Studying abroad is all about the experiences, adventures and friendships you make.

As said by D.H. Lawrence, “When one jumps over the edge, one is bound to land somewhere.”

This weekend, I did something I never thought I would, I zip-lined! This was an amazing experience, and sure, you can do this back in the states, but I had the experience of doing it for the first time with my friends in Costa Rica! As I walked up the hill my heart pumped so fast, but I kept walking. Once I got all strapped in, I still had the opportunity to back out, but instead, I took a deep breath and went down the first line! What a thrill! What a sight!

As we approached the last line, we had the chanced to do a Tarzan swing. For this, you literally just step off the edge of a tall platform and swing. Holy guacamole, was that drop scary! I can’t express how amazing this whole day was!

When studying abroad, you are faced with new experiences that may seem impossible and horrifying. My advice, take chances! Experience everything! Chances are, you won’t have that same opportunity again!

My philosophy; you only live once and you need to enjoy everything that life hands you, at the moment that it does. You don’t want to be 50 years old, sitting at your kitchen table, thinking what you could’ve done. You want to be that mom or dad that tells their kids what they DID do!

Don’t be scared to make new friends. The locals might seem scary sometimes, but it doesn’t mean they actually are. Traveling within the country of your study abroad, you will meet tons and tons of people from the US and from other countries. We had the pleasure of meeting some people from Spain and Canada just last weekend.

With that being said, when studying abroad, do it all! Be smart, be safe, but don’t be afraid. Keep your ears and eyes open to your surroundings, but don’t let any previous fear or any other person stop you from gaining YOUR experiences!

I leave you with Babe Ruth’s words, “Never let the fear of striking out keep you from playing the game.”

Feel free to follow me and my adventures on Instagram! @dandyasia

Pura Vida!

Forced interactions with strangers can be very uncomfortable, especially if that first encounter has you and this stranger sleeping 10 ft away from each other. In college, the majority of students will have a roommate at least once, and the space shared may very well be very small. The adjustment of downsizing the square feet of your room is hard enough, let alone adding another person and their things. This is true in the States and when studying abroad. Luckily, most people who study abroad have been in college for at least one year, which means that they will have some experience with adjusting to shared spaces and new habits. The roommate situation won’t be a foreign shock. Student Sean Lechleiter says, “I’ve had a roommate for the past couple years now, so my current roommate is just like all the other ones pretty much. We respect each others’ space.” However, one thing is most definitely different when studying abroad, and it works to the advantage of new roommates. When far away from home, people can become very disoriented. Imagine the confusion of moving to a new country and trying to assimilate as quickly as possible before the experience is over. The classes are foreign, the street maps aren’t clear, the food is good, but you have no idea where to get it. You and your new roommate are in this boat together. Feel free to lean on one another in the beginning phases of this process. For the first week or two, it is okay to be a new appendage on this random person. When you want to explore, chances are they will too. Do things together because you may not know anyone else to do things with.

For example:

• Get dinner
• Make a Tourist To Do list and go places day by day
• See a show! – Caitlin and I saw Gone Girl together and The Lion King (live). Both were so good!

Of course, after going to orientation, classes, joining extra-curricular groups and attending events around the city, students abroad will start to get busy and meet more people. With neighbors, friends from orientation, and people we see around campus, the list of who to call and hang out with grows. I enjoy the company of my roommate, but I am so excited to broaden horizons. Roommates do not have to go every where together. After a while, you can stop being that extra appendage and start to see other ways there are to explore the city you’re in.

In the past week or two (I am 1 month into school), there are more invites out from classmates and the same goes for my roommate. She went to Brighton with friends from orientation; I went to an open mic night with friends from class. When her friends invite her to wine and cheese night, I don’t just follow her out the door, and I expect the same when I am invited out. Of course every couple of days out of the week, we make plans to visit a market or something, but being social in wonderful, new cities should not have to rely on one person. In other words, don’t hang out too much because you’ll drive each other crazy!

Other students have said:

“Being a senior, it wasn’t fun haven’t a roommate because I’m used to having my own room and space, but it’s nice getting to know her. She’s peaceful and goes to bed early [laughs], so we get along.” – Anatasia C.

“There’s little things that he doesn’t like or things that I don’t like, but we communicated those so it’s fine. Like, he doesn’t like when I eat in the room, which is fine. I don’t understand why but I don’t need to know why.” Sean T.

“It’s really nice always having someone to talk, to and she gets along with my other friends here [in London]. There’s never an awkward moment. My roommate and my friends get along, so to connect my friends to school… that’s nice.” – Valeria D.P.

Until next time!,

Lydia D.

Something has come to my attention in the last couple weeks. While studying abroad you really do have to study.  This week has been my midterms and I have two exams, three papers, and a debate in Spanish. Most of the students I am studying with agree that although the coursework is manageable, it is still more than they were expecting. At Loyola, grades received while studying abroad are calculated directly into your GPA, so slacking while abroad will show when you apply for jobs. Don’t let all of my beach pictures confuse you, this is still school.

That being said I am still very proud of my decision to study abroad.  I have made some awesome friends, and I hope we can plan a reunion after we all return to our regular universities.  My host family is still as sweet as when I first met them. They have been so kind to me over the last two months.  My host family and my new friends have made this experience overwhelmingly positive.

Last weekend was one of the few weekends I have stayed in Heredia and did not traveled to a beach, mountain or hot springs. My friends visited a carnival in Limon. I chose to stay because of the work to do for midterms, and my host family did not have the best things to say about Limon.  Thankfully, I got my work done, and (most of) my friends reported back pleased about their trip to Limon.

Although I did not travel last weekend, I still have a couple fun stories of local adventures.  About two weeks ago I have the opportunity to meet a friend of the USAC program director, who is an artist. I honestly was not expecting much of the art we were going to his house to see. I was absolutely blown away by what I saw.  The artist we met is a retired art professor, whose specialty is wood carving. Below are several pictures of his work, because a picture can say a thousand words and I am at a loss to describe the quality, quantity, and intricate detail of his carvings.  The artist’s name is Nestor Zeledon Guzman, and he refuses to sell any of his work.

This weekend we are visiting Tamarindo in the Guanecaste region of Costa Rica. I am so excited to be able to go spend a weekend at the beach after having a slightly stressful week of midterms.

… And I’m back in Saigon again, relaxing on a much-needed day off, after an absolutely wonderful trip to Cambodia. To be quite honest, I wasn’t expecting much from this excursion–I wanted to see the temples, take a few pictures, and call it a day. I don’t know what I was thinking. I clearly underestimated the country and its stunningly beautiful environment, striking ancient sites, and ridiculously sweet people. I had such an incredible experience: one that I know I will remember for a long, long time to come.

We left Saigon early Wednesday morning; I grabbed an ca phe sua da (iced coffee with milk) before we got on the bus and (of course) promptly fell asleep ten minutes into the ride. Talk about a caffeine headache. Anyway, six hours and a few passport stamps later, we arrived in Phnom Penh, the capital city of Cambodia. The streets alone reminded me so much of my trip to India two years ago–between the reddish dirt everywhere, the strange script on the restaurant and street signs (Khmer looks so complicated), and the hundreds of tuk-tuks lining the streets, I felt like I was back in Amritsar. It was more different from Vietnam than I had expected; I am so comfortable and adjusted to living in Saigon that it was strange to feel like a tourist again. This city was not exactly my cup of tea, but it was fun to explore and experience regardless. I tried all sorts of funky Cambodian foods–weird pancakes, exotic sauces, kaffir-lime sorbet, and tarantula legs (YES, THAT ACTUALLY HAPPENED).The restaurants we ate these local delicacies at were really fun too–one had a gorgeous pool right next to our table, and we obviously had to take a dip, fully clothed, after dinner! When in Cambodia, I guess. I definitely use that “When in …” excuse too much, but I’m not stopping anytime soon. #yolo

During our two days in Phnom Penh, we learned a ton about the Khmer Rouge and the Cambodian genocide that happened so recently … it was heartbreaking. We visited the S-21 Genocide Museum, an old high school that was basically used as a torture and killing factory during the late 1970s, and the Killing Fields Memorial, located right outside of the city. During our tours, I couldn’t help but compare what I was seeing to my visit to Auschwitz (located just outside of Krakow, Poland) a few years ago. My mom always taught me to find the good and beautiful things in humanity–but dear God, humans can do some really horrible and messed-up things. It’s even more awful to realize that these genocides take place everywhere, at any time: Eastern Europe, Rwanda, Cambodia … even what’s happening now in Iraq and Syria with ISIS. It’s difficult to process and cope with the emotions that come naturally as one walks through these places, yet it is SO important to bear witness to what occurred there. I left the city with a better-educated brain but also a very heavy heart.

Friday afternoon we embarked on a cute little Cambodian Airlines plane and flew to Siem Riep, a  rural tourist town located right next to the ancient city of Angkor, a complex which contains around 300 world-famous temples. We spent that night wandering the cute little downtown area, and did some serious shopping in the market (my friends are all going to be decked out in harem pants when I get home!). I had my first full-body massage in our hotel, a whopping $8 for an hour. Absolutely delightful. I also took a little dip in the rooftop pool–I had the entire place to myself. I felt so at peace with the world and so happy.

My goodness, all of these temple visits have got me feeling some kind of spiritual. All introspective revelations aside, our next day was simply amazing. We all woke up at 4:30 AM  (it was the WORST) and clambered into tuk-tuks bound for Angkor Wat, the largest temple in the ancient city. We hurried past the crowds and through the main gate; hiked the muddy, buggy field; and sat sweating in the balmy air, wondering what the heck we were doing at five o’clock in the morning in the middle of rural Cambodia. But then, the sun rose…and everything was simply perfect. Seeing the oh-so-familiar yellow ball of light float gracefully past the exotic, ancient towers was probably one of the most beautiful and memorable sights in my life thus far. I will never forget that view.

We spent the rest of the morning touring Angkor Wat (much stairs. such pictures. many tourists. wow sweat), followed by a ride to Angkor Thom, a nearby temple resembling a jungle gym with huge, smiling faces carved into each tower. It was super crowded, and by 10 AM we were all exhausted. Luckily, our tour guide got the hint from our fed-up facial expressions and took us back to the hotel, where we all took rewarding cat-naps and ate lunch. At 3:30 PM, we hopped back into our tuk-tuks and rode to my favorite temple of all–Ta Prohm. This moss-covered, tree-root-infested, jungle temple is eerily beautiful, and seems like it appeared right out of an Indiana Jones movie. In fact, certain places in this temple were used for a various scenes from Tomb Raider. So, so cool. I should’ve brought my little brother’s Disneyland Indiana Jones hat … it would’ve been perfect!! That evening, we watched the sunset from the highest point in the Angkor area. I couldn’t help but hum “Sunrise, Sunset” from Fiddler on the Roof to myself. Such an indescribable, absolutely incredible day.

The following Sunday morning, we all slept in (which was well-deserved after the long day before!). That afternoon, we toured a local village, silk farm, and went on a boat ride around a gorgeous lake. Everything was super fun and beautiful, but we were all exhausted … and to be perfectly honest, nothing we saw could compare to those temples from the day before. At 6 PM, we embarked on a late-night Vietnam Airlines flight and arrived back in Saigon. I got back to my room and dramatically collapsed into bed … international travel is just so exhausting and also I am the biggest spoiled brat you’ll ever meet. #lifeisgood

Anyway, we have about three days off and then we are off to Dalat, a small Vietnamese mountain town about six hours from here. We are traveling so much over the next month … what is school and homework again? I completely forgot. 🙂

Stay posted!!

angkor sunrise

It is very exciting and very sad to say that I have reached the halfway point of my study abroad here in Costa Rica. I have friends counting down the days I come back, and I won’t lie, I have a countdown app on my phone as well, but it’s bittersweet to think about leaving here.

Over the last few weeks, I realized I would wish I would have done these two things before I traveled 2000+ miles away from home. I would love to make this an opportunity to share some words of advice.

1. Plan out your financial spending!

Although this is mentioned in just about every handbook students receive, most of us don’t pay this any attention. I was so excited to be here and I wanted to experience everything all at once. BIG mistake. Enjoy your time, but spend your money wisely. Although things are less expensive here, they add up.

2. Don’t leave behind unsettled issues back home!

This is one of the worst things some one can do. Before you leave to study abroad, make sure that any disputes you have with friends are solved. Otherwise, this will take a toll on you and the fun you could be having while abroad. Leave at ease, not with lingering problems. Think about it, you are going to another country. This means for some things like language barrier, culture shock and homesickness are going to be problems. The ones back home don’t need to be weighing you down even more!

On a more positive note, last week we had a whole week off from classes. I had a blast during that week collecting more visa stamps for my passport! USAC gave us optional trips to either Panama ($600) or Cuba ($1,900) to choose from. The whole week was planned out for us from about 7am to 7pm, which at first was upsetting, but turned out to be the best mini-vacation ever! I chose the Panama trip.

In brief, our first 2 days were spent in Tortuguero, Costa Rica. It was densely humid there and most of the time was spent in a resort, relaxing by the pool. Then we traveled by bus, for 6 hours to get to the border of Panama. We crossed the border on a heavily traveled bridge (picture below), got on another bus and then a boat.

Our days in Bocas del Toro, Panama included beaches and snorkeling. This was easily one of the best experiences of my life! The clear waters, the coral, the sand. I couldn’t get enough. I was even brave enough to hold a starfish!

If your program offers an extra trip as this one, I highly recommend taking it! Save, budget, do what you have to do, but go on the trip! I heard from the students that went on the Cuba trip that they fell in love with the country and would love to have stayed longer.

Enjoy the pictures and PURA VIDA!

Hey guys-

I know it has been awhile since I last posted.  Unfortunately, I have been caught up with midterms and mid-semester projects for the last two weeks, so I have been unable to keep y’all updated with the state of my journey.

Since I have a bit of time before I leave tomorrow for Fall Break, I thought I would offer a couple of thoughts that I have accumulated during my last few weeks of traveling and studying.  First off, I have visited both Munich and Stockholm since last blogging.  My initial reactions to both these cities were just how clean and colorful they both were.  Although both are modern cities with modern architecture, both incorporate classic European design, including rows of cute shops all painted different shades of pink, yellow, orange, and red.  At the same time, both cities tended to be much more “Americanized” than other cities that I have seen thus far in Italy.  By this, I mean that both Munich and Stockholm have numerous American fast food shops to eat in, convenient stores such as 7-Eleven (particularly in Stockholm), and are more likely to accept credit cards instead of cash, unlike Italy which is very much a cash country.  In fact, in Sweden, there were stores that only accepted credit cards instead of cash, since right now in Sweden, there is a push to go paperless in all consumer transactions.

Now that Fall Break is upon me, I will be traveling with other members of JFRC to Greece for a study trip.  This trip will not only include visiting several Greek islands, but also the archeological and historical sights around Athens and Greece.

Most likely, there will be another blog post in about two weeks, since I will be fully done with midterms and other examinations by then.

Ciao da Roma!

-I

 

So I apologize for there being no recent updates on my trip… But I have finally downloaded all the picture from my camera to my computer. The weather has been amazing. We are truly lucky to have such warm weather here for the start of fall (it’s been 60-65 degrees and sunny which apparently never happens). Also, I haven’t stopped eating at different boulangeries because I have to try all the pastries. Who else is going to recommend you the best of the best? My host family is great and I find myself speaking a bit more french in the dinner table and I socialize more with Lola the monkey. We took a selfie the other day.

Just to let you know, I went on a school trip to Versailles a few weeks ago and when we finished touring the gardens we were informed that there would be a lights and firework show that very night and that it was the last one of the year. So me and a group of friends decided to stay behind and experience the Sun King’s marvelous gardens at night.

 

 

 

The gardens and fountains are even more beautiful at night! All the fountains were turned on at night too and they illuminated the gardens and even set up fire machines that would flash a burst of flames at random times throughout the night. It was quite exciting.

Tomorrow I will be traveling to Giverny! Here we will visit the house of Claude Monet and view the environment that inspired him to paint the Lilly Pads (Les Nymphéas) that are on display in the Musée de l’Orangerie.

Until next time!

 

Culture shock was, thankfully, not a huge problem in my transition to Costa Rica.  Although nothing was too shocking to me, there are a good deal of differences between Costa Rica and the United States.  Please note that these observations are neither good nor bad, but rather just things I have noticed that vary from the culture I grew up in.

1. The Food

– I was thankfully placed in a host family where both the host parents are amazing cooks, and college cafeteria food pales in comparison.  Rice and beans are staple foods here, but I have not gotten sick of them at all.  Rice and beans are served with almost everything, but I feel like there is enough variety of main courses to go with them that they do not become tiresome.

-The oranges are green here! I’m pretty sure everything I knew about fruit is a lie. The bananas are three times smaller here, but more flavorful. My favorite flavorful discovery here goes by the name of “Mamon Chino”, it is small, red, sweet fruit, which looks like it should be a pulsing alien egg as opposed to a delicious snack.  (picture below)

2. Family Dynamics- Living with a host family has given me a snapshot of family life in Costa Rica. Every family is different, but one cultural difference I have noticed is that it is very common for adult children to live with their parents. Children live with their parents until then they get married in order to save money, compared to the US where kids try to move out asap.

3. Routine- I initially stated that their is no good or bad, only different when comparing cultures, but this may be an exception.  In Costa Rica, an afternoon siesta followed by an afternoon snack with coffee is a common, almost daily occurrence. Respecting nap time (or at least a quiet time) is an art, and it remains strong in Costa Rica, and I believe that is an excellent tradition.

4. The Weather- Now, this cannot be helped, nor is it specific to Costa Rica, but I feel it is worth mentioning that it rains everyday here. Not just for twenty or thirty minutes, but after 3pm until dark everyday without fail.  A joke my host dad is particularly fond of is “In most places they have four seasons in a year, Costa Rica has only two: rain and waiting for it to rain.” Please note that August-December is the rainy season here, and next semester it should be considerably drier.

Those are just a handful of the differences between Chicago and Costa Rica. As I previously stated, culture shock was not a huge problem for me, but that being said, I would encourage everyone to find their piece of home they can take with them.  For me, it is song in English, preferably familiar, but even an old time ballad in English reminds me that I not fallen off the map.