Academics | | Page 7

Mel in Chile: The South Part 3

November 8, 2013

Last time you heard from me, I finished writing about my homestay with a Mapuche family in a small valley called Valle Elikura.

We left Valle Elikura early Monday morning. We spent the next part of the trip in Dichato, a small town in the southern coast of Chile. We also took two classes in Universidad de Concepción about the economic, political and social influence of the forestry industry.

Before I start talking about the activities during the final days of our trip, I would like to share how I felt after Valle Elikura.

I think it’s safe to say when we travel and spend time with other people who are culturally or ethnically different than our own group, we tend to hope our time with them will attend to some questions, or curiosities. Likewise, I hoped that my time in the homestay in the Valle Elikura would answer many questions I had thought of in preparation for the trip. How did they feel about being surrounded by the forestales (general term for forestry companies)? Is there a space for the community and the forestales to discuss terms of mutual agreement for future plans? How had the concept of “ser Mapuche” (literally meaning “to be Mapuche) evolved through history? In which ways did this identity adapt to the political context of each time period? What are the major discontents of the Mapuche community in Valle Elikura with the Chilean state?

I refer specifically to the community in Valle Elikura because I wanted stay away from the fallacy of assuming that the Mapuche are a homogenous group. I did assume that everyone in Valle Elikura would share the same identity, have similar political views, and generally organize around the same “vision” for the community. I quickly found out my notion was embarrassingly wrong. To begin with, most of the families in Valle Elikura have one Chilean parent. My host father was a priest in an Evangelical church while the director of our homestay expressed great discontent with the infiltration of Western, monolithic religions in the Mapuche community. As I became aware of these dichotomies, I raised questions that tried to go deeper into learning more about the people living in Valle Elikura.

The more I tried to “learn” during the five days of my homestay, the more I felt I didn’t understand. It’s as if I walked into a cave. In the beginning, I had a torch with a small fire. I could see clearly as far as the light from the fire would allow me. But, as the fire grew and the light became bigger, I realized the immensity of the cave.

At the end of our second day, I wrote ten pages front and back of reflection in my journal. My mind never stopped thinking.

I never got to the bottom to any of my questions. It is impossible.

In this post, I wanted to share a bit of my personal reflection of the trip.

It was a milestone experience. I didn’t answer questions. It was the first time I put incredibly effort into resolving my inquiries and realized I could not do it. I could not reduce thousands of years of history and social processes and point to one fragment to say “this is the answer.” This may sound like an amazing and valuable epiphany, and it is. But when I was just understanding the complexity, I was very discouraged that I would never “fully” understand.

In my own opinion, I say I have a passion for the pursuit of knowledge. When I realized this pursuit would raise more questions than it answered, I became very cynical. I thought, “If I will never fully understand these concepts, then I should stop wasting my time trying.”

I am thankful I took some time to track where I learned to relate obtaining answers with successful pursuit of knowledge. I need not look any further than my current curriculum as a university student. My classes thus far have taught me to look for answers. They have taught me that assets should always equal liabilities. They taught me to model consumer behavior according to models and mathematical equations. I think somewhere in my 14 years of schooling, I learned to appreciate and value linear ways of thinking. The problem is at the top and through several processes of analyses and deconstruction, I arrived at the bottom; “the answer”.

The experience in the south broke that nonsensical concept.

On the way to Dichato from Valle Elikura

Leave a Comment » | Fall 2013, Mel in Chile | Tagged: Academics, Chile, Culture, Host Family, Religion, Travel | Permalink
Posted by melinchile

Diego in Brazil: Getting to know Rio’s Zona Sul

October 29, 2013

If you have been following my blog or have read one or two posts, then hopefully you have noticed that I have been trying really hard to avoid becoming yet another tourist in this dynamic city. Typical questions from friends and family back home can be anything from “Do you go every day to the beach?” and “Have you visited many favelas?” to “Is every Brazilian really sexy?” or “Is it true that no one really works and people just relax all day?” What I experience every day at PUC-Rio (take a look at some of the pictures in this entry) is drastically different from these questions.

PUC-Rio constantly has new cultural activities on campus. This picture shows two students and many design and architecture books.

I must admit that if I had come to Brazil a year and a half ago I would most likely fallen into the trap of experiencing Rio de Janeiro from this perspective. And that is of course no surprise. The touristic and exotic discourse surrounding Rio de Janeiro has been shaped for decades. The mix of beaches, forests, mountains, and industrial areas make of this city a mystical experiment in the eyes of many.

Now that I look back, I can more easily understand why as a Guatemalan I grew up constantly having these images in mind. To some extent I think Rio the Janeiro becomes the object that could fulfill, in an ideological and exotic way, what many people think we lack back in Guatemala. I do not support this idea, but I write it here for you to have an idea why I have been so focused on not buying into it. Keeping this in mind, I have continued to wonder how to then avoid becoming yet another tourist.

Well, if you have read some of my posts you know I have tried to understand what each part of the city means for those who live here. Luckily studying abroad in Rio de Janeiro has given me the time to understand how different socio-economic and cultural groups experience this city differently. My host family certainly has a particular perspective on favelas, the government, Rio’s public services, the city’s wealthiest areas, and so on. Such perspective does contrast with the way many of those who I have met in my host university think. In the beginning I assumed that studying in a private university would restrict me to meet only a certain wealthy sector of Rio’s student population. As you may have guessed already, I was completely wrong.

I wrote this short entry because in the next two or three posts I will share with you some of my trips to Rio’s southern zone. My host family lives in one of these neighborhoods and after gathering different perspectives, stories, complaints, and expectations from many people in the past two months I feel somehow ready to let myself explore much more. Reaching a point in which I can fully appreciate how Rio is experienced differently by the countless groups and identities living here is of course impossible. Yet I have tried my best to build an understanding of the city that will allow me to leave my study abroad program knowing that I truly challenged and changed my past ideas of Rio de Janeiro.

We all have different goals for our study abroad programs. I will feel incredibly satisfied if I can get close to achieving one of mine. Come back for the next posts to get to know some of Rio’s neighborhoods!

A very interesting debate on the democratization of culture. I thought I would stop by to take the picture and eventually stayed until the debate finished.

Leave a Comment » | Diego in Brazil, Fall 2013 | Tagged: Academics, Brazil, Culture, Host Family | Permalink
Posted by DiegoGuatemala

Alyssa in New Zealand: Two is better than one

October 23, 2013

Doing something more than once is anything but a waste of time. In fact, it allows you to see more of what you have initially missed. As pointless as it may seem to visit the same place for a second time, it is actually very beneficial.

After returning to Queenstown once more with my parents, I was exposed to some of the more geographical aspects of the area. As we drove to several different vineyards throughout the day, I got the chance to see the nature that truly surrounded Queenstown. It was quite strange to think that vineyards could thrive in such a dry, cold area in the region. However, such wineries have learned to adapt and grow successfully in New Zealand’s weather conditions, even if they are situated near mountainous areas.

Northburn Station winery

A taste of Queenstown scenery

I also returned to the Milford Sound, except this time, instead of just standing at the entrance, I went on a boat cruise that took us deeper within. Despite the fact that it was raining fairly hard (Milford Sound is considered to be one of the wettest places on Earth), the beauty of Milford was not overshadowed by the dismal weather. As a matter of fact, the rain only contributed to its magnificence, for there were several waterfalls, most of which formed from the rainfall, that were running down from the mountain peaks into the sound. At one point, we encountered one of the more powerful waterfalls. As we made our way closer, the vibrations began to increase from the impact of the water hitting the sound. We were several meters away, but we still managed to get completely sprayed and covered by the water. The force of the water was immense, but it did not prevent us from approaching it.

The reverberations from the waterfall became more and more immense as we approached it.

There were vast amounts of fog which made it hard to make out some of the peaks of the mountains in the distance. However, the magnitude of the mountains were fully revealed when the boat made its way through the fog. Throughout the cruise, we were all kept in suspense, waiting to see what more Milford Sound had in store for us beyond the layers of haze.

A layer of mist floated over Milford Sound as we made our way deep within

The minute I returned to Dunedin, I finally had to put myself to work, for it was officially final exam period at Otago. Even though I was disappointed by the fact that I had to stop traveling for the time being, I knew that papers were a priority during my time over here as well. It felt a little weird to abruptly put my travels to a halt, for I had become so used to being on the go for the entire semester.

There was a significant amount of work that I had to do in order to prepare for my exams. My theatre exam was a take home exam, for which I had to write two essays. For my microbiology exam, the paper consisted of over thirty lectures. There were forty multiple choice and three short essay questions, all of which had to be answered in three hours (very similar to Richmond’s exams). The only difference was that these exams were more heavily weighted on my final grade. As a result, the exams covered a lot of material and it was obligatory for me to do well.

Since my theatre exam was a take home, microbiology has been my only exam so far that has taken place during a given time slot. The location for each exam is usually very random. For instance, my exam was set in the old physical education gymnasium instead of a classroom or lecture hall. The room held an exam for not only my class, but for another class as well. The desks in the room were set up in rows and each person was assigned a number. As we took the exam, three proctors continuously walked around the room, watching almost our every move. The room atmosphere was tense, and the experience was similar to being a room full of students taking the SAT’s.

Now that two out of three of my final exams are out of the way, I have free time to myself once again. Having only one exam left makes the end of the semester seem so soon. The end is quickly creeping up and I’ve barely begun to notice it up until now. I continue to explore Dunedin in my free time, for I still haven’t seen everything. Whether it consists of me waking up early to watch the sunrise, hiking tracks that are not typically highlighted or discovering new beaches around the peninsula, everything still seems new and exciting. I still find it astonishing that all of these amazing sights and spots are so close by. Their proximity and easy access just reminds me that I have to take advantage of them while I’m living here for the last four weeks of this experience.

The odds of me seeing these people again in the near future is very slim, for we are all from very different places. Being from Boston, having friends all the way from Michigan to Norway does not make visiting each other very easy. Nevertheless, I plan on making the most of my time with the friends that I have made over here until the very end. It’s never too late for us to arrange a last minute trip in our last few weeks. The end may be near, but that does not turn us away from continuing to travel more.

Having been to most of the highlighted areas of the south island, I find myself wanting to return to the same places again. I have a fear that I will forget the sights that I have seen. Something new is always discovered the second time, which makes me think that there is still more out there. Even if I don’t see everything, it always gives me an excuse to come back all over again.

Sunrise at Saint Clair Beach on the Otago Peninsula

Leave a Comment » | Alyssa in New Zealand, Fall 2013 | Tagged: Academics, Friends, Host University, Nature, New Zealand, Travel | Permalink
Posted by gunvillealyssa

Rhiannon in India: Classes at the University of Hyderabad

October 22, 2013

Now that I have been taking classes at the University of Hyderabad (or Hyderabad Central University, as it is called here) for about three months now, I have started to reflect a bit more on my academic experience. As I wrote at the beginning of the semester, the University of Hyderabad is a predominantly graduate-level university about 20 minutes outside the center of Hyderabad. Although the university has a small student body of about 5,000 students, the campus is vast, full of greenery, and serves as a nice sanctuary within the bustling city. Much of the campus still lies untouched, so despite the long, hot walks to South Campus every afternoon, it is nice to be in an environment with lakes, trees, and wildlife like peacocks and water buffalo.

It’s like walking through the jungle to get to class, and sometimes I see peacocks on the sidewalks and in the trees

The natural, untouched landscape

I am taking four classes this semester, two that are direct-enrollment with Indian students and two that are only for international students and are held in the Study in India Program building all the way in South Campus (which is quite far from the rest of the academic buildings). My two SIP courses, Basic Hindi and Indo-US Policies, are structured much more like classes at home and cater more to our home school programs and majors. These classes are great because our professors give us tons of opportunities to do things outside of the classroom and experience different aspects of Indian culture. Our Hindi professor, Bhavani, who is also a home stay mom for some girls in my program, holds cooking classes in her home for us. And our Indo-US Policies professor, Ramesh Babu, took us on a trip to Osmania University in another part of Hyderabad, had us over to his sister’s house for dinner, and invited our whole class to his cousin’s wedding. Even though we are just their students, they really embody the Indian culture of welcoming guests and want us to see India in the best way possible.

For the most part, my classes in India are very similar to my classes at Richmond, but there are definitely some differences as well. My workload so far pales in comparison to my usual workload in Richmond, not because the class content is less challenging, but because the grading system here is much different. At home, professors generally decide the number and nature of assignments in each class. Here, however, there is a university-wide policy for assignments and grading. Professors must assign three “internal” assignments, counting only the best two, and one final. This means that you can skip one of the internal assignments because only your best two are counted. Other than these two assignments, no other work is really required, except studying for the final. This system makes it really easy to fall behind with readings because there isn’t much incentive to do them, especially if the class is lecture-style and you aren’t expected to contribute in discussions. What’s worse (or better, depending on your perspective) is that you only need 75% attendance to pass, so generally speaking, it is much easier to get by with much less effort than at Richmond.

The shopping complex (Shop-Com), where all the students hang out, eat, and socialize

I really notice this in my Indian Philosophy class, which has about 15 students, five of which are SIP students like me. We are learning about three schools of Indian philosophy, including Yoga, but the professor is very new to teaching and, according to my Indian classmates, studied art in graduate school – not philosophy. Because of this, her lectures are usually pretty confusing, not only to the international students, but to the Indians too. And to add to that, the Indian style of teaching tends to emphasize repetition, so many of our lectures are about very similar things for days at a time. After the first few weeks, many of the Indian students even stopped coming to class. For the international students, this class gets pretty frustrating, and we usually just read outside material on Indian philosophy to complete our assignments.

It’s pretty common for the campus dogs to go in and out of the academic buildings. This one in particular sits in on our philosophy class every morning.

On the other hand, my Technology and Politics professor is very interesting to listen to and engages the students a lot in class. We talk about a wide range of topics – from philosophy to new technological advances with regards to caste and gender issues – and the students get really excited to contribute in class. The structure is mostly discussion-based, and our professor engages the class by assigning presenters and discussions on each reading assignment. If you don’t speak up during the discussion, she will inevitably call you out and ask if you have anything to add. She can be pretty intimidating, but her way of challenging students seems to work well. For our second internal assignment, we have to research a topic of our choice and present on it, but instead of presenting what we have learned about the topic, we present our research proposal to the class. The class and the professor critique our research and then we have to write a formal research report by the end of the semester. I have never had to do this type of project before, so I’m not sure if this is a difference between U.S. and Indian schools, or if it is because this is a masters-level course and I have only had undergraduate classes so far. Regardless, I am glad that I took this class because I feel like I am learning about Indian culture, not just through the course content but also by hanging out with my classmates.

The outdoor auditorium on campus – the site of many student events and protests

Overall, I am really enjoying my classes in India and they are adding a lot to my experience. Not only do I enjoy learning about ancient Indian philosophy, India’s foreign policy, and caste and poverty issues, but I also think that observing my professors and classmates is a valuable way to learn about Indian culture.

1 Comment | Fall 2013, Rhiannon in India | Tagged: Academics, Culture, Host University, India, Nature | Permalink
Posted by rhiannoninindia

Diego in Brazil: Exams at PUC-Rio

October 18, 2013

[Taking pictures of my classes during exams was not a real option for this post, so I am sharing with you some pictures of PUC’s campus during a beautiful rainy day in October.]

This is where you can find the International Cooperation Office – a fantastic and very helpful team!

Five classes and five mid-term exams. One of my major concerns about studying abroad at PUC-Rio without having taken some Portuguese classes was writing exams. Your time is limited, looking up words in a dictionary may make you lose some valuable minutes, and what you write simply may not make much sense.

Apart from my Portuguese language class, four of the courses I am taking at PUC strongly rely on reading, writing, and analyzing texts. I knew in every class I was going to be asked to write an essay as a response to a question. I was nervous, definitely. But how did it go in the end? Well, I am not sure yet. But let me tell you what my experience was with these exams.

I hope you read one of my previous posts in which I wrote about PUC’s grading system. To summarize that post I can say that PUC grades students mostly based on two exams per semester, allowing those who study here to have some space to work and have internships outside their time at the university. This made me think during the first two months of my semester that my exams would be very heavy in terms of content and would require me to carefully do the assigned readings for each of my classes.

And yes, I was right. Two of my professors told me that what we had done in class was not extremely important for the exam. “Everything will be based on the readings,” my professors told me. I spoke to my four professors before the exams to get an idea on how I should go about studying, and every single one of them told me to simply do the readings and not worry about their in-class lectures.

One of my favorite places to read on campus

Coming from UR, this was quite a new approach for me. I could not understand how my professors’ great in-class lectures were not important for my exams. I have four classes on Brazilian Foreign Policy, Latin American Politics, Contemporary Geography, and Social Inequality. If you are into social sciences, imagine how fantastic it has been to see professors teach how these topics relate to Brazil (of course, being in Rio de Janeiro and doing all of this in Portuguese makes it ten times better.) But hey, “that does not really matter as long as you do the readings” seemed to be the general rule.

My experience at UR has been quite different. Of course, you always need to do the readings and get through those assigned books. Yet you can expect your exams to also include some questions about discussions, projects, papers, assignments, and many other aspects of your courses. Both at PUC and UR I was asked to analyze a particular subject based on what we had done in my course. The difference is, and this is just my impression based on my first round of tests, that at PUC you can do well in those exams by attending classes, preparing each reading, and learning the dry, classing theory for each course.

Now, before I close the post, let me be really clear that I am not suggesting you should not go to classes when you are abroad. I can guarantee you that your exams will not go well if you pretend you can read 15 papers before your test and sit there analyzing a new question in two hours. Understanding how my professors tackle each question in class using our readings was essential to write my exams. How did my tests go? Well, I still have not got results back, but let’s all hope everything worked out.

PUC’s main road on campus. It was a beautiful rainy day in October

Leave a Comment » | Diego in Brazil, Fall 2013 | Tagged: Academics, Brazil, Host University, Language | Permalink
Posted by DiegoGuatemala

Done with Classes!

October 16, 2013

Alright, before all of the other study abroad students look at this title and feel themselves overcome with jealousy, I should explain.

I am not doing a traditional exchange program with a university in Chile. Technically I go to Universidad de Santiago de Chile, but that is only true in part. The School for International Training (SIT) is an independent organization that offers themed study abroad programs around the world. The program I am participating in right now is called “Chile: Political Systems and Economic Development”. All of the students in SIT programs take classes together. For example, my program has thirteen students and all of our lectures are in a classroom of just SIT students; we do not have classes with Chilean students as part of the program. With that said, I am not lying when I say I am done with classes. One of the characteristics of SIT is the month long independent research project students work on during the last month of studies, so for me this means November. Today we are starting a ten-day excursion in southern Chile where there are high concentrations of Mapuche communities (Chile’s biggest indigenous group). The drive will be about ten hours and we will do this during the night. The purpose of this trip is to engage in dialogue with the Mapuche community and the community leaders about Mapuche political participation, economic development, and the struggles over land rights that the government sells to multinational forestry corporations, and the Mapuche perspective of identity within a nationalist country that marginalizes indigenous identity.

We will return from this trip in late October. During the next couple of days I need to create a research proposal and make the decision to reside in Santiago for November or relocate to a place that would be more useful for my work. Then November will come and I will be in full swing on my independent research.

Now that I am done advertising for SIT, I would like to express some thoughts on how it feels to be finished with classes.

Time has passed by faster than anyone can understand until they participate in a similar study abroad arrangement. Of course this is because we literally have less time in the classroom with the excursions and the independent month. However even taking into consideration those circumstances, I still feel it is honest to say time passed very quickly.

I have truly enjoyed the group with which I spent the past two months. There are only thirteen students so we had the opportunity to become close to one another. I can say that all of them are people I would have chosen to be friends with under different circumstances. We learned about Chile together, we learned a different language, we explored Santiago, and we traveled to magnificent places and came back to hotel rooms discussing them under the lens of social progress. We sat in class together every day for the past two months learning and exchanging ideas. It goes without saying I will miss the group.

We are all meeting at the metro station in two hours to start our journey to the south. I feel ready for this next experience.

Stay tuned 🙂

This is a picture of almost all of us…we cannot be contained within the dimensions of one photo! This is in Valle de la Luna, in the North of Chile.

Leave a Comment » | Fall 2013, Mel in Chile | Tagged: Academics, Chile, Culture, Host University, Politics, Travel | Permalink
Posted by melinchile

Alyssa in New Zealand: The capital and Maori culture

October 11, 2013

The reality that the end is approaching has finally hit everyone. Since it’s the last week of classes, we have all started to realize that living here is not going to last forever. As we hand in our last minute assignments and prep for the upcoming exam period, we can’t but help ourselves to keep planning more and more last minute trips. What have we not done? What are we missing? Surely we’ve seen a lot, but have we seen enough? The thought of leaving something behind seems to be more worrisome than preparing for our final exams.

Yet, it is important to focus on the next few weeks, for typically, the final exams account for the majority of our final grades. My microbiology final is 70% of my grade and my zoology final is 50%. As much as I would prefer to put most of my efforts on my travels, it is essential for me to focus on my work as well.

That doesn’t necessarily mean the traveling comes to a complete halt. In fact, I continue to explore the country. Nothing stopped me from flying into Wellington (the North Island) last weekend. What made this experience a little more special was that I was with the people that I have known my entire life: my parents.

Being with mom and dad was such a great way to spend my time in the nation’s capital. I found myself very lucky to have had visitors. I got to have a little taste of home in America, even though I’m several thousand miles away from it.

Golem, a main character from Lord of the Rings, greets those who arrive in the Wellington airport everyday

Wellington is a very walkable city, for we continuously weaved in and out of the streets. Since the city is situated on the southern part of the North Island of New Zealand, much of the main activity is centered near and around the waterfront. It it typically known as “Windy Welly” due to the high amount of winds that blows into the city from the ocean. A boardwalk that turns into a path runs along the perimeter of the city right by the waterfront, making everything very accessible and creating an enjoyable walkway. Near the water, Wellington seems almost like a beach town. Nevertheless, the further you walk away from the waterfront, the more urban it becomes. The city turns into a more hectic and active version of Dunedin. There are several more people that are walking around as well as cars drive through the streets.

The leaning posture of the statue indicates the magnitude of wind in Wellington.

Variety is integrated all throughout Wellington. Every corner that you turn is something completely new. Whether it be shops or restaurants, no two places that you encounter are the same. I finally got to go out to eat and have a taste of some of the New Zealand food. The food isn’t significantly different from American food. Most of the options that they offer on the menu are somewhat similar. However, the way it all tastes is fairly different, for it tastes much more natural. Everything that I tried seemed like it was a more flavorful, healthier version of what the American dish would be.

A view an area of the waterfront from Mount Victoria, a prominent hill in Wellington. Wellington is the first city one would enter if traveling by ferry from the South to the North Island.

The waterfront is a very populated area, for there are several different kinds of attractions located there. One of the main appeals is the Te Papa Museum, New Zealand’s national museum. As we walked around each level, I found myself learning a lot more about the kiwi culture than I had throughout the entire semester. The Maori culture is highly preserved and respected in the country, for they are the indigenous Polynesian people of New Zealand that have their own language, mythology, crafts and performing arts. Sadly, the presence of the Maori seems to be slowly shrinking in New Zealand, but the kiwis make a great amount of effort to sustain and uphold the customs in the country.

A light up map of New Zealand in the Te Papa museum

Pounamu (also known as “greenstone”) plays a very important role in Maori culture. It is a very highly valued type of stone found in southern New Zealand and each piece of stone carries some sort of significance to it. The piece of greenstone that I attained (a gift from my parents, for it is advised that you should never buy greenstone for yourself) is a “fish hook”, the symbol of plenty. It represents strength and determination and it provides safety for travelers, especially those who venture out overseas (which seemed to be quite fitting for me).

Maori greenstone – the fish hook

After returning to Dunedin, I was inspired to attend the end of the semester concert that was performed by the students enrolled in the Maori papers (both 100 and 200 level). Over half the students in the 100-level paper were international students. I saw the people that I was familiar with walk on stage in costumes that made them seem like strangers. The females were dressed in all black, wearing knee-length skirts, black lipstick and black designs drawn right beneath their lower lip on their chin, almost making it look like they had fangs. The males were shirtless and wore grass skirts that seemed to be constructed by some type of fiber.

Throughout the performance, the students were only singing in Maori with a peaceful melody. Even though I did not understand what they were saying, I was still very entertained. Typically, the dance starts off so that the females are situated in the front and the males in the back and they’re standing very close to each other. Eventually they all spread apart, and the females continue to gently sing in the front. The highlight of the performance is when the males make their way to the front to perform the haka, the traditional ancestral war cry. Much of the dance involves stomping of the feet, vigorous movements and rhythmic shouting and chanting. The signature mark of the dance is the widening of the eyes and sticking out the tongue. New Zealand rugby teams perform the haka before every game, trying to intimidate their opponents and to increase the intensity of the team.

Even though the semester is finishing, that does not prevent me from learning more about the New Zealand tribal culture. I’m glad that I finally had proper exposure to the culture, for there is much more to New Zealand than amazing sights; it has plenty to offer. It’s never too late to discover something new, even if it seems like you’re quickly running out of time (which is exactly how I do feel). The end may seem intimidating, but it is also motivating.

Leave a Comment » | Alyssa in New Zealand, Fall 2013 | Tagged: Academics, Adventure, Culture, Friends, Host University, Music, New Zealand | Permalink
Posted by gunvillealyssa

Diego in Brazil: Grades at PUC-Rio

September 24, 2013

Stay with me during this post. I know I am writing about grades and not a weekend trip to a beach or a new location, but you may be surprised at how a grading system may reveal many cultural and social aspects of a place.

As the semester continues to move forward my professors at PUC-Rio have begun talking about our first tests. Grades at PUC certainly work quite differently than at Richmond. Instead of having a cumulative grade that you earn through class projects, tests, presentations, class participation, and so on, at PUC I only have two tests during the semester that will form my final grade. My first test accounts for approximately 40% of my grade, and in a matter of a week or two I will be having tests for my five courses. According to some of my Brazilian classmates, these tests at PUC tend to be a way for your professors to only determine whether you have completed the assigned readings. Gladly I have been trying to stay on top of my readings in the past month.

The University’s atmosphere definitely calms you down from any concern about a new grading system

Interacting with my classmates has definitely been a major entry point to many aspects of life in Rio de Janeiro. Having a set topic for conversation does help when meeting local students. Trying to explain that I am a Guatemalan student at the US currently studying abroad in Brazil can get quite complicated at times. When that happens, it is always useful to fall back to a topic related to the class we share to build a new conversation from there. For instance, I have really enjoyed learning about Brazil’s tough political environment through some conversations with one of my classmates from my Political Economy of Latin America course. However, these conversations can also reveal something deeper about the life of students at Rio.

I had wondered several times why I saw countless posters advertising internships for students at PUC. Fortunately UR has several programs to fund students in their internships, but the amount of internships opportunities advertised at PUC is certainly beyond what I have seen at Richmond. According to one of my classmates from my Geography class, obtaining a first job in Rio may depend much more on previous work and internship experience than on a particular grade. His opinion is that Brazil’s professional environment requires you to leave college with at least two years of work experience with you. For that reason, he believes students and professors understand that work experience is a pillar in students’ preparation during their first university degree. When you bring all of this into account, you begin to understand part of the academic culture at PUC.

If a higher education institution understands the importance of work experience for the professional world it operates in, why would it not adapt its academic system to prepare its students in the best possible way? From conversations I have had with other UR students about grades at their study abroad locations, it seems to me PUC-Rio’s system is more common that this post would suggest. Yet it has been incredibly interesting to think about and ask what lies behind PUC’s grading system.

Leave a Comment » | Diego in Brazil, Fall 2013 | Tagged: Academics, Brazil, Culture, Host University | Permalink
Posted by DiegoGuatemala

Alyssa in New Zealand: Studying at Otago

September 13, 2013

Being a pre-health student, I’m lucky enough to have found a university that offers endless amounts of classes that help me fulfill my requirements for graduate school. Since I am planning on becoming a Physician’s Assistant, there are several science courses that I am required to take before I apply to P.A. school.

Studying abroad had always been a fear of mine, for I was always afraid that I wouldn’t be able to go. There have always been rumors about being a pre-health student. Many have claimed that we don’t get the chance to do as many things as other majors because we are always spending most of our time outside of the classroom and lab in the library, burying our heads in textbooks. While that may be true, I was determined that I could make studying abroad and my classes work simultaneously.

Having researched University of Otago, I was more than pleased to discover that they offered numerous science classes. After being accepted as an exchange student, I knew that my vision was finally becoming a reality.

The clocktower is in a very central part of campus

Here at Otago, I am taking Evolutionary biology (a zoology paper) and Microbiology for my biology major back at Richmond. There are two zoology lectures each week. Every Tuesday and Wednesday morning, I sit in the lecture hall with over 100 other students for 50 minutes. Even two other Richmond students are in the same paper, which I find to be comforting and very convenient when we are working on lab reports together. Every other week, the practical (also known as lab) meets for about four hours. There are two practicals, so there are approximately 50 students in each one as opposed to 100. For every practical there is a lab report that has to be submitted the following week. However, not one lab report exceeds over 9% of our final grade, for they are of very little value. What matters most in the end is what we receive on our final exam, which accounts for 50% of our final grade.

The zoology building, which is where my practicals meet

The circumstances are very similar with the Microbiology paper as well. The lecture meets three times a week (Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday) for fifty minutes. The practicals do not meet up every week. For instance, there will be three week period when there will be no practical at all and then another period where the practical will meet for three weeks in a row. Fortunately, we do not have lab reports for every practical. Instead, we have to take two exams throughout the semester. The first exam was on lecture material and the second on practical material. Each exam counts as 15% of our final grade. However, what we receive on the final exam will influence our grade the most, which is similar to the zoology paper.

For my third paper, I am taking a theater class in order to fulfill my Visual Arts requirement back at Richmond. This paper meets three times a week for 50 minutes. Additionally, students are required to attend live performances that take place on campus and movie screenings. The goal of the class is to compare drama that occurs on stage and on screen. Just like my other two papers, the class size is generally large. However, all the assignments that we hand in throughout the semester are equally taken into account for our final grade just as much as the final grade, a concept that is much more similar to Richmond’s way of grading.

Since New Zealand is such a new country, many of the examples that are introduced in lecture are rarely kiwi examples. Instead, many of the professors use examples from America, which tend to come across as new to many of the students. Conversely, I am fairly familiar with many of the examples that are presented. On the off chance that the professor does use a kiwi example, I find myself highly intrigued by its unique and innovative nature.

Generally speaking, many of the final grades that are received at Otago are based off mainly the final exam. Not being used to such grading, I have had to adjust my priorities when it comes to my studies. Typically, I try to complete and put much more effort into assignments that are of high percentage of my final grade. In the end, I know that I will be studying a vast amount for my final exams, for most of my final grades are dependent upon them. Luckily, there is a one month exam period at Otago after classes end (October 11), which in turn gives students a decent amount of time to study.

Student’s refer to campus as “uni”. This area is where many students may accumulate throughout the day

As unique as my experience has been at Otago, I have grown much more appreciation for the education that I have been receiving at Richmond the past two years. The small class sizes really make a difference, for the professors are able to identify each of their students and even form close relationships with them. With these connections, the student-teacher relationship is strong, which makes the whole learning experience more enjoyable and enriched.

Moreover, I think it’s very important for a student’s progress to be recorded throughout the semester and their entire grade should not be based off one exam in the very end. Final exams are essential, yet a final grade should not be entirely reliant on them. However, I value the education that I have been receiving here at Otago as well because not having heavily weighted assignments throughout the semester has allowed me to explore and have more free time to myself. There will only be a one month period when I will actually have to contribute majority of my time to my studies. As a result, I have found that this type of education is extremely fitting for my semester abroad.

In the end, being a pre-health student has never held me back from doing what I want and I don’t believe that it will in the future. Yes, my education has always been a priority in my life, but I have others as well. Traveling has always been a passion of mine and there is no reason for me to push my aspirations aside just because there are inconveniences. Ultimately, I’ve successfully found a way to make traveling and studying coincide.

This new way of learning has become very convenient for my time in New Zealand. Throughout the past two months, I have been constantly traveling the country and seeing things that one can’t even imagine. In the last few weeks of the semester, I find myself planning and embarking on all kinds of trips, putting in efforts to utilize all of the free time that is left while I can. Such opportunities have been presented often and I’ve been more than fortunate enough to have been able to take advantage of them.

Leave a Comment » | Alyssa in New Zealand, Fall 2013 | Tagged: Academics, Culture, New Zealand | Permalink
Posted by gunvillealyssa

Diego in Brazil: Bureaucracy and social networks

September 13, 2013

Maybe it’s time for an “It’s been a month!” post, so here it goes!

A month and two days ago I was going by bus to the international airport in Lima. I had just finished a 10-week research/internship project in the Brazilian and Peruvian Amazon and I hadn’t really had the time to prepare for Rio de Janeiro. Now that I look back and think about that last week in Peru, I realize that I hadn’t built solid expectations for what could happen in the following months.

I guess typically these posts reflect on how time flew by, but it seems as if the opposite has happened for me. As I look at the calendar all I can think of is “has it only been a month?!” Don’t get me wrong, I have found an incredibly interesting combination of classes at PUC (my host-university,) a bi-weekly yoga class, two daily bike rides to and from my University, a lovely home with my host-family, the environment to learn Portuguese, and great people. When I say that it surprises me that I have been in Rio only for a month is precisely because of how well established I feel already. To show how far I have got in settling in Rio de Janeiro, I want to tell you about two very common topics in conversations among Brazilians: family and bureaucracy.

One of my favorite aspects of studying in Rio de Janeiro has been encountering a culture that highly values social networks. Similarly to other Latin American countries, you will find in Brazil that family and friends form a person’s safety network and may go as far as forming part of someone’s identity. In my Poverty and Social Inequality class at PUC, we have been discussing how social integration in Brazil happens mainly through these social networks. Western social thought has typically valued social integration through a person’s career and professional development over social networks. However, research conducted across socio-economic classes constantly shows that Brazilians will, on average, protect their social networks over seeking new employment opportunities.

I have felt incredibly comfortable living in this environment (I’ll blame my Guatemalan background,) and experiencing these social interactions again is making me want to go back home for some years to recover some of those networks!

Navigating a new place as an immigrant without strong social networks can be tough at times. This past Thursday I went to Brazil’s Federal Police to register as a foreign student (a mandatory procedure for all non-Brazilians who stay in the country for more than thirty days.) I stood in line for four hours, and when I finally managed to present my documents I was told my mother’s name did not match the police’s system. I didn’t get more than a “you cannot register until you fix this.” I came back home incredibly frustrated. The only exciting aspect was that I now needed to go to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to correct my immigration documents. As you may remember from my initial posts, my favorite course at PUC is precisely Brazilian Foreign Policy, so the trip was not bad at all. “You can’t fight Brazilian bureaucracy,” replied my host-mother when I told her my story, “that’s why you always need to know someone.”

It was quite a trip to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs this past Friday

Leave a Comment » | Diego in Brazil, Fall 2013 | Tagged: Academics, Brazil, Host Family, Politics | Permalink
Posted by DiegoGuatemala

Mel in Chile: The South Part 3

Diego in Brazil: Getting to know Rio’s Zona Sul

Alyssa in New Zealand: Two is better than one

Rhiannon in India: Classes at the University of Hyderabad

Diego in Brazil: Exams at PUC-Rio

Done with Classes!

Alyssa in New Zealand: The capital and Maori culture

Diego in Brazil: Grades at PUC-Rio

Alyssa in New Zealand: Studying at Otago

Diego in Brazil: Bureaucracy and social networks

Blogs by Semester

Tags

Like us on Facebook

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Blogs by Semester

Tags