Shattered Preceptions

Posted on February 11, 2014 by Study Abroad

One month down, two more to go! Any thoughts I’ve had about this wonderfully, diverse country have all been challenged, changed, redirected and shattered. I knew the western perspective had some misconceptions about India but I’m now realizing just how many. This week I had the chance to get to know two girls who came from Mumbai who just joined as part of the communications team. We spoke on many things together regarding Indian traditions, customs and the not so simple ways of life. From an outsider’s view women staying at home and working; cooking and cleaning and watching after the children is simple. Yes, the acts in and of itself may be simple but take a deeper look and there are many rules and customs to abide by. For example, when there are two bothers the oldest brother and the youngest brother’s wife aren’t allowed to have a relationship, at all. They can’t talk or see each other. When he enters the house he either coughs or calls to someone in order to warn her of his entrance so she’ll leave the room. In family pictures he’ll stand in the back and she’ll be brought in at the end, veiled and be ushered out first thing. The reason for this is to keep order in the joint family. If they don’t have a relationship it’s easier to give and take orders.

I have learned so incredibly much through these wonderful ladies and through conducting interviews with Team Balika members. This week I got to visit a couple more schools where the students adorably sang and danced for us and went to a temple opening festival. At the festival, was mass amounts of food for the whole village to be fed but still there were dividers set up for the division of the different castes to eat behind. In some ways there is so much progress and in other areas the old traditions have such a tight hold still. Traditions are great in order to not lose the base culture but some traditions are very harsh in discrimination and dividing the people.

Chatting with the leader of the village at the temple ceremony

Happy faces waving goodbye at a girl’s hostel

The quote on the bottom says, “Woman today don’t know how to pray but the speak English.” We pulled him over because are proud of this fact!

The more people I meet, the more my mind is filled with knowledge and history. Watching the young girls in the hostel sing and dance, with an extra shimmer in their eyes because they don’t have to go back to a home where they may have to work lots or abuse takes place was remarkable. Hearing them giggle and call after me “Didi, Didi,” (Big Sister) is why I’m here; to help make this whole world attainable to them. If Educate Girls can enroll just one more girl or convince one more father to let his daughter study past the age of 15 then our work here is done. Fighting for the cause. ~Anna

“Do not follow where the path may lead. Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

Febru-where has the time gone?

Posted on February 10, 2014 by Study Abroad

It has been exactly a month that I have been here in Ghana. I am frequently asked, “How do you see Ghana?” as in how do I like it here. I see Ghana as a an ever changing atmosphere of some of the kindest people I’ve ever met. Throughout the day, you can see the city slowly rise with the crow of roosters. People begin the hard days work early before it gets too hot. The city slowly turns into a hustle and bustle atmosphere before you know it.

When I respond to people of how I see Ghana, I tell them how much I am enjoying my time here. I love the that the streets do not have names, I love how people are so interested to speak with me and tell me how much THEY love Ghana. I love the food so much. I love that we eat mainly with our hands because it really indulges all of your senses. I love the little kids who yell to me “Obruni! Obruni!” (which means foreigner, or white person). I love responding to them with “Obibini!” (a non-slandering word for black person or African).

When I go to my internship at the Beacon House Orphanage, the kids and house mothers are as happy to see me as I am to see them. They have warmed up to me so much and so quickly, but even more so because they know I will be here longer than most of the people that pass through. I am by no means a teacher, but the kids see me as one and everyday they show me more and more respect. Something I believe is earned and not given. It can sometimes be stressful because I am the only volunteer there currently, so I have a lot of my plate as far as what needs to be done. Thankfully I can consider myself a jack of most trades, so anything I do I can do well. The other day, they had a water tank delivered. I knew before coming here how precious water was, however I did not fully grasp that concept until I saw how excited everyone was for that water. The kids, the housemothers, they were all jumping and screaming. It really put things into perspective for me.

This weekend, I traveled to Cape Coast, the capital of the Central Region, to visit the Elmina Slave Castle. The castle was built by the Portuguese and also used by the Dutch and British, and was the last waiting place for slaves before they were smuggled to Europe, South America, or now the US. The castle was used for 3 centuries, and it was quite the experience to see where millions and millions of people were held for months at a time in horrendous conditions. Some were even placed in solitude to die of starvation and dehydration. Female slaves were forced to have sex with the guards, and if they refused, they were tied to a cannon ball in the middle of a courtyard to be beaten and tortured. It was so quiet there.

I also had the opportunity to visit Kakum National Park. Here they have a 7 bridge canopy walk. I am not particularly afraid of heights. However being held up so high about the earth on nothing but rope and planks was an experience that made me think about how little we need to rely on in this world. It also made me realize that everything in life serves a purpose. We are all part of a greater universe and interdependent on one another whether plant, animal, human being, or one of the elements.

Onto week 4- travel, tennis and more tennis.

Posted on February 8, 2014 by Study Abroad

I have been without internet and keeping a written journal until I could catch up.. So here it is. ( 2/07/2013)

I feel like my blogs are a bit boring, being in an English speaking country that really doesn’t feel much different than home. I worked my first tennis tournament last week and it was a lot of fun. It was a bit hectic with a lot of things to learn, but in the end it was rewarding being able to help out and run the last day of the tournament by myself. I fall more in love with this place everyday! The country, the people, and every other little thing that I encounter every day.

The people I work with are so amazing and welcoming and I have been babysitting one of the ladies little 8 month old boy. He is the cutest and so much fun! I finally have company at home now that my roommate moved in! It’s been a lot of fun being able to show her around and have nights out together. The Rugby 7’s is going on right now and it is a huge rugby tournament that takes place at the stadium. It is a huge dress up, city wide party and it’s crazier than a Halloween night in the states. We are going to the stadium dressed up tomorrow and we’re really excited.

One of the ladies I work with let my roommate and I take her car for a few days, so we went and took some time off of work and went around to surrounding cities and just kind of went exploring. The weather has been kind of crazy, it isn’t surprising to experience all the seasons in one day here. You never know if it’s going to stay really nice or rain all day.

I work all day and then go out exploring on foot most of the time afterwards, so my stories and blogs aren’t too exciting.

Until next week,

Amanda

One of the bridges my roommate and I found while exploring!

Tonight is the first night of the Rugby 7’s and we’re almost off for our night dressed as Minnie Mouse and a hippie!

Pure Joy and Hair Flying

Posted on February 4, 2014 by Study Abroad

Meetings, meetings and more meetings. Not only is it the end of the month so monthly review and planning was happening but the District Manager from Pali came down to discuss the past years goals and set new targets. 7-hour meetings ended up in passing notes and drawing pictures in our notebooks so I could understand the discussion. Amongst the discussions were things such as proper drinking, separate restrooms or electricity in the schools. It’s times like these where I find myself just listening and realizing this is still truly an issue.

This week we also said goodbye to our friend and co-worker as she is taking another position up in Pali. One tradition that’s held at going away parties is you feed each other cake, just like at a wedding. Everyone took turns feeding and receiving cake from our departing one. So many fun traditions I’m constantly being exposed to and learning about.

Big City!!!!! I took my first vacation to Udaipur this weekend, also known as the City of Lakes, which is about 2.5 hours by bus. Often it’s called “The Venice of the East” since everything’s built around the lakes and canals. During the day it’s bustling with tourists and making their way around to the gorgeous temples, the City Palace, nature reserves and markets. There are structures in the middle of the lake you can boat out to and just sit and relax. At night the city is illuminated by colors on the hills, immaculate hotel lights and the little structures along the lake side with changing colors. One of my good friend’s fellows lives near by so he came to hang out for Sunday. We went for lunch at this wonderful restaurant where two different sets of tourists came in. They would look at me sitting with two Indians, wearing a Kurta and just look so puzzled. One couple flipped through an ‘Indian Lonley Planet’ guidebook as they ate. I laughed to myself for I felt like this time, I was the tourist! So great!

During the day it was hilarious to watch other foreign tourists’ reactions as we drove by on the fellows motorcycle. I can only imagine their thoughts, “Oh no! A foreign girl on the back of an Indian man’s motorcycle I hope she’s okay,” or other foreign couples would stare as they wondered around trying to navigate or hoping their rickshaw was headed in the right direction. It’s been a dream of mine to ride one and with pure joy and hair flying that dream was fulfilled. That night I also had some cold coffee that tasted just like my caramel frappaccinos, ahhhh!!!! 😀 How lovely it was to get a little break and …. to see foreigners! One sight I will ever forget was a party in the slums. As we drove past the small houses and tents you could hear music playing and cheering. A break in the hut’s walls revealed many, many children gathered around an orange glow from a fire and two children dancing their little hearts out on a stage. What a cool sight to be seen. I’m going to try and paint it so I never forget that moment.

The lake view of the city

Curry and Chocolate Banana Pancakes!

At Jagdish Temple in Udaipur

With certain hotels not allowing foreigners, little begging children and the incredible beauty of the lakes and palaces, this city had it all. I’m excited to go back and explore more later. Essentially I am here for work though, so back to the grind. ~Anna

“Travel and change of place impart new vigor to the mind.” -Seneca

It is already February?!

Posted on February 3, 2014 by Study Abroad

How did this happen?? I have already been in Costa Rica for 1/4 of my semester abroad. So far so good though, so I am not complaining!! I have experienced so much here already and have been blessed enough to get to travel a good amount.

Tomorrow I start my second of three (or hopefully four… I am working on changing it to four) Spanish language intensive classes. By the end of this month I hope to be speaking much better and more fluently! This is going to be a great month, I already know it! As always, this shorter month will fly by, and before I know it I will be half way done with my semester. Next week I have my midterms in my elective classes, so it will probably hit me in the face again then.

I have not gotten to interact with the locals here as much as I might have liked, so this month I am going to try and talk to more people here along with more observations. My host brothers who are close to my age are a good start too! I will definitely be trying to hold longer conversations with them this month as I continue learning more Spanish.

There will also be much more exploration of San Jose this month, so I can see how my expectations of city interactions compare to the real deal.

Look for more reflections on that later!

Buenas Noches!
Nicole

PS. Go Seahawks!! I was one of just a few people here reppin’ the beautiful Northwest USA, and I am proud of it!! Woop Woop!

One month in Costa Rica

Posted on February 3, 2014 by Study Abroad

Holy cow… I have already been living in Costa Rica for a month!
Each morning at breakfast my wonderful Mama Tica makes me something delicious, and it feels like she is still just spoiling me because its my first week here or something…but nope! She just love me and my roommates that much that she spoils us every day 😉

I am finished with my first Spanish Intensive class now, and starting Feb 4th I will be moving on to the next level. I definitely need to practice speaking more outside of class. I want to make sure I am taking time to actually LEARN the language well, and not just do homework to get a good grade. Same goes for my Tropical Marine Biology and Digital Photography classes. I have already learned a lot in each of those classes, but I want to actually retain the knowledge long term!

February is going to be the month I focus on intrinsic goods; health, relaxation, happiness, reading, and studying. The food here that my Mama Tica (host mom) makes is incredible…every single day. But now that it has been a month I am going to make sure I am eating less beans and rice (even though its always so yummy!) and start working out again. I feel so much better when I am healthy, and I will be much happier taking photos in my bathing suit since it is summer here! I also have been wanting to start reading more, and using my time to do something that is beneficial for me. Not in a selfish way or anything, but it is good to be intentional about your actions, even if that means intentionally relaxing to make sure you get enough rest.

This new Spanish Intensive class will require more studying, so I think I will spend more time at my host family’s house studying, talking with them more, and practicing! I am so excited though, since I am eager to be able to speak in more complete thoughts, and more fluently.

Costa Rica has a 90 day tourist visa (passport stamp), and since I will be here until May 3rd I needed to leave the country before then to renew it. This last weekend I went to Bocas Del Torro in Panama. It was a cute little island and I got to go see some dolphins, snorkel for a very little bit, go to 2 excellent beaches, and go to a cool dance club on the water! Being in Panama was a bit different than in Costa Rica, since the people on the island were darker skinned, spoke faster, and there were lots of Chinese people there who had businesses. That was definitely the first time I had heard a Chinese woman speak Spanish very very quickly, and with an accent. In Panama they also use US dollars as the currency. The bills are the same, but they had different coins…but all of them said United States of America! It was kind of confusing, to be honest! I love the look of various currencies though, so I kept a couple of those other coins as souvenirs.

The boat launch in Bocas for the beach/dolphin tour we went on.

Next weekend I plan on staying in San Jose and taking in the city a bit more. I want to continue to observe the Tico’s (locals) and catch up on some rest.

Chao!
Nicole

Week Three in Costa Rica

Posted on February 3, 2014 by Study Abroad

So my third week in Costa Rica just flew by! I have been keeping busy with excursions this month in my free time.

My third weekend here I went to the waterfall and river in La Fortuna, the Arenal Volcano, and the Baldi Hot Springs. I had such a great time in this little town!! It was SO cute and there were so many little shops with authentic handmade art and woodwork. I was in heaven! 🙂

The waterfall was gorgeous, even though going up those stairs on the way back was harder than I would have liked 😉

La Fortuna Catarata

The view from my hotel was fabulous. I could see the Volcano so well! This volcano is still active, though it has been very inactive and calm for the last couple of years. Previously though, the city was on the other side of the volcano (which is still burned up). During one particular eruption years ago, the whole city was completely destroyed, so they rebuilt a new city on the other side of the volcano.

Volcan Arenal — the view from my hotel room!

The Baldi Hot Springs was WONDERFUL!! So high end… with $5.50 beers and $10 coctails… and very relaxing! Aside from slamming my head going down a waterslide and getting a minor concussion, I had a lovely time.

On the way, we had stopped in Alajuela at the Iglesia de Zarcero. What an incredible site! The church was beautiful, and someone was actually getting married inside while we were there. The gardens are kept by the same man that has keeping the grounds for the last 50 years or so. This man is in his 90’s now and has his son help him. Apparently when Disneyworld in Orlando was opening, the man was offered a top job there sculpting the shrubbery because they were so impressed with his original work. Though his whole family could have been moved there for free, he declined, saying that he would rather stay in his hometown.

Iglesia de Zarcero

Overall a great weekend! I am almost done with my first Spanish intensive course…just one more week left!

Chao for now!
Nicole

Okpongolo

Posted on February 2, 2014 by Study Abroad

Okpongolo

This is the road just outside my compound, which I am now becoming more and more familiar with. This road makes many people upset and leads to a bigger issue faced in Ghana. This scene is an example of unfinished government services. From what I have been told, this road was in better condition before construction began. The plan was to pave the road, using this red dirt as the base layer. Unfortunately it has been sitting like this for some time now. With dry, windy days and speeding taxis, there are frequent dust storms that can dry your eyes and get dust in your mouth and nose (not to mention stain your skin, shoes, and clothing). In an effort to control the dust, rather than just completing the road, they have laid out tires and pieces of drift wood in a way to force people to slow down. However it causes more confusion and traffic jams than it does actually minimizing the dust. This is just one of the many roads that are in poor condition. The other day there was heavy rain which ended up making this dirt road more like mud. Cars were getting stuck and tore up the road. The road had dried out by the next day, leaving the road stuck in worse condition. Many Ghanaians are not pleased with how the government begins projects and leaves them unfinished and often very unsightly. One of my professors was telling me about how a bridge near his home was experiencing the same issue, except someone was able to speak about the widespread disapproval of the incomplete bridge on a major radio station. The very next day, construction on the bridge began again. If the people pressure their government to do what needs to be done, the people of Ghana would see much improvement in their daily lives. This is especially important for Ghana because it is still a young democracy.

Tournament, new friends, birthday.. week 3

Posted on February 1, 2014 by Study Abroad

Time is flying by as I can’t believe it is already February!

This last week was busy but it was definitely a good busy. I am loving every minute working at Tennis Central, my job until the end of my time here. The people are just as wonderful as when I first started there. We have a huge International Junior Tennis Championship tournament coming up this week that I am really looking forward to. I got to babysit for a little on Friday while my coworkers worked on their tennis skills for the day and he was the sweetest little boy.

My 22nd Birthday came along and I got to go out and enjoy the night life here with a few friends I met while I was working with the Soccer team. I was struggling to meet people my own age as I work with all older people, but I finally have made a group of girlfriends that has been making my time a lot better. I met a local that took me around this last weekend and he took me on a night experience tour at an animal/eco sanctuary where I got to see a lot of New Zealands noctournal animals and it was so amazing! I got to see their national bird which is called a Kiwi and looked like a little kid with the smile on my face when I finally saw it. Glow worms, tuataras, which are a lizard looking reptile, and many other wild birds were on the list of things I was privelaged to see. I also was able to enjoy the summer markets here this week and was able to leave work a little early one day to enjoy the sun at the beach.

Went and played pool with some of the friends I have made before going out for my Birthday!

Enjoying the beach on a beautiful afternoon! It is beyond gorgeous but the sun sure sneaks up on you and the water is cold!

Little Cian (Kee-N), he was so funny and the perfect little baby. His mom is also the sweetest lady and is American too!

Kāruhiruhi also known as a Pied shag. This and another bird were the only pictures I was able to get from the sanctuary before the sun went down and then we weren’t able to use flash.

This is a Takahē. Him and his mate were following us all around at the beginning of the tour. They were beautiful birds that are only in New Zealand!

I am looking forward to this week with the tennis tournament and Thursday being a national holiday. I also am getting a new roommate tomorrow, which will be SO nice to finally have some company for when I am at home. Also, there is a huge rugby game this weekend where everyone dresses up and it’s a huge city wide party for the weekend! I fall in love with this country more and more everyday.

until next week,

Amanda

Week 10- La Granja

Posted on January 27, 2014 by Study Abroad

Onto our final excursion we went. I must say it’s been pretty cold in Segovia these last few days. It only got worse visiting La Granja which is even at higher elevation and closer to the mountains.

La Granja was really interesting and full of history as well. It’s so neat to learn that an actual king lived there. The king built the palace here as an imitation of the palace in versailles because he was from france and missed home so much.

The palace in La Granja

Another picture of the palace and it’s gardens and fountains.

WOU Students Abroad

Author Archives: Study Abroad

Shattered Preceptions

Febru-where has the time gone?

Onto week 4- travel, tennis and more tennis.

Pure Joy and Hair Flying

It is already February?!

One month in Costa Rica

Week Three in Costa Rica

Okpongolo

Tournament, new friends, birthday.. week 3

Week 10- La Granja