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Category: Blog Abroad

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By Stefania Tutra

My first week in Barcelona has felt more like a vacation rather than a school orientation. Every morning I wake up and see La Sagrada Familia from my window, I forget I am not in a dream and that I actually am living here for four months. Since the moment my plane landed in El Prat airport last Monday, I have felt constantly overwhelmed with excitement. I moved into my residence hall where I am living with 9 other students from the IES program on my floor. Three of them also happen to go to GW, which definitely made it easier to make friends and feel more at home in such a new environment. I had orientation the following day, and then my daily intensive Spanish class began.

Outside of class, I have found myself wandering around Barcelona’s streets, trying to immerse myself in the local culture, and eating a lot of new food (mainly tapas). One of my favorite neighborhoods I have explored so far is the Gothic Quarter. The narrow streets lined with cafes, restaurants, and boutiques have a unique charm to them that makes you want to walk around for hours.

     

On Tuesday, it was National Day of Catalonia which is considered a national holiday here, therefore we did not have class. Millions of people came out to show support for Catalonia’s independence. Protestors wore red shirts and red-and-yellow Catalan flags, and marched while banging drums, blowing whistles, and chanting slogans of support such as “Libertat!” It felt unreal to have attended an event that is going to go down in Spanish history forever.

To me, the biggest challenge so far in Barcelona has been adjusting to how late the locals eat and go out. For example, dinner only begins to be served at 8pm, while in the States I have usually finished dinner by then. Dinner is eaten late and goes on for hours, as restaurant-goers do not get up and leave as soon as they have finished their food (like in the States) but instead sit and chat over “café con leche” until 11pm. Then, it is common to go out for drinks and festivities, and often return home around four or five o’clock in the morning.

Above all, I am confident that choosing Barcelona for my study abroad location was the best decision I have ever made. I am so in love with this city, its culture, and its warm-hearted people. Other than improving my Spanish (and picking up on some Catalan), I am looking forward to really getting to know the heart of Barcelona, as well as exploring other cities throughout Europe. Until next time, ¡hasta luego!

     

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By Beatrice Mount

Homesickness isn’t something I’m used to—after all, I spent my first years on my own 5,000 miles away from my home. But It’s something relatively common for any study-abroad traveler. While a common language and spirit may unite California and Washington, D.C., when you jump over an ocean and onto a new continent, you get a whole new culture. Feelings of Isolation and innate difference become everyday hurdles, and these feelings are especially prevalent in your first week on your own.

My first week in Maastricht proved to me that I wasn’t immune to feeling homesickness. I felt out of place—I remember calling my parents and complaining that I had made the biggest mistake of my life by, me, the 158 cm, lactose-intolerant American girl who couldn’t ride a bike, moving myself for five months to a country full of tall people obsessed with cheese, and who text on their bicycle like it’s second nature. My Dad, who spent a majority of his younger years in Italy told me everything would be ok, while I shoved chocolate spread spoonfuls in between sobs, in disbelief.

Granted, it was. About two weeks into classes now, Maastricht and my exchange program are starting to feel more like home. I’m still short, still lactose intolerant, and still can’t ride a bike, but I am feeling more situated, to say the least. Once I got over the culture shock, I realized how easy it is to feel comfortable here. The Southern city of Maastricht is a relaxed and small city—quite the opposite of DC. People take their time to enjoy life, whether by picking up fresh Limburg tarts and spelt bread from the Bisschopsmollen or through a nice beer and meal on a restaurant overlooking the river Maas. People are friendly and direct, as all Dutch are, and eager to know you. Though initially quite reserved, once you get them talking, especially about US politics, sometimes you’ll even wish they’ll be quiet.

The program itself is conducive to this—UCM is a small—around 300 or so people—honours program, housed in an old nunnery. Most people spend all their day in this building, in the reading room, prepping for their tutorials, or in the common room or courtyard in-between breaks. Everyone knows each other and is eager to get you into the family, as you’ll be suffering with them soon in this intense, problem-based learning environment.

The motto of UCM is everything will be ok, plastered on the side of the courtyard wall in neon purple cursive. A motto perfect to drag the intensive motivated academic 20 year old back to earth. Calm down, take a break: everything will be ok, you’ll get through your classes. But, on another level, it’s a reminder that, for every other odd, chaotic event in life that seems to slap you across the face (see, moving across an ocean), everything will be ok.

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By Savita Potarazu

Zürich, Switzerland
26 Aug 2018

I have been in Switzerland for two weeks and I still cannot believe I am here. After landing in Zürich, meeting up with extended family, going on my first breathtaking hike in Switzerland, and beginning to acclimate to a new life here, orientation snuck up on me!

Nyon, Switzerland
28 Aug 2018

The program I am pursuing in Switzerland is the Global Health and Development Policy program through the School for International Training (SIT). There are about 30 students, myself included, who have left their families, friends, and universities behind to experience historically renowned diplomacy, study global governance in public health, hike in the Swiss Alps, and embrace Swiss culture through the homestay experience. What better way to break the ice with new classmates than to randomly room with 5 students for a few days. At the Nyon Hostel, I began to navigate whatever expectations I had about meeting new people, knowing with certainty that we had at least one similar interest: global health.

Although I have many, many years of Spanish in my back pocket, my proficiency in French is quite limited (but growing quickly!). And because our program is actually based in Nyon with many excursions to Geneva (a very international town), my new friends and I have been thrown into rather homogeneous French culture. I learned very quickly here that Switzerland is both land-locked and incredibly culturally diverse. With Austria, Germany, Italy, and France bordering this tiny country of around 8.4 million, the geopolitical boundaries crisply define language prevalence. The good news is that before arriving, this program provided access to and highly encouraged students to utilize the online self-learning language platform (Màngo Languages) for French to at least be able to engage minimally. With two weeks of Màngo at the tip of my tongue I was pleasantly surprised to be able to converse with the waiter at our first dinner as a group in Switzerland. With French as a required course here, I have no doubt the language barrier will be reduced (and so will my many faux pas…)

The first Saturday after our orientation each student received her/his homestay family. We all nervously awaited our host parent(s) arrival to the hostel to retrieve us. Little by little, the students went off to join new families and begin to settle in. The days leading up to this moment were filled with butterflies and excitement. Now, I’m two weeks in, quite settled into my new home. My current host mom has been with SIT for many years and has warmly welcomed yet another student. Isabelle is a loving, caring, inquisitive host mom and impeccable chef. As a vegan, I can safely say that being surrounded by some of the world’s finest cheese and chocolate gets quite tempting but Isabelle has graciously compensated for this. So far she has cooked me lovely meals with fresh bread, pasta, lentils, homemade crepes, and vegetables/fruits grown in her garden. In her two-bedroom flat, my room overlooks the sunsets over a vineyard and the Swiss Alps. It sounds like a fairytale and it looks like one too. I am very grateful for having been placed here! After settling in over the weekend, I gradually prepared for upcoming classes.

(View from my homestay bedroom)
The academic component of this program probably excites me most (next to living in the mountains, of course). The Independent Study Project (ISP), common to most if not all SIT study abroad programs, is a culmination of our work during the semester and will be serving as my senior thesis this school year as well. It is also in this capacity that students are able to develop a topic of interest, conduct primary qualitative research, and devise a significant paper that is entirely our own creation. With Geneva right in our backyard, we have been given access to the United Nations Library, Graduate Institute of Geneva, and a lengthy list of resources to explore what makes Switzerland the diplomatic, direct-democracy that it has been known to be for many centuries. The first two weeks of class have really been dedicated to (1) jumping right into our coursework and (2) the preliminary stages of research for our ISP. Given all the adjustments that come with studying abroad, getting a grip on the coursework has required more focused attention from me (many students here would agree on this too). I believe it is a natural process given how new our surroundings are and I have been ever-willing to embrace the thrill of being exposed to the great unknown here in Switzerland.
(Me at the UN Library in Geneva; the mural behind me is entitled “Dream of Peace”)

Of course there are challenges that come with studying abroad, particularly as a senior! With most of my college years behind me, so too is all that tuition. Switzerland is not exactly the most affordable country to live in, but we students have been navigating this financial challenge with increasing mastery. With a bit of budgeting and exploring the most economical means of spreading out costs for food and travel, my friends and I hope to maximize the Swiss experience and minimize our spending as much as possible. Beyond the necessary costs of a residency permit, visa paperwork, and other required payments, being pennywise has actually been a fun challenge to take on here because it has really pushed us to explore as many options as possible before deciding on one activity, restaurant, means of transportation and/or accommodation. In my humble opinion, he Swiss transit system is quite foolproof and so incredibly accessible. One of the biggest perks of this program is that we each receive a SwissPass that takes us on virtually all buses, trains, and boats within Switzerland (and even to our neighbor, France!). Recently introduced to the program, the SwissPass has definitely made my commute and Swiss explorations a breeze. In fact, the first two weekends of this semester you could find me hiking in the Alps without having to pay extra to get there from our homes. It really is a special treat.

Looking ahead, I have midterms this week and our excursion to Morocco for 8 days at the end of this month. There, we will be conducting field studies at rural health clinics and learning more about their infrastructure and development model. The directors of this program really have planned an incredible few months for us and I look forward to learning more about humanitarian aid, health as a human right, the role of global governance, and plenty more in the weeks/months to come. After a relaxing weekend trip to Interlaken and a spectacular hike I am ready to take on week 3!

(Some friends and I hiking in Gimmelwald, Switzerland this past weekend)

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By Megan Gardner

Before exploring a new country, its natural to have a general understanding or view of the culture and society; however, these preconceptions are often proven wrong. For example, many may continue to associate Tunisia with the oppression its people faced during the past authoritarian regimes of Bourguiba and Ben Ali. While this suppression of freedoms certainly existed prior to the so-called Arab Spring, everyone today enjoys these rights.

The political landscape in Tunisia since its independence from France in 1956 is unfortunately marked with authoritarianism. Habib Bourguiba took immediate control of the country until Zine El Abidine Ben Ali staged a bloodless coup in 1987. Ben Ali led the country in a manner that showed no respect or compassion for those he was supposed to be the ultimate protector of. Any rebellious activity was immediately quelled until Mohamed Bouazizi committed a striking act of self-immolation in protest of the government’s power in December 2010. This event is retroactively cited as the “spark” that lit the fire of the revolution in Tunisia. People all across Tunisia could sympathize with the extraordinary desperation that Bouazizi must have felt to take his own life in such an extreme manner. The Tunisian uprising was the first of the widespread protests throughout the North African and Arab world referred to today as the “Arab Spring.”

The protests continued until the pressure was too high for Ben Ali to stay. He fled Tunisia for Saudi Arabia on January 14, 2011, at that very moment, everybody across the country suddenly stood on an equal platform to speak. All of their stifled whispers under the Ben Ali regime turned to revolutionary shouts for all of the fundamental rights they were previously denied. Civil society rapidly swelled as hundreds of organizations and political parties were formed to protect and advocate for causes that never would have been tolerated under Ben Ali. These organizations brought many issues to light that were previously unknown or blatantly ignored by the old government.

Freedom to express opinion without fear of official retaliation is easily taken for granted in countries where the citizens have always enjoyed that right. In such a post-revolutionary context, many people love to speak up and have their voice heard. One group that is very vocal on the national stage is women. Last week, a local group organized a feminist and LGBTQ rights arts festival in downtown Tunis called Chouftouhounna. This festival brought speakers from across the country and the world to talk about women’s rights. It also showcased art, films, and dances celebrating the cause. There is certainly still progress to be made, but this festival, hosted in the middle of the old médina, shows that any remaining embers of oppression will be quickly extinguished.

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By Taylor Williams

In many ways, London is exactly what I’ve expected it to be. Perhaps, that's due to me being a little overzealous this summer having spent my days, watching an abundance of vlogs and obsessively updating my Pinterest board on things to do in London it almost feels as though I’ve been here before. To describe London as beautiful feels like an understatement. In short, it’s a grand and varied City with a rich and colorful history, and I can’t wait to further explore that it has to offer me.

My favorite place I’ve visited thus far has been Brixton Village Market. Brixton was one of the places I’d been most excited to see as I’d heard it was the “black” section of London, with a large Carribean and West African population. While London is indeed very much a diverse city and there’s hasn't been a shortage of black people near my hotel and while I’ve been walking around the District of Brixton had a palpable energy exuding from it from from the minute I stepped out of the Tube Station. The main strip had an abundance of shops, street vendors, people passing out flyers, a man with a microphone preaching his religion, I was immediately reminded of 52nd street in Philadelphia. I was very much interested in how my dad and I would be received when we arrived in Brixton because although we are indeed black,  we are African American with little knowledge of where our “roots” lie. The waitress at a Nigerian restaurant was all too excited to encounter us as she told us she’d only seen African Americans on tv, and as we know, that's not always the best or most accurate representation!

Although, Brixton was for sure a majority black area, all too familiar were the first stages of Gentrification. The gap between the old and new stores was very evident and it's interesting to note that the issue of gentrification and the displacement of black and brown communities much be talked about from a global perspective. Just a thought! xx

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By Rachel Blair

As you all know, I’m studying abroad in Paris through the GW Fall Paris Business Program. It has been busy from the moment that I arrived in Paris, however I love it. A real benefit to begin the program is that we have an entire week to get adjusted to Paris, but with the help of two lovely ladies, Florence and her assistant, Emma. During that first week, we take French classes, so we can manage to figure our way around, go to wine and cheese tastings, go to museums, and many different famous restaurants, all paid for by GW. The best part about that week is getting to know the students that you are taking all of your classes with and spending most of your time with outside of the classroom setting first. I think that meeting people before being in an actual classroom setting allows for better flow of conversation and for real friendships to form. I’ve met some really amazing people through the first week’s orientation, both American and French.

Even though week one seems to be jam packed, the schedule was all clear for Saturday, giving us all an opportunity to do things that we wanted to do. My roommate/friend Camille and I decided that we wanted to touch a little bit of as much as we could in Paris that day. Her mom had bought her a book with about 50 of the most artistic places in Paris, and we went through that book and picked out what seemed to be the coolest and prettiest locations. So, for our first Saturday in France, Camille and I left our apartment at 10am and didn’t arrive back home until 8:30pm. It was an amazing experience, and what made it even better was that our friends Michael and Spencer joined us along our journey. It was great spending such a nice day outside the whole time exploring different areas of Paris.

Also, if you’re ever thinking of studying abroad in France, or staying in France for a long period of time, it pays to get a Navigo pass. The Navigo pass is for basically all modes of transportation in France and gives you unlimited access for 75 Euros a month. Once you have that pass, you feel like a real Parisian. It reminds me of the DC metro pass because all you have to do is tap, however, this one doesn’t need to be refilled until the end of the month. Also, you don’t have to tap out here like you do in DC.

...continue reading "Just the Beginning"

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By Taylor Garland

I’ve found that my early 20’s has been filled with moments where I must reconcile the fact that I did not inherit my mother’s punctuality, and that I am naturally and routinely late for things. True to form, a delay out of New York resulted in a delay at my layover in LAX for a full 24 hours. Being late to Singapore meant sacrificing the $5 I had put down for my hostel that night, and missing the 53th celebration of Singapore’s independence. Big bummer, but I had a great time in LA with some of my closest friends, so I wasn’t too upset.

After a 17-hour flight from California, I touched down at 7am in Singapore, and met a heavily air conditioned and spectacularly large airport. Immigration was quick (FYI: student visas are an easy online application away for those interested in studying here!), I bought my SIM card before I left the building (which I recommend) and exchanged some American money for local cash (which I also recommend doing in Changi Airport – better rates than in the US).

...continue reading "Acclimating to a New Architectural Environment"

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By Zachary Brumback

On Saturday, July 14th, I would embark on a journey of a lifetime to Sydney, Australia,...

or so I thought. Before arriving at the airport, my plane to Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas (DFW), was

delayed by half an hour. At that time, I shrugged off the delayed notification and headed to the

airport. Upon arriving, I discovered that my flight had once again been delayed. After I learned

that, I began to question whether or not my four-hour layover at DFW would suffice. As I

patiently and nervously waited in the airport, my flight to Texas continued to be delayed due to

“mechanical problems.” However, American Airlines assured me that I would make my

connection at DFW. After the seventh delay, it was evident that I would not be able to make my

connection. Since I did not want to be stranded at DFW, American Airlines re-booked me for the

next day’s flight. As a result, I headed home and notified the university that my arrival would be

delayed by a day.

...continue reading "Expect the Unexpected"

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By Nora_Wolcott

Thanks to the University of Auckland's forgiving exam schedule, I had a full week free before the start of my exams this month. I used this time to go explore the Coromandel Peninsula, and embark on what was likely to be the last major tramping trip I'd be able to take in New Zealand. So, on a Wednesday morning I picked up my rental car and headed South, towards what would prove to be a thrilling week of adventure.

My first day kicked off with a trip to Hot Water Beach, a beach formed over a bed of hot lava. Because of this phenomenon, if you wait until low tide at the beach and dig a large hole, it will fill with hot water from the lava-heated springs below. I knew this in advance, but somehow didn't expect the water to be quite as hot as it was. The water, I later found out, was about 65 degrees Celsius, or around 150 Fahrenheit. In comparison, when I had visited Rotorua I had found any of the hot springs above 42C to be too warm for me, so this was definitely off the table. Still, the beach was beautiful, with turquoise waters and none of the sulfuric stench I had grown to associate with geothermal activity. Back at the hostel I was staying at, I was lucky enough to meet a wide array of other solo travellers, from countries ranging from Austria to fellow Americans, who were eager to join up for some adventuring. This became my group for the next day, when we headed off to visit Cathedral Cove.

After seeing almost the entirety of the North Island, I can conclusively say that Cathedral Cove is my newfound favorite spot. To get to the Cove requires a 90 minute hike, weeding out some of the prospective tourists, and includes detours to several other smaller beaches and lookout points. It was one of those first lookout points that we we hiked up to, atop one of the many cliffs overlooking the Cove, from which I saw a large ray swimming languidly through the waters below. The water in the Cove is so clear that, even from the top of this cliff, it was easy to make out the ray swimming amongst the waves, getting covered by sand then shaking it off again. After this sighting, we hiked down into the cove itself, which is full of waterfalls and caves and huge rocky formations, pieces of the cliffs now part of the ocean. We continued exploring the cove until sunset, which rewarded us with a startlingly pink sky over the Pacific. I headed back to the hostel more than satisfied, and went to bed early in anticipation of the next couple days.

...continue reading "One Last Tramp"

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By Nora_Wolcott

As I enter into the last month of my time in New Zealand, unfortunately cut short by the summer classes I have to take back in DC, I'm doing my best to really get the fullest experience of this beautiful country. This was made a little easier with the arrival of the greatest travel buddy, my boyfriend Bryant, who flew the whole 30 hours from the District to NZ to spend the past 10 days travelling the country with me. The whole trip was jam packed, with way too much to write here, but we did hit three major spots which I'll go into: Rotorua, Wellington and the Marlborough Sounds.

Our first stop was Rotorua, where we spent a weekend taking in the alien geothermal landscape of this volcanic town. Rotorua is known by the locals as Rotten-rua, and for good reason; the geothermal activity that makes this town such a hotspot (literally) for tourists is derived from the sulfur vents that waft rotten-egg fumes throughout the area. The smell wasn't so bad in town, or in our nice secluded AirBnb, but when we got into the geothermal parks it was fairly sickening. The first day was spent bathing in Rotorua's geothermal pools, starting with Kerosene Creek, a naturally formed creek complete with picturesque waterfalls, about the temperature of a hot shower. The creek was enchanting, but after walking around wet in the winter weather we were more than ready for our second stop, the Polynesian Spa. The geothermal baths there drew from the creek water, but were filtered into large hot tub-esque pools overlooking the lake. The whole experience was as relaxing as promised, and well worth the three showers it took to wash the sulfur smell from my hair. We kicked off our second day in Rotorua with a walk around the Wai-o-tapu geothermal park, where the water bubbled at over 200 degrees and turned the landscape bright orange and sulfuric yellow. The alien landscape was a sharp contrast with the river we rafted down later that day, all silver fern and turquoise rapids. The rafting was a real high point of the trip, as we went down the highest commercially rafted waterfall in the world standing at 5m, plunging under the rapids before righting ourselves at the surface.

After a day of class for me and a day hiking the volcanic islands around Auckland for Bryant, we hopped on a plane to Wellington, where we spent the night in an AirBnb perched on a hill, whose glass walls overlooked the Pacific harbor. But we'll get back to Wellington in a second, because the next morning we were off to Picton, the charming town center of the Malborough Sounds, at the Northern tip of the South Island. After a 3.5hr ferry ride spent playing Gin Rummy and admiring the cliffs passing by, we touched down in this quiet town. The uphill walk to our third AirBnb greeted us with views of the Sounds so stunning that, as we checked in, we decided to cancel the trip we had planned to Abel Tasman and stay in Picton an extra night. Picton was shockingly sunny for an NZ town, a living postcard lined with Palm Trees and mountains. Over our three days there, we hiked the "Snout" peninsula, spent a day sea kayaking through the mountains and tried our hand at mountain biking the many trails hidden among the Sounds. Our day kayaking was undeniably my favorite, the cherry on top being the four fur seals that swam alongside us as we made our way through the channels of the Pacific. Mountain biking was both thrilling and terrifying, leaving us muddy but exhilarated, just in time for our second ferry back into Wellington. ...continue reading "Travelling for Two"

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