Thursday, October 28, 2010

Ramazan Öztan - Damascus, Syria

Ramazan spent the summer of 2010 learning Arabic in Damascus.
  


I was reading the memoir of a Turkish poet where he talks about his travels to Paris. And he says when someone is in Paris, it is very difficult to keep his/her friends posted since Paris has a lot to offer and one has only limited time to fully explore the city, the Parisian life, and the French countryside. I think it is a proper analogy to say that my days in Syria had the same effect. I spent two months in the country, saw much, learned a lot, enjoyed Syrian life, and the Middle East has still a lot to offer.
The first week was kind of a hassle in Damascus. First, I stayed in a hostel and tried to find a proper place to live for the next two months in the city and then completed the registration process in Higher Language Institute of the University of Damascus. After having walked the busy streets of Damascus for couple days, we (Ben from Utah and Kivanc from Turkey) finished the registration and found a place to live! Our house was a nineteenth-century Damascene house in Souk Saroujah, a neighborhood very close to downtown and old city. The first week in the house was an experience in and of itself. We had some bug problems in couple of the rooms, which seems to be a common problem in Damascus unless you prefer to stay in modern flats in the Mezzah neighborhood. Our house was at the end of a dead-end street surrounded by many more narrow streets. The fact that some of the house in the neighborhood are collapsing and some big buildings are being built just two blocks away from us led me to question the future of this lovely neighborhood and whether I will be able to find this house intact if I happen to come back to the neighborhood after five years or so.  
As for the real purpose of this trip, i.e. learning Arabic in Damascus, I have to say that I was quite amazed by the quality of the program and teachers at University of Damascus. I spent two months at school, made lots of friends, met lots of scholars with similar academic interests, and learned enough Arabic to chat for a good 20 minutes with the taxi driver who drove us from Palmyra to Homs. Each section of the Arabic program at the school lasted only a month. It was amazing to see how much material they covered in a month there, which was exactly what I needed. It is clear that knowledge of Turkish helped me particularly vocabulary-wise; at least 30 per cent of vocabulary we learned everyday were also used in modern Turkish. As I said, the program were great and there were many international students from across the world: the particular make-up of international population was European, mainly Italian, Spanish, French… many Turkish students were there for Arabic as well as an ok number of Americans. The classes are held Sundays to Thursdays from 9 am to 1 pm. They are really intensive and once I was at home, I was already burnt out and preferred to relax.  Yet, I was out once in a day at least for couple hours to drink tea and chat with friends or to do shopping for dinner.
Let me tell more about fun stuff instead of the progress of my Arabic. Syrian culture is interesting. It shares a lot with Turkish culture. Turkish music and soap operas are hits to the extent that whenever I tell a Syrian on the streets that I am Turkiya they say ‘Murad Alemdar,’ the protagonist of this Turkish soap opera that portrays the state-within-a-state in Turkey with anti-American, anti-Israeli themes. No wonder why it is popular around here. It gets little bit scary though when the kids on the streets run around pretending to be ‘Alemdar.’
I tried to travel every weekend when it was possible. Once, for instance, with a large group of friends, we hit the road for Palmyra, ancient Roman city, the place of tourist attraction in Syria. It was quite fascinating and the cooler weather around the ruins added more enjoyable moments to our walks around the place. Then with couple friends we took a taxi to Homs, a town in middle Syria, a less touristy taste of the Syrian culture. The real destination though was the Krak des Chevaliers, one of the best preserved examples of a crusader castle from the eleventh century. It was indeed very well preserved absolutely worth a visit to the extent that I was simply shocked when the microbus dropped us next to it. Every theme that the Middle Ages remind me found reality when I was walking through the castle. I also found time to travel and we went to Aleppo, a city in northern Syria close to Turkish border. Aleppo is much less touristy than Damascus but has different things to offer to visitors. The citadel was among one of them with its commanding position over the city. The traditional bazaar, i.e. Aleppo souk was also less touristy with fewer instances of harassment and more examples of traditional Aleppan culture. We visited some churches and enjoyed the cosmopolitan air of the city.
Ramazan Hakki Oztan: Spent the summer of 2010 in Damascus, Syria, learning Arabic.
Pic 1: A view from the Hamidiye Souq in Damascus; Pic 2: A pic of Umayyad Mosque in Damascus; Pic 3: Ruins in Palmyra, background an old Arab castle; Pic 4: Temple of Bel in Palmyra; Pic 5: Aleppo from the castle

Erin Wilson – Copenhagen Business School

Erin is currently a Senior studying towards a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science.  She is currently studying at Copenhagen Business School in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Turkey Trip

  
            Last week I had my fall break from school so I traveled to Turkey with two friends (Both girls – this detail will become important later in the post).  My friends and I decided on Turkey because we wanted to experience a culture completely different from anything we have ever known.  We wanted an intense cultural experience and we wanted to travel to a country that we would probably never think to vacation to again in our lives.  After looking into both Morocco and Croatia, we decided on Turkey.  The plan was to go to Istanbul for three days, then fly to Antalya on the Mediterranean coast to go to the beach for fours days (I am currently studying at the Copenhagen Business School in Denmark and Salt Lake cold weather has nothing on this Nordic city!), and then travel back to Istanbul for one more day before heading back to school.  However, we quickly found out that "cultural experience" might as well mean, "change in plans"!!!
            We were supposed to leave at 1:35 on the 18th of October, but because we are not used to the 24-hour clock we arrived at the airport in time for a 1:35pm flight, which is really 13:35!  We changed our flight and finally made it to Turkey two days later after flying all night.  Nothing like a $300 mistake to get a trip off to a rocky start!  To got to our hostel we hade to take a 1.5 hour bus ride, followed by a 20 minute ferry ride, 20 minute tram rise, and walk for 10 minutes.  By 9am on our first day we were already exhausted!  However, we set out to have an amazing day of sight-seeing. 
            Our hostel ended up being right next to The Blue Mosque and Hagia Sophia.  Hagia Sophia is a Basilica that was built in the 6th century and was later converted into a mosque in the 15th century before being declared a museum in 1934.  The Hagia Sophia was my favorite attraction of the trip.  You can actually see in he architecture where the basilica ended and where the architecture of the mosque was added.  Sitting in the middle of the grand structure gave you the most amazing feeling because you do not know if you are in a Christian religious space, a Muslim space, or a 'nothing' space.  The Blue Mosque and Hagia Sophia are located very close to each other so when it was time for the 4pm Call to Prayer you could hear The Blue Mosque make the call and then the Hagia Sophia, almost as if the two were speaking to each other!!  The Call to Prayer was something that I defiantly had to get used to as the call occurs at sunrise, noon, 4pm, and sunset.  It proved to be the best way to keep track of time without wearing a watch.  Also important to note is the importance of modestly while traveling around Istanbul.  Pants and t-shirts are the best or shorts that go past your knees.  I also carried a headscarf that I used to cover my hair whenever I entered into a mosque or Basilica. 
            After two long days of sight-seeing my friends and I decided to go to the Cagaloglu Hamami, which is a famous Turkish Bath that was recently voted as one of the "1,000 Places To See Before You Die".  I had no idea what I was getting into!  We decided to do the 3rd priciest option, rationalizing that we would never do this again, and got an exfoliating scrub, massage, and hair wash.  The point of the Hamami room is to sit and soak your skin for a long period of time until it is very soft.  You then lay on a hot marble slab while a woman exfoliates your ENTIRE body and gives you a massage before washing your hair for you and rinsing you off.  If you have any doubts about your body, you surely won't after an experience like that!
            Getting from Istanbul to Antalya was another stressful travel experience but it was all worth it the moment we walked out the front door of our hostel and has the most magnificent view of the Mediterranean Sea.  Our hostel was in The Old City which has a much cozier feel than the actual city of Antalya which has become a favorite vacation spot for many Turkish locals.  Despite having every intention of going on hikes and being really active in Antalya, the bath-warm waters and hot sun of the Mediterranean coast won us over and we ended up spending 3 days on the beach.  Antalya has two beaches, one is sand and the other is a rock beach where the shore is made of smooth stones.  Where there is no beach, cliffs reaching 200' go directly into the water, which is so clear you can see the individual rocks on the sea floor.  At the end of the beach on the Western part of the city you can see the Taurus Mountains on a good say when they have not caught the clouds. 
            By our final day in Turkey we were ready to go home – even though we had an absolutely amazing trip!  I still have hard time putting into words what I experienced over the past week.  I have never felt so displaced and like I didn't belong.  Traveling was challenging with the language barrier, and traveling without a male made us the victims of a great deal of hassling by locals.     However, I have never had a cultural experience like what my travels around Turkey offered.  A one-week trip put my 21 years of life into perspective.  I am grateful to be a woman and live in a country where I can practice any career I choose, wear anything I want to wear, and speak my mind openly.  The things I take for granted are not rights all over the World.  I hope that my time in Turkey made me a better person – a stronger individual that appreciates all the privileges I have been given in life. 

Friday, October 22, 2010

Angela Bradbury - Cusco, Peru

Angela Bradbury is a senior studying Elementary Education. She participated in the Going Global in the College of Education program.


Summer Study Abroad 2010

Cusco is known mainly for its rich culture, and for being the capital of the ancient Inca Empire.  However, the things I learned while studying there went way beyond the history of this unique land.  The people of Peru absolutely stood out in my mind as some of the greatest people I’ve met anywhere in the world, and I’ve done a lot of traveling.  I will do my best to portray how amazing these people were by briefly walking though my trip, but to truly understand what I mean, you will have to go there and find out for yourself!


Lima
Many people tried talking me out of staying in Lima for a few days before our actual program started, but I’m glad I didn’t listen.  The city tour was inexpensive and interesting, we were within walking distance of this amazing mall and the beach, and it was a great way to begin to get acclimated before you were thrown into a very planned out program. The nightlife was a lot of fun, we enjoyed this typical Peruvian drink (Pisco Sour) and we met a lot of great people.  There is this place called “pizza alley” where there were great restaurants and discotecas, definitely worth seeing and very affordable.  However, you will want to stay in a group when going out at night.  It can be a little sketchy if you’re not careful. 

 
Cusco
There were many people who struggled with acclimating to the high altitude.  Just because we are from Utah, where the altitude is around 5,000 feet, we think we know altitude…well we don’t!  Headaches, illness, and fatigue set in when we were thrown into a city where the altitude is more than double that of Utah at 11,200 feet!  However, when we landed we met our fantastic host family where we were greeted warmly with hugs, music and coca tea. Our host family was extremely kind, and even though at times there was a bit of a communication barrier, we were always able to have great conversations.  This was a very special part of my experience because I have traveled a lot, but never been welcomed into someone’s home the way I was here in Cusco.  Living this way enhanced my study abroad experience because this is where I learned the culture first hand, improved my Spanish, and felt safe in a new place.

There were so many things to see and do in this city that were either accessible via walking or taxi where you can get almost anywhere in the city for around 1$.

The relationships between families are very strong here, and very evident everywhere you go!

It was amazing to learn about the lives many Peruvian children lead.  Being able to choose whether they go to school in the morning or afternoon depending on when they have to work.  Even these children here were out in the Plaza de Armas late at night, by themselves.  You would rarely see children working at such a young age, and you would rarely see children out so late by themselves in Utah.

Two cultural “must do’s” if you go to Cusco are: 
First, go to the lama farm on your way to the beautiful ruins of Pisac.
Second, eat cuy aka guinea pig!  These were two things I did on my trip that I will never forget.  The lama farm was so much fun, and the group we were with had a riot.  Then, not everyone could eat the cuy, and I had a difficult time myself, but it is considered a Peruvian delicacy so why not?  It was also a great day because we were eating with our Spanish teacher, Josie, whom was another great example of how fun and special the Peruvian people are. 


You kind of get tired of people pressuring you to buy things in the Plaza de Armas, but you can also understand that this is how they make their living.  There are also many people doing manual labor.  These people making the mud bricks would make 300 bricks a day and were only paid $15!  It was very sad and eye-opening experience that made me feel very fortunate for the opportunities I have living in America.




Machu Picchu
There is a reason this site have been a wonder of the world.  It is just that.  It is one of the most amazing things I’ve ever seen in my life, and if I could put into words how powerful Machu Picchu I would.  It is just so much to take in, and it will leave you breathless.  Even though the day started out rainy and very foggy, we did manage to get a few classic shots like the one above.  The pictures below are just a small glimpse of how truly unbelievable this place is. 

So after spending 4 days in Lima playing in the city, 9 days in Cusco learning Spanish, Salsa dancing, and Peruvian culture, and finally spending 2 remarkable days in Aguas Calientes and Machu Picchu, this is the trip and experience of a lifetime that I would recommend to everyone!

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Jaimie Cashen - Siena, Italy

Jaimie Cashen is a Junior majoring in International Relations with a minor in Italian. She participated in the University of Utah summer language program in Siena, Italy, in 2010.


During this past summer, I studied in Siena, Italy.  Approaching the end of my Italian minor, i figured it was the right time to do my study abroad.  Siena is an incredibly beautiful medieval town in the Tuscan region about an hour south of Florence.  The location is perfect because it is in the center of Italy, other popular cities are easily accessible.  During my summer, i traveled to Pisa, Lucca, Assisi, San Gimignano, Bologna, Ferrara, Cinque Terre, Rome, Florence, Sicily, and a few other smaller towns.  I was lucky to have the opportunity to stay with a host mom who lived in the center of the city just a 2 minute walk from Piazza del Campo.  Piazza del Campo is the main attraction in Siena, we spent almost every afternoon eating Gelato, people watching, and just hanging out there. Our host mom would cook dinner for us each night and it would be ready promptly at 7:30! She fed us some of the best food i have ever eaten.  She would also help us a lot with our italian and correct us when we made a mistake.  After dinner most nights we would get ready to go out and meet other students from the program as well as the italians that we had become friends with.

 Every morning, me and my three roommates would leave our apartment around 8:30 to make it to school which started at 9:00.  Our classes were very small and consisted of about 10 students each.  Most of the teachers didn't speak English so the classes were all taught in Italian.  This was actually a really good thing because it totally immerses you in the language and forces you to practice speaking and comprehending.  

Twice a year in Siena, the Palio is held.  This is an ancient tradition that is very specific to Siena and people come from all over the world to see it.  In the city of Siena, each neighborhood is also known as a Contrada.  Each Contrada has a horse that will participate in a race around the Piazza del Campo at the end of the week. Thousands of people gather in the center of the Campo to witness the event. The Contradas each have a mascot and are very proud of it! Whichever Contrada's horse wins the race is entitled to bragging rights and other prizes.  Luckily, I was in Siena at the time of the Palio and had the opportunity to participate in the festivities.  It was such a cool thing to see and a once in a lifetime opportunity. 

On most weekends, we would plan to take a 3 day trip to a new city.  Going on weekend trips where my favorite part about the study abroad.  My favorite place that i visited was Cinque Terre.  Cinque Terre is made up of 5 small cities that are basically nestled into the side of a mountain.   We hadn't really planned things very well for this trip which actually made it more exciting! We arrived in Riomaggiore (one of the 5 towns) really late and were lucky to find a place to stay after walking around for an hour.  The next morning we woke up early to hike the Via dell'Amore.  This is the hike that connects the 5 towns.  It takes about 5 hours to complete and isn't easy but it is SO worth it.  After we completed the hike, we climbed down to some rocks and went for the best swim of our lives. Before we left, we rented kayaks and drifted in the ocean about a mile away from the shore for a couple of hours.  It was the most relaxing and beautiful day, i didn't it to end. 

I think the best part of about being in Siena this summer was the opportunity i had to be in a foreign place, away from family, for an extended period of time.  The girls that i roomed with were all so different from each other but we all became good friends and had some really great times together! I was also able to do an internship working in a kids summer camp for a few weeks. I would say this is where my italian improved the most.  The kids don't really care that you don't speak Italian so they will talk your ear off! And it is so cute when they correct your italian. Their little voices are so sweet and it's really cool to hear them speak.  They also taught me a lot about the culture which was really helpful as well.  




Elli Legerski - Université de Picardie Jules Verne, Amiens, France

Elli is a junior majoring in Film Studies and French at the University of Utah. She is currently on a fall semester ISEP Exchange program at Université de Picardie Jules Verne in Amiens, France.



My time in France so far has been quite the roller coaster ride, for which I am grateful. I have been here in the quaint, charming Amiens (about 80 miles north of Paris) only for a month and I have made priceless memories already. I know it is cliché to say that study abroad changes your life, but it really does. My eyes have been opened to view the world as a multi-faceted, beautiful place.
           

        I got to France on September 10, which was a weekend, when all of France is apparently shut down, so the residence office was closed and I had no way to get to my room. I found a room with a chalkboard and some desks in the dorm building  and I figured I could sleep there with my luggage until someone appeared at the front desk. Then, through an open window, I heard English speakers! A group of American girls came into the building and as soon as I explained my situation, one of them invited me to sleep in her room for the night. It was a blessing in disguise that I showed up on a day when the office was closed, because I met a lot of really cool people right off the bat. We all went out that first night to Saint Leu, the student district. All the advice I had heard pre-departure was to go to any social situation you’re invited to, no matter what, because you will make connections with people. Even if you’re tired or homesick—or in my case that night, extremely jet-lagged—you have to leave your comfort zone and go out.  The student district here in Amiens is very stereotypical French—there we were at midnight on a cobblestone path and all the sidewalk cafés jam-packed with people. And; for whatever reason, there were fireworks that night too! I love fireworks! A perfect introduction to France, even amidst the aggravation of not having my own room.

           
        I eventually got my own room, which is super tiny with a bed that folds down from the wall. And the shower turns on via the sink, which took forever to figure out, but I had many problems thereafter. My adapter/converter exploded both my charger for my laptop and my hair dryer, so I was without a working laptop and constant wet hair for the first week. Also, even though I have studied French for close to 7 years, the language is much more difficult to grasp when you’re interacting with native speakers. The first week here was especially difficult for me, but thankfully I had made friends right away that were able to help me through it and make me not feel so alone in my challenges.
             Once I was able to actually discover the town I’m studying in, my frustrations would disappear. Amiens is such a beautiful town. There are so many water canals, flowers, ponds, parks, and little houses with colorful shutters. The cathedral here is very famous, and rightfully so. The Notre-Dame (yes, it shares the same name as the celebrated one in Paris, but the one here is about twice the size) was built in 1288 and it has the most intricate carvings of Jesus and his disciples, the Virgin Mary, and the Three Wise Men on the exterior of the structure. It is insane to think something built in the 1200’s is still standing today. At night, though, is when the cathedral is most spectacular. During the process of laser cleaning in the 1990’s, it was discovered that the western façade of the cathedral was originally painted in multiple colors. A technique was created to determine the exact make-up of the colors as they were applied in the 13th century. Elaborate lighting techniques were developed to project these colors directly on the façade with precision, recreating the cathedral's original appearance. When projected on the statues, the result is a stunning display that brings the figures to life. The light show plays nightly, and my friends and I love it--it is absolutely amazing to watch, and hard to believe that is only a short bus ride away from my apartment.
            I came to France to extend my studies in both the French language and in film. France is the birthplace of cinema, and since I’ve been here, I have been exposed to so much film. I am enrolled in two classes on the subject, one of which is the history of film.  In this class, I was able to watch one of the first movies EVER MADE! It is called “Le Voyage Dans la Lune” and it was created in 1902. It was amazing to see a film that I have written so many reports about and have referred to in so many presentations. Also, in a trip to Paris, I was able to visit the Cinémathèque Française, a film museum in which they had an exhibit called “Brune/Blonde” (translated o “Brunette/Blonde”), analyzing the impact women’s hair has on a movie’s plot, characters, and aesthetics. It has been such a treat for a movie girl like me to be so engrossed in a culture that embraces the art of cinema as much as I do.  Whether I’m seeing a movie at the local theater, researching for a report on French auteur Jean Renoir, or registering for the Amiens Film Festival, I know this is the exact place I need to be to enhance my film studies.

             And as I wandered through the sidewalks of the centre-ville last night in the middle of an impromptu parade for the town’s Nuit Blanche festival, following a local drumline as they beat a rhythm that was impossible not to dance to, I was reminded again that this is the exact place I want to be right now. There is always so much going on here, and although homesickness and frustration come in ebbs and flows, negative thoughts don’t last long. I mean, how can they when you can go out on any given night and dance in the streets?