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Month: August 2016

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By jkichton

The attacks in Paris on November 13th, 2014 leave me speechless. I remember sitting in my bed in Commugny, Switzerland when I got a CNN push notification about a shooting in Paris that left a handful of people either dead or injured. Immediately, I shared it with close friends in my program just in case they were there or they knew someone there. As news updates came and went and the number of killed increased and increased, I could not fathom the kinds of terror and horror that were spreading throughout the same city I had visited just two months ago.

...continue reading "The Paris Attacks"

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By allilopez

When people think about Brazil, the last thing that comes to mind is a person of Asian descent. What most people do not know is that Brazil (and São Paulo in particular), is home to 1.5 million people of Japanese descent. This means that Brazil is home to the largest Japanese population outside of Japan. In addition, there are 500,000 more people of non-Japanese East Asian ancestry (i.e. Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese, etc.).

This has meant that after 100 years of immigration, Brazil has absorbed many aspects of East Asian culture. Granted although these 2 million people of East Asian descent only make up 1% of Brazil’s total population, they are nonetheless an important and influential component of it.

...continue reading "Blog #9: A Buddhist Temple in São Paulo"

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By allilopez

Although my time here in Brazil is soon coming to an end, I wanted to reflect upon and talk about what it is like to study in a university in Brazil, since I neglected to address it earlier in the semester. The Brazilian university structure and its bureaucracy is vastly different from its American counterpart. Even though I only studied at a Brazilian university for one semester, I can safely say I prefer the American university system. Nonetheless, it was an enriching experience which exposed to some of the hurdles and problems my Brazilian counterparts go through.

...continue reading "Blog #8: Life in a Brazilian University"

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By zoegoldstein23

I struggle to write this blog post today. In the past 48 hours, hundreds of innocent people have lost their lives at the hands of terrorists around the world. It is impossible to share my true feelings on these horrific occurrences because I can hardly understand them myself. I have been seeing countless Facebook and Twitter posts telling me how I should feel. The majority of them sympathize with the victims of the killings and their families and express condolences. Others politicize the events, claiming that the refugees coming into Europe are the cause (which I cannot understand how this could possibly true, given the fact that the refugees are running FROM the same people who caused these attacks). Still others shame those who are putting an emphasis on the attacks in Paris, saying we don’t care about the Arab world since hardly anyone is talking about the killings in Beirut and Baghdad. That we only care when white people are killed. I am extremely offended by these posts, telling me and my peers how I am supposed to feel and who I am supposed to sympathize with. Let the grief be felt, wherever it may be felt.

...continue reading "On Tragedy and Loss"

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By allisonray94

It's project week! That means no classes, field trips, and lots of knowledge! Basically, our program is split into three groups: Tribes and Tribalism, Refugees, and Developmental Organizations. We spend the week researching our topic and going to lectures and events related to it. My group is Tribes, and I've mainly been focusing on Tribalism in Jordan as a symbol of Jordanian national identity (as opposed to pan-Arab identity or Palestinian identity).

...continue reading "العشائر — Tribes in Jordan"

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By jkichton

Hi readers! This week’s post is written while I’m lounging my worries away in my Airbnb host’s guest bed in Wien (Vienna), Austria. I have done a lot of traveling since my last post and because of that I have learned a trick or two. This post will explain the best things to do in order to experience the place you’re traveling around. Auf Wiedersehen!

The first thing I tell people when they come to DC is to go to all of the monuments at night because 1) no tourists will be there to ruin your Instagram worthy picture and 2) they are so, so, so much BETTER at night. Same for monuments in Europe! This also holds true for buildings, and especially cathedrals or churches. Have you ever been to a cathedral at like 8:00pm? Many will not be open, but I had the pleasure of seeing St. Stephen’s on Halloween night and it was awe inspiring. It really brought out the age of the architecture, and the darker side of such a beautiful piece of history.

...continue reading "5 Travel Tips to Embrace the City You’re In"

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By taylorclark17

November has arrived am I now down to only 5 weeks left in wonderful Florence! After a lovely fall break, classes have started again and I am so happy to say that I am communicating with host family almost completely in Italian.

I spent five days of my fall break in Venice. During my vacation in Venice, I stayed in a hotel located of the Isola delle Rose (Island of Roses).The view of the Grand Canal of Venice from the rooftop was absolutely stunning.

...continue reading "My Fall Break Vacation"

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By allilopez

I realized that in the four months since I’ve been in Brazil I have not once mentioned soccer. If you’re a soccer fan I know what you’re thinking….that my negligence of the topic is almost criminal since it is the Brazilian national pastime. However, never fear! Today I will finally write a blog post about ‘o jogo bonito (the beautiful game).’

About two weeks ago (Saturday, October 24), CIEE finally took us to go see a soccer game. Good thing they paid because each ticket is on average R$60 (roughly $25), which may not seem like a lot when you’re thinking in dollars, but when you think that the minimum wage here in Brazil is R$800 ($200 give or take a couple dollars), then R$60 is a LOT of money. ...continue reading "O Jogo Bonito (The Beautiful Game)"

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By zoegoldstein23

Though I have mentioned my host mom in several anecdotes since I started blogging, I really want to dedicate this post to the host families of GW Madrid (and especially my own host mom).

Staying with a host family is one of, if not THE most important cultural aspects of studying abroad. I chose the GW Madrid program largely because of the homestay experience because I wanted to fully immerse myself in the lifestyle of my new country. I have met people in Madrid studying abroad here from other universities in the United States and Europe who stay in apartments in the city by themselves or with roommates instead of staying with host families. I may be biased, but I don’t think those people are getting the real, authentic Madrid experience (and they’re certainly not as well taken care of as we are!).

...continue reading "An Ode to the Host Families"

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By eryon180

For my research, I decided to look at the opinions and KAP (knowledge, attitudes and perceptions of the Maasai towards FGM or female circumcision in the town of Narok. The Maasai are among the highest practitioners of FGM in Kenya and in Narok they have rates of about 70%.

I want to understand why the Maasai practice FGM and what their viewpoint is. Often, anti-FGM practitioners look at the survivors but do not understanding the practicing communities. My hope is that my studying the Maasai, my research can improve anti-FGM advocacy by identifying voids in understanding.

...continue reading "How to Secure a Research Location (aka Maasailand)"

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