At this point I am very excited for this program and a little nervous! I am very thankful that we have Carmen with us! I expect that there will not be very many cars in Queretaro. Really Im not sure what to expect. Because i have been to Spain I kinda think i will be similar but i am really not sure. Well thats all for now!
I have been waiting for this trip for so LONG and now it’s right around the corner! I can’t wait for all the things I’ll get to do and people I’ll get to meet! I’m so excited! I’m also really nervous about switching to the whole Spanish thing 24/7. However, I’ve done it before with Arabic in Kuwait…but I also already know Arabic. Anyways. I think that Arab and Mexican cultures are very similar so I might fit right in, but we’ll see about that. I expect a lot of green everywhere, like grass and trees and bushes. Some flowers too maybe! The food is going to be delicious…I hope…cause I LOVE mexican food!
When I landed in Buenos Aires, I was lucky enough to have been able to connect with three other study abroad students who were equally confused as to what to do after we landed. Annoyingly stressful and worrying thoughts kept popping into my head while I was waiting in the extremely long line to get my passport stamped and to get through customs like, “Was I supposed to recheck my luggage when I transferred in Texas? Was I supposed to pick up my luggage before waiting in line to get through customs? What do I do if CIS is not here to pick me up and I have no phone?” Luckily for me, none of these worries ended up being a problem for me and I was able to easily find my luggage and my ride to my residency.
The long long line of people trying to get into Argentina from the United States.
Being driven through the streets of Argentina was surreal, and I was way too tired to be able to process the fact that I was in a strange land far away from home. My mind kept trying to make comparisons to places I have been before in the United States to these new places and images I was observing while being driven through Buenos Aires. The grey skies and cold weather reminded me of Oregon. Being an Oregon native, I am accustomed to seeing stores in all Spanish. This kept me from feeling too odd while observing a city that only speaks and operates in Spanish.
This statue is right next to where I live. I use it as a reference point to know when to get off the bus on my way home from school.
After being being dropped off at my residency and taking a long nap, my CIS advisor took me and another CIS student on a tour around the residence area. One thing I noticed while on my walk is that Buenos Aires does not feel like a extremely foreign country on the outside. The buildings, architecture, clothing, and advertisements are very similar to the western culture that I am used to. It wasn’t until I tried ordering food by myself that I truly felt like an outsider to the culture.
Me and Leah having dinner at a really nice restaurante in BA. This was my first Argentine meal.
One thing that really amuses me is how much culture in the United States has become infused with the culture in Buenos Aires, especially in terms of US entertainment. There are many US brands, fast food, TV shows and movies here. I was in a fancy bakery the other day and they we playing the song “Gangsta’s Paradise” by Coolio. I was hanging out at a big billiards/bar here and 90% of the songs that they played were current pop hits and a few 80s and 90s hits as well. One of the bars that we walked by had a cover band that were doing several covers of famous songs from the US. It’s interesting how far away from home US culture has spread.
Another interesting event that happened to me was that I was able to make friends with people from a different study abroad program in the US. My first or second day here, I was able to join along with student from their program for a guided tour of a very nice Catholic church as well as one of the nicest graveyards in the entire world. The graveyard tour was definitely the highlight of my trip so far because I was able to learn about the history of all of the famous Argentine figures that were buried there (such as Evita) and I also got to observe the immaculate sculptures and art that went in to making the mausoleums that these Argentines were buried in.
Glimpse of just of few of the immaculate mausoleums that we got to see.
Picture of the pope inside of a Catholic church
This what the exit of the graveyard looked like.
The only thing that has frightened me about being here so far is that I have been repeatedly told to be careful about valuable electronics such as cameras, phones and computers. This has made me wary to use my phone to take pictures. I also brought a non-digital 35mm camera, but I’m afraid to use this camera too in case someone mistakes it for a nice camera. It also makes me look more like a tourist.
I am looking forward to the coming week and will hopefully have many more stories and pictures to share on next week’s blog!
It’s four in the morning the day I am supposed to leave for Argentina, and I have finally finished packing the last of my things. I have a very vague sense of what Argentina will look like or what the people will look like because I have spent little time up till now researching it. Not because I was lazy, but I felt weird and awkward spying on another culture and expecting any information about Argentina from a second hand source. My approach is that I want to go into Argentina with an open mind and not treat or view anyone differently than I would if I had met them at WOU or somewhere in the US.
This is a picture of the plane that of the plane that I will have taken from the Houston Airport to Buenos Aires, a 10.5 hour trip.
Going into this journey I feel slight apprehensive because my Spanish skills aren’t that great, and I haven’t studied the Argentine accent or their use of the “vos” form that much so I’m worried about being able to communicate with others while I am there. I am also entering the country with a little amount of money because my financial aid money has been very slow to come through. I am sure that these factors will not prevent me from enjoying myself in Argentina.
I am getting ready for my trip to China. I am excited and nervous, all at the same time. I think it is going to be so amazing. This is my first trip out of the country and away from my family, this is why I am so nervous. I am excited to visit a different country and learn about their culture. I have already started practicing my Chinese speaking skills. I hope not to slaughter their language too bad. I want to be able to interact with the people in China in a way that will allow me to learn the most about their way of life. Teri
Wake up call! When we arrived In Mexico City everything switched to Spanish which was expected. It was interesting listening to people speaking and not be sure what they were saying. Going through the airport was quite the experience! I was able to keep up with what they said most of the time so that was good and the people were all really nice.
It’s been a super long day after three flights, a bus ride, and a taxi ride to get to our hotel. I can’t wait to go out and explore the city tomorrow! Tomorrow I will really experience the Mexican culture!! Courtney
Hello! I’m Ayat!
I’m a junior at WOU and I’m studying abroad in Mexico for 5 weeks to become a bilingual teacher!
Hi, my name is Sarah King and I am studying abroad in Querétaro Mexico. I chose this program because it seems like an excellent opportunity to improve my oral fluency in Spanish and to learn more about Mexican culture. I am studying to be a bilingual elementary school teacher, and I want to know more of the culture and language of my students.
I know that my host culture will be different than what I am used to, but I am really looking forward to it. I have traveled a lot with my family and been exposed to various other cultures, but this is my first time traveling outside of a “first world” country. Since Querétaro is a large industrial city, I think that it will have many amenities that I am used to, but perhaps I will be surprised. I do love to learn new things, but I hate “roughing it,” so I’m really hoping that it won’t get in my way. For some reason I have an association between Querétaro and some of the older European cities in my mind, so I tend to think of the central part as a walking district with graceful buildings and cobble stone streets. I have no idea what it really looks like, but I do hope that it is safe and easy to walk places.
I’m a little bit nervous that I will be overwhelmed when surrounded by Spanish. I do know some Spanish already, but my knowlege is very passive and I tend to freeze/panic when put on the spot. I’m really hoping that I can get over that quickly and start using my Spanish.
Three pictures to illustrate my pre-conceived notions of Querétaro:
Cobble stone streets
On Saturday, June 15th, Myself and 5 of my exchange student friends (Kellie, Matt, Anna, Daniel, and Cash) finally managed to escape the grasp of Tokyo and head out into the countryside/mountains. It was a long day, full of many new sights and experiences, and worth every penny!
This trip required me to wake up earlier than I ever had before since arriving in Japan… 6am! I groggily got up, shambled my way down to the public bath, where I got clean and shaved before getting dressed and meeting my friends at the dorm entrance. We then hopped on the train to Shinjuku to meet up with the girls so we could head out to Hakone. The previous day we had all bought our “Hakone Freepass”, which was definitely not free as we paid $50 each person. The Freepass covered all transportation out to Hakone and back, including trains, cable cars, rope cars, boats, and buses. Because of all that, it’s definitely worth the price. The train ride out to Odawara took about an hour and a half. The journey wasn’t terribly eventful, but after about halfway our group had nearly the whole train car to ourselves, which was a nice change of pace from normal.
At Odawara, we left the station and headed for Odawara Castle. The castle is in great shape and operates as basically a museum/gift shop. Photographs are not allowed inside the castle, so unfortunately I couldn’t take a picture of any of the weaponry or historical artifacts, but I could take pictures of the great view from the top floor of the castle. I particularly enjoyed how the floors were labeled. There was a first floor, a second floor, a third floor, a semi-fourth floor, and a fourth floor. The castle grounds also had a great flower garden area, as well as a place for festivals/events with musical guests (it also had some sad looking monkeys in a cage).
After Odawara we hopped on another train and headed for Hakone. The railway up the mountain was interesting, as it made use of several switchbacks. I caught a few glimpses of the windy, curvy roads for cars/buses to make the ascent on, and it made me REALLY miss my motorcycle. That road would have been the most amazing motorcycle road of all time. After the railway, we next had to take a cable car up a very steep section of the mountain. This was a short ride of maybe 10 minutes, and we soon made it to the next part, the rope cars! The rope cars were amazing, and the view was spectacular. I would not recommend this method of travel for anyone afraid of heights, as we were quite a ways above the forest canopy. For anyone else I would definitely recommend it. After the first summit, we then glided over the sulfur vents region, which was beautiful in its own way after I realized that wasn’t a strip mining operation (which was my first thought upon seeing it).
At the next station we got on our next rope car which would lead us over another forested mountain to our next destination, natural hot springs (温泉/onsen). Our温泉 was located at a resort that has rooms ranging from $150-300 per night per person. For this reason we skipped the overnight stay and simply went for our hot springs experience which only cost $16 a person. The girls and guys groups split up into our separate温泉 areas and we stripped naked, washed up at the showers, and then got in. The water felt amazing, and the experience was extremely relaxing, especially as I was sore from working out the night before. On a sunny day, we would have been able to see Mt. Fuji from our 温泉. Unfortunately, we had a cloudy day instead. There was a fun bit of awkwardness when I climbed out of the springs, and my friends were getting ready to get out, when the female employee showed up to get things set up for a meeting of some sort. She had trouble sliding the door open, and I felt like she might not have appreciated a fully nude American man helping her fix the door, so I just stood there waiting until she figured it out and then did what she had to do. She must have liked what she saw, because she came back in a few minutes later to do something else. After she left the 2nd time, I quickly went back out to the温泉 to snap a photo.
After our relaxing soak in the hot springs, we reunited with the ladies and headed to our final rope car destination, Lake Ashinoko. Lake Ashinoko is a huge, blue, beautiful lake surrounded by forested mountains. Small boats are rentable from the harbor there, but we opted to use our Freepass again and take the pirate ship out to the other side. The journey was very relaxing and beautiful. On the side of the lake we could see temples, golf courses, traditional Japanese buildings, and a whole lot of trees. The small food stand inside the boat was interesting as well. You could buy Mt. Fuji beer, Mt. Fuji Kit-Kats (blueberry cheesecake flavored, very tasty!), other assorted Mt. Fuji ‘flavored’ items, and Ritz Crackers.
After enjoying the short cruise, we headed into the small town (Moto-Hakone) at the far side of the lake to get a bite to eat. We opted for a traditional, family-run Udon/Soba/other noodle shop. Upon entering, the mother offered us a place in the standard seating section. We insisted on sitting on the tatami mats in traditional Japanese style instead. This was a decision I frequently regretted during the meal. The traditional way of sitting in this type of setting is called the seiza position. The rest of my friends and I are incapable of doing this for more than a few minutes. However, they can all comfortably sit in other positions, like cross-legged. I, on the other hand, wasn’t able to find *any* comfortable position and had to switch every minute or two. Not the easiest way to eat a meal.
After eating, we walked over to our final sightseeing destination of the day, Hakone Shrine. I’m not particularly religious, but the experience was still great. We took a roundabout path to enter the shrine, rather than the main entrance, which lead to us coming upon the main building of the shrine fairly suddenly without any warning. The fountains, statues, and architecture were really a sight to behold. Everything seemed to have symbolic and religious value, from the dragon fountains, to the gates and walkways. People frequently come to these temples to leave prayers or wishes on small wooden plaques in front of the temple. I particularly liked one that was pretty clearly written by a young child. I don’t know what this kid wished for, but I hope it works out. Before leaving the temple, we headed out to the lakeside gate, where we took a lot of pictures.
After visiting the temple we wandered around for a few hours in Moto-Hakone. We stopped by a convenience store and got some food and drinks. A stray cat came running over to us when we sat down by the lake. She wouldn’t let us pet her, but she did appreciate Kellie feeding her a bag full of potato chips. The fog was rolling in, and the town was pretty deserted, so we let our minds focus on horror movies and zombie stories while we waited for the last bus of the night to arrive. We got on the bus and most of our group fell asleep until we made it back to Odawara station. From there it was another long train ride back to Shinjuku. By the time we got back into Tokyo, we had to catch what was nearly the very last train of the night in order to make it back to Hiyoshi and our dorm. It was a long, full, interesting day.
Fin. Casey
Once again I’ve forgotten to calculate blog-time into my schedule. Tomorrow (Friday, June 27), several students from ALIF (including myself) are going on an excursion into the desert, and we won’t return to Fes until Sunday night. So, needless to say, I won’t have time to write blog entries and upload all the accompanying photos until sometime next week. Obviously I have some free time right now, but I need to devote a lot of that time to homework and studying. So it’ll be a little while before I can post the substantive blog entries I was planning. To make up for it a bit, I’ve decided to just post this little entry to give you a glimpse of my routine in the city of Fes.
I’m studying MSA (Modern Standard Arabic) 100 (the beginning level) at the American Language Institute of Fes (ALIF). I have four hours of class total per day: two in the morning, two in the afternoon. ALIF is a pretty awesome place to study. The ALIF garden is the place to be. It’s a courtyard outfitted with several tables, chairs, and benches, with trees providing much-needed shade from the sun. Moroccan students come here to study English, foreign students come here to study Arabic.
ALIF is located in the Ville Nouvelle, the new part of Fes. The Ville Nouvelle (or New Medina) is filled to the brim with concrete apartment complexes, gigantic hotels, cafés, a reeeeaaally long park/fountain (I actually have yet to take a picture of that, gotta put it on my to-do list), an assortment of stores and shops, and more speeding cars, taxis and trucks than can be counted. Some newer additions include a MASSIVE up-scale McDonald’s (much nicer than any I’ve seen in the U.S., funnily enough), and a gargantuan shopping mall called Borj Fes. Pretty much anything you want, you can find in Borj Fes, though from what I understand it’s a bit pricey. Everything’s very hip and French there. I opted to live in Fes el-Bali (the old medina) rather than in the Ville Nouvelle, so the place I have become most acquainted with is this fountain roundabout area. This is where all the taxis (and traffic) seems to congregate, which is good to know since I take a taxi both to and from my home in the Old Medina to the New Medina.
Michael
While studying abroad, I’m living with a homestay family in Fes el-Bali. To get to the house from the Ville Nouvelle, you ask the taxi driver to take you to Batha (pronounced sort of like bot-taa). Batha also has a fountain and a roundabout, which makes the commute easy to figure out—you take a taxi from one fountain/taxi-hub to another fountain/taxi-hub.
From Batha, I have to walk 15 minutes or so through the winding streets of the medina to get to my house. During the first half of the walk, I’m going through streets that are still large enough for people to drive through.
During the second half of the walk, however, the streets get really narrow. I haven’t had to share the streets with any donkeys since I’m living in a residential neighborhood, but if you go into the souqs (marketplaces) of Fes el-Bali, you will often have to step aside as donkeys carrying goods make their way down the streets. I have seen men on horseback passing through my neighborhood, though.
Of course, since nobody’s ever content to just walk, a lot of mopeds are driven through the narrow streets of the Old Medina. Sometimes you’ll see a moped attached to a cart, with the cart carrying either goods or people. Since I don’t walk around with my camera unless I’m with a group, I haven’t been able to take a picture of those cart-mopeds, but they’re quite an entertaining sight. Anyways, eventually I’ll arrive at the street that my house is on.
See those stairs in the middle of the photo leading down to the left? That’s the little alleyway that goes to my front door. I quite enjoy walking from my house to the Batha fountain, and vice versa, though it does get a little frightening during off hours when you’re going solo down a dark, narrow street, haha.
Also, there are tons of cats wandering around the city, just like in Istanbul. And also lots of kittens. It’s both cute and a bit of a downer. For example, while walking through the Ville Nouvelle, I saw a mass of kittens huddled together taking a nap. Adorable, right? But when I stopped to look at them, I saw that they all had messed-up eyes. It’s about a 50/50 split between cute and sad.
And obviously every cat is going to be scrawny and mangy, since they’re living out on the streets. It doesn’t bother me too much, since I’m a dog person, but if you’re a cat lover you might have some problems. Mostly I just enjoy their presence, I think it’s fun (and funny) to walk down a street and see cats everywhere instead of squirrels.
That’s all I have time for today. I still want to make a post describing my settling in with my host family, the tour of the Old Medina, and the trip to the Roman ruins of Volubilis and the Moroccan imperial city of Meknes (all that from last weekend!). But I can’t make any promises, since I have the trip to the Sahara this weekend and who knows what after that. And then I’ll have to make a blog entry for that! So lots of blogs to come, at some point, in the near future. Until then, massalama!
