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Fasnet Festivities

For the past couple of weeks, we have been seeing people dressed in old wooden costumes, jingling bells and making ruckus while walking down the street. For us, American tourists, we were very confused by this scene. We were even more confused when the people around us didn’t stop and gawk at the people in masks and the shenanigans they were up to. This confusion was a common occurrence for a few weeks until we finally found the answer we were looking for: Carnival.

Wooden Mask of a Federahannes

Carnival has been a tradition in Germany dating back to the Middle Ages. In German it is called Fasnet. Fasnet starts during Epiphany and progresses through February up until Ash Wednesday and when Lent begins. The last few days are when the fools (the carnival characters) really go all out. There are parades where the characters either give candy to the kids singing the traditional songs, or they tease the audience if they aren’t dressed in costume or if they are American college students studying abroad. The tradition of the characters goes back to the guilds and range from mischievous Federahannes to the friendly Gschell. These characters all line up for a parade and are accompanied with local bands and the festival continues throughout the day.

Federahannes teasing the crowd

As a class, we went to Fasnet in Rottweil, where we were definitely exposed to this unknown tradition. When we first arrived, we ate a good old traditional lunch that consisted of a bratwurst and mulled wine. We watched as the parade started to get into formation and made our way to the front of the crowd. For the first half of the parade, we attempted to learn the song that the crowd sang in order to get candy. Finally after several attempts and having various Germans teach us the song, we started to sing. By the end of the parade, we had collected various German candies along with having our hair messed with, feathers in our face, and thoroughly teased. I definitely enjoyed Fasnet and being able to see how this town could take a break from their lives and just have a great fun filled day.

Passing out candy to kids

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Outskirts of Cambridge

Getting Around in the UK

March 3, 2012 / John McCutchan / 1 Comment

The narrow streets of Cambridge

One of the largest adjustments I’ve had to make coming to the UK has been losing the independence that came from owning my own car. However, this has given me the chance to explore many of the ways locals travel around Britain.

There are a surprisingly large number of cars in the UK. However, driving really isn’t optimal. This is especially true in old medieval towns like Cambridge that have very narrow (and often stone) streets. These have enough difficulty handling the flow of bikers and walkers, much less cars.

Chances are, most long distances you would travel by car in the States can be traveled by bus, taxi, or train here. Most journeys of over several hours are traveled by train. While rail tickets aren’t necessarily cheap, there are many available departure times to nearly every destination. From Cambridge, it is possible to get anywhere in Britain within one day of travel. Trains are easy to use, clean, and relatively comfortable.

If your journey is shorter than about two hours taxis and buses are often used. Taxis are far more convenient, but an all-day bus pass to anywhere in or around Cambridge costs half of what a taxi ride across the city would. Besides having to plan your trip within the bus schedule, they can be rather confusing in general. To start with, bus schedules aren’t easy to read, but finding one can be just as hard. Many bus stops have had their schedules stolen, and because the locals don’t need a schedule another one simply isn’t put up. On top of this, most cities have two bus companies, and as easy as it might seem it can be difficult to get the schedule, ticket, and bus to all match.

Outskirts of Cambridge

Within cities the majority of people prefer to transport themselves and not pay. Bicycles are most common and all European cities have an army of them. Nearly every single road has a lane specifically for bicyclists. Due to the large number, having proper warning lights is taken very seriously. I’ve seen several cyclists pulled over by policemen for having a missing light.

Wandering around Girton

If you don’t have a bicycle, then you are left walking alongside the majority of others. Conveniently, most European cities are compact and it’s not too far to most locations (however, it’s not considered a long walk unless it’s at least 45 minutes!). Personally, I like walking because it gives you a chance to take pictures and notice things you normally wouldn’t. The main thing to remember when walking is that there is a hierarchy. Vehicles have a lane, bicycles have a lane, and those walking have the sidewalk. And if you venture into a lane that’s not yours you had better watch out because bicyclists will hit you and cars won’t slow down until they absolutely have to. The fact that cars drive on the left side of the road isn’t a huge problem if you take the time to think, but if you’re traveling to Britain expect to have several near accidents in the first few weeks!

Missed a blog or want to see what else is going on in Cambridge? Take a look at: http://blogs.valpo.edu/studyabroad/category/cambridge-england/

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Time Flies When You’re Havin’ Fun!

February 28, 2012 / Amy Wise / 0 Comments

The past ten days have been filled with many adventures for me that it is crazy to think that February is almost over! Though I’ve been enjoying (mostly) all of my experiences here, it is hard to believe that Spring Break is just around the corner. Hopefully I will get the opportunity for many more exciting trips during my ten days off, but until then, I’m still reminiscing on my adventures of late.

Two weekends ago some of my friends and I took a little camping excursion to a campsite about an hour outside of Windhoek. We were so excited to get out of the house for a bit. After loading up on lots of food and water and grabbing our trusty, rusty tent, we were ready to go. When we got there, we set up our tent and got everything situated. The campsite was beautiful and sat right in the valley of some small mountains. The weather was perfect and so we decided to take the hiking trail up the mountain.

I hadn’t been feeling too well in the morning, but I figured it would pass with time and water. Well, as we started climbing up the mountain, I started to feel sicker with each step. At about the half-way point I could hardly take 10 steps without having to stop. It was awful. My poor friend Helena waited and walked with me the whole way. This supposed thirty-minute hike to the top ended up taking two hours. When I finally got to the top, well, I actually did get sick, but after I let it all out, my stomach felt a whole lot better. The view was beautiful and I was happy to be at the top. When we finally made it down, everyone else was waiting for us and we were able to enjoy the res of our weekend cooking out and sleeping under the stars.

View from the top!

The following week we only had three days of classes because Thursday morning we left for the coast! Shortened weeks are always wonderful and when you top if off with a trip to Swakopmund, you can’t get much better than that! We arrived in Swakop Thursday afternoon and spend the day touring the cities and the surrounding townships. Friday we did the same in Walvis Bay all while soaking up the beautiful African sun. During those two days we visited a Kindergarten, an informal settlement, met with a small business owner, watched a male singing group perform, ate dinner on a pier, toured NAMPORT, went to a halfway house for orphans and vulnerable children, saw pelicans in a lagoon, climbed Dune 7 (the third largest dune in the world!) picnicked on the beach, and swam in the ocean!! It was one of the most fun “learning experiences” I’d ever had.

Climbing Dune 7!

Saturday was a free day and we were able to do whatever we wanted to during the day. While skydiving was my first choice, I was quickly outvoted and had no one to go with. So, I decided to go dune quading in the Namib Desert with everyone else. I was not disappointed for long; IT WAS INCREDIBLE! We were out on the dunes for about 3 hours – half was spent 4-wheeling at up to 60 mph and the other half was spent sand boarding, basically sledding down the dunes. Though it was not fun climbing up all the time, the view and the experience was so worth it.

Even though my past few weekends have been full of adventures, I am still so looking forward to the rural homestay in the north next week, our time in Etosha State Park, and spring break! Then I only have one more month in this beautiful continent! Time sure flies when you’re having fun!

X-TREME SPORTS! right before 4-wheeling on the dunes!

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¡Barcelona Weekend!

February 25, 2012 / Jordan Harner / 0 Comments

This past weekend, I finally got to visit Barcelona! The bus ride is about 4 hours from Zaragoza, which is not fun, but there is wifi and it’s about 60 euro cheaper than taking the train so I can’t complain. Since Barcelona is a much larger city than Zaragoza, the transportation prices were much more expensive (7 euro for a day pass on the metro) but more extensive so we were able to navigate the city very easily and in little time.

On Saturday, we first went to Sagrada Família (Holy Family), a minor basilica, designed by Antoni Gaudí. It has been under construction for over 100 years since the groundbreaking in 1882 and will not be finished until around 2026. It’s one of the most famous landmarks in Spain and a trip that I couldn’t pass up. Later, we ate lunch at a nearby outdoor cafe with the basilica in the background. Staring at the basilica while eating lunch and drinking sangria, I realized this is exactly why I chose to come to Europe.

After lunch, we headed out to Camp Nou, the stadium complex for FC Barcelona and the largest stadium in Europe. I chose not to take the tour because it was 22 euro to just walk around and I’m admittedly not a big soccer fan. We did get free tickets to the handball game going on in one of the other stadiums so we watched that instead of going on the tour.

Sunday was more of a relaxing day and we did a lot of just walking through the streets of Barcelona. We first went to the beach on the Mediterranean and then wandered around an older area of the city. From there we went to the Picasso museum which just happened to be free on Sundays. After the museum, we had some time to kill before our bus left so we wandered around a bit more, ate, and headed back to the hostel to pick up our luggage. I really enjoyed Barcelona and I’m definitely going to go back at least once (if not 2, 3, or 4 more times) before I go home!

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The Sunset

Traveling the Rhine

February 22, 2012 / sarahtiemann / 0 Comments

Sunrise over the Rhine River

One of my “must do before I die” moments that I have had on my list is seeing the sunrise. I can now check that off because I finally got to see the sun rise. And a gorgeous sunrise it was. After spending the night in a castle in Bacharach, we woke up early to begin our trip down the Rhine River. As we were making our way down the path to the train station, the sun began peeking above the river. Pictures cannot describe how amazing this sunrise was. We followed the Rhine by train and for about an hour just watched the sunrise in between the hills which were covered in vineyards and castles. I could already tell that it was going to be great day.

Marksburg Castle

We continued this theme of castles and vineyards by hiking to Burg Eltz castle. Burg Eltz is nestled in a valley between the hills, so thanks to Google maps, we wondered through vineyards (still don’t know if it was private property) and forests. It’s easy to see where the Grimm brothers got their inspiration when snow began to fall gently dusting the trail. The river was frozen in some areas and there were waterfalls along that trail that had iced over like a winter wonderland. It was hard not to get lost in one’s thoughts and just enjoy being away from the craziness of the cities we had just visited. Even the town where we caught our next train felt like a ghost town, with all the winemakers on holiday during their off season, but there was something peaceful about wandering through the deserted streets.

When we finally circled our way to the train station, we had yet another chance to watch the scenery along the Rhine. We found ourselves at Marksburg Castle and took a tour of the grounds. Afterwards, we roamed through the streets of Braubach while the sun was setting; we made it to a railing that overlooked the entire town, the castle and the Rhine. It only seemed right to end this perfect day with watching the sunset over the Rhine. I can honestly say that this day has been one of the most beautiful days I have experienced.

The Sunset

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The Atmosphere of Alcohol

February 20, 2012 / John McCutchan / 0 Comments

Among the several cultural differences one notices when traveling from America to England, one of the first is the attitude towards alcohol. In general, I would characterized it as simply more relaxed. In years past, if you drank water you were likely to contract cholera, so why not drink beer? This attitude towards alcohol still continues.

The drinking age is lower in the UK at 18 years old. Although bars that expect a lot of American tourists card hard, at most Cambridge pubs I never show ID, especially when I’m with a small number of people. Pubs fill social purposes – they are local meeting places where the “regulars” are extended family for each other. While European beer is far stronger than US beer, the primary goal is not to get drunk but to nurse a pint and enjoy the atmosphere and conversation. As an American, it can be difficult to integrate and mix among local patrons, but I’ve found that if you wait until the locals have had a few drinks they stop caring that you are an American and will strike up a conversation with you (I was able to cross off one of my goals my first week here and convince a local that I was also British… and no he wasn’t that drunk!).

One of my favorite aspects of traveling around the country is having the opportunity to try the local brews. Of course, some drinks like Guinness, Strongbow, and Carlsburg are staples at basically every location. Cider is another beverage that is very popular in the UK, and many pubs serve more than one variety. If you don’t want to have alcohol but still want to “fit in,” you can order a shandy. This consists mostly of British lemonade, but has enough lager in it to look like a beer.

Of course, alcohol still causes its share of problems in the UK. Adolescent drinking is a problem that cannot be ignored…newspaper headlines following holidays contain stories of drunken revelry complete with the evening’s strain on the National Health Service… and true Englishmen are notorious for loving to fight when drunk. But because of the otherwise relaxed attitude there isn’t as much of a taboo on openly discussing the subject and dealing with problems.

What do I notice most in England? It’s just alcohol – no hypersensitivity or stigmas. While I’m not saying the US is wrong for having a relatively high drinking age, I think that the European openness about alcohol is something that should be widely adopted in the States.

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Home Sweet Homestay

February 20, 2012 / Amy Wise / 0 Comments

Throughout this study program in South Africa and Namibia, I get to experience three homestays. My first one was in Soweto, outside of Johannesburg, South Africa. It was only for a weekend and my family was really boring, so was not that interesting of an experience. My second homestay, however, was last week and it was one of the best weeks I have had since I have been in Namibia!

During this homestay, I lived with the Kadinda family in Katutura, a black township outside of Windhoek. Though the parents had eight children and many grandchildren, I only lived in the house with the parents and their 16 and 18 year old daughters. When I pulled up to the house, I was greeted with so many excited and smiling faces. Even though the house was small, the bathroom was outside, and the family didn’t have much, I really didn’t care. Their joy for my arrival let me know that it was going to be a great week.

My House!

Our days were still spent at the house where we normally live because our classes are there as well. So, we would get dropped off in the morning and then picked up by our families after classes. In my case, however, no one from my family could ever pick me up so I got very familiar with the taxi system. I’ve become quite the pro – ready to take on NYC. Anyway, every night when I came home my family would always cook a DELICIOUS meal for me. Chicken, beef, noodles, rice, vegetables, “pop,” everything! I was always served way before everyone else and so I never knew if I should start eating, but eventually I learned that they were always waiting for me to start eating before they got their food!

In the evenings, I would spend time talking to the family about their life, what they enjoy doing, how they like living in Namibia, their and it was really neat to get a broader picture then just what I would be experiencing in my week long stay there. They were so open with me and loved talking to me about America as well. However, also at night the daughters and I would have some dance sessions – probably my favorite part of the week. They were under the impression that white people can’t dance (don’t know where that comes from….). But when we started dancing, they were quite impressed with my repertoire of moves and were awed that I actually could “shake it.” I felt proud to represent my light skinned people. Nonetheless, they laughed at me a lot attempting some of their crazy moves, but loved that I was trying. It was so much fun and miss dancing with them!

My beautiful family!

My family was really religious and so the majority of our weekend was spent going to some type of church related function. Friday night, I went with my two host sisters to their youth service. It was at GTM (Gospel Tent Ministries) and it was basically a big party under a tent. There was singing, dancing, rapping, clapping, and it was crazy! I was the only white person there so naturally I was called up to the front, had to introduce myself, and give a HALLELUJAH TO JESUS! Everyone cheered. It was one of most awkwardly wonderful things I’d ever felt in my life.

Then Sunday, my last day with the family, was basically spent entirely at church. When they asked me if I wanted to go to church with them, I responded with an eager “yes!” However, I was assuming that church would be an hour, maybe two if I’m lucky. Nope. I got me four hours of Jesus. It was, again, another big party, but it was so great to see how church was enjoyable to these people. They love going because they get to sing and dance and rejoice. The best part about going to church, however, was the fact that I got to wear a traditional Nama dress that my host mother made me. All the ladies from her tribe wear them and I felt so special being apart of that group!

My host mom and I before church!

After living with my family for a week, I learned so much from them and was so thankful that they welcomed me as joyfully as they did. It was such an enjoyable week for me and I will definitely never forget this experience. I cannot wait to stay with my next family when we travel to the North!

Rock on, Cambridge.

February 19, 2012 / davidcyze / 0 Comments

Stonehenge: random rocks on a hillside, huge tourist attraction, and one of the highlights of my trip. I’ll leave you to decide whether this half destroyed landmark appealed to me as a result of early exposure to informative History Channel specials with no message apart from, “ALIENS ALIENS ALIENS!!!” or whether I had a more refined interest in the nomadic tribes which likely used the site for religious purposes.* Thankfully, it had snowed a few days before our trip and not all the snow had melted. This helped provide a nice frame to the countless** pictures I took while I lived out one of my childhood dreams.

Getting to Stonehenge is as simple as finding the parking lot and walking through a short tunnel. Anyone who can accomplish this is allowed to walk around the nicely roped perimeter, and there’s no limit to the amount*** of pictures anyone can take of these famous mossy slabs of rock. No one is allowed to touch the Stonehenge stones (probably for fear of cross contamination between alien and human DNA), but tourists can get pretty close.

It took reaching the gift shop for me to realize just how much Stonehenge meant to me. Ten postcards, two chocolate bars, two bookmarks, one coffee mug, one blanket, one shot glass, one paper weight, one magnet, and £90 later I boarded the C-89 tour bus and prepared myself for an hour nap on the way to Windsor Castle. That wasn’t really a big deal though. I mean, what do you think is cooler: rocks or an enormous doll-house complete with working plumbing and electricity?

*Here’s a hint: aside from the slightly disappointing lack of extra-terrestrial life forms, the trip was everything I expected.

**Actually, there were just twenty-five.

***Twenty-five is a good number. Just saying.

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Be a good sport.

February 16, 2012 / davidcyze / 0 Comments

Experiencing another culture has given me a unique perspective on the world. Now, I feel better equipped to sift through what matters in life. I still can’t tell you the meaning of life, but I can tell you to go watch an English football game. If you don’t see the connection, you need to come to Cambridge and clear your head so you can see the obvious answer. Seeing as you’re unlikely to actually purchase a plane ticket and visit the centre, despite the fact you’d have the time of your life, I’ll just bring some head-clearing Cambridge antics to you.

Egypt! I took this picture at Norwich Castle Museum before heading to a football game. A fine example of Cambridge antics.

Cambridge has given me loads of time to relax. In so doing, Cambridge has given me more opportunities to learn more about both others and myself than a book could ever dream too (that is, assuming books can dream). Virtually all cultures make use of some form of recreation. But before I tell you about my visit to Norwich to watch the Canaries play the Wanderers, I want to break the word “recreation” into two pieces: re-creation. Woah. Here’s my theory: when one becomes totally immersed in play, the self tends to disappear, and when it returns, parts of it have been re-created. In light of this, I’m thinking of signing my blog posts with a different name each week.

Ferdinand Risola, your writer, enjoys playing this ancient game with his study abroad mates.

Why do we play? What’s the problem with never recreating ourselves and just becoming stagnant, boring people? You’ve surely heard the proverb, “all work and no play makes Jack a very dull boy.” Well, maybe Jack realized some great truth about himself and decided he’d rather become dull than risk moving on to something else. Take a second and think about that.

Here’s a picture I took on the streets of Cambridge shortly after it had rained outside. I thought the watermarks looked like a person. For purposes of illustration, pretend this is Jack.

Well, here’s what I think. Behind the force that drives humans to create ways to pass the time with one another lies a desire for community. Communities are ever-changing, so a person who tries to stay the same is going to run into trouble if he or she ever wants to fulfil the basic human need of spending time with people.

I like people, so I embrace the change play has to offer. That’s why I went to an English football game when I don’t even watch English football. That’s why I found myself cheering alongside other fans when the Canaries scored a goal (twice). That’s why I love being in Cambridge so much.

Click the above picture for a video for the chant Norwich county does when they score a goal.

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Lessons From Leipzig

February 15, 2012 / sarahtiemann / 0 Comments

Growing up in the United States, the Cold War seemed like a faint memory that we only learn about in our history classes. Having to memorize all the political agreements, the unsaid tension between the U.S. and the U.S.S.R., it just seemed like one long stalemate. However, after visiting Leipzig I have realized that for the German people, the Cold War and the East verses the West was not just another chapter out of a history book. The city is famous for being the start of the protests against the Communist government. By just touring around and seeing the buildings that have been rebuilt within the last twenty years, as well as, the people who were witnesses and protesters during the peaceful revolution to unify their country, these events are very much alive today.

One of the most striking moments was visiting the Stasi Museum (Museum in der “Runden Ecke”). The building, itself, was the headquarters for the East German Secret Police (Stasi). Just walking into the building, you feel as if you are entering the Communist run building. Your eyes immediately focus on a banner hanging in the entrance stating, “This building will be secured on behalf of the Government and the Citizens Committee of the People’s Police” hanging right next to a security camera. The museum takes you through the original offices while showing you all the equipment used to spy on their own people. From hidden cameras in briefcases, to phone tapping machines, and disguises, it is hard to believe these were still being used until the 1990’s.

The most moving exhibit for me, however, was an essay written by a ninth grader. He criticized the society and policies that he had to live under, even though he knew the consequences of writing this would be severe. According to the museum, the essay found itself in the hands of the police and they kept record of the boy until 1989 when German Communism fell. When I chose to study abroad, I figured that I would be able to connect my studies to my History major, more so than my Education major. However when reading about this student’s (translated) essay, I realized that this is a memory that I could pass on to my future students. I cannot only talk about the history surrounding the story, but also share the message that one person no matter how old, can speak out against what they believe is wrong and truly impact their future.

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Student Stories from Around the World