Kia Ora! (Maori for many things, including “hello”) Last week, CCSP ventured to the north island across the (extremely rough) waters to study sustainable community development from the perspective of several different people in society. Wellington (aka “Windy Welly”) is the capital city of New Zealand with a population about that of Grand Rapids, so …
Category Archives: Culture
Eid Mabrouk
Happy Eid to everyone! Today is officially the last day of Eid al-Adha. Eid is a Muslim holiday that celebrates the 70 days after Ramadan and is considered the “Greater Eid.” There is also a celebration called Eid al-Fitr which is celebrated three days after Ramadan. During Eid al-Fitr many sweets are eaten and children dress …
Ancient Ruins, a Turkish Bath and Some Sheep
On Friday we had an excursion to ancient Carthage, which is basically in my backyard. We rode the TGM on the way and we even passed some of the ruins. Our first stop in Carthage was to visit some of the Phoenician ruins. According to legend, Carthage was founded by Didi in 814 B.C. Carthage …
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Host Family Life
It had now been a week since I have moved in with my host family. I am living in La Marsa, which is a suburb of Tunis and about a five minute taxi ride from the SIT study center where I take classes. My family consists of my mother whom I call “mama,” one of …
Getting over homesickness & Some touristy moments
Sawubona (hello or I see you in Zulu) Friends and Family, Hope all is well in the US of A. So it’s week 3 here in Durban, can you believe it?! I know I can’t, sometimes I feel like I just got here and sometimes like I’ve been here for 6 months. But anyway let’s …
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Orientation
“You are studying in a giant political science lab.” That’s what my academic director said to us a few nights ago as we were sitting down eating dinner. Tunisia underwent a revolution in 2011 to become a democracy. Changes are happening all over the country, but change is also slow and democracy takes time. Throughout …
Goodbyes and Hellos
I’ll start this post by saying: I definitely picked the right country to do my study abroad. The pace of life is slower, tourists don’t flood what few city streets exist, and nature dominates most of the land. The snowcapped mountains expand much of the island, leaving a trail of sparkling blue glacial lakes where …
Good-Bye India
With ISP over I only have one more week in India. I am still not quite sure how I feel about this. I have moments of “I NEED to get out of here!” followed by moments of “Please don’t make me leave!” The first half of our last week was spent doing presentations. I was …
Singapore- Reflections Post-India
After my program in India was completed I was given the opportunity to travel to Singapore for a week. Although this isn’t home, it gave me a pretty good idea of what to expect when I do get home. Here are some things that surprised me about life outside of India. Space: I am continually …
Saree not Sorry
This week I was given the opportunity to attend my first Indian wedding. I have been looking forward to this for weeks. The wedding was on a Wednesday which was interesting because most weddings that I have attended happen on weekends. Since I do not know how to put a Sari on I had to …
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