United States – GW Blogs from Abroad

U.S. vs. Thai Agricultural Practices

AdminMarch 13, 2015December 14, 2018

My program here in Thailand consists of five two-week academic units that we complete before beginning our research at the end of the semester. The first week is spent attending lectures, doing readings and participating in activities surrounding our topic. Then, for the last week we travel to a village in Thailand to live with a host family and participate in exchanges with different organizations. The units we will be studying this semester include Agriculture, Thai Politics, Chang Mai (a province in Thailand), Land Use/Forests, and Mining and Development. After spending the first month taking intensive Thai classes and immersing ourselves in Thai culture and history, we began our first unit on agriculture.

At the end of this unit, we stayed in a homestay in Yasothon province, where we lived with organic farmers. In Yasothon, we learned firsthand about the differences between organic and chemical farming and compared both the Thai and American agricultural systems. One thing I really enjoyed about the unit was learning about Thai perspectives on American agriculture.

On the last day of our stay in Yasothon, our group met with P. Ubon, the coordinator of the Alternative Agriculture Network in Thailand. The Alternative Agriculture Network is an organization that works with the Thai government and various NGOs to empower communities and farmers to move away from chemical-intensive monocropping.

Throughout the exchange with P. Ubon, we asked him a lot of questions about the future of Thailand’s agricultural system and the problems with the system as it is. In a lot of cases, he blamed the United States for the direction the Thai agricultural system is heading. He explained that because Thailand is developing so fast, the number of small-scale farms is decreasing and technology-based farming, like what is common in the U.S., is increasing. According to P. Ubon, this poses a large threat to the well being of the Thai people because it means there will be more health problems, debt and environmental degradation in Thailand. However, when we asked P. Ubon about how Thailand plans to address this shift in agricultural practices, he said it was the responsibility of the United States to solve.

P. Ubon’s answer really surprised me. While the United States may be able to reform the agricultural system of the U.S., it was difficult to understand how the U.S. would be able to change the future of Thailand’s farming practices. Though we ran out of time with P. Ubon, I would love to visit the province later in the semester and talk to him more about how the United States could help Thailand or why the United States might be interested in helping to preserve Thai farming practices.

The End (of LBV)

AdminJanuary 30, 2014December 14, 2018

By DandyLion

The volunteer work I did over the course of the Fall 2013 semester was perhaps the most rewarding experience of my entire first six months abroad. I did so much at La Bicicleta Verde - from getting to know the company, I learned about the city inside and out, which taught me more than I am sure I am still aware of. I know so much about Santiago from the tours that I gave and observed during my time at LBV, and I couldn't be more grateful to have learned it all - especially considering Santiago, Chile is a place I would be absolutely willing to move back to, and in fact am for the Spring 2014 semester! I worked in the office as well, doing research for the company, as well as scheduling, emailing and other various office tasks. During my time, I also was given the opportunity to walk the city by foot, going from hotel to hotel, maintaining our good relationships with the local lodging facilities in efforts to encourage them to send tourists our way.

The major challenges I faced were initially the language barrier, which was quickly overcome due to time and practice, and the lack of information, which was superseded by the same methodology. I am extremely proud of my now fluent understanding and grasp of the Spanish language - but more so than Spanish, than what is practically known as the Chilean dialect, which is extraordinarily difficult to comprehend and communicate in. They say that if you can speak Chilean, you can speak any time of Spanish - and I now speak Chilean!

I absolutely feel like I made a difference in my community. Apart from the good relationships maintained with other local businesses, office work in helping the small tour company to stay on its feet without excessive expenditures, and green tourism, I felt as though I was able to perpetuate a positive view of Santiago, Chile to the tourists of the rest of the world who came to visit, which I am especially proud of as I believe that many US Americans do not have a particularly fond view of Chile and perhaps other Latin American countries due to unknown reasons, stereotypical or otherwise. This enhanced my time abroad exponentially; it gave me a very real reason to feel happy and helpful in my community, and the people who I worked with were phenomenal. It was wonderful to go to work.

Now that I am done with my Fall 2014 study abroad program in Chile, I plan to continue it going into the next semester! I had such an outstanding time that I decided to prolong my graduation and spend a bit more time in the city that stole my heart. If I don't choose to continue at LBV, I may consider more strongly teaching English as another volunteer opportunity, which has proven to quite a few of my acquaintances to be rather rewarding itself. When I come back to GWU within the next year, we can only wait and see what happens, but if I can find a way to do green tourism there, I would be delighted! ¡Hasta luego, gracias y ciao!

Ideas from Abroad: Jungle Gyms for Everyone

AdminNovember 21, 2013December 14, 2018

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