When looking at the various options for study abroad, I always knew I wanted to do a homestay. However, I did not realize how pivotal this decision would be until actually being 10,000 miles from my own home and family! Here’s a little look into my homestay in Santiago, Chile. Mi mamá lives in an …
Category Archives: Culture
Faithfulness and Ebenezers
Back home I have a rock that sits on my bedside table. Written on it is the word “faithfulness.” My rock’s role is to remind me of God’s faithfulness. Though I didn’t really intend this, that rock has become my Ebenezer. In the Bible, an Ebenezer is a physical representation of God’s goodness to remind …
To New Beginnings
With just a little bit over a month left until I move into my apartment in Chicago, I am experiencing a whirlwind of emotions. Some days I am overly excited to see what God has in store for me when I step foot onto the campus of Newberry. And others, I think about how I …
Yeah, I can do this
As I brought my luggage to the bus, where the other students were waiting, the mountains greeted me like an old friend. I thought, “yeah, I can do this.” A few minutes later, I panicked, the scene on the bus like a flashback to middle school. Where do I sit? Who looks friendly? Can I …
A Night in Gugulethu
My first sight in Cape Town after landing was the sprawling townships stretching for miles on the outskirts of the city-center. These areas were recognizable for distinct living conditions founded in poverty and injustice. Just over twenty years ago living areas were divided by race and individuals were forcefully removed from their pre-existing homes due …
Leaving the Island
Cape Town is often considered the ‘gateway to Africa’. Even with diverse backgrounds and beliefs, a common ideology when viewing the rest of the nation and the surrounding countries is present. While Cape Townians pride themselves on uncovering truths and opening up deep conversations, the lack of the ‘rural-minded’ individual has instituted a specific story about …
Looking to the Future (the Outsider Perspective)
On one of the many historical tours I have joined in South Africa, I had a gentleman say that “because we [the touring group] were from the United States” he could “reveal insight that he doesn’t bring up with white South Africans” since we were “outsiders and wouldn’t be offended to the truth”. This comment truly …
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Adventure and Reflection
The next segment of the IES Spring break tour led our group to a ‘lazy’ rafting trip in the outskirts of Nelspruit; a mountainous and lush landscape about an hour from Kruger National Park. We wet-suited up, due to the cold, but were confused when we additionally had to wear helmets. Turns out, the river …
My Pluscuamperfectos: Si Hubiera… “If I Had…”
So one of the tenses a Spanish student will learn is called the Pluscuamperfecto which is as complicated as it sounds. The structure of this tense usually requires that the user use the past perfect tense in the first clause (I would have…) followed by a conditional perfect tense in the second clause (If I …
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Chile at Surface Level: Modismos
So after being here in Chile for so long, I though it would be appropriate that I write an article on some Chilean slang. Phrases Some words in Chile do not exist in Spanish for other countries. Such words make what Chileans call modismos or chilenismos, in other words Chilean slang. Let’s take a look at a few: Cool – …
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