The national park. Koryn
Manuel Antonio
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First Week in San Jose
Orientation was the day after arrived and then school was the following day. On orientation day we went and walked to a nearby cafe which was adorable… That was also my first experience trying to order food when I don’t know any Spanish. I also met a bunch of new people which is to be expected, however I found out that one of the students that I went to middle school and high school with was also studying abroad through a different school. That weekend we went to Manuel Antonio which is a beach on the Pacific side of Costa Rica. We did a tour of the national park there and saw tropical plants, bugs, and animals. We saw crocodiles, sloths, and raccoon like things. The raccoons were really funny because they (and the monkeys) will come out onto the beach and steal your things so someone has to be closely watching your things at all times. We also went surfing which is a ton of fun 🙂 Koryn
The Crocodiles 
Costa Rican Cuisine!
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The food is super delicious…. there are a ton of rice and beans though. Koryn
arrival in costa rica
I arrived in Costa Rica in the night time so when I looked out of the plane window I could see all of the twinkly lights in San Jose. It was beautiful! More and more Spanish was being used as well. The drive to the school from the airport was probably one of the most terrifying things I have ever experienced. When I met my tica mama I quickly realized that she spoke as much English as I did Spanish… which is close to none. It was frustrating not being able to communicate with her, especially because I knew that I need to learn Spanish rather than the other way around. However, she was very kind and was able to get major concepts across with a lot of charades. My roommate arrived later and was able to help translate a little. Koryn
This is my new home 🙂
Pip Pip, Cheerio!
   This last week has been such a scramble with packing and finals that I decided to do my own thing this weekend. I also wanted to finish my list of things I must do while abroad as well as go back to my favorite spots in the city and, to my amazement, I mostly achieved these goals within three days!
Go Inside of a Phone Box
– This was one of the less enjoyable things on my list, it turns out. I didn’t actually have a call to make, I just wanted to be able to say that I’ve done it. I was on a crowded street in Hampstead when I decided to check this on one off my list. I pretended I needed to make a call, spent a couple seconds inside the phone box feigning searching for change, then exited while a couple people watched my horrible acting. Unfortunately I was not transported through time. Oh, well.
Find the Doctor
– I found him! Well, one of the Doctors. We attended Antigone at the National Theater and Christopher Eccleston (the ninth incarnation of the Doctor) was starring in it. While eating dinner at the theater we ran into someone else we were not expecting to meet; Mark Gatiss, a writer for Doctor Who and Sherlock, and Mycroft Holmes in Sherlock. Two of my favorite people in one night? I’m still giddy from the experience. They were both very nice blokes and stopped to take pictures. Chris signed my artwork and even held my sonic screwdriver!
Have a Pint of Guinness in Dublin
-It was a long and confusing journey to Dublin, but in the end I wish I’d stayed much longer than a weekend. Ireland is amazing and the people are the kindest I’ve ever met. I had a pint in The Celt Pub near O’Connell Street and met a long lost relative who was eight or nine Guinness for the worse. I’ll forever be telling the story of Uncle Quinn; the poster-boy for Irish drunks.
Erin go Bragh!
Eat a Jaffa Cake
– I mentioned this in a previous post, but it’s worth saying that I ate three packs of 36 Jaffa Cakes. I lost weight in London, guys. That’s how much walking I did. The snack was the one thing I wish I’d had the foresight to send to the US. Darn, I may just have to return to London to get some.
My usual booty from Tesco
The only thing on my list that I wasn’t able to achieve was taking my photo on Abbey Road. I do regret that terribly, but I got so much done by the end that it seems like a small price to pay. We did drive over it on the bus tour, though, so at least I visited and payed my respects. I’m sure John Lennon’s spirit is off somewhere laughing at how much traffic is stopped by that crossing.
Last Friday we attended The Taming of the Shrew at The Globe. We were able to get in for only 5L, too! We were in the yard, so it was standing room and the play was at midnight. By the time we arrived I was already exhausted, but as soon as the play started, I was transfixed on the stage. Immediately I fell in love. I’ve loved this play for a while, but much of the comedy and heart is lost when the play is read rather than experienced. I was also thrilled I was part of the play at one point when the actress who played Kate fell on me and said sorry drunkenly on her way to the stage. The chocolate coin I caught during the finale will have to survive the trip home.
The main place I wanted to explore more was Hyde Park. For those of you that don’t know, Hyde Park is freaking huge. I had forgotten this when I set out on my adventure armed with a pack of water, a box of granola bars, and my sketchbook. This is one of those happy accidents I was talking about earlier. I started at Speakers Corner where a concert for the Olympics was taking place. I’m not usually one for concerts, but it was kind of nice to have music playing from afar. I wanted to find the Peter Pan Statue, but I had started quite far away from it. I walked for about twenty minutes before I took a break to eat something. I lay down under an oak and had a wonderful, relaxing time. I set out again and walked by the Italian Fountains, which I didn’t know existed. They were so gorgeous that I stopped to sketch some of them. While I was there, I met two kids who were busy scaring pigeons. They were from Virginia and had never heard of Oregon. I told them a little bit about myself and they watched me draw for a bit. The little girl (Sophie) asked if I would be her friend. I told her yes, and she was so excited that she ran off to tell her mum! Her mother came over and also watched me draw. Then, when they had to leave, I got a big hug!
A perfect day
Eventually I found the statue. It is situated beside part of the Serpentine that is chock-full of birds. I started to feed the pigeons some of my granola when ducks and coots started to eat it, too. Then a heron appeared along with a mama duck and her babies and a swan. As time passed, other tourists appeared beside me to watch. A group of Italians were marveling at the ducklings and the swan, but obviously they had never heard a swan call before because they jumped when he did and started proclaiming in Italian. I finished the day by walking past the Prince Albert Memorial and meeting several very sweet bobbies in a Starbucks near the tube station. I can’t think of a better way to spend my last week.
My duckling friends
   Tomorrow I will be leaving on an eight hour flight to Philadelphia, then a five hour flight to Portland with a heavy heart, but a happy one. Becky
Landing in America
Planes are interesting, because they often give you the opportunity to sit by a complete stranger that you will most likely never see again. Some people use this as a chance to become friends, like the two people behind me on the 10-hour flight from Buenos Aires to Huston, who talked loudly through the first 3 hours or so. I didn’t speak to the woman next to me very much at all, and we both fell asleep after the flight attendants had finished giving out dinner and drinks.
At this point, I had been travelling for the entire day, and I was ready to get home. But, hearing these strangers discuss things about Argentina, and their experiences, made me realize how similar we really are. I was listening to them talk about how they had eaten delicious pizza and stayed in hostels and had been amazed at the sprawling humanity of Buenos Aires, just as I had.
People. Everywhere.
After I got off the plane in Huston, relieved that I would once again have all of my usual comforts, I began to realize that since I was back in my comfort zone, back where everything made perfect sense to me, many of the people I recognized from the plane were now in a strange land. It made me realize how similar we really all are. The woman I sat by on the plane spoke mainly Spanish, and was a native Argentinian. In the crowded security line at the airport, she was completely out of her depth. Many people were in danger of missing their connecting flights, and the TSA agents were unflinchingly rigid, insisting that there was nothing they could do. I ended up speaking to several people who had been on my flight in Spanish, because they recognized someone who may potentially be able to help them navigate their way.
That part of the trip really struck me. For once, I naturally switched into Spanish, speaking with people I didn’t know, with no encouragement from anyone else. And the people were the same as people I would’ve spoken English too. Maybe it’s something I should have known all along, but I think without going and living with another culture, without actually travelling to where you are in the minority, you cannot recognize what we do to other cultures here. And you cannot recognize how similar we all are.
It’s always interesting to look at other people’s high school yearbooks, because sometimes you look through pictures and swear that someone you’ve never seen before looks exactly like this other person you know, and maybe it’s their facial expression or just some look in their eyes. So, that was the biggest thing that I took away from Argentina. This thought, this idea, that we are all truly similar. No matter where we grew up, or what language we speak. As humans, we are greater than any individual, we are alike in more ways than we could possibly ever be different.
And, Argentina is beautiful.
I am extremely grateful to everyone who made this trip possible, and I cannot wait to go abroad again, and continue to study Spanish and education! Anne
Return from Rosario!
After spending three weeks in Rosario, Argentina, I was finally feeling settled in my homestay, and classes, and in meeting new people, and using Spanish more often and with more confidence. So of course it was time to head home!
My lovely host mother, Noemi, and myself.
We finished up our final school projects, took our last few walks through the streets of Rosario, and had a fantastic last night as a group. I had planned to take Tienda Leon back to the Buenos Aires airport, and I was a little nervous because for the first time, I was travelling on my own. But it ended up working very smoothly, and I witnessed one of my favorite sights since being in Argentina: on Sundays, they close Blvd. Orono, which is one of the larger streets in Rosario, so that cars can’t drive down it and people can instead ride bikes, or skateboard, or rollerskate, or otherwise travel down the normally busy street. I saw many families taking advantage of this, and I thought it was such a good idea. It was encouraging people to spend time with their families, and people were actually taking advantage of it.
On the last Saturday I was in Argentina, we walked down to the waterfront, and it was one of the first really sunny days since we had arrived. We reached the waterfront, where we had been many times before, and for once it was filled with people! There were tons of families, and couples walking dogs, and we spent a fair amount of time just watching the people, and enjoying a day where we didn’t need to have several sweatshirts on to stay warm.
Here’s a classic candid photo of Cain and I by the river.
Also, the day before that picture was taken I had the greatest churro of my life. Of all the reasons to return to Argentina, that one is truly making me consider returning next summer. There are few things better than a warm churro full of dulce de leche, I promise you.
As I was beginning to truly reflect on my time abroad, I boarded Tienda Leon with a sense of relief, admittedly. I had never really left the country before (just a brief trip to Canada when I was 10) and I was relieved that the trip had gone so well, and that I had found it easy to become friends with the people on my trip, as well as the Argentinians we met while abroad. Anne
Miss you guys already!
Dear London, I have arrived!
Well today was quite a day. I arrived at Heathrow at 7am so I knew I had a long day ahead but luckily I was able to sleep a bit on the flight over. After getting my bags and taking the heathrow express to paddington station I walked right to the hostel. It was only a ten minute walk but it was rough with all my luggage! Check-in wasn’t until 11:00 so I decided to go ahead and hop out on the town. I had done my research beforehand and knew there was a tour bus stop at the corner of Hyde park, down the road a bit from my hostel. I enjoyed walking through Hyde park, it was amazing to see such a large green space with so many things to do. There were horses on horse trails, dogs running through the dog park, and runners and bikers everywhere!
This lady had over 10 dogs! I think there must be some professional dog walkers that go to Hyde park because there were several people carting around large numbers of dogs.
I suppose the biggest thing I noticed after landing was the immense amount of people bustling around London. There were so many people everywhere, and they were all so fashionable! I think this may be because in many of the big cities people tend to dress up a bit more for a day -or night- on the town. It was also fun to meet all the other tourists from all over the world and see them enjoying their time just as much as I was. Of course I got to see all the sites, and thoroughly enjoyed my whirlwind tour of London!
The only negative thing I can think of since my arrival has been the fact that one has to pay for public restrooms, but having traveled around Europe before I accept it and always make sure to have my change handy!
Tomorrow I am off to experience the Harry Potter Studio Tour, and I can’t wait! I am now heading off to bed so I can wake up get going tomorrow on day 2 of my big adventure. I hope you are all well and having a blast!
Summer
Classes have started!
I wasn’t sure what to expect when I went to my introductory class; it was in an old farm building on the outskirts of campus, next to the stables (and yes, there were horses). As I climbed up the stairs with my friend from Korea who is in the same programme, I felt like I was back in Ireland among the whitewashed stone houses. The room we were in was drafty and spacious, I could barely hear what my four professors were saying. From what I understood, this was going to be a very different academic system than any I had experienced before. And indeed is has been an experience!
My schedule changes every week. I only have one course for a five week span of time. I don’t necessarily have class at the same time or same place everyday. Sometimes I only go to class twice a week, other times I have class 4 days a week. Some classes are 1 hour, others are 4. Some classes are lectures, others are discussion oriented. But one thing is for sure: the professor will always be 15 minutes late. Apparently this is completely normal too. The first day of lecture, my Canadian friend and I were grumbling about how the teacher was late and the Swedish guy next to us explained that in Sweden, that is the custom – it is referred to as “the academic fifteen”. Students are expected to be on time for class, but the teacher has 15 minutes to wander in to class before we can start to complain. I am growing accustomed to this though, and our 15 minute coffee breaks after every hour of class are nice as well. It feels like I’m never in class, but when I am, I feel like I am learning in a much more productive way (for my own learning style) than I do in one class back in the states. Today we went through several hundred years of European political history in two hours! And my teachers have been to and have worked in developing communities around the world; this was their life’s work before they became teachers. It is so fascinating to learn from people who have actually lived in these situations and witnessed them first-hand. I also appreciate that the first thing they taught us was that there is no one right way in our field of study. Because it’s true – industrialism has not worked for the majority of the world as it did for Europe and the US, so how can we expect that to be the only way to develop other nations. And we have also been looking at what it means to be a ‘developed nation’. I am always so interested in everything in class… And I should probably stop now, before I bore you all to death with theoretical development and the political history of Europe 🙂
But today was the first day I realised I was the only American in the class. There are at least 70 people in this programme and I am the only American. And the States aren’t exactly the most well-liked country in the world right now; as I learned today, we have a very small portion of the world’s population, but use at least 50% of the resources. Not that I didn’t know this before, but before I was surrounded by other Americans, guilty of the exact same thing (whether we mean to or not, we all are) and now I am a minority. I felt so incredibly guilty for the rest of class and hoped he wouldn’t call out any Americans in class to discuss this and I would be the only one to answer.
Despite that strange feeling, I thoroughly enjoyed class and cannot wait for tomorrow, although it is another 3 hour lecture. I’m sure my two coffee breaks will tide me over though!
-Maren
Pre-Departure to the UK!
Well it seems as though I leave in just over a week, and I can’t believe how fast the summer has gone by! I am so excited to start my next big adventure that I am already having restless nights in preparation for my departure next Tuesday. I often find myself lying in bed thinking of all the things I don’t want to forget to pack, so much so that I even started keeping track of things in a notebook that I leave on my bedside table where I can write down everything as it comes to me in the middle of the night!
The list goes on and on…it seems like a lot but I just want to be sure I am extra prepared and don’t end up stranded without something I need. I have also begun the packing process, and I am proud to say I have whittled down everything to fit into one large suitcase, with a little extra room for souvenirs on the return trip. I remember being a small child running around on family vacations with a huge suitcase that was always SO heavy! Over the years I have perfected my packing technique to be tight and orderly so I can manage to carry everything on my own without getting tired, but hopefully I won’t have to drag my suitcase around too much while abroad. I hate sticking out like a tourist, even if that is what I am!
I am a little bit apprehensive to go abroad because although it won’t be my first time in Europe, it will be my first time completely alone! I anticipate that my host culture in the UK will be friendly and inviting, but I’m sure it will take me a bit to get used to the change in pace and lifestyle that goes along with being so far from home. To be honest, I am not sure what to expect but I know that whatever happens I will embrace it with open arms! I am more excited than anything to finally be out on my own, meet new people, and experience the world from another point of view.
The one thing that I am not looking forward to, but am expecting none the less, is the famed UK rain! I don’t really mind the rain, and as an Oregonian I am certainly used to it, but I definitely prefer the sweet summer sunshine to the constant drizzle of fall, winter, and spring. After all, my name is Summer!
Well, that is all I have for now but I will be sure to check in again in just over a week when I arrive in London!
Good luck with your own adventures!
Much love, Summer