Study Abroad Programs Blog

Celebrity Homes Abroad

Part 3 - By Alexa Boyce I can't seem to remember how many of these I've done now, but someone must be reading them as I've been asked to write another! So... Lake Como, Italy Well it was recently rumored that the new hot couple BRANGELINA (Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie) were going to hold their wedding at friend George Clooney's 25 room villa on Lake Como just outside of Milan, Italy. While this bit of juicy gossip may or may not be true, I can tell you that the ex-ER doc bought Villa Oleandra in 2001 when he was attracted to the outdoor theater, large swimming pool and garage to house a collection of motorcycles. Oddly enough, Lake Como was featured on a rerun of "America's Next Top Model" that I saw recently. The models had a photo shoot at designer Stephen Fairchild's Lake Como mansion. Switzerland Canadian country singer Shania Twain shares a house with her husband Mutt Lange near French-speaking Montreux, Switzerland. Their 19th century manor on the shores of Lake Geneva. While she likes it there, she recently made an offer on 16,000 hectare Motatapu Station in New Zealand. David Bowie also lives in French speaking Switzerland. He moved into the 20 room Chateau du Signal in Lausanne in 1981. The house was used in the filming of Claude Chabrol's film Merci Pour le Chocolat (Thank You for the Chocolate) in 2000. Since 1986, Tina Turner has lived in the fashionable Guldkuste district of Zurich in German-speaking Switzerland. Her lake view estate is shared with a mysterious Swiss businessman. Bahamas Johnny Depp famously purchased the ultimate luxury: his own private island in the West Indies. Little Hall's Pond Cay cost him $3.6 million (USD) and comes with six white beaches and a central lagoon surrounded by shady palm trees. Paparazzi not included. Fiji Controversial actor Mel Gibson followed suit with his own private island in Fiji in February 2005. Its 5,411 acres make Mago Island the largest privately owned island in the South Pacific (and its $15 million price tag makes it probably one of the most expensive). It is home to the largest sugar and cotton plantation in the region, and according to a lawsuit challenging his ownership, it was also once home to 500 tribespeople!

Arriving to Costa Rica

By Laura Miller - Guest blogger traveling in Costa Rica. Hola! Here I am in Samara Beach Costa Rica! It is beautiful! So incredibly beautiful. Imagine Maui, with farms. We arrived via bus yesterday afternoon. We spent the first night in the capital city, San Jose. We stayed the first night together (me, Stephanie and Angel) in a very nice house. I was surprised at how nice it was. I guess I was prepared for ghetto Mexico style, but it was quite nice. I tried Spanish, but it was difficult. I feel like a baby! We then piled in a bus with like 20 other people (all from Colorado, and yes Shon and Scott those gross croc shoes were abundant with them) It was a long 5 hour bus ride with no heat. We arrived at the school which will be nice. It has a view of the beach. The best thing to see after the long bus ride. We were quickly picked up by our families and taken to the homestay. I said goodbye to my American comfort zone and headed out. Let me tell you, it isn't exactly as I thought it would be. I guess I wasn't sure what I thought it would be at all actually. I am living on a farm. Apparently, they have something like 300 cows and 75 horses and parrots. Of course along with the animals come the flies and the mosquitoes. The first day and I am already suffering from mosquito bites. I am getting used to the smell of Repel bug spray. The family I am staying with is very nice. I can tell they are trying to be understanding of my lack of language ability. The mama of the whole gang is Cristina. She is very nice (and noticeably frustrated too with this language barrier). Talking to her was difficult, and we ended up kind of staring at each other, like too tired to go on. There is also her son and brother who live there. I was also blessed with another American girl at the end of the night that returned home. We eat a lot of fruit, I am sure by the end I will be done with pineapple and banana. And this morning I asked for milk in my coffee and Cristina asked her son to get some milk, STRAIGHT OUT OF THE COW! Not exactly the non-fat milk I am so used to. She makes a lot of food too; I am not sure how to say no thank you to it all. I did get lost trying to get back to the school later that night (walking of course) and I decided to take the way of the beach (which apparently is much longer). On the way to the beach I stopped to ask directions from a crazy group of people (one who offered me free surf lessons at some far away beaches, ahhh locals, I will pass on that offer! I don't want to go to a deserted beach with Jose!). I found my way and while walking on the beach there was a donkey just hanging out there. I am serious! This donkey! It was so strange. I said hi to it and kept walking until I reached my destination. The negative parts: I am so FRUSTRATED with this language barrier! Let me just say, staying alone the first night in a place where I could not communicate was humbling. I spent the day feeling incredibly stupid (and I must say, I am not a fan of that feeling.) I also spent the first night confused, and doubting why I am here. It will be good though. A learning experience is always a good thing. Right? And I took the placement test and am in the baby level, so none of my Spanish speaking American friends will be with me in the class. I am learning just how dependent on cell phones and modern conveniences that I am. I miss starbucks already, and the comfort of my stuff. (Maybe living alone for a year taught me way too much independence). I keep looking for the cell phone to call someone. (I didn't even bring my phone) and though the family has a television, they don't seem to watch it. They actually just hang out and talk (though I sit and stare). I will be learning the lesson of slowing down on this trip for sure (not so easy for me). Also I am not sure how to live with this family, I know I have lived with other peoples families before, but this is different. I also am weared out with the toilet paper in the trash can thing. Ahh but at last. This will be a very educational trip. I will do my best to learn mucho espanol!!!!

Chinese cooking in Cusco

By Tina Lin - Guest blogger traveling in Peru. I started to prepare lunch at 8:30am. I promised Senor Ramiro that I would make them one Chinese meal before I leave for the US. My flight to Lima is on Friday. I really don't feel like leaving. I love the people, the language and simply Cusco. Delia, our house cook helped me with cooking. It is always a little awkward when I am cooking in someone else's kitchen. I made this traditional Taiwanese beef stew, Teriyaki Chicken and fried rice. I was afraid they would not like it. But the lunch turned out really well. After lunch, I went to class at 2 pm. Today, it was just me and Gail in class. Marie, our French classmate stayed home to hang out with her housemate. Our teacher this week is Laura. She told us about the curandera (fortune teller) that is very famous in Huasao. She got the director's permission to let us go tomorrow. I will have to look up words in Quechua tonight to figure out what to ask the fortune teller. I am a little excited about that and a little scared. What if they tell me something that I am afraid to hear? In the US, I have always avoided going to tarot card readers or looking into horoscopes. Part of me just does not want to think of what the future has in store for me. I would rather take life one step at a time blindly and learn from my mistakes. Tonight, my classmates are going out to dinner then to Mama Africa to dance. I went to Mama Africa last Friday. I liked the live music. The music carries a very distinctive beat and energy that uplifts everyone's spirit. I did not tell my classmates for certain if I will go or not. Personally, I would like to stay home and spend more time with my host family. But it is also one of my last nights here in Cusco. I should try to do as much as I can. I walked home tonight with a different route. On the way, I went into a big supermarket like the ones in US. I bought some Cusquena and a jar of sauco jelly. I think my guy friends will really love Peruvian beer as a gift. I am just scared of breaking the bottle in my backpack on the plane. I will try to start packing tonight and maybe even go out to dance.

San Miguel de Allende

Must see! By Alexa Boyce San Miguel was founded in 1542, with the "de Allende" part being added later in honor of the independence patriot born there. San Miguel de Allende today is a city of vistas: the town was built on a hillside facing the Rio Laja and with a great view of the Guanajuato mountains. The view from the mineral spring El Chorro, in the center of town, has been declared a national monument. San Miguel is also famous for its nearly perfect year-round weather. It is also not as large as some other attractions nearby, and most sights can be reached from the town center on foot. El Chorro: Of course, if you are visiting San Miguel de Allende, the view from El Chorro cannot be missed. The entire city builds up to it in terraces, and the brightly colored domes of at least 20 churches can be seen from the top. Plaza Principal: According to Footprints travel guides, this serves as a sort of "open-air living room for the whole town". Social life in San Miguel revolves around the market and the Jardin here. It is surrounded by several colonial buildings of note, including the Palacio Municipal, the elaborately decorated La Parroquia church, and the church of San Felipe Neri a the southwest end of the market. Palo Huerfano: This mountain is situated on the south end of town. It will take a good day to hike it, but once again, the views are absolutely breathtaking. Comonfort: Along the way to Celaya, 3 km north of Comonfort, you will run into some pre-Colombian ruins near Rancho Arias. It's definitely worth a look for any amateur archaeologist! La Concepcion: The large baroque style building was erected in 1734 as a summer convent for the Condes de Canal. Today it houses both the Art school of Centro Cultural Ignacio Ramirez Nigromonte and also the language school Instituto Allende.

Surfing Costa Rica

By Connie Marianacci One of the most recognized places in the world for surfing is Costa Rica. Why? * warm water * affordable prices * over 700 miles of coastline * international tournaments are hosted here * many other adventurous activities available. * great waves all year round Jaco Beach in particular is one of the best choices. It is the closest beach from San Jose attracting both tourists and locals on the weekends and holidays. It takes about 2 ½ hours to get to Jaco Beach by bus or car so it is ideal to combine a stay in the city and at the beach. Jaco is the surfing beach party capital of Costa Rica with over twenty bars and many surf shops. Surf during the morning, shop and hang out in the afternoon and go out at night! Never a dull moment to spare. Here is what Waive Junters has to say about Jaco: "Beach break slammers. Prevailing wind is SW after 10 am. Blocked from NW swell. S and SW only. 7km of beach with lots of peaks. Plenty of waves. Strong current, difficult to get out when over 5ft." If you are going international.... find all the benefits at one location, Costa Rica! PURA VIDA! Great Resource: http://www.surfing-waves.com/

Why Homestays?

By Kayla Allen There are plenty of good reasons to stay with a family when traveling and I'll tell you what they are. If you've decided to do a language immersion program the first thing you should embrace is the idea of immersing yourself in another culture. Homestays offer a really easy way of doing this. Usually the families have had long standing relationships with their school and even though they don't speak English they've had many students before you arriving to their homes not knowing their language. They're used to this process and won't be offended if you can't say everything you should to be a polite guest or to carry on a conversation. They know that this will come in time. Helpful hint: do try to use what little language skills you may have. It's always nice to try to communicate even if it sounds broken and nonsensical, they won't hold it against you. Once you've got a little vocab and grammar under your belt though that's when living with a native speaking family really comes in handy. What could be more effective and efficient than living and eating with people who know and will ask you to use the language your whole trip is based around learning. It's like a 24-hour classroom. Hint: try to intentionally incorporate the vocabulary and grammar that you're learning in class into your conversations with your hosts, this will help reinforce what you're learning in school and hear what responses it elicits from your hosts as well. This will help to broaden your knowledge base of the language. Along with it's other potential benefits, choosing a homestay is invariably the most inexpensive way to go; unless of course you have a second home in your chosen study location. If this is your good fortune why ball means, stay there, and kudos! All of the above are reason enough to choose a homestay but it's hard to evaluate just how potentially meaningful living with native speaking family can be. There is something so amazing about traveling to another country and getting to know someone truly on their terms. You're learning their language, living in their home, eating their food and experiencing their culture and they are sharing it with you. Living with a family can put a whole new prospective on traveling abroad and add a positive element to your language program you just might not have expected.

Preparing for Costa Rica

By Laura Miller - Guest blogger traveling in Costa Rica. The Costa Rica countdown begins! I leave for Costa Rica, specifically Samara Beach, in three days. I am leaving with the hope of relaxation and fun in mind. It has been a long and tough year for me. What with teaching a classroom of crazy seventh graders, surviving a year of living in my own apartment all alone, finishing my master's degree and trying to find some leftover time for fun! Phew! I am tired! Thank goodness, I have a break coming so soon! Although, I find that my excitement is coupled with a little bit of nervousness as I am leaving to go to a country I know little of, with people who speak a language I am not very familiar with either. However, the incentive of gaining an amazing new perspective on life draws me in. This trip all came about a couple of months ago when my friend Angel told me that she is going to leave the country for five weeks with this program to learn Spanish and stay at a white sand beach. I was intrigued with her plans and found out more for myself. I also did not want her to go alone and thought, "Hey I have the whole summer off, why not go with her!" Now it is Angel, myself and two other California girls leaving the country in hopes of relaxation and tan. The things that I look forward to the most are the language classes, the Latin cooking classes, surf lessons, rainforests, horseback riding on the beach, the dance classes and of course, the golden bronze tan I will return home with. I am also looking forward to meeting the Spanish family that I will be staying with. I am writing this blog three times a week, which will be interesting to chronicle the adventure that will no doubt be one of the most amazing times of my life. I pray that all goes well at home while I am gone, and that all goes smoothly during the travels there and back. I am also going to pray that the bugs are kind to me as I hear they are fierce! So here, I find myself all packed and ready to leave the country passport and travelers checks in hand! Off we go!

Excursion Around Cusco

By Tina Lin - Guest blogger traveling in Peru. We have a short excursion this morning to Qoricancha. I have passed by this site many times because it is located on Avenida Del Sol. It is where the bank and house of change are. Qoricancha was built in 1440 by a great Inka King, Tupac Yapunqui, also known as Pachacutec. It made me so sad that much of this magnificent site was destroyed by the Spaniards and the San Dominican church was built on top of its foundation. Some parts of temples still remained. We saw Temple of Rainbows, thunder, and open ceremonial room. Let me write a few words about each of these three rooms. The Temple of Rainbow was used to establish connection with gods above. It was believed that rainbow is one of the ways humans can connect with gods. The window from this room lined up perfectly with the windows in the other two rooms. They used bamboo like plants and basins filled with water to detect whether the rocks were lined up or not. The open ceremonial room was used to sacrifice llamas. The animal's heart was taken out. If the llama had a good colored heart, it predicted good future. Black llamas were used because the color black symbolized invincibleness. In Western culture, white symbolized holiness. However, white could be contaminated whereas black remains black even if you add other colors into it. The third temple was for thunder. It was believed that thunder represented life. With thunder comes rain, with rain plants and animals will flourish. Across the courtyard, we also visited temple of the stars. This is a temple used to observe the star positioning in the sky. People believe that the Inka knew that earth rotates because they knew about the solstices, equinox and the planets. However, they did not have a system to record their findings in tapestry or writing. Most of what people knew was passed down generations after another through word of mouth. In the middle of the courtyard sat a fountain that had been to many places. It was stolen many times but now returned to its original place. This fountain served in rain ceremonies. Inka believed when there was a lack of rain, it was because the sun was thirsty. Thus, they would fill up the fountain with sacred drink, Chicha. Then they would wait until it rains (which signified that the sun was satisfied and decided to go to bathroom). We walked out of the courtyard onto the wings of the building. There were a shelf where a Tambor Solar (disc of sun made in gold) used to be. It was believed that before the Spaniards had a chance to destroy Qoricancha, a Cusqueno hid this disk in the cave in Sacsayhuaman. This lead to many expeditions that ended in many deaths of students and explorers. The caves in Sacsayhuaman connects to Qoricancha, Ollantaytambo, Pisac and other ruins. Many years ago, 4 students went into the large cave in Sacsayhuaman and never came out alive. Only one student was found one day at the exit at Qoricancha. The government decided to close down the large cave in Sacsayhuaman and the entrance here in Qoricancha. I wonder if one day more daring souls would venture into these caves and tunnels. After my visit to Qoricancha, I walked around and ran into Convento de Merced (where my host family's daughter got married). I spent half hour taking a tour of this beautiful church of Merced order. The guide was very helpful because he spoke English. Even after this month of intensive Spanish lessons, I still preferred a guided tour in English. I love the Septor adorned with pearls, beautiful gems and diamonds displayed in one of these rooms. Too bad I could not take any pictures here. At lunch time, I went to the market to buy vegetables and meat for lunch tomorrow. I promised my host family I would cook them some Chinese food. I am very nervous about how my cooking will turn out. I have to admit that I am not familiar with their oven and their cookware. I just want to give thanks to my favorite person in the house, Delia, the cook and mother of 2 beautiful children (Anita and Sebastian). Everyday she cooked for me and talked to me for a long time. I also love the children very much.

Kung Fu Hustle Movie

Bt Kayla Allen Is a hilarious Kung Fu movie, one that's actually trying to be funny. Trying and succeeding I might add. I doubt with all it's awesome martial arts action however that it would disappoint even the most die hard of Kung Fu fans. It will even please those who would rather watch anything other than "another boring foreign film" because chances are, they've never seen one this funny. Set in an indeterminate time in China when gangs rule everything and take anything they want; the only safe thing to be is poor. Until the day a small-time con artist turns the gang's sights onto an impoverished town called Pig Sty Alley. But Pig Sty Alley is not just any other destitute village; it happens to have a high concentration of Kung Fu masters. This where the fun starts. Well, maybe the fun started a little earlier when the Axe Gang, the antagonists are introduced in an unlikely and expertly executed dance sequence. Even with all the humor and Kung Fu the heart of this movie is never lost. The beauty of cinematography and framing is un-compromised and the music is as important in the film as any other one of its elements. To top it off, there is love, if just a little, but very sweet, ending the movie on a perfect note. Its main focus seems to be however that there is greatness in everyone it just sometime takes a little coaxing to bring to the surface and even the most unlikely candidates can be heroes. This movie might not tell you much about modern day China or even China at any specific time period but if you're learning Chinese and quick, it might teach you some pretty funny vocabulary, not to mention some pretty impressive fight moves. Well worth the watch. Related Movies: * Same action choreographer as Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon and The Matrix. * From the director of Shaolin Soccer - same kind of humor, same kind of heart. * Comedic if bloody Kung Fu: Kill Bill I & II Non-comedic, beautiful, recent Kung Fu movies: Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, Hero, House of Falling Daggers.

Popular Study Abroad Questions

Part 2 - By Alexa Boyce Back by popular demand, I've decided to answer a few more frequently asked questions here! How much money should I bring with me? This depends on several factors, including which country you are visiting, if your lodging includes meals and how many, how many excursions you plan to participate in and what kinds of extra souvenirs you plan to purchase. Countries in Central America such as Guatemala, Costa Rica and Panama should be fairly inexpensive. The cost of living in the southern part of South America, however, is probably more comparable with the US or Europe. If you are staying with a homestay, generally between 1 and 3 meals per day is included. Please check the individual location pages on our website for details. Excursions can cost between $30 USD and $200 USD, depending on the distance and time you plan to travel. Check with the school upon your arrival for a schedule of upcoming trips Please note that we recommend a combination of cash (you can exchange dollars at the airport upon your arrival or at a travel agency ahead of time), credit and traveler's checks. While traveler's checks are waning in popularity, they are still recommended in case your wallet is lost or stolen or you visit a remote area that does not offer ATMs. What is the difference between the Spanish taught in Latin America vs. the Spanish taught in Spain? Grammatically, the biggest difference is the use of the 'vosotros' subject in verb conjugation in Spain. The accents also differ as well as colloquialisms and slang terms. These differences I would equate to the difference between British English and American English. The two dialects are mutually intelligible and won't pose a problem. Please keep in mind that the same differences exist between countries in Latin America, similar to regional dialects in the US. Program-Specific FAQ Lists can be found at the following links: * Volunteer/Intern * Teenager Summer Abroad * SALUD Medical Spanish * Business Language Immersion * MAESTRO Programs for Educators