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Month: November 2013

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By dwynn15

I have just less than a month here in the Dominican Republic. The next three weeks are going to be extremely tough with all of the important deadlines approaching; I have entered the final stretch. In just over a week, on December 2nd, I will be doing my final presentation about my research in front of the director of my community organization, the teachers who work there, and my own professors. The day of my presentation is also when I will be presenting my project, a behavioral management guide, to the teachers with whom I work.

Violence amongst the children in the third grade classroom is as big of a problem as it was when I first arrived at the school, even after the expulsion of a child with the most violent behavior. Furthermore, I have spent a bit of time with the kindergarten and second grade class, and I see that rough violence expressed by the children towards one another is a school wide issue. For this reason especially, I am hoping the findings of my research will be helpful in terms of how to deal with, reduce, eliminate, and prevent violence in the school.

I think that one thing that has made me more invested in this research project is the fact that violence against women is a huge issue in this country. It worries me tremendously when I see the male students punching and hitting their female classmates with a great amount of force and no hesitation. That is not to say that such dangerous fighting between two nine year old boys is okay just because they are boys; however, the girls fight back less. I worry that this type of behavior will contribute to the persistence of violence against women as a norm without much consequence in their adult lives. As I am finishing up my research, I am thinking about recommendations for the teachers and parents of the children to lessen the violent behaviors that the children express. For the near future, my hope is that this school sees less violence so that it can be a safe and comfortable place to learn, as it should be. For the more distant future, I hope that the children grow up showing less violence for their children to observe, so that each generation to come progresses in how they treat each other.

Next time you all will hear from me I will either be on my way home or will have just arrived!

 

My research project on school violence in the DR continues. I hope to find some useful recommendations to improve the issue! #GWU #GWAbroad

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By meaggymurphy

Blurb:  Visiting a castle is a pretty decent want to spend a day, and I was lucky enough to get to go see an unexpectedly beautiful castle here in Navarra this past weekend. The fall foliage and beautiful weather made the experience that much more enchanting. The town where this castle is hidden, Olite, was also charming and definitely a hidden gem of the region. The only things that were missing from the experience were the dragons and Gandolf. #medieval #palace #spain #daytrip #GWU #GWAbroad

This past weekend, I got to see two things I love: my friend Sara (who is currently studying in Barcelona) and more of the countryside surrounding Pamplona. When Sara visited, we decided to go visit a nearby town called Olite, about a half hour away from where I live. Bus rides around this region of Spain are painless because of how pretty the mountains and roadside towns are; especially now that it's fall, the colors are changing from sunny greens and yellows to rustic golds and reds.

Once we got to Olite, we decided to stroll around and get situated in the little town. We entered a souvenir shop (where it's always ok to be a tourist) and asked where the center of town and restaurants were. The girl working behind the desk laughed a little and said, "This is it!" Apparently we were already in the middle of the town, which consisted of a plaza, the souvenir shop, a couple restaurants, and town hall. So, first thing's first, we sat down at a table in the plaza belonging to one of the restaurants and ordered some lunch.

After lunch, the next stop was the Palacio Real of Olite. At first, Sara and I almost made the HUGE mistake of being deterred by the entrance fee of 2 euros (later, we marveled at everything we had come so close to missing out on). Thankfully, we decided to go in. I had never really realized that I had never been in a legitimate medieval castle, unless you count Cinderella's Castle in Disney World, which I admittedly did before this visit.

This castle was built between the 13th and 14th centuries by King Charles III "The Noble" of Navarra. It's a Gothic palace, with geometric decorations over windows and spiral staircases leading up to one of two towers that overlook the town and the mountains. It's known for the disorder of it's design, but I thought it was more whimsical than unorganized. My favorite part of the whole palace was a square courtyard surrounded by a covered walkway with tall Gothic windows that allow you to see into the garden in the center. However, this wasn't the best part of the courtyard. The most enchanting part was the vines surrounding the walkway because they were bright, florescent red. After seeing all this, Sara and I were kicking ourselves for having almost not gone into the palace. It was one of the most beautiful things I've seen since arriving here in Spain. It get like walking onto the set of Game of Thrones or into a scene from Lord of the Rings.

After running around the Palace for a while, it was time to head back to Pamplona. Looking back afterwards at the pictures we took, I still can't get over how pretty it all was. Everything was perfect- the weather, the castle, the views, and being able to go with my friend made it one of my favorite days! I've written about hidden gems before, and I'll do it again. They're the best because, like the Palacio Real de Olite, they're surprising and always exceed expectations. And, it's never a bad way to spend a day feeling like a medieval princess.

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By mfretes93

I pass it on the bus on the way to school twice a week. The scene is that of a group of about 15 elderly folk, dressed up in sweats, headbands, sneakers, and other exercise gear, working out together in what seems to be a glorified jungle gym. Needless to say, the image generally warms the hearts of everyone on the bus, and it's gotten to the point where I actively look for it when I take the bus in the late afternoon. Luckily, I guess I have a penchant for taking the bus at exactly the right time everyday.

I recently learned that the Rio de Janeiro state government implemented these all around the state and the city. They're brightly colored public gyms, small seas of lime green and baby blue stair steppers, exercise bikes, and ellipticals, completely free to use for the workout-hungry citizens of Rio de Janeiro.

The program, actually, is intended for the elderly and the overweight, not just because many of these people can't afford or don't want to have expensive gym memberships, but also so that these people will actually work out at all. The spaces are eye-catching and located all over the city: they were one of the first things I noticed when I arrived here, and I continue to notice them everyday.

But I suppose that one of the main reasons why I've been so fascinated by them is the fact that I'm from the U.S. of A. Americans are quite familiar with our health-freak/workout culture, and everyone's desire to look like a Hollywood actor or actress. There's always the newest diet trend--quinoa & kale-infused kombucha, anyone?--always the newest workout that will get you flat abs in 3 hours or less, and come March, everyone is running around trying to make sure they have a "beach body" in time for the one time they will go to the beach during the entire summer.

Health and exercise are simply obsessions in America, especially at a time when all of our political leaders, from those in the tiniest of town governments to those on Capital Hill, are trying their very best to fight the obesity epidemic that is taking over our deep-fried nation.

Yet even with this obsession, with all of the diets and workouts, with big-city mayors banning people from buying soda, with first ladies exercising with fifth graders, even we don't have a government program as seemingly effective as Rio de Janeiro's free public gyms. Because not only are the prevalence of these exercise spaces fighting obesity, they're also inspiring the elderly to get out of the house, to keep their bodies healthy, and to meet new people--so that they'll keep coming back, keep exercising, and get healthier over the long-run.

Of course, there's an even better part of the program that I've neglected to mention: every morning and every afternoon, each of these public exercise spaces also has personal trainers around to help you with your workout. They're employed by Rio's government, and yes, their services are also completely free. You tell them what you're trying to work on--be it cardio, abs, or whatever you want--and they'll tell you what machines to use, and for how long.

And luckily for everyone under the age of 60, it isn't strange for you to use these gyms--and their personal trainers--even though they're intended for the elderly and the overweight. They're public spaces, after all--they're for anyone and everyone, and no one will look at you strangely for being the only person working out under the age of 45.

All of this isn't to say that Rio de Janeiro doesn't also have its own obsession with health and fitness that borders on the obscene. There are expensive, upscale gyms on nearly every block, after all. Many of my friends here in Brazil have a gym membership at one of these locales, or take sport classes at school. But with these government-funded hotspots all over the city, why spend the extra money when you can just take a walk around the corner?

And lastly, a word to the U.S.: why didn't we come up with this first?

Something the U.S. could use: free public gyms? #GWU #GWUAbroad

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By arosema93

In Australia, the middle of nowhere is referred to as ‘the bush’. This is regardless of whether or not there are actually any bushes there. My friends and I often enjoy going ‘bush walking’ which of course is just a long word to refer to hiking. This last weekend we went down towards the coast to a mountain range known as the Budawangs and climbed a mountain named the Castle. It is known as the Castle due to its two layers of sheer cliffs making it look like a fortress. Completing the intense climb in only 7 hours was great, but a mistake to do during the heat of the day when temperatures reached almost 90 degrees. The views from the top were outstanding, but would have been even better if it weren’t for the haze.
Its been warming up in Australia. We are now well into Spring/Summer down here and that means all the sports seasons are over because it is too hot to play, and the start of bushfire season has begun. Because the wild is known as the bush, fires are called bushfires instead of wildfires. If you say wildfires down here people just look at you like you are crazy. Anyways, the reason our view from the top wasn’t better was because of the haze that had been hanging in the air everywhere due to the bushfires. The Blue Mountains up by Sydney have been burning for weeks now nonstop and they don’t look like they plan on stopping anytime soon. Our friend who was local and guiding us on the hike insisted that the haze was from the bushfires by Sydney, but once we got near the top of the mountain we could see that was not the case. From the top we could see two bushfires burning only about 8kms to the East of us, actually not too far from where the car and road were. While our driver began to freak out at first, we eventually realized the wind was blowing the opposite direction and the fire would not spread this way. However, while driving back on the road, at one point we did come close to the fire and appeared to be driving through a cloud, only that it was smoke.
The fires are a very real danger at times in Australia and they take campfires and such very seriously. Sometimes even smokers are looked down on if they throw away their butts during fire season. In America, we have Smoky the Bear to warn us about preventing forest fires. Unfortunately, Australia doesn’t have a Koala Bear version of Smoky, but this is largely due to the fact that being careful is a more ingrained part of their upbringing. However, there have been fires, quite often actually, which were purposefully started by people for the sole intention of having some fun or whatever else they may have been thinking. Everything in Australia tends to burn once every five years or so and with that much flammable stuff around it is easy for things to get out of control. The trees here are all eucalyptus trees which secrete extremely flammable oil. A couple years back, a purposefully started fire got out of control and burned a large area of countryside, burning many homes and killing several people. Already this year, two teens have been arrested for purposefully setting bush fires.
My favourite part about the bushfires however is seeing the signs posted everywhere which advertise the current fire danger in the region each day. We have these in America too out west and I’m pretty sure they go from low to medium to high, because that makes sense. However, the scale in Australia starts at Moderate and from there goes to high, very high, severe, extreme, and then my personal favourite, catastrophic. Considering that the region we were in the day we saw two wildfires had a ranking of high, I am curious what it takes to reach levels such as extreme and catastrophic. Maybe the end of the world? Hopefully we never reach that point.
The bush fires aren’t a huge threat though. While they do burn huge areas of countryside, it is not too hard to stay away and stay safe and typically they aren’t in/near highly populated areas. They can however be damaging to the environment and a few years back did wipe out most of the koala population of New South Wales (maybe they shouldn’t be such lazy animals?).

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By mtumasz

DSC_4157What's up mates! This post is going to be short, due to the fact that it's right in the middle of exam time here in New Zealand!

So final exams in this country are very stressful. Mine are all worth 40-50% of my final grade, very different from back in the states! I have been studying just about non-stop for the past week and a half in preparation for exams, and I started to go a little insane. So, I did what any responsible college student would do: take a day off from studying and go lie on the beach all day!

My friends and I went to this gorgeous place in Coromandel, NZ called Cathedral Cove. Scenes from the Chronicles of Narnia were filmed here, and it even makes an appearance in Macklemore's "Can't Hold Us" music video! We were so lucky with weather on the day we went. It rains in NZ just about everyday, and it can change drastically so fast. But for some reason, it was beautiful and sunny the entire time we were there, not a cloud in the sky! We all might've gotten a little sunburnt...

It was really nice to just take a day off from the books and just relax with friends. With time coming to an end here in paradise, it was nice to venture out of Auckland for just the day. When we got back to our apartments, we were so tired from doing nothing at the beach all day that we all went to bed wicked early. This was good because we were all able to wake up early the next morning to get back to studying! A win-win all around.

So if you're feeling stressed about exams, don't be afraid to give yourself a little "me time." It will definitely be good for your mindset and probably help you out in the long run!

Cheers mates!

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By stlake

Yesterday morning, I walked into the kitchen and Mama Dominga was standing over the fruit bowl, just shaking her head. She was upset because I didn’t eat any apples this week and now they were going “bad”. I put air quotes around that because in Spain, leftover culture really is frowned upon. Mama Dominga goes to the market and gets fresh bread almost every other day and fresh fruit about 3 days. But instead of getting defensive, I quickly thought of another creative idea; apple pie. So, I spent my Sunday afternoon, watching El Voz, the Spanish version of The Voice, and making pie. Mama Dominga, while I do get frustrated with her sometimes, is one of the most special people I have ever had the privilege of meeting, and we are actually quite similar. The similarity I realized yesterday was that we both cry when we hear good singers, especially if they can belt out a Motown classic. Then last night, the crew had dinner with Benjie’s parents, who are incredibly sweet. And per usual, the dinner was filled of stories and laughs and I left Sal y Pepe (home of homemade pizza and sangria) feeling a lot better than I’ve felt in a while.

Obviously, my Alicante adventure has been the absolute best and I'm having the time of my life. But I want to take the time to discuss the darker side of study abroad, homesickness. Besides this week, I really only had one other week of homesickness. It came around my 5th/6th week here, when the honeymoon stage faded away. I realized this wasn’t just a beach vacation, but I had schoolwork and other responsibilities. I felt sad and at times, slightly hopeless. Surprisingly, talking to friends and family at home only made things worse.  I couldn’t believe I had to go another 3 months without seeing them. So you may ask, how did I got over it? I realized that all my friends here were in the same boat and all of us, sticking it out together and creating amazingly funny memories was the only way to make my experience.

This time it’s been a little different because I see the light at the end of the tunnel. I’m almost finished here and I know there isn’t much left. I have Thanksgiving weekend, one more trip to Morocco, exams and presentation and then I’m off for the Lake Family European Holiday to Barcelona and Paris. So now it’s more of a bittersweet feeling; I am close to all my friends here and don’t want to leave them but I’m still so excited to go home. I’m going be honest with you guys right now. I can’t believe I am admitting this to the entire internet but I’ve been listening to Taylor Swift because I just feel like she’s the only who gets my over-dramatic attitude right now. For those who know me, you must see the severity of this situation.

After my amazing Sunday, I woke up this Monday morning, with a new attitude. Taylor Swift has been set aside (I wish I could say thrown out but she has a time and place-god I can’t believe I’m having this epiphany right now and owning up to it). I’m back listening to my abroad anthem Roar by Katy Perry (try not to feel empowered when you listen to it, I dare you.) and eating the last piece of Madre’s and my apple pie. I’m feeling much better. For those students who are reading this post and thinking about going abroad, know this. There will be some days where you just want to be eating cheeseburgers with your best friends, and watching the Kardashians. But then you’ll book a weekend trip to Morocco and you’ll realize you need to get a grip.

One Month More, Another Day, Another Destiny.

(yes Les Miserable is pretty over-dramatic, but better than Tay-Tay Swift. It’s a classic.)

 

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By kathleenmccarthy1

As most people know, Ireland has pretty strong ties with the US. It’s undeniable that there is a huge population of Irish Americans and a large number of American tourists in Ireland. With so much back and forth between the two nations, it’s easy to feel like studying abroad in Ireland in sort of cheating. I’m studying abroad overseas, but it has been the case a few times where I’ve felt like I’m just studying in a weird, rural extension of the United States. This has a lot to do with the fact that when I tell Irish people that I’m from the US, many of them will tell me that they have relatives who live there, or that they’ve lived or worked there, and sometimes that they were even born there. Although this makes conversation easy to start, it constantly brings to the surface one of Ireland’s most longstanding issues: emigration.  For generations, Ireland has hemorrhaged its population, with tens of thousands still leaving on a yearly basis. Every time someone brings up someone living in the US, Australia, the UK or some other place, it draws attention yet again to the necessity to leave Ireland in order to find work. For visiting students from both the US and other countries, emigration is essentially the elephant in the room.

As most people know, millions of people came from Ireland to the US during the potato famine of the 1840s. The Irish continued to regularly immigrate into the US throughout the early part of the 20th century, however an exceptionally strong wave of emigration cam in the 1950s and then again in the 1970s. During the 1990s, Ireland experienced its first period of economic prosperity that later became known as the Celtic Tiger era. With the nation finally able to retain its population, it appeared that mass emigration was over for Ireland. However, the economic crisis that began in 2009 reignited the exodus of Irish people once more. Ireland’s Central Statistics Office (CSO) reports that over 200 emigrate from Ireland every day. With the population only being 4.5 million, this is a really noticeable phenomenon.

Being around so many young Irish people has really put a face on the economic situation for me. With a 17% unemployment rate, Ireland does not offer a great deal of opportunity for them. It’s chilling to hear people who are the same age as me talk about the fact that they may have to go as far away as Australia when they finish college or in the years immediately after. Even though Ireland has been characterized by heavy emigration for a long time, it is commonplace in Ireland for extended families to live within close proximity of each other. This means that when Irish people emigrate, they aren’t just living outside of Ireland for the first time, they are living outside of their original family homes for the first time.

Even though the cultural patchwork that has stemmed from Ireland’s relationship with the US and other places that the Irish have immigrated to allows visiting students to navigate the Irish cultural experience more easily, it puts us in an awkward position as well. Many of the students we meet here may very well end up in our respective countries to seek employment. As much as myself and the other visiting students are enjoying their time in Ireland, I feel like many of us will leave feeling grateful that we are going back to our home countries and that we don’t have to make the same decisions that Irish students our age do.

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DSC_0075
A view of The Sea of Galilee (Lake Tiberius) and Golan Heights from the Um Qais Jordanian military outpost.

I knew it was going to be a great day when one of our coordinators began doling out falafel sandwiches as I sat down having barely got dressed in time to make it to the bus, let alone find food. I wolfed two sandwiches and dozed off with the rest of the bus for the two-hour trip north to the Sharhabil Bin Hasna Eco-Park. When I awoke we were on a dirt road, surrounded by as much greenery as I'd witnessed since my expedition to the Ma'in hot springs; olive orchards spanned the clearings on either side of the road, which was lined with some other type of tree that I didn't recognize, but whose color was just as refreshing to see. A few minutes later we arrived at our destination, which is the home of an organization call Friends of the Earth Middle East (FoEME). There a representative of the organization briefed us on the issue of water shortages in Jordan, which I was aware of but had not spent much time pondering.

It's easy to get wrapped up in the controversial issues in America--balancing the budget, finding an adequate health care system, debating gun laws and immigration reform are all important issues whose political outcomes will impact thousands, if not millions of Americans. But as I sat in a classroom in the woods discussing strategies to find a sustainable source of water in Jordan, these issues seemed relatively inconsequential. The most concerning thing was that this isn't even a front-running issue. Jordan is forced to ration its water supply at 145 cubic meters per person per year, which is 355 less than the UN standard to be considered to have an "absolute scarcity" of water, and sources of freshwater are shrinking. This in itself is alarming. Now consider how the depth of this problem is compounded by the presence of even more publicized issues such as youth unemployment, refugees, poverty, and public and private sector corruption. So not only do activists have to focus on solving what is clearly an urgent problem, they also have to find a way to spread awareness and lobby for government cooperation. However, Jordanians are a driven people, and I look forward to witnessing the evolution of the kingdom as it tackles all of these issues.

The day ended with a sunset tour of a nearby ancient Roman city first built by Alexander the Great called UmQais, which had a spectacular view of the Sea of Galilee and the Golan Heights. If only I could find a way to continue this lifestyle of knowledge, adventure, and falafel when I return...

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By kathleenmccarthy1

The last two weeks have been a complete whirlwind for me. Not only have they been two of the busiest so far in terms of schoolwork, my parents were also visiting and my final exams schedule came out. This means that I had to balance loads of assignments with giving my parents attention and figuring out how I am going to spend my last weeks in Ireland. As stressful as they were, these two weeks actually ended up being really amazing and were almost a defining part of this semester.

For me, the best part about my parents’ visit was that they brought my grandmother with them. My grandmother has lived across the street from me for my entire life and we have always been very close. My grandmother immigrated to the US from County Galway when she was 16, almost 60 years ago.  Having my grandmother visit me in her native country was incredible for so many reasons. I went to the house that she was born in, where her brother still lives, saw the church that she and my grandfather were married in and ate in a restaurant that she worked in. I got to see a snapshot of her life before she came to America and understand what her formative years looked like.

I also got to meet a number of relatives that I probably wouldn’t have been able to meet if I hadn’t come to Ireland to study. While my parents were visiting, I got too meet two of my grandmother’s sisters and two of her brothers as well as two of her first cousins and three of my second cousins. It was so striking to see how similar my grandmother an her siblings were and how much they even reminded me of their own stateside relatives that they themselves had never met. It was also a very emotional experience because many of them had not seen each other in several years. My grandmother had not been to Ireland in five years and my mom had not been to Ireland since she was 8. This meant that pretty much all of my mom’s aunts and uncles on her mother’s side hadn’t seen her since she was a child. While we were in Ireland, my mom met three of her first cousins for the first time.

The experience of being able to see my grandmother revisit her home made me understand her experience a lot more than I had before. The night before my parents left to go home, my grandmother’s sister stayed over at our hotel and she and my grandmother sat up talking for most of the night just like me and my brother do when I come home from college for breaks. They gossiped with each other like two sisters that hadn’t been apart for years. When it was time for my aunt to leave, they both cried, not knowing when they would see each other again. For the first time, I began to understand just how emotional leaving Ireland to come to America all those years ago must have been. I started to see just how hard it was for my grandmother to spend those first years without her family. Without the experience of having my parents and grandmother come and visit me in Ireland, I wouldn’t have been able to appreciate the things that she had done in the way that I do now. The time that I spent with my family added so much meaning to my experience of studying abroad. The fact that I’ve been able to come to my grandmother’s homeland, experience it as a student and understand the Irish diaspora through the context of my peers is the most incredible thing that has ever happened to me and I am beyond grateful that I was able to do this.

 

 

Back to where it all began #GWU #GWAbroad

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By nmbutler3

When people think of UK and European sports, football (or soccer for us Americans) tends to be the first, if not only thing to come to mind, and while I am by instinct an avid soccer fan, I've learned that here in Scotland, it’s rugby that holds the hearts of the people. Don’t get me wrong, football matches are still very much an integral part of Scottish recreation, but that being said, nothing seems to unify people together quite like a rugby match.

The Scottish National Rugby team is currently in the middle of their autumn tests, and living in Edinburgh means I am able to see a few matches. So far I’ve been able to go to the Scotland v. Japan and the Scotland v. South Africa games, and I have to say that watching a rugby match in Murrayfield Stadium is one of the must-dos of Edinburgh. The opening of the match alone is one of the most inspiring experiences I’ve ever encountered. Youtube Flower of Scotland at Murrayfield Stadium and you’ll get a hint of what I mean. Flower of Scotland is the unofficial national anthem of Scotland (God Save the Queen is the British anthem) and to hear the stadium resound with the prideful verses sung by every Scottish person present is unlike anything you would ever encounter in the States. Sure, Americans will hum and quietly sing along with the national anthem at sporting events, but never like this. The Scottish auxiliary band plays the first to verses of the song while seemingly every Scotsman in the arena proudly belts out the words as though they were the ones standing down on the pitch at the microphone, which in and of itself is beautiful, but then when the third and final verse rolls around, the band cuts out and the continued resounding sound of the proudly sung words literally reverberates through your entire body despite the fact that there are no loud speakers echoing the song, just the voices of the rugby fans. It is absolutely amazing. Just look it up, trust me, or better yet, go to a match because I cannot even begin to convey the awe and powerfulness of the experience. Not to mention, the tangible united pride aside, the fact that you can tell just by looking that every Scottish person there not only believes the words they are singing, but actually feel them. In any other circumstance, a group of professional rugby players and gruff fans, all with the glimmer of a tear in their eyes would be a strange sight to see, but at Murrayfield it would be hard to imagine it any other way. The song is actually that powerful.

Anyway, moving past the opening, the match itself is an amazing experience. Fans are incredibly dedicated, but not in an obnoxious or oppositional, trash-talking way that you sometimes see with American sports. Rather, Scottish rugby fans seem to be almost exclusively supportive and never, and I do mean NEVER, give up on their team. The score of the South Africa game was Scotland: 0 and South Africa: 28 and the fans never dwindled or lost faith. People also seemed so much more interested in the plays and details of the game than you see in a many American sporting events.

The entire experience was positively inspiring, which sounds a bit exaggerated, seeing as it was just a rugby match, but trust me, it is unlike anything else. The energy, the unity, the pride; it is like experiencing one of those inspirational sports movies in real life. Absolutely a must-do for any bucket list.

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