Valpo Voyager

Student Stories from Around the World

Page 45 of 124

Student Spotlight: Ashley Smith

Ashley is currently studying at University of Newcastle in Newcastle, Australia!
Here is a picture of Ashley in front of the Cradle Mountain located in Tasmania.

“My favorite experience thus far has to be sailing through the Witsunday Islands and diving on the Great Barrier Reef. Ever since I got my diver’s licence, it has been a dream of mine to dive here so the whole experience was very surreal.”

Advise for other students thinking about traveling abroad: “I would tell a student that is planning on coming here to make sure to go out of their comfort zone and make friends. Since it is the opposite hemisphere, first semester at home is second semester here so many people already have their friend groups. So, if you just act yourself and find a group of friends to fit in with you will be just fine!”

Ashley we are so glad that you are having such a wonderful time!

Melbourne

Hello all! So I haven’t posted in a while. I’ve really wanted to post about Melbourne a while ago, so I am going to write about it now so it doesn’t get prolonged any longer!

The weekend before Halloween I went to Melbourne with a girl named Julie. We only had one thing booked before we left, which was a night ghost tour of the Old Melbourne Gaol. We weren’t really sure what all to expect of Melbourne so we were just betting on staying in a centrally located hostel so we could explore the city. Getting there, we flew out of the Gold Coast on a Thursday afternoon which took us straight to Melbourne. Tip, make sure you go to the right Melbourne airport, the one that is closest to the city. We then took the Skybus to the city, which was about a 25 minute drive but costing $18 dollars both ways from the airport. Although $18 did seem like a lot for public transportation, taking a taxi, uber, or any other sort of transportation would have been a lot more expensive. The bus took us right to the city and the walk after was only like 20-25 minute walk. Apparently, they had hotel and hostel transfers at the bus stop but no one would clearly tell us how to do that so we just decided to walk. When we got to the hostel it was weird because we thought we requested the same room but apparently we have to book together to stay in the same room. We thought we had both booked into the same room of 18 beds. A guest ended up leaving so they let us stay in the same room together. We found out later that this hostel isn’t the best one to stay at. It didn’t matter though because we picked the cheapest one, which meant sharing a room with 17 other people. The room was not the cleanest, smelled like dirty socks, and talking to other guests at the hostel they didn’t seem to be on top of cleaning the linen. They said they were low on housekeeping but there management did not seem to be on top of their jobs. We met some really cool girls from other international places who were working and traveling there. They had been living in the hostel for about a couple of weeks. I do not know how they can live in a hostel for that long of a period, I don’t think I could do that. The hostel experience is one that should be experienced though. The one hostel I stayed at in Sydney, The YHA on the Rocks was pretty nice! Bottom line, there are good and bad hostel experiences.

On Thursday got to thinking how we were going to get on a Great Ocean Road tour, so we started researching that night. The next morning we headed to the Victoria State Library, which is very nice! The website wasn’t working well on mobile devices for the Great Ocean Road tour so that is why we headed to the library to book it on a computer (and they had free wifi). We booked a tour for the next day but ended up having to call them anyways. After that we ended up exploring the museum in the library and continued being tourists in the city.

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Later that night we went to the Old Melbourne Gaol ghost tour. It was really cold out that night as we waited for them to open the doors of the jail. The tour was interesting, the tour guide was an actor who did a really good job. The tour was completely in the dark with just a candle later that the tour guide held. There were three floors, all with cells. The whole tour group fit into one of the biggest cells, which was about 40 people standing in there. We also got to see where they hung Ned Kelly, a famous convict that they talked about in the tour, while I also learned a little bit about him in my Australian History class.  They hung many convicts in the jail as well as slashed them on this triangle looking seat caddy corner of it. After the tour was over we got to explore the jail with the lights on. They had lots of interesting exhibits, stories, and facts about life and the people that lived in the jail.

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On Saturday we woke up early to start our long day of adventure on the Great Ocean Road tour. We had to drive a little ways to get the ocean but we made several stops along the way at lookouts, a park where there were koalas and colorful birds, had some pizza for lunch at Apollo Bay, walked in a rainforest, saw Loch Ard Gorge, and last but not least the famous 12 apostles. Fun fact there aren’t 12 and there were never 12 apostles. There were originally 8 and now there are 7. The sites were beautifully and a bit chilly but decent weather for the most part. We met a girl a few years older than us on the tour who is traveling Australia who is from Canada. She is traveling for several months. She says she saves up and then when she has enough money to travel she leaves. She was very friendly and we took lots of selfies on her GoPro haha. Melbourne is south of the Gold Coast, so that means it’s most likely to be colder. That’s not always the case though, apparently the weekend before I was there it was scorching hot. I was wearing long sleeves though and still walking on the beach. 🙂

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Well tomorrow I skydive, hopefully the weather cooperates.

Write to you all after my 14,000 meter jump out of plane.

Bye for now,

Emily

 

Student Spotlight: Rachel Corradin

Rachel is currently studying in Viña Del Mar, Chile (located right next to Valparaíso, Chile!!)
Here is a picture os Rachel at at Valle de la Luna, located in San Pedro de Atacama.

Her favorite favorite class is Latinamerican Literature. All of her classes are taught in Spanish so not only is she studying a specific subject, but she is constantly improving her Spanish skills!

“One of my favorite expereiences would be living with a host family in general. Everyday turns into an adventure thanks to them. I live with a host mom and 21 year old sister (and a 16 year old dog!). I click really well with them and they are a main part of what has made my experience so amazing. They let me be really independent while also letting me tag along with all their crazy adventures. They always give me tips for everywhere I go and are always there when I get lost.”

Advise for other students thinking about traveling to Chile: “have Spanish experience. It is definitely a Spanish intensive program and I can´t imagine being here without knowing it. Also, it is very important to be open to new experiences because South America has a very different way of living. It is an amazing culture to experience but it takes getting used to.”

Rachel, we are jealous of all the fun you are having! We hope you enjoy the rest of your time in Chile!

The Cambridge Program: Then and Now

Photographs provided by Kelsey Howard (C-82) and Bryn Cooley (C-92)

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One of the most quintessential parts of a Cambridge experience is… the River Cam! Kelsey’s picture shows the Clare College Bridge on a calm, bright day, while Bryn’s demonstrates just how busy the river can be!

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Another recognizable monument from the Cambridge Program is the spires of King’s College. While walking along King’s Parade, these cream-colored towers can be seen standing proudly.

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London is only an hour’s train ride away from Cambridge. St. Paul’s Cathedral, pictured here in 2008 and 2013, can be seen towering over Millennium Bridge and the people who cross it every day.

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The class trip with the broadest focus is fondly termed the “Castles Trip,” despite the fact that only two castles are visited. Another stop on this trip is Bath, where the famous Roman bath house can be visited. Here, we see an example of the baths in the daytime (Bryn’s) and lit by torches at night (Kelsey’s).

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Fountain’s Abbey was once a wealthy Catholic monastery. When King Henry VIII broke away from the Catholic Church to form the Church of England, the wealth of the monasteries was seized for the crown and the monks were forced to leave. These ruins, shown in 2013 (top) and 2008 (bottom), are all that remain of the beautiful abbey.

 

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As one of the most mysterious cultural heritage sites in Europe, Stonehenge has fascinated people for centuries. Though these pictures were taken 5 years apart, there is little change to be seen. The stones look much the same as they did hundreds of years ago.

 

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Lake Windemere, the largest lake in Britain, seems rather small to those of us who are used to the Great Lakes. However, the beautiful lake is an excellent place for sailing, as we can see in both of these pictures.

 

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Cambridge becomes home to every student who lives there, and many will remember crossing the Magdalene Bridge nearly every day to reach the city centre.

Traveling to Nicaragua: Managua and Granada

After spending a few days on the Island of Ometepe, we took a taxi to Managua, the capital of Nicaragua.

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While we were there, we visited the National Museum to learn more about the history and culture of Nicaragua.  Like we learned in Ometepe, the gueguense dance is an important part of their culture.  Above, one of the Valpo students makes some new friends with traditional dancers.

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Nicaragua’s history is very different from that of Costa Rica, so it was interesting to see the differences between the two countries.  The cathedral above is no longer in use because of an earthquake that occurred in 1972.

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Even though Nicaragua has faced some challenges in recent decades, the people there are every bit as friendly as Costa Ricans.  Above, one of our professors (on the left) smiles with his host family in Managua.

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The final stop on our Nicaraguan adventure was Granada, a popular tourist sight well-known for its colonial Spanish architecture.

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Nicaragua is a unique country, and it would take much longer than the ten days we were there to experience everything it has to offer.  We certainly learned a lot while we were there, but it is nice to be back with our host families.  Now that we have hit the half-way point in the semester, Costa Rica feels like home.

Speaking Their Language

by Gavin Roy

I took my first Spanish class in ninth grade. I remember lamenting to my teacher that there wasn’t a magic pill that could suddenly render one fluent in a foreign language. In my mostly white, suburban community south of Cleveland, Ohio, I never really experienced international culture nor did I have to wrestle with diversity issues. Thus, foreign language remained a superfluity to me, a bland thing of academia.

 

Gavin with Professor Zamora-Breckenridge

Gavin with Professor Zamora-Breckenridge

In 2006 I came to Valpo as an eager young science student majoring in meteorology and with one final language course to knock out. I dispassionately enrolled in an intermediate Spanish course with Prof. Nelly Zamora-Breckenridge that fall. This course would prove to be the spark that ignited the passion for language and international communication that burns strongly within me today.

 

Prof. Zamora-Breckenridge, a native Spanish speaker from Colombia, succeeded in enamoring me with her birth language in two ways: first, the novelty of conversing in a foreign tongue with a native user was a skill that suddenly intoxicated me, perhaps with the same enthusiasm that young children often have for codes and secret communication. More importantly, the relevant global topics she worked into her lessons opened my eyes to a vast new world of social issues and complexities. I suddenly needed to devote myself to learning this new language, this lens through which I could continue to see the world more clearly.

 

Over the following three-and-a-half years I took almost every Spanish course that Prof. Zamora-Breckenridge offered and graduated in 2010 with a Spanish minor alongside a mathematics minor and a major in meteorology.

 

Recess with Peruvian kindergarteners

Recess with Peruvian kindergarteners

My one regret (truly) during my time at Valpo was that I didn’t pursue the opportunity to study abroad. Realizing this mistake upon graduation, I arranged to travel down to Peru in the summer of 2010 to volunteer for six weeks at a rural mountain kindergarten outside of Cusco. I saw more poverty than I had ever seen in my life. I also saw environmental damage that I couldn’t believe: the ceaseless inky spew of old vehicles, dirty streams choked with refuse, and plastic waste cascading down hillside after hillside. But I also had a ceaselessly full heart from interacting with so many people and especially children bursting with pure joy – all in their native tongue. The kids were wonderfully blunt when I would make Spanish mistakes, after which they would go right back to being my best friend. What an incredible way to hone one’s language skills without fear of judgment or shame!

 

I came back to the States and experienced the “reverse culture shock” that I had until then believed to be just an exaggeration – namely, utter apathy for acquisitive power, social media angst, and numerous other tritenesses of consumer America to which I was previously immune.

 

I am currently about a year away from obtaining my PhD in atmospheric science at Colorado State University. Science continues to interest me but language and international communication continue to interest me even more. I have served as a translator and blog manager for the International Environmental Data Recovery Organization. I have traveled to the hurricane-prone Yucatán Peninsula of Mexico during two summers to teach an introductory meteorology course in Spanish at a university that has a goal of starting their own atmospheric science department.

 

Valpo graduates on the border of Brazil and Argentina

Valpo graduates on the border of Brazil and Argentina

And in 2011 I started teaching myself Brazilian Portuguese with my knowledge of Spanish, a fairly similar language, as a foundation. Learning and teaching through this beautiful language of Brazil is now a full-time hobby of mine. Brazil is a rapidly developing country, but with a population only 7% of which can speak English. I view this as an incredible opportunity: very infrequently do native English speakers have the chance to travel to a foreign country and be forced to speak the language of that country. This is a blessing and a curse. A curse, because it requires effort and non-laziness on the part of the American. A blessing, because communicating with a foreigner in their own language is truly an amazing experience. I mean it. In Brazil, this is not only possible but practically required.

Playing tambourine in a group of Brazilian capoeristas

Playing tambourine in a group of Brazilian capoeristas

 

Alongside my doctoral studies I now run a Portuguese-language YouTube channel for Brazilians who are learning English. Myself, my wife Lauren Roy [née Overstreet, VU ’11], and four other Valpo graduates traveled together down to the World Cup in Brazil in 2014. And I have aspirations of becoming a scientific translator of both Portuguese and Spanish in the future, helping to play a role in uniting the international efforts to address global climate change and environmental destruction.

 

There is no magic pill that will effortlessly grant one the ability to speak a foreign language. Learning a language takes years upon years of focus and dedication. But the ultimate reward of this effort is an unbelievably beautiful thing: there is no clearer way to “see” the world than by speaking with its inhabitants.

 

Gavin Roy is a 2010 Valpo graduate with a meteorology major and a Spanish and mathematics minor. During his time at Valpo, Professor Nelly Zamora-Breckenridge really instilled a love of language for him. After graduation, Gavin volunteered in a kindergarten for 6 weeks in Peru. He also traveled down to the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico during the summer semesters of 2012 and 2013 to teach an introductory meteorology course in Spanish in the Engineering Department of the Autonomous University of the Yucatan. Currently, he studies at Colorado State University getting his PhD in atmospheric science. Additionally, he has been aggressively teaching himself Brazilian Portuguese, which is an enchanting and rapidly growing (in influence) language that is somewhat similar to Spanish.

My Study Portion of Study Abroad

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I just passed the halfway mark of my time here in Spain, so I thought it would good to share about what the study part of study abroad looks like for me in Zaragoza. I am studying at the University of Zaragoza in their Spanish as a Foreign Language course (Curso de Español como Lengua Extranjera). This program consists of a Monday through Friday 4 hour class with multiple groups of about 25 students in each group. These groups are formed according to the students’ level of Spanish.

When I first arrived here, I took a three week course in this program that had the purpose of helping students brush up on their Spanish before the regular university classes began. While I am not really a part of the “regular university”, I decided to take the three week class as a way of meeting more people, jump-starting my Spanish classes here, and lengthening my time in Spain. The majority of the students in this three week class are a part of the Erasmus Program. The Erasmus Program, which I was totally unaware of until I arrived here, is a European Union student exchange program. After these first three weeks, the Erasmus students started taking normal classes at the University and many of them will stay for the whole school year (until June) or for one semester (until February). I am very glad I took the three week class because I made a lot of friends through that class.

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The entrance of campus

Once the three week class ended, I started taking the three month class. It is the same structure as the class before, but because it is for a longer time period, we have more a bit more in depth topics and homework including various projects and presentations. Like the three week class, the class is 5 days a week from 9 AM to 1:30 PM with a half hour break in the middle. Usually in the first half of the class is spent going over grammar together and in our textbook or learning different slang we most likely did not know before. The second half is a little less grammar oriented as we often play games, practice role plays, or even watch a Spanish movie. Some days, like today, we might even get some dancing in! One classmate really wanted to dance in class but no one else wanted to dance. Our professor told us that we had to use a certain grammatical structure and if we used it correctly, we did not have to dance. Whoever did not use it correctly had to dance. (Note: I took the photo and was not dancing.)

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Through the day, we have plenty of chances to speak the language and listen. I am reinforcing my grammar knowledge, learning Spanish phrases I did not know before, and learning plenty of cultural aspects about Spain as well. There are many different countries represented in my class which gives opportunities to learn things from around the world. I have classmates from Ghana, Japan, Korea, Russia, Australia, India, and China. Most of my classmates will continue this class with the four month class next semester (January-May).

The university is very close to my homestay; it is only about a ten minute walk. The actual building my class is in is pictured at the beginning of this post. As I mentioned earlier, the class is scheduled to start at 9 AM every day. However, this is Spain and almost nothing starts on time. My professor usually does not come to unlock the door of the classroom until 9:15 and then class usually starts 5 minutes later. My classmates have really gotten used to this and many come even later than that. Usually there are a few that finally make it to class around 9:40. Class starting late is definitely not normal in the US, but I have gotten used to it as I usually bring a book with me when I wait for class to start.

The program also offers various excursions and field trips throughout the semester which is a great way to learn outside of the classroom. During the first week of the three month course, we went on a bus tour of Zaragoza and a walking tour of Zaragoza as a way of learning about the city we would be staying in.

Earlier in October, we visited two very charming pueblos, Albarracín and Daroca, and went on tours of both small towns. Albarracín is considered one of the most beautiful pueblos of Spain. After spending time visiting the Cathedral, walking the cobblestone streets, and climbing up to the ancient city walls, I most definitely agree. Daroca was also quite gorgeous. I love these field trips because it gives us the opportunity to go somewhere we probably would not have visited on our own. I look forward to the next class excursion!

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Albarracín

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Albarracín

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Albarracín

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Albarracín

I am going to class, doing homework, and working on projects while here. It isn’t called STUDY abroad for nothing!

Bryon Bay: A Day of Surfing and Sightseeing

As I am writing this, I am currently on my way to Melbourne. Excited for another weekend filled with adventures and memories. It’s crazy thinking I will be home in 2 months…

Last weekend I hung around campus for the beginning of my long weekend. I wasn’t planning any trips this weekend mainly because I had a trip with my program on Sunday to Bryon Bay. Bryon Bay is located in New South wales which is south of the Gold Coast and about a little over an hour of a drive.

So what did I do in Bryon?

Around 9am our two program advisors picked up us at Bond and we were off! There are I think 28 students in my group so to do surfing when we are in Bryon we had to split into two separate groups. I picked to go in the first group, which was probably a good choice because it is a little tiring having to keep going back out into the water when surfing. Our instructor made sure were aware of the water safety and then taught us the moves to surfing, which are pretty simple. To start, first lay down and put your toes a tad over the tail of the board. Then, once you are done paddling put your knees together in the middle of the board and sit on them while placing your hands just out side of your knees. Using your hands help yourself balance and stand up making sure your back foot is in front of this mark on the board. Now just balance! Seems easy, right?! I went a few times and was up for a couple seconds. I guess we were out there for a while but it didn’t seem like it because I kept getting pushed by the waves. I would like to go surfing again because it doesn’t seem that hard just need more practice. It was nice having a couple instructors out there in the water with us because they would help us turn around and then tell us when to get ready to go. Also, to note my board was very big and hard to carry because I have short arms. One of the instructors saw me struggling on the way back after surfing and was nice enough to carry it back for me.

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After surfing many of us were hungry, so a small group of us went to this Mexican restaurant called Miss Magarita. As most of you know I love Mexican food so it was the perfect fit. I got a strawberry magarita and a snapper and mango burrito, which were both delicious. Bryon has a small area of shops so I picked up some postcards and a pin of course and just looked around at the cute little shops.

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After my free time in the area both groups met back up and we went up to the lighthouse trail area and looked around there. The lighthouse, the trail, and beach were all beautiful. Many of us were adventerous and went on the rocks that were over looking the ocean, that were a little of the beaten path. I didn’t go too far though because it would have been a little ways jumping through the rocks to get back on the trail. After sightseeing we took the bus back home and well the bus was pretty quite from a long day.

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Talk to you all in my next post, Melbourne!

Emily

Traveling to Nicaragua: Ometepe

To mark the halfway point of the semester, our cohort took a ten day trip to Nicaragua.  The first place we visited was an island called Ometepe, where we learned new ways to reuse bottles.

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First, we worked on a bench made from bottles, trash, rocks, and cement.  The plastic bottles were filled with trash to make them sturdier and to keep the waste material from going into a landfill.


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I know it seems like a strange idea, but it worked very well and the final product turned out great! From the outside, the bottoms of the bottles look like colorful flowers.

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We also learned how to make these containers out of all sorts of plastic bottles.  They can be used as garbage cans, recycling bins, laundry baskets, or anything else you can think of.

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It was a long day, but it was nice to be doing something with our hands after spending so much time studying and writing papers the week before.


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The island was a beautiful place, so while we were there we took the time to explore.  Our guide showed us some spectacular petroglyphs made by indigenous people before the arrival of the Spaniards.

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The youth of the island performed a traditional dance for us.  Known as the gueguense, it portrays the trickery that the indigenous people used to avoid Spanish exploitation.

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Even today, this beautiful place is threatened by foreigners.  If the Chinese plan to build a canal through this lake becomes a reality, the natural land could be turned into resorts.  Everyone we met there has mixed feelings about it, but I really hope that views like the one above will be around for generations to come.

Hiking in Longo Mai

Sorry for the delay in posts!  We have been super busy during the last couple of weeks since we finished up classes at the Universidad Nacional.  To finish up our class on the history and ethnography of Costa Rica, we took a trip to Longo Mai, an immigrant community in the southern part of the country.

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While we were there, we took a hike around the community to learn about how they live.  The individual families don’t own the land, but they have the rights to cultivate different types of agricultural goods like sugar cane, coffee, and cacao.  The photo below shows cacao, the fruit used to make chocolate.  The white part is covering the seeds that are later roasted and mixed with milk and sugar because by themselves, the seeds are quite bitter.  We even got to make some of own chocolate, and the process will be outlined in a guest post later this semester.

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We tried some other interesting foods while we were there as well, like fresh sugar cane and termites!

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Some of us were brave enough to eat them, and they don’t taste that bad if you can get over the fact that you’re eating a bug.  They taste sort of like wood.


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Besides being an agricultural community, the people of Longo Mai work to preserve indigenous cultures and the natural beauty of the area.  It is said that if you hug one of these giant trees, as seen below, they will take away your negative energy.   We didn’t hug them for long enough to see if it worked, but we did enjoy the time we spent there!


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