about the culture of the United States and my perceptions of that culture. Some of his pre-conceived notions about the United States were highly comical. When his family began hosting students, he was surprised to host a Chinese and black student, originally thinking everyone from the U.S. was white. He was also surprised when I braided my hair, telling me he thought white people didn’t know how to braid. My host brothers were also surprised at the concept of freckles, how you could see them on my arms, how you could see my mosquito bites, and how my skin reacted to being in the sun. They couldn’t believe I didn’t eat pop (cornmeal mixture we had with everything) with my meals and asked what I ate instead. They also found it odd that my family owned our own cows and that we did not slaughter our own cows but instead we bring our cows to a facility and pick up the meat a few days later.

My family was very open to whatever activities and conversations the week would bring. Every day the family would get together and asked about each other’s days, jobs, and classes. My religion class brought up a conversation with my host family. We shared in class a presentation about how our religion or faith had affected our self, family, community, country, and the world. My host brother asked to hear the presentation, which led into a conversation about my personal faith journey and, in turn, my host family’s relationship with religion. Meme spoke very critically of the church and some of the extreme actions they’ve been a proponent of over the years including prosperity gospel. On other occasions Meme would talk about being successful only by the grace of God, and being thankful to God for all he’s done with her, hoping God would keep me safe in His arms while I continued to travel around the world. On Sunday, I thought all of my family would go to church. Meme even told me what I should wear to church and approved my outfit to make sure it would be okay, but only two of my host brothers and I went to church. The three and half hour long service was a lot different than my home church, including all being in Oshiwambo, but thanks to Lutheran liturgy, I was able to guess what was going on for some parts of the service. It may have been one of the largest church services I’ve been to, with a congregation well above one thousand. It was the definitely the largest place that I’ve been in where I was the only white person. My younger host brother went to Sunday school during the service, and when it ended early, he came and found us in the congregation to sit with us. With such a big congregation, my older host brother asked how he was able to find us, and he simply replied, “Because of Katie, duh.” A woman mostly led the church service, and when I asked if it was the pastor, my brother said no. The only part led by a man was the pastor giving the sermon. Another interesting part of worship was a blessing ceremony for all the marriages that happened so far this year. Likius translated saying the blessing consisted of telling husbands to love their wives, and wives to respect their husbands. I asked why men weren’t told to respect their wives, and Likius replied, that they could if they wanted, but it wasn’t the same expectation as for women.

My homestay was filled with a lot of hospitality, family, and compassion. I felt very ill the last day of my homestay, and my family took care of me as one of their own, but it didn’t feel any different from the rest of the week. They gave me an opportunity to be a part of their family, and we shared a lot with one another. I feel like I have a lot more to learn from them, and already have plans to go back and visit my family and spend more time with them before I return to the U.S.

My host mother (on the right) with the President of Namibia (center).

Pashukeni Kindergarten

Traditional Oshiwambo skirt and necklace my host mother made for me

My host brother and cousin on our hiking trip

View from the side of a mountain in Windhoek

Meme (mom in Oshiwambo) and my oldest host brother

— Katie

Birthday Celebrations in Greece

May 8, 2017 / / 0 Comments

Blogger: Alyson Kneusel

Program: Reutlingen, Germany – Study Center

During my study abroad experiences, I have gone to places that I thought only existing in stories, textbooks, and myths. Nowhere was this truer than with my travels in Greece. To celebrate my birthday, my mother visited me, and we traveled to the Greek island of Santorini and Athens. I was impressed by the variety of sites I found in Greece, as some areas were valued for their beauty, but others for their history. Although I have seen many amazing sites during my time abroad, I don’t think I could ever be as impressed by anything as I was by the beauty of Santorini and the antiquity of Athens.

The Greek island of Santorini is recognized as having one of the most beautiful sunsets. When I looked at pictures on Trip Advisor, I thought that there was no way the island could actually be that beautiful. It was. Santorini has all white adobe-like buildings, often with blue roofs. These buildings were almost always built in a terraced style up the side of the cliffs. From our table on the ledge outside our hotel room, you could see an absolutely breathtaking view of the sunset and the surrounding islands. As I looked at this beautiful view (shown below), I remember feeling like I stood alone on the edge of the world.

One of the best things to do in Santorini is to take a Caterman sailboat ride so that you can see the nearby volcanic island and enjoy the warmth. You can also view the red, white, and black beaches (named for the color of the rock). This was quite possibly the highlight of my vacation. At one point, our boat anchored near a natural hot spring, and we were able to swim from the boat to the hot spring. Of course, in order to do so, you had to swim through the chilly water between the boat and the spring!

As if that were not enough adventure, we went next to Athens. Easily the most impressive aspect of Athens was the Athenian Acropolis, which contains the Parthenon along with numerous other ancient Athenian temples and ruins. Perhaps the most enchanting part about the Acropolis was recognizing the part it played in history. If I had not studied Greek mythology, Athenian democracy, the writings of Greek Philosophers, and world history, no doubt the Acropolis would have seemed a lot more like a bunch of impressive marble rocks. However, I was able to imagine what they might have been like during the height of ancient Greece and what Aristotle might have thought as he contemplated his Nicomachean ethics and looked up at the same Parthenon that I, myself, was viewing.

It was a humbling experience. Realizing how long these structures (dating back to nearly 500 BC) had stood in that same place and how many people over the centuries had viewed them made me realize how small a part I really play in the long history of humanity. The Parthenon has stood through numerous empires from the Persian wars, to the Peloponnesian wars, Roman influence, and even later, through the Ottoman Empire. Not to say that my life is insignificant, more that this just provided a humbling experience, which reminded me how important it is to save these antique structures for posterity so that they too can appreciate them as I did. Perhaps in the year 4000 someone will write about how the ancient peoples of the early 21st century influenced and viewed the Athenian Acropolis!

Until next time,

Alyson Kneusel

A Calm Under the Waves

May 5, 2017 / / 0 Comments

Blogger: Abbey Little

Program: CIS Abroad — Newcastle, Australia

Upon my arrival in Australia, I was regularly confronted with the question, “Why Australia?”  Invariably, I had two justifications—firstly, the lack of a language barrier, and secondly, the claim that math is the same across the world (which pertains to my Actuarial Science major).  After week 1 of lectures, workshops, and tutorials, I found flaws in both of my rationales.  I caught myself asking my Australian friends to repeat themselves three or four times before finally, if ever, really grasping what they were saying.  Sometimes, a soft smile and a nod would have to suffice.  I was writing statistics terms in my notes that I have never come across in my studies thus far. These events did not cause a sense of doubt in myself or my decision to study abroad here in the remarkable country of Australia, but a feeling of wistfulness crept upon me.

It was a feeling so distant, foreign to say the least.  It’s bittersweet, yet soothing, the feeling of wistfulness.  As in melancholy, something that distance cannot repair.  Accompanied by a cloud filled with drops of despair.  As in nostalgia, I’ve spent moments yearning.  But overall, of myself I am truly learning.  This feeling of wistfulness was unusually soothing, I must say.  Bittersweet, yet so foreign in the most comforting way.

I suppose I was not prepared for the load of culture shock I would experience, because I continue to feel that I belong here day in and day out.  There is a change in scenery, of course—I am awakened by the screeching sounds of cockatoos each morning, rather than a blanket of snow.  Bell peppers are not a thing here, but capsicums are.  Pronouncing words such as herbs, basil, oregano, and aluminum in front of a group of Australians will cause confusion and laughter amongst them.  An American friend of mine told her Australian roommate that she was struggling to get her joggers over her calves, which completely baffled her roommate, given that joggers are the equivalent to our tennis shoes.  Brekky is now my first meal and lunch is served in the arvo.  I no longer shop at malls; I shop at shopping centres.  I sit on a bus or in the back of Tayla’s car (yes—Tayla, not Taylor) in traffic on the left side of the road—something I have adjusted to quite easily!  I flip switches “down” to turn outlets “on” and turn door locks to the left rather than to the right.  You won’t find a car in a parking lot, instead a car park.  At first, these modifications seemed troublesome, but now I don’t give them a second thought.

What I have found most refreshing about my first month in Australia is the generosity of the individuals I have interacted with.  Liz, a fellow American, and I woke at 5 one morning to catch brekky at a kiosk on the beach.  We ordered an Uber from outside of West Tower where we reside, with plenty of time to enjoy the sunrise.  We stepped in to a Cadillac that was in the control of an older man, mid-60’s if I had to take a guess.  Conversation has come easy for us because we always get posed with the, “where are you from?” question.  We discussed some major U.S. cities—i.e. New York City, LA, Chicago—and then babbled on about our love for the beauty of Australia.  The driver then asked us where exactly we were planning on going to see the sunrise.  When we told him, he shook his head slightly in disapproval.  “Let me take you somewhere better. It’s the best place to watch the sunrise,” the man suggested.  We were then en route to Newcastle’s iconic Nobby’s Beach—a place we had only seen midday.  What was so humbling about the whole experience in the Uber was how serene we were to change our plans because someone who had only just met us cared enough to share a piece of his home with us.

As we pulled up to the beach, the sky was filled with storm clouds, but we were still anticipating a beautiful sunrise.  Liz and I strolled in to the Swell Kiosk when they opened their doors at 6:30 am and ordered our coffees and food before wandering across the pavilions.  We sat silently, listening to the wave’s crash in to the rocks near the shore.  It wasn’t too long before we realized we were not going to see the sunrise we had expected.  Instead, we were greeted with a calm under the waves, welcoming the collision of two worlds—a storm ahead racing towards clear skies behind us.  We savored our brekky under a pavilion as we watched the storm roll in.  Within the chaos that was brought on by harsh winds and the beginning of rainfall, we made the decision to order an Uber back to the city as the storm settled in over the beach–a delicacy that we could only attempt to capture in photos.  I long for more unforeseen adventures such as this peculiar Tuesday morning.

Being 9,000+ miles away from home is undeniably challenging, but there is an incomparable beauty within it that.  Stepping outside of my comfort zone has allowed me to form friendships that I will cherish forever, with both Americans whom I already look forward to visiting in the states as well as Australians who I cannot imagine leaving someday.  I am living in the glory of a foreign culture and I have found true gratification in that.

Cheers!

xx Abbey

Picnic Chicks

May 3, 2017 / / 0 Comments

Blogger: Natalie Wilhelm

Location: Cergy-Pontoise, France

Studying abroad is simultaneously exciting and scary in many ways. Personally, I worried about leaving my community behind for almost six months. Coming to France meant leaving my VU friends and sorority sisters, as well as my work friends and family behind. What if I didn’t meet anyone in France? What if I spent the next six months without anyone to talk to or explore Paris with?

It’s taken a little while, but I’ve met many new people at Cergy, Paris, and even Cambridge when I went to visit the study center there. Everyone I’ve met is so nice and welcoming. It’s really nice to have people to talk to and connect with when I’m so far from home.

One cool example of connecting with a new community is this past Saturday. There are lots of pages on Facebook where people can reach out for advice, insider tips, or just to meet up and have a cup of coffee. Lauren, my fellow VU student here, decided to host a picnic on Saturday, under the Eiffel Tower. She posted on Facebook, and a ton of women commented saying that they wanted to come.

Saturday dawned bright and cheerful, so we packed a lunch and headed into Paris. We planted ourselves in a sunny spot and waited. It took a little while, but twelve women eventually showed up! They all brought food and we introduced ourselves (several times, as people arrived at different times). We talked and ate for hours. In fact, I ate way too much and slightly regretted it later. French food is so good, though. How could I resist?

The amazing thing was how easily we all fell into conversation. We were one of the most diverse groups I’ve ever been a part of; there were women from Sweden, India, England, Germany, Denmark, and Egypt. We shared cultural differences and laughed at the difficulties of living in Paris as foreigners. We truly connected over shared experiences. One of the women named our group the Pique-nique Chics, which rhymes when you say it with a French accent. This picnic was truly a remarkable experience that I’ll remember for the rest of my life.

Afterward, Lauren and I had drinks with a few friends she met in Paris. I met Theo, who is half English and half French. It was fun listening to him switch back and forth between speaking French and English. I also met Scarlet and Richard, who are two best friends who moved to Paris in 2002 and have bounced between here and Fort Lauderdale, Florida ever since.

Again, we fell easily into conversation and shared life experiences and stories. There we were in what I felt was a typical Parisian scene: sitting outside a café somewhere in the heart of the Marais, discussing life and politics and culture. Honestly, we probably annoyed the Parisians with our loud American laughs and continual switching between French and English as the night grew older and we grew more tired. (The thing about speaking a foreign language is that it gets a lot easier when you’re really tired and don’t really care what you sound like anymore).

I left the café that night exhausted but thrilled to have met so many new people. Sometimes, you make a fleeting connection with someone. You talk to them a few times and never see them again. While I may never see anyone from Saturday again, what really counts is the impact those connections made on my life. In just a short amount of time, I saw Paris differently. It turned from a cold, aloof city into a place where people actually live. It’s not only about the place where you are; it’s also about who you’re with. Community is out there, even in the most unlikely of places. It may just require you to leave your corner of the forest and go find it.

A bientôt,

Natalie

Exploring Windhoek

May 1, 2017 / / 0 Comments

Blogger: Katie Karstensen

Program: Windhoek, Namibia

Let me show you around some of my favorite places at my home for these three months:

Plumeria, the beautiful flower trees that I’ve happened to find at all of my favorite places I’ve been to so far.

View from Lover’s Hill overlooking the city of Windhoek.

Namibia Art Gallery, featuring work from local artists and students.

The Church, yes that’s actually the name of it. One of the many Lutheran churches in Namibia. About 95% of Namibians are Christian, and 75% are Lutheran.

The best meal I’ve had, and probably will ever have. At N/a’an ku sê Animal Lodge & Wildlife Sanctuary.

Clarence the Lion

African Wild Dogs, on the endangered species list with only about 5,000 animals left, mostly in northern Namibia. They have very poor immune systems, so if they eat an animal that’s sick, they also become sick.

My new favorite animal, the oryx.

Stained glass window inside the Church of God. The top of the stained glass window shows a pelican. Not remembering any pelicans in the Bible, we asked and were told it was thought pelicans gave part of themselves up to feed their young, though in reality they pick up food in their beaks, store it, and then feed their babies. So the pelican acts as symbolism, reminding of us how Jesus gave up himself for us.

Namibia Independence Museum

Windhoek is full of lots and lots of colorful flowers that make walks around the city even more pleasurable.

The typical view of yellow flowers and mountains when driving right outside of the city.

Habitat Research Development, an environmental sustainability facility that teaches community members alternative ways to build houses and live in a more environmentally friendly manner.

Craft Cafe Bookstore

Three Circles, literally three circles of concrete where people use street art to express political opinions, artistic expressions, or whatever someone is feeling. Everything goes.

Sunset at the Hilton Hotel Sky Bar, also known as a sundowner: getting drinks with friends while watching the sunset.

The classes I am taking this semester are a part of my experiential learning. It has taken some getting used to having lectures in the living room at our house, but I’ve been grateful for a change of pace in my academic learning style. With our classes, we go to different areas of the city, and even country to learn more about Namibia from the places and people themselves. Through my Environment and Sustainability class, I have had the opportunity to go to a Bird Rehabilitation Center (which due to my fear of birds was one of the more scary things I’ve participated in), community development and educational environment sustainability centers, and will be visiting NaDeet (the Namib Desert Environmental Education Trust) for an upcoming weekend. Through my Religion and Social Change course I have had the opportunity to go to a Lutheran Church, Dutch Reformed Church, and Jewish Synagogue. We have heard from speakers about African Traditional Religion and different marital practices within Namibian tribes. Through my History, Racism, and Resistance class I have had the opportunity to learn more about apartheid and the colonization of the Southern Africa and explored different museums including history about Namibia and the different tribes (Herero, Damara, Nama, and Oshiwambo to name a few).

We’ve had the opportunity to learn more about the city by guided driving and walking tours, and even being dropped off in the middle of the city with a map, a couple of dollars, and a few hours to navigate our way home on our very first day in Namibia. I’ve been able to bond with other students on the program by going out to markets, small music festival with local artists, and other events. Another must if you’re ever spending time in Windhoek is to try kapana. Single’s Corner Market in Katutura, a neighborhood in Windhoek, contains some of the best meat I’ve ever tried, and that’s saying a lot after being raised on a beef farm in the Midwest. Single’s Corner has a colorful mix of women selling clothing, men selling leather shoes, spices, mopani worms, fat cakes, and so many other things. The other half of the market is where trucks come with entire animal carcasses and people immediately butcher the animals out in the open for all to see, then more people slice up meat to put on the open fire grill where you can walk and sample meat from every station. You walk up to a grill and pick the meat right off of it and dip it in kapana spice, this wonderful orange, spicy, delicious goodness. After sampling you can get a box of kapana all for yourself, best paired with fat cakes (delicious fried bread), special sauce (freshly chopped tomatoes and onions), and a Stoney Ginger Beer.

— Katie

The Sum of Our Differences

April 28, 2017 / / 0 Comments

Blogger: Alyson Kneusel

Program: Reutlingen, Germany – Study Center

One of the things I was most curious about when I chose to study abroad in Germany was the difference between our cultures. I wanted to know if they were different, and in which ways. Through my own experiences, as well as by talking to a number of Germans, I think I have really started to get a better feel for our cultural differences.

Of course there are numerous small differences, such as the availability of foods. Many brands, such as Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups and Goldfish, are simply not available in Germany. Instead, they favor snacks such as Doppel Keks, which are essentially two crackers with chocolate in between them. Also, when you go to the super market, you cannot forget to bring your bag, as they do not provide bags and you will have to buy one! The small differences continue at restaurants as the waiters do not return constantly to your table, tip is much smaller, and water is the same price as Coca-Cola.

Besides these rather mundane cultural differences, there are also some more significant ones. The Germans are much more environmentally friendly than most people in the United States. They have five different trash receptacles for trash disposal. Also, their newer cars have special diesel regulations, they walk (and bike) much more, and they make extensive use of public transportation. Nearly every town has a stop on the Deutsche Bahn line, which is the German rail system. I love that I can pull up the DB app on my phone and buy an e-ticket across the country within just a minute or two. There is simply nothing like that in the USA!

Perhaps some of the most fundamental differences lie in our cultural economic and political perspectives. In my experience, Germans are extremely well informed about world politics and extremely open to discussing them. It has happened more than once that I have learned something about recent USA events from my German professor before seeing it on the news myself. In terms of economics, they have a heavy focus on what is called the Solidarity Principle. This is more or less the idea that people contribute to the wellness of others through a number of compulsory insurances and taxes. Although this is very different from the USA, I have learned to appreciate how it works for them.

All these differences, however, are nowhere near the number of similarities I have noted between our two cultures. Both our countries take pride in being a democratic society which produces educated people who produce top products and research in automotive, technological, chemical, and pharmaceutical fields. We both value human rights and desire to use what we have to help those who are in need. This, more than the availability of Goldfish and Reese Peanut Butter cups, is a significant avenue by which to judge the connection between our peoples. I find the sum of our differences to be interesting, yet insignificant compared to our shared values, and that is what is truly significant for future relations between our countries.

Until next time,

Alyson Kneusel

Guided Visit

April 26, 2017 / / 0 Comments

Blogger: Natalie Wilhelm

Location: Cergy-Pontoise, France

One of the coolest things about studying abroad this semester is that my best friend Quinn is studying at the VU Study Center in Cambridge. We planned our trips specifically so that we could visit each other while abroad. And let me tell ya, it’s worked out perfectly.

I had a week-long vacation in February, so I hopped on the Eurostar and headed over to London. The Eurostar is a high-speed train that goes underneath the English Channel. While the idea of being on a train in a narrow tunnel underneath all that water terrified me at first, it was actually a super cool experience. The ride was about two hours and twenty minutes long. I highly recommend the Eurostar to anybody who doesn’t like the hassle of flying.

Cambridge is a wonderful, quintessentially English, old town. This was my first time visiting England, and I was pleased to see that the country really does look like the movies. I’m talking old, brick buildings covered in ivy. Cobblestone streets. People driving on the wrong side of the road. It’s like a Harry Potter movie.

London was amazing, as well. Quinn, another VU student (Kate), and I woke up before dawn and took the six AM train into London that Saturday. We walked around Trafalgar Square before it was overtaken by tourists. It was incredible to stroll through the streets before people flooded them. Quinn and Kate showed me Westminster Abbey, Big Ben, and the London Eye.

It was interesting to take in London’s own unique vibe. Even in its most touristic areas, I felt like London had its own agenda. We were only temporarily there, and the city would continue with or without us. I couldn’t help but compare London’s vibe with that of Paris. London is stable, regal. It’s the big brother who knows exactly who he is. Paris, on the other hand, is the flighty sister. She’s a people-pleaser. She’s gorgeous, but she’s also quick to change.

Paris is, of course, beautiful in its own way. The buildings are old, and the architecture is gorgeous. When I’m there, I get caught up in the splendor. But sometimes, Paris feels fake. There are people around every single monument trying to sell you cheap Eiffel Tower statues that will be broken by the time you get them home in your carry-on. It’s hard to tell which cafés are tourist traps and which aren’t. To me, it’s hard to get anywhere in Paris that doesn’t feel touristy and overrun with people who are just visiting.

There are parts of Paris that I really love, though. I love going to the top of Sacré-Coeur and looking out over the city, then walking around the back of Montmartre. I love eating crepes at the foot of Notre Dame. I love the Buttes-Chaumont Park, where I can pretend I’m not in the city for a few hours. I even love the metro system, where I once sat next to a hassled-looking guy editing a script in French. But there’s something missing in Paris, and I’m not quite sure what it is.

Either way, I enjoyed showing Quinn and our friend Matthew around the city when they came to visit last week. We went to see all of the typical Paris tourist attractions: the Eiffel Tower, the Notre Dame, Shakespeare and Co., a tiny crepe stand, and all that. Seeing them see the city was really fun. I’ve been to Paris probably a dozen times since I came to France, so the thrill of seeing all this has worn off a little. It was fun to see the city through fresh eyes again, even if it was only for a little while. It was also cool to have them in a place that previously had been separate from my friends from home.

Despite my complicated relationship with Paris, I’m thankful for the opportunity to live so close by. Maybe I was meant to end up here, where my comfort zone basically exploded into smithereens, and I was forced to land on my feet. Maybe Paris, which was not built for me, was meant to teach me not only how to stay myself in somewhere completely different from home, but how to love and accept myself even more. Paris, like London, will continue to stand with or without me. What’s important is the lessons I take away when my time in her cobbled streets is over.

A bientôt,

Natalie

Cape Town Adventures

April 22, 2017 / / 0 Comments

Blogger: Katie Karstensen

Program: Windhoek, Namibia

From getting to know the sixteen other students I’ll be living with for the next few months, art and history museums, climbing Table Mountain, and swimming with penguins, Cape Town quickly became one of my favorite places I’ve had the opportunity to visit and learn from.

To give a descriptive look into Cape Town, imagine standing on a beach with the ocean on one side, the city itself on a hill above you, and towering behind it lies Table Mountain with soft clouds rolling over the side of it like a waterfall, and to the other side you see Lion’s Head, seemingly coming from the midst of nowhere. During our time in Cape Town, we were able to go on a walking tour of the city to learn

Iconic Nelson Mandela glasses sculpture on the coast.

more about the history behind the hustle and bustle of locals and tourists in constant motion on the streets. Our insightful tour guide, Lucy, was one of my favorite people I’ve met so far. She talked at length about her passion for feminism, but dislike of the term because of how people view it. Cape Town, as I’m realizing with most large, somewhat touristy cities in Southern Africa, contained a lot of juxtaposition. We passed a building that was formerly an execution house for local tribes Europeans were colonizing, that now stands as a church.


We passed a former prison that now acts a university. We went through a museum, another prison that held little attention for those who were imprisoned there. Cape Town comes out of tragedy. As I learn more about colonization of Southern African colonies, the best way I can relate it to something I’m familiar with is the treatment of the indigenous people in the United States. In the U.S. our treatment of Native Americans (taking over

View from the top of Table Mountain.

their land, genocide, giving them small reservations of land to live off of) is similar to how European countries came to a land that wasn’t theirs but took it as their own.

Visiting Robin’s Island was another difficult learning experience. A short boat ride away, our group visited the island where up to 1,000 prisoners were held at a time who opposed the apartheid movement in Southern Africa. Prisoners, the most famous being Nelson Mandela, were kept in terrible conditions, tortured, and sometimes kept in solitary confinement. Only a few short years after the last prisoner was released, the island opened as a museum, “celebrating the freedom of oppression.” Ex-prisoners are now tour guides, most of whom do it for the money. There were only three people from South Africa in our entire tour group; the rest were all white and from different countries around the world. The tour was a strange experience and very intense as we saw the room where our tour guide spent many years of his life and Nelson Mandela’s cell that held him for eighteen years. Then right before we left the island, it was as if a switch had flipped and there was a touristy shop, incredible views, and penguins playing on the beach.

Sunset view on the beach at Camp’s Bay.

Table Mountain is one of the New Natural Wonders of the World. Climbing up the India Venster trail offered views of the entire city of Cape Town along the ocean, and unexpectedly a new friend. I don’t have much (any) experience rock climbing but was feeling ambitious and wanted to take the less touristy trail up the mountain. I was doing really well and cheesily couldn’t stop smiling because of the opportunity to be surrounded

Penguins sunning themselves in Simon’s Town.

by 360 degrees of God’s natural beauty. I was enjoying going along the trail, marked by yellow spray-painted footsteps on the ground when I came to a place in the trail where I couldn’t figure out where to turn and couldn’t find any of the yellow footstep markers.

When I looked up, I found a yellow footprint on a boulder at a 90 degree angle to the ground at my eye level. I could not for the life of me figure out how I was supposed to go up the side of this ten foot boulder to continue on the trail. Then Robin appeared, a 72-year-old member of the South African Mountain Club. We greeted one another, and I told him I was taking it slow, and he could go ahead of me, hoping I would be able to watch and figure out just how to get on top of this rock. Knowingly, he asked if I would like for him to show me how to get up the rest of the trail. Robin climbs Table Mountain once a week to keep in shape. As we hiked up the rest of the mountain together, Robin shared stories of his life with me and saved my life at one particular difficult section when I slipped on a rock but Robin was there to catch the handle of my backpack and pull me up to a rock to prevent me from falling off the side of a steep boulder. Robin was an electrical engineer with two kids and a couple of grandchildren, one who we discovered goes to University with my sister in Indiana (yay for small world moments). His family originally came from Britain, but Robin was born and raised in Cape Town. Recently Robin had retired and become a widower, and in protest of becoming the old man that sits home all day and watches bad television, he makes sure to leave the house everyday, whether it be swimming in the ocean, boating, climbing a mountain, exploring the city, or spending time with his friends.

— Katie

A Bump in the Road

April 21, 2017 / / 0 Comments

Blogger: Alyson Kneusel

Program: Reutlingen, Germany – Study Center

Hello!

I have now been in Germany for 61 days! I did some quick calculations earlier today and realized that since there are about 124 days in the program, I am officially 49% complete with my study abroad experience. There have been so many unbelievable moments that I will never forget. It is sad to think that in not that long I will be headed back to the United States. Most days I do not want it to end!

However, it is only fair to recognize that there have also been those few days during which I missed both the people and the culture of my home country. Recently, I was sick for about a week. During that time, it was hard to motivate myself to go out and experience new things as I only wanted those things which were familiar to me. I began to sit in my room and talk to people back in the USA for extended periods of time. The last thing I wanted was to go out and try to communicate and socialize.

Ironically enough, this was exactly what I needed. Some friends and I had already bought train, lodging, and bus tickets for a trip to Cologne (Köln) for the weekend I was sick. On the train there, I confided in my family that the last thing I felt like doing was going to a new city. I couldn’t have been more wrong. Getting out of my room forced me to do other things, and all of the new sights and people distracted me from feeling sick. In order to go out, I had to move around and clean myself up, and in doing so, I felt 75% better.

I guess the message here applies to anyone who feels homesick, whether in a foreign country or an hour from home. Do not let yourself hide away, because that doesn’t make anything better. Get up, clean up, and interact with people. I did so, and that made all the difference. On the way back from Cologne, not only did I feel much better, but I was a much happier person, and I was proud of myself for getting out there and pushing through the rough patch.

This bump in the road allowed me to learn how to persevere in the face of an obstacle and come out ahead. If you are looking into a study abroad experience, I would say that although you have to recognize that not everything will always be perfect, the few challenges you might have will allow you to come away from them a stronger person. On the other side of this small bump in the road, I have found so many things to look forward to. I find my classes fulfilling and extremely applicable. There is nothing quite like learning about Gothic architecture one day, and the next day seeing it at the Köln cathedral (see above). Additionally, I look forward to going to Athens and Vienna in just a few weeks (but more on that later)!

Until then,

Alyson Kneusel

« Older posts Newer posts »

© 2026 Valpo Voyager

Theme by Anders Noren — Up ↑