Study Abroad Programs Blog

My Weekend

By Kent Truckor - Guest blogger studying in Valencia, Spain This past weekend was a busy one but a good one. Friday night I went out with Nicolas for his last night in Valencia. He returned to Italy on Saturday. It is funny how things work out because it seemed like we bonded the last few days that he was around and then it was time for him to go. However, that is how life goes sometimes and I was thankful to have the opportunity to get to know him. Saturday I studied for the better part of the afternoon and then we headed out to the Valencia football game against Sevilla. It was kind of slow at times but the game ended up pretty good with Valencia wining 2 to 1. It was my first time at a European football match and I was happy with the experience. I had friends from other parts of Europe with me to help explain something if I didn't understand it. Sunday, a few friends and I from school went to the Oceano Grafico. It is a large aquarium recently built in Valencia. It contains eight different aquariums depicting the different seas and oceans of the world. I am pretty impressed with the aquarium and it contains many different things to look at. We also caught the dolphin show which is an always a good time. Today, I had to scramble to the Museo de la Ciencias before class. My ticket was only good for today so I made my way there at 10. I think that this was my favorite of all the attractions. The City of Arts and Sciences in Valencia is absolutely beautiful and the Science Museum is no exception. It contains three floors of exhibits and is an interactive museum. I loved it and the whole thing was designed by my favorite architect Santiago Calatrava, one of the reasons I came to Valencia. I spent three hours there but could have easily spent the day with all the different exhibits and things to see. I next made my way to the IMAX movie about Captain Shakletons Expedition to cross the Antarctic in 1919, it was pretty cool and the scenery was amazing. I then headed to school. Now I am going to go rest because I am exhausted!

Arriving to Costa Rica

By Hannah Gieseket - Guest Blogger studying in Heredia, Costa Rica The anticipation of leaving for the trip made it difficult to sleep the night before, but I woke up early on Sunday to make the trip to the airport to begin my journey to Costa Rica. I will be studying in Heredia, Costa Rica for 12 weeks and volunteering for 4 weeks. I did not anticipate the flight to be long since I was leaving from Atlanta but I was anxious about the arrival at the San Jose airport since I would be arriving in a foreign country all alone. AmeriSpan had prepared me that it would possibly take a while to locate the family after I arrived. When you get through customs at the San Jose airport you are awash with taxi drivers and many people with signs trying to locate their next fare or the person that will be staying with them. It did not take me that long to actually locate my host mother and as soon as I waved to her she greeted me with a warm hug and a kiss on the cheek. I immediately felt at home and more relaxed Her daughter and her granddaughter were also with her so the drive home was full of conversation. Given that I am quite rusty on my Spanish, even the 3-year-old granddaughter was difficult to follow but they were so very patient with me and were willing to repeat things multiple times until I understood. The drive through the city was the first taste of the set up of my new home and I can't wait to see more. I start school tomorrow and I feel that I won't be able to sleep for fear that I will over sleep and be late to class. It has been a number of years since I have been in school so the anticipation is like a piece of childhood again. Feels like the first day of elementary school all over again where you wonder who will be in your class, will you be able to find everything okay, will you be able to keep up with your classmates. My host mother will walk me to school in the morning so I'd better get a good night's rest because we have to be there very early. I can't wait to see what tomorrow holds.

A Night Out

By Kent Truckor - Guest blogger studying in Valencia, Spain I just finished my eight week of classes and things seem to be going relatively well. I am officially over a third of the way done with my program and stay in Spain. I feel that I am making relatively good progress with the language however at times it is still a struggle to speak with native speakers when they are in a full blown conversation! However, I believe this is what the next few weeks are for. Little by little, I am progressing and learning what is happening. We went out with Nicolas last night in Valencia. Nicolas is from Italy, is a good guy who loves to go out, and has a strong sense of humor. We went out with his German, Austrian and Italian friends. We went to a few bars and it was a relatively tranquil night, although not early by any means, haha. However, that seems to be the way in Valencia and the rest of Spain. One of the things about this trip that I enjoy more and more is the people that you meet from all over the world and the more you learn about different peoples. Last night I hung out with people from three different countries. From where I am from this is a rarity at best. Through this, I have been given a greater appreciation for different cultures and different ways of thinking. Yes, I am here to learn Spanish and learn more about the Spanish way of life, but that does not mean I cannot learn about other countries if the opportunity presents itself. The majority of the people I meet are kind and open to speaking about their countries and cultures. They are here for the same reason that I am and are happy to share about their countries. I have found my experience up to this point to be informative and interesting. It is a grand change from what I have known in the past. Tonight, myself and a few others are going to head to the Valencia CF game in hopes of cheering the team on to a season opening victory. I will let you all know how it turns out.

Leaving Quito

By Bradley Rehak - Guest Blogger studying in Quito, Ecuador In preparing to leave a place where one has lived for two months, I believe it's good to contemplate a bit on one's successes and failures--in travel and entertainment as well as in language learning. Here, then, are the most prominent points for me. Failures: As previously mentioned, a family with kids my own age would have been better--there would just be more to talk about, and there of course would not have been hearing problems to deal with. Given the situation, though, I think I found quite a bit to talk about with my family. I completely failed in climbing a volcano, Cotopaxi, due to altitude sickness. As I have learned, it takes many weeks to adjust to altitudes like that of Quito when you have lived close to sea level your entire life. I similarly failed to find a close group of Ecuadorian friends to spend most of my time with. Although I did meet many people, my base group of friends for travel, going out, etc were all European or North American descent. Although I can hardly be blamed for the Ecuadorians going to work during the week and having less money. Successes: I learned quite a bit of Spanish. My speech has improved significantly (and significantly more after a beer or two) and I have learned a ton of vocabulary. This was exactly what I set out to do. I also met a lot of people--even if I didn't form strong or lasting friendships, I still had many lengthy conversations in Spanish on a wide variety of subjects. I ate a lot of good food, which compliment can be paid directly to my host mom, who almost never repeated meals and kept me well-fed. I managed to avoid being robbed (up until now), having only lost a stocking cap while in Quito. And I took a ton of good pictures, with which to bore my friends and family for years to come. In sum, I believe I can say Mission Accomplished.

Progress and Diversity

By Kent Truckor - Guest blogger studying in Valencia, Spain Today we began to study the past tenses of the Spanish. I am excited about this because this will give me the opportunity to no longer sound so one-dimensional when I talk. In my class, I now have students from Germany, Poland, US and China. I appreciate the diversity and it seems to make things more interesting because of this. I do not believe the school would be as fun if it were not for the diversity. As time progresses I see and meet more new people because the enrollment of the school is always changing and adjusting. This is good and bad at the same time which I figure you can guess the reasons. However, I appreciate the change and look forward to meeting new people. I have spoke with a friend about traveling and visiting other locations in Spain. From what I have seen of Spain and what I have heard I think it is a must to visit other locations. My teachers have told us that each part of community of Spain holds something different from one and other. I would like to experience each part of Spain at one point but I know that this is a little bit on a stretch to do. Therefore, I plan on focusing on some parts of Spain. The north and central part of Spain possesses much beauty in the way of castles and cascading mountain ranges; the coasts and the south posses beaches and a lively night scene. I am amazed at the diversity that Spain possesses in regards to the landscape, the culture and the people. The country is made up of different communities and each community is very proud of its heritage and culture. Therefore, each one of these communities makes an effort to hold on to its heritage and differentiate itself from the others. This makes for a dynamic travel experience for anyone; especially considering that, each one of the communities is not that far logistically from each other. In conclusion - I believe that Spain is a wonderful country to visit for travelers - you will just want to make sure you bring your Spanish dictionary with you :)