Traveling – Valpo Voyager

Tag: Traveling (page 1 of 2)

The City/La Ciudad

Zaragoza is home to around 600,000 people and is the capital of the comunidad autónoma of Aragon. (Comunidades autónomas are comparable to US states.) Zaragoza (sometimes spelled Saragossa) is the 5th largest city in Spain and has become a tourist destination for many Spaniards and Europeans. Zaragoza was the host of the 2008 International Exhibition (Expo 2008) which brought many tourists and attention to the city.

Caesar Augustus

Before coming to Zaragoza, I did not know much about this city except that it is rich in history and is a major city in Spain. My knowledge was pretty limited. However, I have increased my understanding of Zaragoza and been appreciating its beauty and history during this past week and a half. I learned before going on this trip that it is a good idea to travel within the city the first few weeks of a study abroad experience. By doing so, the city you are staying in will feel like home and you can discover your favorite spots in the city right away. I have already found some of those spots in Zaragoza because of my travel through the city with friends and my host mother.

I have learned that Zaragoza was founded by the Romans in 24 BC under Caesar Augustus’s rule and the name Zaragoza comes from Caesar Augustus. If a numerous amount of people say his name hundreds of times over many years, his name eventually turns in Zaragoza. His statue is in an ancient part of the city nearby the Basilica of Our Lady of the Pillar which is a special part of the city that I love to visit.

El Pilar

El Pilar

La Catedral-Basílica de Nuestra Señora del Pilar/The Basilica of Our Lady of the Pillar is what I previously referred to as the Cathedral, but is actually the Basilica. (The Cathedral of the Savior is another famous site in Zaragoza which I have not gotten a chance to visit yet. Living in a city with so many famous churches can get a bit confusing!) Most people here just refer to The Basilica of Our Lady of the Pillar as El Pilar. I was able to attend Mass here on Sunday which was a really wonderful experience. The churches here usually have around 3-4 services each Sunday and El Pilar has even more. There is Mass every day at El Pilar, but on Sundays alone, there are 12 different services. My host mother and I went to the 1pm service which was very full. El Pilar was crowded with people attending Mass and people just visiting the building. Many of the people at the service were visitors, but some live in Zaragoza and come every week. Later, we went up one of the towers of the El Pilar to see the entire city. When the elevator door opened, we were greeted by a spectacular sight of El Pilar and the city. We then climbed a small spiral staircase to the top of the tower which confirmed my slight fear of heights. I cannot write enough about the excellent view of Zaragoza surrounded by mountains.

I went to the top of this tower of El Pilar!

The Ebro River and El Pilar

El Pilar

As you can see, the Ebro River runs through Zaragoza with picturesque bridges like the Piedra Bridge and Santiago Bridge. Further down the river, la Pasarela Del Voluntariado shows its beauty as a pedestrian bridge. This bridge was built to honor those who volunteered with Expo 2008.

La Pasarela Del Voluntariado which is a pedestrian bridge built to honor volunteers who helped with Expo 2008 in Zaragoza.

Zaragoza is also home to the beautiful Palace of La Aljafería. Originally an Islamic Palace, La Aljaferia, along with other ancient buildings make up the Mudejar Architecture of Aragon known as a Cultural World Heritage Site. After being an Islamic Palace, it was ruled by Christians and later was the Catholic Kings’ Palace. Since then, it has gone through renovations and restorations. This Palace is an incredible treasure of Zaragoza and is similar to La Alhambra of Granada, Spain. I already want to go back to this site to take it all in once more. I went through it fairly quickly, but plan on returning with more time to spend in this famous palace.

Courtyard inside the Palace of La Aljafería

La Aljafería

I still have plenty to see and do in Zaragoza, but I have gotten a good start on experiencing the whole city. I already know which sites I want to visit again with friends. I am thankful to be learning about this fantastic city!

Why You Shouldn’t Study Abroad: End of Semester Thoughts

December 20, 2014 / Katie Rinda / 0 Comments

Everyone who has ever studied abroad comes home saying the same thing:

“It was the best time of my life! I learned so much! Saw so much! Everyone should study abroad!”

I’m not home yet (I won’t be until June, as I have an internship next semester here awaiting me), and so I’m not going to echo what so many study abroad people before me have said. Those are the kind of people that tend to make me suspicious, whose blind adoration is intimidating, rather than welcoming. I will instead, lay down the reasons that you shouldn’t study abroad. No, I’m not going to go into logistics, like money, time, or the other details that can prevent you from heading off to see the world. These are the things that ensure that your time abroad will be wasted.

Like everything else, going off to learn and experience life in a foreign country can be pretty awesome while simultaneously being very awful. You have to take the good with the bad, like how engineering majors balance heavy workloads and sleepless nights for a challenging rewarding career. If these cons outweigh the many, many advantages of study abroad, don’t go.

Why You Shouldn’t Study Abroad:

1. You absolutely cannot function outside of your controlled environment. You are the kind of person who is absolutely worthless when you don’t have your coffee at precisely 9 am, when your alarm clock isn’t set to the loudest buzzing known to man, when the class schedule varies a bit. You plan everything, and everything is organized. Study Abroad, is not for you, my precise friend. There will be too many unknowns, and you will be unable to predict them. It’s really okay. I’m not judging you for this, as you are probably the person who keeps the world running when I’m off traveling.

2. You are deathly afraid of not understanding what’s going on. If you depend on understanding everyone else’s words, and the cultural norms, study abroad is not for you. There is never a moment that you will ever be able to understand every aspect and every conversation in a new culture. More importantly, study abroad requires a brave heart, one that does not cower in the face of the new and unknown.

3. You cannot survive without your support network, or you are the key support for someone else. If you rely on a group of people to navigate all life matters, you will be lost in the lost distance world of time zone changes and internet communication. You will not have the means or time to contact home everyday. While the internet has made communication across the pond much, much easier; it cannot fix all ills. If you need to be in someone’s physical presence, you should not study abroad.

4. You don’t think experience is a good way to learn. If you think the best way to learn is in a classroom, from a textbook, written by an expert, instead of by your own life, then do not study abroad. You will not get anything from the myriad events and lessons that life in a foreign place will teach you. You will not enjoy the full experience of new food, new people, and new ideas.

If these don’t sound like you, then you really should study abroad. If these aren’t obstacles, but challenges, you can handle the growth experience that is study abroad. Go and see the world.

Heading Home Tomorrow

December 15, 2014 / Tobiah Meinzen / 0 Comments

This time tomorrow I’ll be flying back to the United States.

Like semesters at Valpo this semester in China seems to have passed in the blink of an eye, yet held a lifetime worth of experiences. (Okay, that’s a bit of an exaggeration.)

I’ve spent the better part of the last two weeks reflecting on my experience here, trying to summarize what I’ve learned and how I’ve grown. I probably won’t fully understand the effect China has had on me for at least another couple months, after I’ve reacclimatized to the States. Although I recognize that culture is a powerful global force, my experiences here have continually reinforced similarities we share all across the globe. Although now I’m trying to tease apart the difference between culture and humanity, as I think I have overly amalgamated the two.

While Christmas trees and other holiday decor remains few and far between, the balmy t-shirt wearing weather is (finally) gone. The cold, grey chill of December should make the transition back to Valpo a bit less harsh.

Classes wound down without much fanfare. My Valpo class’s final was a week ago and we had a short Chinese final on Friday.

Learning Chinese, although daunting at times, was great fun. Even I made rapid progress. This was definitely the way to learn a language: living in among the language/culture, taking an intensive course load and sharing it with a dynamic group of classmates. Maybe someday I’ll return to Chinese for a couple years to gain fluency.

On Wednesday my Chinese class went out to dinner as a send-off party for myself and Professor Pati (who also studied Chinese with my class). We dined at the Vineyard, an American-style sports bar and restaurant. Our three Chinese teachers came along which was really neat. I have greatly appreciated the way the Chinese teachers interact with the international students—they treat us as adults (some of us are) which leads to some very interesting discussions and lots of laughter. (One more hilarious memory was a class where we got distracted translating epic movie phrases from English to Chinese, such as “I’ll be back!” and “You shall not pass!” which sound significantly less intimidating in Chinese.)

At the Vineyard I spent most of the evening talking about culture and politics with a Ukrainian and Pakistani. The U.S. Senate had just released its damning CIA Torture Report, so I was feeling pretty sick about America’s moral standing. Yet here I was sharing friendly conversation with a student from Pakistan—a nation that has a justifiable reason to despise our government. Now it is hard to know anyone’s true feelings on political matters, but my time in China has definitely reaffirmed the belief that although government and extremist organizations may portray the world as a violent and scary place, most people are much more interesting in being friends holding anger. (At least within the educated demographic.) Also, curiosity seems to be a universal phenomena—we all asked questions about how people think/do/view things in _________ (insert home country).

Overall it was definitely one of my favorite evenings in Hangzhou. (Even if I got into an argument with the other American in the class about U.S. military policy towards Russia. Admittedly I enjoyed the argument.)

On Thursday I attended my final Big Bang English Club. I’ve been going weekly since September and made many more Chinese friends at it than on campus. I was nicely spoiled, they treated my like a celebrity. Given the approximately 10:1 Chinese to foreigner ratio, the Chinese were very comfortable chatting which I hope gave me a bit of insight into their daily lives and opinions which I lacked living in a dorm (a homestay would’ve been much appreciated, but only so many things can be fit in 4 months).

Hefang Street

This weekend flew by with packing, an adventure downtown, miscellaneous ‘desk work,’ and good byes to my Chinese friends. Though it wasn’t without something new.

On Saturday as I was walking back to campus from last minute gift-shopping on Hefang Street. I decided to climb a bouldered ridge near West Lake to get back to campus. The bare rocks provided a 270˚ view of the city and ranged from a walking path to a 20’ vertical face I nearly got stuck climbing down the previous week. The boulders were fun to scramble across thanks to the lack of guard rails and other safety restrictions which would surely be in place if this were in the States.

From the boulders I headed into the forest as darkness was descending. The city was coming alight and plenty of Chinese had gathered on the boulders to enjoy the view. The most beautiful scene unfolded in the forest around us where hundreds of high powered flood lights illuminated the forest. The lights shown up into the leaves almost as if the stars had come down from the sky and settled amongst the trees. While I don’t want to consider the kilowatts needed to light up the hillside I found waling backing to campus through the lit-up woods to be a magical experience.

West Lake

Goodbye to Chinese friends!

Well I should probably get back to packing and cleaning!

Checking In and Catching Up

November 25, 2014 / Katie Rinda / 0 Comments

Okay, I realize it’s been a while. I just got so caught up in traveling that I forgot to document the traveling. And general life experiences. We’ve traveled a lot. Since I’ve written last, we’ve been through the lands where Luther and Bach walked. We’ve seen Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Budapest, Prague, Munich, and Paris. At points, we also attended class and slept.

Brittany and I were amazed at the precision of our neighbor’s leaf raking.

I have just looked at when I last posted. September. Sorry, guys. I’m going to try and catch you up with the last month or so in my next few posts, but to keep the ball rolling forward, let’s start with the last weekend: Paris.

Me! In front of the Notre Dame.

Paris was not originally on my must see list. It seemed to be such a cliché- See Paris! See the World! The city of lights was more beautiful than I expected it to be. It is also way too crowded a place for me to ever live in. Parisians are strangely bad at English, considering that it is basically the language of international tourism (i.e. how to make money off of all the culture they’re so proud of.) The first day in Paris, we took the metro to a stop near the right bank of the Seine River. From there we walked across the Ile de’ Cite, which is the island home to the Notre Dame Cathedral and the Palace of Justice. The latter is known primarily for something involving the revolution (as well as being a beautiful old building). Notre Dame means the Church of Our Lady in English, and it is quite impressive in person, although there were too many people there, a general theme for famous tourist spots in Paris.

There were a lot of cars, and a roundabout with no lanes, which to me seems like death.

We then crossed over the Seine and took the RER suburban metro train to the Eiffel Tower, which is much larger than it seems in pictures. It’s massive. 986 feet, according to my Art History professor. (He actually gave it to me in meters, but I thought you would all appreciate the imperial system. I definitely miss it.) It is also gorgeous at sunset. I took approximately a million photos, one of which I shall share with you now.

Sunset at the Eiffel Tower, just as the lights were being turned on.

Perhaps most importantly, across the Seine from the Notre Dame is a little bookstore, one may safely say is the best in the world. It is known as Shakespeare and Company, and coming to Paris, it was the only thing I needed to see. It did not disappoint. It was, in fact, the most magical place of selling books that I could have ever envisaged. Outside, there are carts of secondhand books for sale, spanning everything from the most generic children’s book about football to obscure short story writers from the 1930’s. The ground floor is overrun with bookshelves, new stories from the US and the UK. The second floor has a collection of children’s books in the landing and two perfect reading rooms filled with books. There is even a cat, who only sleeps in the best of the reading room chairs.

Here I am, in front of my favorite bookstore in the world.

So, Paris was a beautiful and hectic city. Coming back to classes and responsibilities in Reutlingen was a little painful, but such is life. I will begin catching you up on the rest of my adventures soon!

The study abroad kids at Professor Springer’s house for lunch- but more about that later.

Songyang, China

October 28, 2014 / Tobiah Meinzen / 0 Comments

This weekend our class visited Songyang, a “little” town three hours (by bus) southwest of Hangzhou. Although it definitely qualified as a city (our twelfth floor hotel rooms looked over rows of apartments), we did pass through some beautiful (small) mountains and lush tea plantations surrounding Songyang.

The trip cost was subsidized by the local government which meant we foreigners were under steady document of numerous cameras for the tours. Foreign tourists = good PR.

Our Valpo/Luther cohort was joined by four nursing students from the University of Evansville (in Indiana)! They were a great group and fun to get to know over the two days.

We arrived in Songyang around lunch time on Saturday and were treated to a local family-style meal. While a few dishes were new, the preparation methods and most foods were the same as we’ve found in Hangzhou. So while it was tasty, I would have welcomed a greater change in cuisine—wok-fried foods and soups can only go so far.

Our tour started with an introduction ceremony at a historic ‘mansion.’ The housing complex/mansion had been built and owned by a rich family in Songyang during the later Imperial China dynasties. We were ushered to seats in the complex’s courtyard while various Chinese officials took turns at the microphone. Unable to understand their numerous speeches the afternoon dragged on in the hot sun. I ended up more fascinated by the scattering of professional video cameras, DSLRs, and smartphones shooting videos and taking pictures around the perimeter. There must have been dozens of devices used during the ceremony, whether they were personal or for media/publication purposes I couldn’t tell. We ended up getting “certificates” (for what? visiting?) and having a group picture taken. Josh, the best Chinese speaker in our group gave a short speech and was swarmed with cameras like he was a celebrity.

After the long welcome ceremony we were given a tour of the housing complex, with attention exclusively on the ornate wooden carvings along the walls, pillars and ceilings. Besides the carvings the house was rather empty and we weren’t given any information about the different rooms. As shown in the picture above, the Cultural Revolution had unfortunately left it’s mark here as well, defacing many of the carvings. Similarly to the temples we have visited, this house placed a heavy emphasis on nature and animal symbolism in the decorations.

The next activity was definitely my favorite of the weekend, if not my whole stay in China thus far. We were taken to the edge of Songyang and given mountain bikes—no disclaimers/waivers/redtape or helmets… There wasn’t a designated leader so the most adventurous of us quickly wound our way into the tea fields along narrow paved lanes and dirt paths following a loosely marked course.

We snaked between rows of tea tree bushes, along the edges of ponds and across wooden boardwalks while the setting sun cast yellow rays across the verdant hills. It was beautiful and exhilarating. The bikes’ brakes and gearing were iffy which combined with sudden rises and drops tested our nascent mountain biking talents. I had a blast!

Dinner was similar to lunch, although I did put my vegetarian ways on a brief hiatus to try octopus. Chewy and inky, check that off my bucket list.

After dinner one of the Chinese guys organizing the weekend’s activities invited us to play basketball. Basketball is definitely the most popular sport in China and I was eager to give my recently-revived “skills” a real test. (I’ve been shooting hoops 2-3 times a week on the Yuquan campus.) Thank goodness us Americans came in at 6’6”, 6’4”, 6’1”, and 5’11” because otherwise we would’ve been throttled. Josh held his own, while the rest of us hit bricks and rebounded all night. It was a lot of fun even if our ball skills could use some serious work.

The next morning we returned to the site of our biking excursion the previous evening. This time the streets were packed with cyclists and spectators awaiting the race start. We wandered up and down the street passing food and clothing vendors, traditional musicians and dancers practicing for the “opening ceremony” and a slaughtered cow being hacked apart on the spot.

Though as soon as we stopped to watch the opening ceremony we became a spectacle ourselves—particularly Dan, the 6’6” football player in our group. We spent a solid thirty minutes standing, smiling, and laughing as scores of locals whipped out their smartphones to take pictures with us and of us. Interest in us was universal, from grandparents to toddlers (though some were scared), heck Dan even ended up holding a baby for photos. I guess he has practice now if he ever chooses to become a politician.

A few of our group were also invited to take part in a tea ceremony/demonstration which also thoroughly bemused the locals as we fumbled our way through pouring, stirring, and whirling. As an efficiency minded engineering the whole process seemed overly complex to just prepare a cup of tea. Though I guess I prepare tea to drink it—not as a statement of class or status.

After our brief time as celebrities we were taken to another historical townsite (similar to the previous day). Here we were given a walking tour during which we were reminded to smile and face the tour guide (for the cameras).

Our last agenda item was visiting a thousand year old pagoda—which also happened to be leaning slightly (Leaning Tower of Songyang?) so we were only allowed to the third level. Once again we were the subject of numerous cameras as we posed for a group picture in front of the pagoda.

After lunch at a Mao-era restaurant where the waitresses wore green fatigues we piled into the bus to return to Hangzhou and homework. The weekend passed far too quickly, but thus is the nature of study abroad.

Olympic Park - Beijing

A Grand China Tour

September 2, 2014 / Tobiah Meinzen / 0 Comments

Two days ago the Valpo group returned to Hangzhou after a weeklong whirlwind trip through Chinese religious, cultural and political history. We visited three cities: Qufu, Beijing, and Xi’an. In those cities we toured the following sites (listed in chronological order): The Temple of Confucius, Confucius’ Grave, The Temple (Altar) of Heaven, The Hongqiao Pearl Market, The Great Wall, The Beijing Olympic Park, Tiananmen Square, The Forbidden City, The Wild Goose Pagoda, The Terra Cotta Warriors, Xi’an’s Muslim Quarter (including The Great Mosque), and the Shaanxi History Museum.

Now I’ll see if I can compress the highlights of those places into a reasonable length post.

The high speed rail system in China shares more similarities with the American airline industry than our Amtrak. The Hangzhou East Railway station is a huge high-ceilinged building with numerous security check points, fast food joints, and nearly a dozen gates/escalators leading down to the train platforms below. In the train huge windows and ample leg room treated us nicely on our three hour ride to Qufu. The quietness of the train and the smoothness of the ride did much to hide the fact that we cruised at 300km/hr (or ~180mph).

Qufu is a small town (~200,000 pop.) and most notably home to Confucius. As we drove to the walled-in old city we pasted dozens of high-rise apartments in various stages of completions which our guide informed us were part of the “new Qufu.” In Qufu (and likewise in most of China) many historical structures have undergone continual restoration or rebuilds since their original conception centuries ago. The Temple of Confucius is set in a forest with a central corridor which has numerous “gates.” These gates, pavilions, and stone tablets were erected by various dynasties after Confucius as ways to honor him and provide a place to “worship” Confucius. The roofs and eves of the gates and pavilions are massive, repetitive and intricate structures combining brightly painted symbols, patterns, and often dragons. (As an engineer the quantity of rafters looks like overkill.) Stone lions, dragons, and turtles were also common along our path (a few unicorns too)! After the temple we visited Confucius’ simple grave—a giant mound of earth a forest. Smaller mounds at the entrance of the forest were the graves of commoners, and the mounds grew in size with the importance of the thinker they contained.

The next day we took the high speed rail to Beijing. In Beijing we visited the Temple of Heaven (technically it is more like the Altar of Heaven) where the emperor would make biannual prayers and sacrifices to Heaven. Much of the architecture was similar to Qufu, but here the importance of colors (blue roof tiles) and shapes (circular buildings for Heaven and rectangular walls to symbolize Earth) stood out.

We then visited the Hangqiao Pearl Market who’s fourth floor has been visited by numerous foreign dignitaries to shop for jewelry. Meanwhile the bottom three floors are crammed with stalls selling counterfeit design handbags, silk scarves, fake-iPhones, loads of Beats products and other miscellaneous electronics of dubious authenticity. I had fun bartering for fake iPhones and found a few real Galaxy S5s. For dinner the non-vegetarians in the group had Peking duck (a Beijing speciality).

The following day we visited the Great Wall outside of Beijing. The highway weaving up a mountain valley reminded me of Colorado and I had fun climbing and descending the Great Wall——it is the closest I’ve been to hiking a mountain in a long time. After a couple hundred vertical feet the number of folks thins out dramatically and I could more easily ponder the massive effort to both build the wall and run an army up and down the variable height and often far too steep steps. In the afternoon we drove by the Olympic Park, walked through Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City, and climbed a hill in a local park to get a 360˚ view of Beijing. Unlike the many cold monolithic monuments of Washington D.C., the Forbidden City is filled with color and extravagant detail, all the while great attention is given to overall symmetry and mathematical relations between walls and buildings.

On Thursday we took the high speed train to Xi’an where we visited the Wild Goose Pagoda—a nearly millennia old Buddhist library and meditation center. Xi’an was a very neat city—it had a newer feeling than both Beijing and Hangzhou, although it is famous for being the ancient capitol city of China. We drove past Aston Martin and Lamborghini dealerships and Gucci and Prada stores. For dinner we found a bustling street near our hotel with numerous locals frying and cooking in little stands where we got some delicious and cheap noodles.

On our second day in Xi’an we visited the Terra Cotta warriors. The vast scale of thousands life-size clay soldiers each unique and detailed make it a well-deserving contender to be the 8th Wonder of the World. In the afternoon we walked through the Muslim Quarter of Xi’an which contained the Great Mosque (one of the first mosques in China)—yet with a small single minaret and Chinese style architecture only the Arabic inscriptions gave away its religious affiliation.

On our final day of traveling with visited the Shaanzi History Museum in Xi’an which contained numerous artifacts and replicas (often undistinguished from the “real” items) from ancient China. The handiwork of their jewelers and stone carvers was quiet impressive though I felt as id most of the exhibits didn’t provide enough historical context to accompany the numerous artifacts.

We then flew back to Hangzhou on a new A321. From jade to jet it was one amazing trip!

Outside the Temple of Confucius

A common occurrence: impromptu photos with locals

A traditional Chinese gate in Qufu

The Great Wall!

#Pride – Luther & Valpo

Missing my little Marvelous already

Love, Laughter & Lessons Learned

April 3, 2014 / Maddy Rainaud-Owens / 3 Comments

My apologies for the lack of posts recently – I’ve been out of internet touch for a little while now. So bear with me as this post will be quite long. These past weeks have been some of the greatest of my life, ones I will absolutely never forget. We left from Windhoek on the 18th, en route for our last and final home-stay on a farm in northern, rural Namibia. We set out for Khorixas and once again, to say I was nervous to meet my new family would be an understatement. Knowing there was only 1 guaranteed English speaker in each home, and my lack of success speaking Damara, I wasn’t quite sure how I’d navigate through the week. I was placed on the Inhoek farm about six kilometers from the town of Khorixas with five other students- each of us with a different family to call our own. (We were on a family farm so most of the houses were all related to each other in one way or another.) My nerves were quickly forgotten as I was welcomed by my host mom Dena, two sisters (Buyela 23, Immseline 9) and three brothers (Sydney 17, Delvin 14, Marvelous 3).

My host siblings - minus Marvelous

One of the beautiful sunsets

As the week went on, all of the young kids on the farm spent time together – whether it was sitting around talking or dance parties at night, I constantly found myself smiling and laughing uncontrollably. Each morning when I woke up and went to use the bathroom (a bush) and brush my teeth, I’d hear the pitter patter of footsteps behind me. Every time I turned around, I saw Marvelous running up behind me and as he got closer his little hand reached up and grabbed my two fingers. Marvelous didn’t speak or understand a word of English, but he’d always greet me with a smile and we’d walk hand in hand (or hand and finger) everywhere we went. This happened every morning and each time, I couldn’t suppress the large smile that overcame me. Needless to say, as the days passed I came to love this family as my own. We spent days playing soccer, going on hikes, playing volleyball over the clothes line, riding in donkey carts, learning new games, telling stories, milking cows, herding goats & sheep, and whatever else we could think of. The sunsets each night were absolutely breathtaking, unlike any I’d ever seen before. I found myself dreading the day we’d have to say goodbye.

Marvelous and I on our morning walk

On one of the days, we decided we’d pass the time by walking into town. We rode in on one of our host dad’s trailer because he figured we wouldn’t want to walk all the way there considering the heat. We spent a little time in town eating ice cream and just walking around. On our way back we took a “short cut” that ended up being more of a long cut, but it left us laughing later that night. Every night after dinner we’d all gather at one house and have a dance party under more stars than you could ever imagine; we’d dance for hours until we couldn’t dance anymore. As I was admiring the stars one night, one of the girls asked me if we had stars in America. I laughed a little and told her we did, but we don’t get to see them like theirs. We told the story of Cinderella and Goldilocks and they told us a few of their traditional stories. All of the young kids our age spoke great English and they made an attempt to teach us more Damara. I think I can successfully count to 10 now. Much to my dismay, the days passed, and the Monday I was dreading finally approached. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t have to fight back tears knowing I may never see these people again, but I can’t help but be filled with joy knowing I got to spend a week with such an amazing group of people, filled with joy knowing I’ll always have a family in Namibia.

Missing my little Marvelous already

After our week in Khorixas, we spent three days camping and going on safaris in Etosha. On our multiple game drives we saw zebras, giraffes, an elephant, cheetahs, lions, rhinos, wildebeests, warthogs, a hyena, and lots and lots of springboks! Following Etosha, we headed even further north to a guest house for the next two nights. Though the previous weeks were incredible, I have never been more happy to see a bed in my entire life. We visited a few museums in the most northern part of Namibia before we made our way to Tsumeb to catch a bus to Victoria Falls for spring break.

Giraffes!

…But before that could happen we had a 9 hour wait for our bus to arrive. As we sat and waited we wondered why everyone was staring, until we realized there was a group of 14 of us sitting in a median under a tree with lots of luggage. To pass the time, we walked to the grocery store, climbed the tree and played cards. Much to our surprise the time passed quickly and we made a mad rush to the bus when we finally saw it arrive. 12 hours later we were at the Namibian/Zambia border and spring break was officially beginning. Another two hours passed and we finally arrived to Vic falls. Most of the group stayed in Zambia for two nights before heading to Zimbabwe but myself and two others went straight to Zimbabwe. Little did we know the walk from the border to the customs office was about a mile or so from the border. Not so bad until you remember you have to carry your 30 pound bag in the heat of the day.

Once we finally arrived to our hostel the activity planning was immediately in order. The hostel we stayed at was absolutely beautiful and just a 15 minute walk from town. Our first night in Victoria Falls we went on a sunset cruise on the Zambezi river, and to add to our list of animals we saw hippos and crocodiles. The next few days included a trip to see the falls, elephant riding, zip lining, and canoeing on the Upper Zambezi. It’s no surprise why Victoria Falls is one of the seven natural wonders of the world. Seeing the millions of gallons of water pour down minute after minute, creating rainbows every where you looked was awe strikingly beautiful. We spent a few hours admiring the falls and got absolutely drenched from the rain the falls created. Knocking one more thing off my bucket list, elephant riding was amazing too. Sam and I rode on a 24 year old girl elephant named Star. She was pretty small compared to the others and had a short trunk because she was attacked by a lion when she was just a baby. After the hour long ride, I got to sit on her leg while she knelt and feed her some pellets. An elephant is a lot more comfortable to ride than you would imagine, and it was a funny feeling when she sucked the pellets through her trunk off of my hand. Of course, nothing compares to skydiving, but zip lining over the gorge was stunning as well. Canoeing down the Zambezi was loads of fun and very peaceful at the same time. Sam and I got caught in a few rapids but it definitely made it more exciting.

A day at the falls

As I sit on the 24 hour bus ride home to Windhoek, I’m sad to say my spring break is coming to an end, but I know it will most likely be the best of my entire life. I look back on these past two and a half weeks with great memories, so many new faces met, and so so so much happiness. I learned so much about myself and the world as a whole especially in my first week with my family. The week I lived with in Khorixas vs. my life in Claremont and Valparaiso are obviously different, but I’ve come to love so many aspects of each. No way of life is better than the other, none right or wrong – just different. It’s hard to believe that a month from today I’ll be in Cape Town. Time to make the most of my last month in Windhoek.

Elephant Ride

Thanks for reading.

Xoxo

Maddy

Ps- since I was gone and not able to post it, here is what my second month looked like:

View From the Skybar

A New View of Windhoek

March 10, 2014 / Maddy Rainaud-Owens / 1 Comment

This week marks the halfway point in my study abroad experience, and to say it’s flown by would be a ridiculous understatement. Two months from today, I’ll be home. Whoa. Nonetheless, the weeks fly by. Each are packed with studies, but many adventures that make it all worth it. Though this week was crazy busy, it definitely marks one of the best weeks I’ve had thus far. On a high from skydiving and Swakop, being back in classes was a bit difficult, but I managed.

We had 2 birthdays in group this week, so we celebrated accordingly. On Thursday, after dinner we made a walk over to a place called 3 circles, by far one of my favorite places in Windhoek. It’s about a 20 minute walk from our house through the city and up a little hill, but once you get up it is absolutely breathtaking. The view looks over the mountains encircling us as well as all of Windhoek and Katutura. We made it just up in time as the sun began to set, and if you know me you know that sunsets are one of my favorite things in life. As I watched the sun go down, painting pinks and oranges in the sky, meeting the city lights and the tops of the mountains, I couldn’t help but smile. It was such simple, but surreal moment, and it felt so much like home.

The group looking over 3 circles

On a more solemn note, ever since arriving in Namibia, every time I’ve watched the news there’s been a new story of a violent killing of a woman, often by her significant other. Gender-based violence is a rising and very serious problem here in Namibia, and many citizens are beginning to take a stand. On Saturday morning a group of 12 of us headed downtown to “Walk a Mile in Her Shoes”, an event organized by some people in Windhoek to raise awareness of gender-based violence. Hundreds of men wore high heels as they stumbled down the busy street chanting things like “Don’t hit her, just kiss her” or “Stop gender violence” in order to show their support in the fight against GBV. As I marched down the street with all of the locals, I sincerely recognized it as one of the coolest things I’ve ever been apart of. To see all the men [and women] walking and supporting something so important was truly amazing; I got the chills as I looked around at the crowded street.

The men leading the way in heels

Crowded Streets of Windhoek at the "Walk a Mile in Her Shoes" March

The weekend just kept getting better and better as we headed to Skybar, a nice little restaurant/bar atop the Hilton in downtown Windhoek. As we climbed to the top we, again, got to see all over Windhoek as the sunset; an absolutely breathtaking view (this place seems to be full of those).

View From the Skybar

This week is absolutely busy to say the least, but the next 3 weeks hold numerous adventures; which includes our rural home-stay in the north, a safari in Etosha, and spring break in Victoria Falls. Buckling down on work is hard, especially when I know all the things I’d rather be doing outside. But nonetheless, I’m learning topics I’ve never learned before,which is a pretty awesome feeling. I should have one more post out before we leave a week from today, so stay tuned!

Thanks for reading!

All my love- xoxo,

Maddy

View on the way down

Coastal Living

March 3, 2014 / Maddy Rainaud-Owens / 5 Comments

This weekend our group of 15 set out on a 4 hour road trip to a coastal town called Swakopmund- an area inhabited originally by locals, settled by Germans, and houses a genocide in its history known by few around the world. The four hour drive quickly passed through naps and a stop for some junk food at a rest station we passed along the way. Swakop greeted us with palm trees, and beautiful desert dunes meeting the Atlantic Ocean. Though I definitely could have gone for weeks longer stay, it was the perfect little taste of what the coast has to offer.

Desert meet coast

Our first day was spent touring the beach town, the local township Mondesa, and the informal settlement as well. During these tours we got to visit a traditional Herero woman, a Dama lady as well as the chief of the Damara tribe who is the first woman chief. While speaking with the Herero woman, we learned a little about the Herero genocide and the effect it has had on the survivors lives today. During the genocide from 1904-1907, 80% of the Herero population were killed by the Germans. . . Yet in the middle of Swakopmund stands a large statue dedicated to those Germans who lost their lives, while the Herero men, women, and children have just a small piece of marble dedicated to them on the outskirts of town.

German Memorial

OvaHerero Memorial

The following day we headed out to Walvis Bay, a short 20 minute drive from Swakop. Walvis Bay houses the large international port, NamPort, where goods are constantly being shipped in and out internationally. During our time, we met with a man who works for NamPort as well as a man who works for the export processing zones (EPZs). While in Walvis, we also got the chance to travel out to the Topnaar community. The Topnaar community grows a plant called the !Nara that sprouts melons, which they then roast the seeds and sell them. I actually got to try some of the seeds, and they were delicious!

Me with the !Nara melon

Last but not least, the adventures began. We set out to climb Dune 7; the tallest dune in Namibia and if that’s not cool enough, it’s the oldest desert in the entire world. The climb up took about 15 minutes, and was definitely way more tiring than it looked. As the sand slips underneath your feet, you feel like you’re getting no where, but alas, we made it! And the view from the top was worth it a million times over. Our weekend was also comprised of nights spent on the beach, and dinners spent watching sunsets; I can’t complain!

Atop Dune 7

But the highlight of my weekend, and so far marks the best day of my life was when I decided to fly 10,000 feet in the air and jump out of a plane. Because 2 out of 4 of us were getting our jumps filmed, we had to split up. I was last, but to say I was excited would be a ridiculous understatement; my biggest fear being the tiny little plane I had to go up in, not actually jumping out; I’m not quite sure how I justified that one in my head. But nonetheless, I watched the altimeter climb up by thousands and the nerves kicked in quite a bit once we got to 9,000 feet. As I lifted my legs out of the door and let my feet hang out into the whipping wind, it suddenly became real. Head back, hands on the harness, move as one, ready.. set.. go!! I began to fly. As I free fell for 30 seconds and descended down for 5 minutes I looked out at the beautiful coastline; the only place in the world the desert sand dunes meet the ocean – absolutely breathtaking seeing the earth curve and feeling like I was just apart of the sky. And oh my gosh, I wish I could put it into words, but I truly believe it’s physically impossible. No, my stomach didn’t drop, no it wasn’t scary, it was literally human flight, and I would do it a hundred times over if I could. And.. come to think of it I just might have to. So as a little plug for all the crazies out there, if you’ve ever considered skydiving, do it. And even if you haven’t, do it. Don’t think about it, don’t question it, just do it. It will be the greatest thing you will ever do. Hands down. Because I can’t put it into words, I’ll leave you with two quotes they left me with.

View on the way down

“You must jump to know. No words can describe the incredible rush when the wind invites you to play. You are one of the few, for a brief moment you doubt but the doubt is short lived. As gravity pulls you from the safety of the plane you understand, this is freedom. No turning back now but who would want to? the dream of human flight. you know what it means to skydive.”

Free fall

“Once you have tasted flight you will walk the earth with your eyes turned skywards, for there you have been and there you will long to return.”

Thanks again for reading,

Xoxo

Maddy

Morocco Video

October 22, 2013 / Marissa Schmidt / 0 Comments

In order to give you guys a better look into my trip to Morocco, I put together a video of my host mom, the camel rides, and a ton of other fun stuff. Click the link below, check it out, and make sure to read my full blog post about my Moroccan expirience!

Morocco Video

Valpo Voyager

Student Stories from Around the World

Tag: Traveling (page 1 of 2)

The City/La Ciudad

Why You Shouldn’t Study Abroad: End of Semester Thoughts

Heading Home Tomorrow

Checking In and Catching Up

Songyang, China

A Grand China Tour

Love, Laughter & Lessons Learned

A New View of Windhoek

Coastal Living

Morocco Video

Social Media

Search

Archives

Login