September 2013 – Page 5 – GW Blogs from Abroad

Sushi: What Brazilians Do Best?

AdminSeptember 4, 2013December 14, 2018

When I imagined the things I would be eating in Brazil, I thought about rice, beans, feijoada (more beans), and the slabs upon slabs of meats, cooked every which way, that would be served in this city's many churrascarias. I thought about street food, like Brazilian shish kabobs of grilled and spiced chicken or pork, and various pastries filled with Brazilian cheese. And of course, I thought about how I would follow up each of these meals with a big, warm cup of coffee. Com açucar, of course.

Most of this has come true. I may not have thrown down the wads of reais necessary to eat everything at a nice churrascaria, but over the past three weeks, I've definitely had my fair share of rice, feijoada, pastries (or salgados), shish kabobs, and of course, gallons of coffee.

What I didn't think I would be eating so much of was sushi. ...continue reading "Sushi: What Brazilians Do Best?"

My new familia

AdminSeptember 4, 2013December 14, 2018

By stlake

I cried in the airport; full on tears in the line to go through security. As the image of the parents, got farther away, I finally fully realized why I wanted to come abroad and more importantly, why I wanted this particular experience in Alicante, Spain. GW is a fast-pace, competitive environment, where by the time you finish your first semester freshman year, you feel as though you need to have your 12-step plan on how you are going to become the next president of the United States. I always wanted to go to Spain to practice my Spanish but I knew that if I spent 4 months in a major city, I would not get the traditional Spanish feeling I’d been longing before. But leaving behind the wonderful friendships and experiences I had this summer, proved to be more difficult than I imagined. ...continue reading "My new familia"

Sawubona from South Africa!

AdminSeptember 4, 2013December 14, 2018

By dpmitchel

Sawubona (Hello)! I'm currently abroad on the School of International Training (SIT)'s Community Health and Social Policy Program in South Africa. I chose this program because instead of traditional study abroad where you take classes at a foreign university, SIT is a program based on experiential learning. This morning, our Academic Director discussed with us exactly what "experiential learning" is. Instead of straight lectures, it's a combination of concrete experiences, reflective observation, abstract conceptualization, and active experimentation. Basically, this means that we will be integrating trips to museums, NGO's, hospitals, and having discussions on-site at various places around South Africa. To culminate our trip we are each required to do an Independent Study Project (ISP), which completes the experimentation portion of SIT. ...continue reading "Sawubona from South Africa!"

Hello from Santiago, Chile!

AdminSeptember 4, 2013December 14, 2018

By DandyLion

Hello from Santiago, Chile - where I have chosen to study abroad for the past 2 and next 3 months! So far it has been absolutely wonderful; I couldn't have asked for a better experience!

I chose Santiago, Chile for a few reasons, the first of which being: ¿Why not? The GW Chile seemed like an fantastic opportunity with so much to offer, and so far it has proved to be exactly that. There has been so much to see and do and get to know, all of which as been great positive learning experiences. The city is enormous and exciting with amazing views, restaurants, events, and people - people who will stay up (literally) all night enjoying it all! It is a much more culturally comfortable experience for me; being Persian, I am quite familiar with the staying-up-all-night-talking-and-having-fun-with-family-and-friends lifestyle versus the typical US approach. Another reason I wanted to come to Chile was obviously to increase my fluency in Spanish. As Chileans have a very quick and distinct way of speaking at times, I figured: If I can understand and communicate in Chilean Spanish, I will be able to understand and communicate in ANY Spanish. This theory has so far also proved to be true. A third and final reason I elected Chile as my study abroad location was because Chile has a lot of rich cultural history - even in recent years and currently - that has proven to be quite intriguing not only in a political context, but a psychological and public health perspective as well - which are what I am currently and will be studying in the future, respectively. ...continue reading

اَلأُرْدُنّ‎ The Kingdom of Jordan

AdminSeptember 4, 2013December 14, 2018

By nharnish

!!!!مرحبا

Hello!!!

Imagine a city sprawling across a hilly plain, crumbling ruins, and a constant bustle of people wherever you look. Amman greeted me with open arms, although the dry climate and constant noise took some getting used to.

My time here has already been filled with incredible learning experiences and excitement all around as I've learned how scarce water truly is in Jordan. Imagine our surprise when the other students at the Jordanian Institute of Diplomacy and I learned we would have a water quota of 2 cubic meters each week.

Well.. What happens if you run out? ...continue reading "اَلأُرْدُنّ‎ The Kingdom of Jordan"

University, College, and Uni. Are they not the same?

AdminSeptember 1, 2013December 14, 2018

By arosema93

At my ‘Uni’, the Australian National University, I have been living at a college for the last 7 months. And yes, there is a difference between a university and a college in Australia. They ARE different things, which can initially lead to some confusion. While a university is exactly what we would think of a university, a college is a residence hall on or near the university, similar to a dorm, but not always owned by the university. At ANU, international students and students from other states are guaranteed a spot at a college if they choose to accept it.

However, besides living in it, the similarities to an American dorm ends about there. First of all, every room is a single. Everywhere. Australians enjoy living in single rooms and find the concept of living with other people, sometimes random new people, to be extremely weird and uncomfortable. As GW students, we often think of people who choose single rooms as being quiet or shy or something along those lines. No one really wants a single room unless they are antisocial. In Australia, this is not the case due to the nature of what a college is. While colleges do feature single rooms, they also all have some sorts of central areas where large amounts of socialization take place. Instead of partying or hanging out in someone’s room, socialising takes place in a large common area with all the other residents. Sometimes, as in the case of my college, the common area can feature things like a massive kitchen where all the ressies cook and eat meals, a fully stocked bar, a lounge area, and a games room with pool and ping pong. ...continue reading "University, College, and Uni. Are they not the same?"