Study Abroad Essays
Nicole Martinez
For my Latin American Studies immersion requirement, I went to Guatemala to work with the Center for Mesoamerican Research (CIRMA). I chose it because it was by far the cheapest option outside of Mexico, and am very glad I did. CIRMA is a great organization and Antigua Guatemala is an amazing town. Fall of 2005 was only the second study abroad program run by CIRMA, and so there were only two of us attending, which came with some inherent problems.
The classes that we were able to take were very well done, and there were great ideas and wonderful faculty to expand the class offerings once more students are enrolled. One of the greatest advantages of the CIRMA program is the people. The center is a gathering point for many Central American intellectuals and community leaders. For any Guatemalan issue, past or present that I wanted to discuss or investigate there was an expert readily available who was very glad to help me. Also the largest photo archive in Central America provided a fascinating and fun internship.
The whole trip was definitely not all about school, though. Homestays with Guatemalan families gave us a great opportunity to perfect our Spanish and make some great friends with both our families and fellow traveler-roommates. Two volcanoes look down over the colonial town, probably the cleanest and safest place in all of Guatemala. Cobblestone streets and colonial mansions make the city seem transplanted from another time. Every traveler who goes to Guatemala ends up in Antigua at some point, for Spanish school or volunteering, or just to travel. People from all over the world, especially Israel and Western Europe, pour out in droves to fill the bars every night. We took a few salsa classes our first month, and were sufficiently prepared to enjoy some more native entertainment.
If Antigua got old, cheap, abundant buses made it super easy to travel to any of the beautiful spots in the country or neighboring countries. Volcanic ash beaches, the gorgeous Lago de Atitlan ringed by highland volcanoes and Mayan villages, the awesome caves and pools of the Coban area, Caribbean beaches, Garifuna villages, and ancient Mayan temples and ruins are all
within a morning's bus or shuttle ride of Antigua. Guatemala City also provides a thriving night life and loads of cultural events and more US style entertainment only an hour away.
The time I spent in Guatemala really opened my eyes to the world. To learn about the history of Central America in Guatemala makes it all so much more alive. Seeing firsthand the injustices that a lifetime in the US had made so unreal to me has given me a new drive to finish my studies and continue on, doing what good I can in the world. I would confidently recommend the CIRMA program in Guatemala to any Latin American Studies student.
Maya Abela (Senior)
During the summer months of 2004, I had the opportunity to spend winter in Peru studying ethnomusicology. The program I participated in was offered by the Pontifícia Universidad Católica del Perú, a private university based out of Lima. I had a variety of enlightening experiences ranging from classroom lectures on history and culture to fieldwork taking audio/visual recordings of both public and private religious/cultural festivals. My time spent conducting fieldwork was certainly the most exciting and memorable part of the trip—we traveled to the Mantaro Valley and to the highlands outside of Lima to document the Fiesta de la Virgen del Carmen, the Fiesta de San Juan, and various private Santiago festivals. I took video recordings and pictures of the various music and dances associated with the ceremonies of each festival. During a particularly festive and memorable family Santiago celebration, I was symbolically “married” to a young bull in the hope that it would bring him good health for the following year. In addition to being witness to some amazing things, I came to understand a silver of the immense diversity of the country around bottles of communal calientito shared with ancient campesina women, zapateo showdowns to afro-peruvian rhythms beaten out on a cajón, and lengthy discussions ranging from Verdi operas to Moche archeology with my host “mother” in Lima.
Though the group spent a total of over two and a half weeks in the field, we passed the majority of our time in Lima. When we weren’t in a classroom learning about everything from Peruvian politics to ceremonial masks, we were at El Centro de Etnomusicología Andina, conducting research in the library in addition to documenting and editing our recordings. I came to know the rather less exciting part of fieldwork through documenting the audio and visual contents of every minute of videotape I recorded. This process, if mind numbing, was crucial for the utility of the ethnographic record—our recordings are now currently part of the collection of El Centro de Etnomusicología Andina.
Ariana Brociuos (Freshman)
About a year and a half ago, I was provided with the incredible opportunity to travel to Costa Rica, to live there and study Spanish for five weeks. Being a young high school student, upon arriving in a foreign country and culture, I was initially a little intimidated. However my host family immediately introduced me to the warm and hospitable nature of Ticos, and within a week I felt at home. The many experiences I had there—everything from amazing trips to the beach to a real-life lesson on pickpockets—changed me forever, allowing me to better understand and appreciate the obvious, yet also sometimes subtle, differences among people and cultures.
I brought many things back with me from Costa Rica, but more important than the souvenirs was the sting of the “travel bug” and my fascination with Latin language and culture, leading me into my current major of Latin American Studies, supplemented with a Spanish minor. It is for these reasons that I wish to study at the University of Belgrano, in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The program I am applying for is particularly designed for Latin American Studies, and will directly correspond to my major. Also, the classes I will be taking are all taught in Spanish, thereby aiding both my academic and general understanding of the language. In addition, as I found in Costa Rica, there is almost no better way to understand a culture than to live within it, and by living with a host family I hope to achieve the same level of appreciation for Argentine culture as I did with that of Costa Rica. Another thing I learned from my previous study abroad is that five weeks, while an amazing experience, is not enough time to fully learn any language. I have been studying Spanish for the past 5 years and am currently at the sixth semester college level. Therefore, my goal is to master the language as completely as possible by the end of my semester-long stay in Argentina.
Being a Latin American Studies major, it is important for me to have some real experience with that culture (and the many sub-cultures within) to apply to my study of the curriculum. This is another thing I hope to gain while living in Argentina, as I will be experiencing a different way of life, learning the customs and social norms of another country. By fully immersing myself in both the culture and the language, I plan to be open new ideas, music, foods, and all other aspects, thereby gaining the knowledge and feel of a true Latin society. While hopeful that I will encounter much of that in my host family, I also realize the importance of being out in society in general, and therefore plan to travel, ideally experiencing as much as I can within the time I am there. Thus when I return I will be granted a much better understanding of the material I plan to study.
Finally, while attending class, living with my family, traveling on the weekends, and generally exposing myself to the Argentine way of life, ultimately I hope to have an amazing time. Because realistically, there are few times in one’s life when an opportunity such as this presents itself, and I want to make the most of it, learning as much about Argentine culture as I do about myself. As I mentioned before, I brought many things back with me from Costa Rica, but one of the most important things was a new-found sense of independence and self-reliance, and a better awareness of my own life. This self-discovery is one of the hidden advantages to studying abroad, and something which I look forward to. In essence, I can hardly wait to begin this new adventure; one which I feel will leave an impression on my life forever.