It is a beautiful day here in Grand Rapids, Michigan. And here I sit, stressing about the next few months because, well, I leave in July to go study abroad! I am excited and terrified and so, SO pumped to go. It has been a dream of mine to study abroad since I was very young. Spanish …
Category Archives: Academics
The Cyclops: Greek Theater in Center Stage
The semester is finally winding down, and that means due dates of final papers, exams, and projects and looming closer by the day. One of the more enjoyable final semester projects has been the ancient Greek theater performance for my Attic Tragedy class. Throughout the semester, we have been reading through the works of famous …
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Shadowing Doctors in Madagascar
It’s been a month since my last update, and there is so much I could tell you about, it’s difficult to decide what to write about. I spent 3 weeks back in Betafo (the rural area I stayed in for a week in March) doing field work for my independent study project, and then this …
Found in Translation
Way back in January, I opted to take a French-English translation class at Rennes 2. This means I got graded alongside native French students. Who speak French. Natively. This suggested two possible outcomes: 1.) I would perish in the ocean of French vocabulary I did not know. Aware I was going waaaay in over my …
Jordan: Meandering around the Middle East
It’s finally Spring Break at CYA!! For our week off, my friend Shea and I decided on a non-traditional spring break location and go to Jordan! Jordan might be the most beautiful, incredible place I have been so far, which is really saying something after traveling around Greece. The culture is very different here, which …
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Up next: the ISP
Tomorrow (Friday) is the start of phase two of the program. At 7am I’ll be at the taxi-brousse station, waiting to board the taxi-brousse for the 4hour bus ride to Betafo. Once that bus leaves the station, I’ll be on my own for the next 4 weeks. On my own schedule, that is. That’s because …
Environmental Awareness and an Anecdote That Ends with Coffee.
One thing I know I’ll take away from France is an increased environmental consciousness. I thought I already had some things going for me–I don’t use plastic bags. I walk or bike if my destination is within a reasonable distance. I recycle. But in France, they have a much heightened sense of ecologic responsibility, and …
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The Peloponese!
Wow! These last few weeks have been crazy! Between traveling and studying, there hasn’t been too much time for much else, including writing about everything! Two weeks ago, the CYA program took all 86 of the students on a week-long trip around the Peloponnese, or the large southern peninsula that protrudes into the Mediterranean. The …
Botswana’s Health System
Since I am in a public health program in Botswana, I have learned much about Botswana’s health system. Botswana is one of the most stable countries in Africa, and most of its economy is reliant on diamonds, tourism, and beef. This being said the government has quite a bit of money and is able to …
In Which We Start Actually Studying
It’s the first week of classes at CIREFE! Finally, every last bit of orientation is over and we get to start attending real classes! The last three weeks were absolutely exhausting because every day was different. Sometimes we attended classes at a place called Langue et Communications, which specialized in teaching French to foreigners. Other …
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