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Month: August 2016

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By eryon180

This week, my program moved from Nairobi to the city of Kisumu in Western Kenya. The city is next to Lake Victoria and has a large fish industry. Most of the fish taken from the Lake are tilapia or Nile Perch and the filets are sent to Europe and the United States.

Despite having a large fishing industry, Kisumu is facing a high unemployment rate. As a result of the lack of jobs combined with frequent teacher strikes (thus preventing students from attending primary/secondary school in the Kenyan System) they resort to giving motorcycle rides for transportation.

...continue reading "Piki-Piki and Tuk-Tuk"

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By eryon180

Here it goes! The last week in the big capital city of Nairobi. The last four weeks have been a mixture of awe, confusion and wonder, I can only imagine what the next month is going to look like.

During our last week, we focused on improving our Swahili. In order to do this, we went to one of the biggest informal markets in Nairobi called Toi Market. Toi is “karibu naa” or near the informal settlement of Kibera and provides self-employed jobs to hundreds of people. The products in Toi range from fruits and vegetables, second-hand clothes from the US and UK to bedding and TVs.  For a student though, Toi Market has proven to be really useful because the prices are cheap and the sellers are open to bartering the price.

...continue reading "Leaving Nairobi"

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By eryon180

For ten days, my program went on a educational excursion to the capital of Rwanda, Kigali! In comparison to Kenya, the entire country is completely different. Kenya is mostly flat, consists of high temperatures and is very very dirty due to a lack of waste management. It is also dangerous as a woman to go out at night, so my days have been cut short around 7pm. However, Kigali is the opposite. The country is called the Land of A Thousand Hills, has a community-based garbage collection system and the police is integrated with the army so there is little to no crime.

...continue reading "Expectations vs. Reality"

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By zoegoldstein23

I was just browsing through my calendar tonight, looking at the next week and figuring out what I need to get done, when I realized that I only have three weeks left in Spain. My time in Madrid is really coming to an end, and so, so quickly. It’s mind blowing to think about how much I have learned and accomplished here. I got home from Paris, my final trip of my study abroad experience, just a few hours ago, which was the icing on the cake of a wonderful three months of travel. I will be staying in Madrid now until the end of the program because I want to give myself enough time to spend with my host mom, study for my exams, and get everything done that I wanted to do here.

...continue reading "#vivelafrance"

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By taylorclark17

For all of you prospective study abroad students that plan to live with a host family next semester, heed this one word: communication!

Overall, my experience with my host family has truly been invaluable. By living with my host mom who was born and raised in Florence, I have been able to learn much more about Florentine culture and to navigate around Florence than I probably would have were I not living with a host mom.

...continue reading "Communicating With Your Host Family"

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By jkichton

And just like that 3.5 months flew by! Today I write this post in the post-apocalyptic danger zone that is known as my room. I am currently packing up all of my stuff because my program is officially over and tomorrow I leave for Italy! This post will be dedicated to how I spent my last days in Switzerland, a general reflection on the program, and how I am saying goodbye.

This past week has been crazy. On Wednesday one of my best friends in my program and I went to Zermatt, Switzerland to see the Matterhorn! The Matterhorn is Switzerland’s pride and joy. It’s one of the largest mountains in Europe and has many roller coasters named after it. It’s huge. Like. 14,692 ft. Crazy. Anyway, it only took a little more than three hours to get to Zermatt by train. On our way there we passed many a snowy scene in the Swiss countryside. My friend said that it looked as if we were riding through a black and white photograph because the snow contrasted with the darkness of the mountains and darkness of the farms. Once we got to Zermatt, a lovely and quaint mountain village, we walked around. Thank goodness all the shops were closed for their lunch break, or else we would have done some damage to our alredy suffering bank accounts. We then took the Gornergrat train up a mountain so that we could get a better view of the Matterhorn. Problem was, it was snowing! Like an actual blizzard. So we couldn’t see anything when we got up there, at 10,135 ft. It was just a sheet of white! Oh well, my friend had never seen snow before so we got to play in it.

...continue reading "Au Revoir, Suisse!"

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By meghanclorinda

During our five day trip to the state of Rajasthan, my friends and I were lucky enough to not only visit the state capital, Jaipur, but also to travel to the state's city for romantics: Udaipur. Udaipur is undoubtedly the most breathtakingly beautiful place I've been to in India thus far, especially because it looks unlike any other city here. The name "Venice of India" or "Venice of the East" refers to the fact that the city is built around a large central lake, with many ghats (pier-like structures used for bathing, Hindu rituals, an recreational swimming among other things) stretching out into the water. Homes, hotels, shops, and temples are built right up along the edge of the lake, creating the illusion that the entire city itself is suspended on the water.

...continue reading "Udaipur: Venice of India"

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By meghanclorinda

A few weeks ago, my CIEE friends and I embarked on the one major trip we've been planning since we first arrived in India: five days in Rajasthan, arguably India's most famous and illustrious state. Located in India's Northwest, much of Rajasthan is covered by the Thar desert, making it a land of camel treks, desert tribal peoples, and unique historical and cultural traditions that have continued to persist for centuries. Not to mention, it's also home to Jaipur, renowned as one of India's most beautiful cities and one that is steeped in history. Rajasthan was one of the last states to relinquish power to the British Raj during the Colonial Era, and the many princely rulers of Rajasthan are known for their bravery, honor, and love of lavish architecture, clothing, and art. Jaipur is considered the crown jewel of this legacy -- also known as "The Pink City" for its historical district which is completely painted a warm, sandy shade of pink -- with its abundance of palaces and the incredible Amber Fort. My friends and I were lucky enough to spend three days in Jaipur soaking up the incredible sights and culture.

...continue reading "From The City of Pearls to The Pink City"

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By taylorclark17

As the semester comes to a close and each day I look at Christmas decorations being put up at local cafes and restaurants, I keep asking myself in what ways do I think this semester abroad has been rewarding and have I achieved all that I planned to achieve before I came here?

In response to the first question, I can definitely say that I feel the most rewarding part of my semester abroad has been my homestay. As an African American studying abroad in Italy and as an African American participating in a study abroad program that includes roughly only 20 minority students out of a total of approximately 200 students, there were definitely moments during my time here where I felt.... lets just say…..lonely and isolated from the cultural experiences I am accustomed to. In some ways, this is not a bad thing because being able to immerse myself in a culture different from my own was exactly what I wanted to experience while abroad. However, the neighborhood that reside in Florence is also not very diverse, and after while it feels weird that some days the only other black person I see is Olivia Pope while watching Scandal on Hulu.

...continue reading "My Final Weeks In Florence"

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By zoegoldstein23

It’s been quite an emotionally difficult week for all of us here in Madrid. As we struggle to make sense of all that happened in Paris a week ago, we have had countless decisions to make regarding our study abroad experience. Europe does not feel like a safe place right now. We all watch our phones vigilantly for breaking news notifications almost as if we expect another terrible thing to happen. I am supposed to go to Paris this Thursday, and I still haven’t decided if I should go or not. It would be a significant financial loss if I don’t, but then again, is money worth risking your safety? No one has answers right now and it’s been frustrating beyond belief. As much as you can talk to others and ask their opinions, in the end, the decision has to be your own for how you decide to move forward in this dark era of uncertainty in Europe right now.

...continue reading "A Moroccan Adventure"

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