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Month: March 2013

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By rachels522

A tale of two farms

This week my Sustainability class began a unit on agriculture. We began the unit today by visiting two farms in the Monteverde region. One was a large-scale farm that produced pork and beef. The other was a small-scale farm run by a farmer and his wife. We evaluated the farms on their sustainable practices.

The pig farm is a Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation (CAFO) operated by the local Monteverde Cheese Factory.  In an effort to be more sustainable the farm sends its whey (leftovers from the cheese making process) to the pig farm to be consumed by the pigs. The pigs eat a diet of whey and supplements of corn and soy. The pigs only fully digest 70% of the corn and soy. The 30% is defecated then cleaned by workers and fed to the cows. ...continue reading "A Tail of Two Farms"

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By ahblackwell

During orientation week, Doha, the homestay coordinator for the Center for Cross Cultural Learning, dedicated an entire portion of her session to bathrooms in our homestays. Squatting low with her elbows on her knees for support, Doha demonstrated how to use a “Turkish toilet,” while the picture of the porcelain hole-in-the-ground illuminated on the TV screen behind her. If only I had truly known the project that the toilet in Morocco would become during our pre-homestay orientation session. Perhaps it is good that I did not. ...continue reading "The Dirty Details"

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By Adar

Through a couple of my classes, namely Contemporary Israel and Arab-Israeli-Relations, I've been learning quite a bit about early zionism and the build-up of the Israeli state. I find it fascinating, and so relevant to the state today, that I wanted to give a little summary of what "Zionism" is. The basic definition is a sense of nationalism of the Jewish people, much like French Nationalism or Australian Nationalism. One of the differences between Jewish Nationalism and French Nationalism is that, for example, the area known as France is filled with French people, who have a language, culture, history, and set of traditions. For centuries, Jewish People (with their own language, culture, history, and traditions) did not have an area to fill, and over the past century many things have led to a return of many Jews to the same place, in essence to rebuild the location to put the nation. This little history is not going to cover nearly everything that is important, it's just a summary of what I connect to the most.  ...continue reading "A Brief History of Modern Zionism"

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By Adar

As strange as it may seem, basic cleaning customs are not always intuitive. I'm used to my swiffer, thanks very much. But in our apartment we have a cleaning rotation, and last night was my first time cleaning the floor. This involves several processes and quite a few tools. First is sweeping with a normal broom. Then, you fill up a bucket with soapy water and attach a large piece of felt-ish cloth to the end of a squeegie-ish thing that also looks like a quasi-broom. Then you pour the water on the floor and start mopping it up. Where does it go? Downstairs, you open the front door and sweep the water outside. Upstairs, each unit has a drain somewhere that you guide the dirty water to. When I cleaned my room this way, I had not yet learned the mop-cloth-attachment deal so I was just sweeping water into the drain in my bathroom. It took about sixteen hours to completely drain. And some of these drains are hidden in closets down the hall, which I find a little weird. But these drains are all over the place, and you can even buy little replacement covers that are decorated and pretty.  ...continue reading "How To Clean An Israeli House"

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By kbartz34

Before I left for abroad, dozens of friends and family members passed on advice. Perhaps the wisest words were these: "Make sure that you remain present always. Of course you will miss home, but try to focus instead on all of the new adventures you are having." While I am definitely remaining "present", I have figured out a few ways to incorporate my GW experience with my experience abroad. Witnessing worlds collide...Raise High!

Climbing a Mountain
I climbed a mountain, La Campana, with members of my study abroad program. During the trek I made sure to plug my good friend who is running for SA President back home!

...continue reading "Bringing GW with Me"

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By jtmanley

Well, last week was busy to say the least. March 11 marked the start of the 2013 academic year at UCA. March 13 marked the beginning of His Holiness Pope Francis's papacy. These two events have definitely become highlights of my time here in Buenos Aires. It is amazing that so much happened during the week that marked one month since I left for Argentina.

It was great to get back into the academic swing of things. For many students it is hard enough to pay attention in class at GW. I know many would cringe at the idea of listening to a professor lecture in Spanish, but I was surprised at how easy you can adapt to change. Like most skills, foreign language ability improves dramatically when you're forced to use and rely on it. I think a big shout-out to my amazing Spanish teachers in middle school, high school, and college is in order. ...continue reading "Habemus Papam and Classes"

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By unprofoundobservations

Moving to Washington D.C. was the first time I had ever had to master some form of public transit to make my way around, and I think everyone can appreciate the sense of championship accomplishment that comes from memorizing the metro map and making your daily commutes with ease. In Paris, I not only get to explore much more of the city to make it to classes every day, but the public transit system is infinitely more confusing and colorful. To compare: ...continue reading "A [lost] American in Paris"

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By jahdaimoriah

The first time I went to Italy I was sixteen going on seventeen. I went with my high school, for our choral group went on tour every spring break to a different country (I went to boarding school). During our Italian tour we stayed in a small town known as Faiccio. At the hotel we stayed in, I became friends with the owners daughter. Although she was three years older than me, we bonded over our love of Facebook and Rihanna. Gaia and I stayed in contact through Facebook periodically checking up on each other. Fast forward more than four years later, I am back in Italy and Gaia is in college in a small town called Viterbo. ...continue reading "Friendship"

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By ahblackwell

Middle Atlas MountainsAs I ducked to slide under the rusted barbed wire that Ahmed held taut a few feet above the ground, my boot slipped in the mud, soft from rain, and I felt the nylon of my backpack catch on one of the reddish-brown barbs. He pulled me free, and I continued to follow my new host father over fields and brooks and several other fences until we reached our new home. Ahmed, tall and slender with tanned smiling cheeks, which peeked out from behind a bushy beard and a green wool cap, called out to Zahra and Miriam as we approached the grey concrete house that stood on a bouldery landscape surrounded by gardens and grazing animals. Zahra, our host mother, emerged from the house first, her head scarf tied up behind her ears, revealing her face and neck which were soft and brown from years of work and wear in the sun. She pulled me in to an embrace and gave me the customary kiss on each cheek to say hello. Miriam repeated the gesture and immediately made it clear that, as our eighteen-year-old host sister, we would be spending the majority of our week with her. After a brief lunch full of small-talk in Darija (the Moroccan dialect of Arabic) and some French - Ahmed, after only completing an eighth-grade education, can speak perfect French - Miriam took us on a tour of the house and its surrounding grounds. Their house - “daar,” in Darija - consists of four enclosed rooms, a kitchen, a bathroom (complete with Turkish toilet), and a courtyard area that connects each of the sections of the house. It is surrounded by a beautiful fenced-in back yard where the chickens are free to roam, several enclosed fields for the cows and sheep to graze, a fairy-tale garden, and rolling hills and babbling brooks that descend into the valley, below. The family lives on the outskirts of Ait-Ouahi, a rural Amazigh village that settled as a tribe about 30 kilometers from modern-day Oulmes, a very small town in the Middle Atlas Mountains. Julia, Alex, and I lived with the family for the week and enjoyed their home and hospitality while we experienced village life in Morocco with our classmates. ...continue reading "The Tribe in the Valley"

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By aubreygunnels

During study abroad your life changes in more ways than just living in another country. I think there are a ton of different ways I didn't think about like budgeting your money for example. When abroad, budgeting for food and hygiene products stays constant but instead of saving money for that sweater you saw online or prepping for a trip this summer everything is so in the moment, you budget for trips, clothes that you forgot at home, and authentic food from the places you travel. It's funny how your life revolves around getting to new places, meeting new people, getting to know a new culture, and doing research on what is best to do or see. Juggling planning with school and keeping in contact with everyone at home is a struggle. ...continue reading "Ode to Abroad"

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