Monday, September 26, 2011

Kelli Chatelain; "My Golden Ticket" Gijón, Spain


When majoring in two languages, studying abroad is almost always expected. However, there were several things that always seemed to be in the way: money was one. But, as Grandpa George said in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory :
“There's plenty of money out there. They print more every day. But this ticket, there's only five of them in the whole world, and that's all there's ever going to be. Only a dummy would give this up for something as common as money. Are you a dummy?”
I didn’t literally have a golden ticket to go to the world’s best chocolate factory, but I did have my own golden ticket: the opportunity to study abroad in my favorite place in the entire world. and I didn’t want to be a dummy. Thankfully I was awarded the student fee scholarship and my parents were willing to help me out. But there was still something big standing in the way : my diabetes. I was diagnosed with type 1 when I was 9, and it is something that never goes away or gives you a break, physically, emotionally and psychologically. Everyone’s diabetes is different, but for me it is a constant struggle, a roller coaster, a see-saw. There are good days and there are horrible days, and every variation in between. When I decided to study abroad, nobody told me that I couldn’t do it. However, I had enough anxiety about traveling alone for the first time, meeting all new people and being in a foreign environment that the worry of a chronic disease almost put me over the edge. I looked at many different programs, of many different lengths and costs. Finally, I found the faculty-led program in Gijón. I felt good about the length of 5 weeks: short enough that I would be able to carry everything I needed and I wouldn’t be overwhelmed, but long enough to get to know the area and get settled. Boy was I wrong about the long enough part...


So, after getting everything set, it finally came. On the plane, I struggled keeping my blood sugar down. When I arrived, I had to change my basal rates (hourly insulin). This was difficult due to the time zone change as every hour in the body is a complex mix of hormones, stress, activity levels, carbohydrates, fat and protein. It was embarrassing to have to carry another bag when I already had too many. However, despite these hiccups, great things started to happen almost as soon as I arrived. I stayed with a family in Madrid for a few days before heading to Gijón, and they were very interested in my diabetes. Talking with them and sharing my struggles was a great way to get my Spanish going and connect with them. The grandson of the couple I stayed with asked me what my OmniPod (insulin pump) was. After answering, I prepared for the worst, but he then declared in his cute little voice, that my plastic pod-shaped little life-saving device was “so cool!”

When I arrived in Gijón, I found two more hidden benefits with my host mom. The first was that, as a diabetic, I could tell her exactly what I wanted to eat. So, when some of my classmates were complaining about the food in their home, I could openly express what I wanted or didn’t want to eat to my host mom without worrying that I would hurt her feelings.

The second is that I was able to relate and discuss in depth with my host mom the challenges of living with a chronic disease, because she had one too. We understood each other very well because of that, and we could respectfully share what is oftentimes hard to share.



Throughout my program, whether on excursions, or in class, or at home, I had plenty of highs and lows. Beyond the specifics of a high or low blood sugar, I sometimes worried or doubted in a more general sense. However I learned how to go from “What if?” to “Why not?” For the most part, I did what everyone else did. Sometimes slower, and sometimes with a different understanding. Because very little with diabetes is guaranteed, it helped me to take everything I did and appreciate it for what it was.



In the end, I think my challenges made my experience sweeter. Sometimes I was mad when I didn’t feel well when everyone else was having fun, but what I gained far outweighs those few instances. For example, I loved Spain so much, that I knew that I would have to come back. When I returned home, this gave me the motivation I needed to find a good job. Another example is the good friend I made through doing an intercambio. I count him among my best friends and treasure our friendship.

Another example is the week I spent with my brother after the program. We got to see my favorite band, Vetusta Morla, in Avilés. We went to Oviedo, and I showed him around Gijón. We went to Bilbao and fell in love with that wonderful city and the Basque Country. While there, we went to San Mamés, the stadium of my favorite soccer team, Athletic Bilbao. I even got to take pictures in the locker room next to my favorite players’ lockers. All things that I can’t put a price on and that I’ll remember forever, not to mention the wonderful cultural and linguistic immersion experience!


I feel like this disease will always be a major part of my life, but it can be more positive than negative. I would encourage anyone who has a chronic disease who wants to study abroad to think about the great things that they can gain. It will be hard sometimes, but you will still have hard times, even if you never leave home. The challenges will make you stronger. If you leave home, you’ll have extraordinary new experiences to cushion those bad patches while abroad, and into the future.

Thursday, September 22, 2011

McKell Neff- Tours France Summer 2011

Each day in Tour something new and exciting happened. My first days in Tour I did not have my luggage because it got lost by the airline. Most would call this a misfortune; however, for me this was not a negative thing. I went to downtown Tours and indulged in French fashion with out feeling guilty because it was a necessity! My first day there I was already soaking in the French culture and being forced to use French. I had to ask for a dressing room, ask for a different size and I even got to share my story of how my luggage got lost with a girl in the dressing room.

My next days proved to be just as exciting as the first. My first weekend when I arrived was a long weekend because it was a French Holiday. Along with a few newly met friends from class, I headed off to explore Paris (45 min. train ride from Tours). Each weekend while I was abroad I had the opportunity to visit somewhere new in Europe. I visited places near and far, relaxing beaches to historical castles.

Not only were my weekends an adventure but it seemed as if every day at school and at my Host family’s house were exciting. Each day at class I learned something new and useful. Each day I progressed noticeably with the French language. At home with my host family we never spoke English and at school we never spoke English. Everyday a group of us would get together for lunch and seek out something new and exciting to eat. Our common language was French. Even on these occasions we would speak French because many of the students that joined us for lunch didn’t speak English. This diversity of languages forced us to communicate only in French.

The school excursions to castles and other famous places made it possible to always have things to do. I was never bored or ever homesick because I was always busy. It was very easy to meet new people and friends because of the way the classes were organized and the way the University of Utah staff was involved with us everywhere we went.

There were so many ways to learn about French culture and language while in Tour; however, the one that made the biggest impact on me was the time that I spent with the women that I stayed with. Every night I could hardly wait to get home to see what she had prepared for dinner. She made it her goal to prepare a very authentic French meal every night so we got to literally indulge in and taste French culture. Sometimes the meals she prepared were 7 course meals and sometimes it took us 2 or more hours before we were finished and cleared the table. I didn’t mind the time we spent at the table because this is where I learned and progressed the most in French and in friendships. She had the most incredible stories. She would tell us about how hard her life was during World War II and how she lived through the war. She would tell us how she used to milk her own goat when she was young and make cheese from the milk. Her life was full of interesting adventures and she would share a new story with us each night. If I were to choose my favorite part about my stay in Tours, it would be without question, the times I spent at dinner talking to our host Mother.

Monday, September 19, 2011

Uganda Global Health - Yvette Young

While I have been to a number of different countries, my trip to Uganda this summer with the Global Health study abroad program was my first trip with a humanitarian component. I went with a group of seven other U of U students and our program director, Dr. John Shavers. We went with suitcases full of donations for the village schools as well as supplies to conduct several service-oriented project. The entire experience was amazing.

Children with books we brought.

Reading about poverty and deprivation from expensive textbooks or an even more expensive personal computer in the comfort of an air-conditioned library does little to communicate the full reality of living in very poor regions of the world. Our projects brought us face-to-face with these realities. One of the projects, and the one I was most heavily involved with, involved conducting needs assessment surveys of the women in the villages we visited. We questioned the women about their water sources, cooking practices, sanitation, health needs, financial needs and access to light and fuel. Even this was academic compared to actually seeing their homes, water sources and sanitation. The women we interviewed were extremely welcoming and happy to show us their homes and other aspects of their lives in the village.

Women's group in Lumina

In western Uganda most of the homes were brick or cement blocks with corrugated metal or sometimes thatch for roofs. In eastern Uganda we encountered a number of traditional thatched huts. Most homes had no floor except the packed red dirt. Few had glass in their windows. And the size of the homes was often no bigger than my living room. Despite their meager situations they welcomed us warmly, even giving us small gifts of fruit and maize as we toured their land and homes. Some of the tours were social, but others were conducted to evaluate the capacity of their tiny plots of land to support a fruit tree or two. (This was in anticipation of possible receipt of a microloan from the non-profit organization with which Dr. Shavers was affiliated.) Through our interaction with the women we came to understand a bit of the Ugandan culture and “personality.” They were quick to joke, very warm and eager to meet and welcome newcomers. It was amazing to see such a positive culture growing out of such deep poverty.

A girl cooking on rocks.

Our water-testing project was eye-opening. Some of the water sources looked like mud-puddles. Others looked slightly better, with hand pumps or piping and cement platforms. However, nearly all sources we tested were contaminated (with bacteria), and half had e coli. This experience was more salient than any textbook description of the problems of access to clean water. Seeing these sites, testing the water, and witnessing the real implications of living in extreme poverty are experiences that will stay with me forever.

Water source.

Thursday, September 15, 2011

Bethany Bibb, London: A Literary Trek through England

Back in high school, I read a short story called “The Celestial Omnibus” about a boy who discovered a sort of literary heaven filled with all his favorite mythological and storybook heroes. The author was someone named E.M. Forster. Little did I know then that in college I would be studying novels by E.M. Forster and other Bloomsbury Group writers in London and discovering an equally incredible literary wonderland in England. I didn’t run into my favorite characters, but I did come as close to the authors who created them as possible.

The literary explorations began in the classroom at Regents College where Professors Mark Matheson and Vince Pecora took our study abroad class on a whirlwind tour of Great Britain’s history and culture between the World Wars, setting the stage for the novels and other works we’d be reading. Of course, it’s not enough to read about these things; you have to experience them. So during that first week, we took to the streets of London. If ever an encyclopedia of useful information and entertaining anecdotes zipped through London in a suit and tie, it was David Brady, our guide and guest lecturer. On this particular walking tour, David Brady took us to see Bloomsbury Square where many of the authors we were studying lived.

Plaque marks where the Bloomsbury Group live

But the walking tour was just the beginning. That same week, we went on a class outing to Cambridge. Think you’ve seen a college town? Not until you’ve been to Cambridge! (Oh yes, and Oxford, too.) While there, we visited Newnham College, the only women’s college in town and Virginia Woolf’s alma mater. All of the colleges in Cambridge were stunning, but I thought Newnham was the most beautiful. Some said it looked too girly, but I didn’t care – I would have studied there in a heartbeat!

Newnham College from the back

Finally, we stopped at the University of Cambridge Library to see an exhibition on the most famous book in English literature – the King James Bible. It was fascinating to see the development of this version down through various earlier translations and learn the stories of the men who risked and even lost their lives to translate the Bible into English so it could be read by the common people.

King James Bible exhibition poster

This exhibition was just a small taste of what lay in store at the British Library. Here we got to see more original manuscripts ranging from Shakespeare’s folios to Beatles’ songs. Jane Austen’s writing desk displaying one of her notebooks, the last chapter of Jane Eyre in Charlotte Bronte’s own handwriting, the Magna Carta, and the Lindisfarne Gospels were the most memorable for me.

Soon afterward, we visited Oxford and explored what it had to offer. Aside from the impressive architecture and historical sites, Oxford’s literary connections will be a surefire winner with classic fantasy lovers. It’s a humble-looking establishment; but The Eagle and Child pub where most of us lunched was the meeting place and frequent writing haunt of C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien.

When classes were over for the week and we were let loose to enjoy our free time, I pursued more literary adventures straight into the English hills. All the artwork, photos, and film footage of the Lake District had conspired against me. I had fallen in love with that breathtaking countryside and was determined to see some of it if it was the last thing I did in England. I decided on a guided tour, hopped on a train, rendezvoused with the guide and other tour group members, and set off for the beautiful green hills and shining lakes of Cumbria. My destination was Hill Top Farm, Lake District home of Beatrix Potter – author of “The Tale of Peter Rabbit” and other such stories.

Hill Top was just as quaint and homey as I imagined it would be. The small farmhouse was furnished as it had been while Beatrix lived there. Several of her books lay open around the rooms to show where she had sketched her own clock or staircase for the illustrations. Outside the house, small vegetable and flower gardens were flourishing. And for those hoping for a glimpse of Peter Rabbit’s descendants, there was a long enclosed lawn dotted with little rabbits nibbling on the grasses. The farm was surrounded with some of the lushest hills and pastureland you could ever find. It was easy to see how the landscape inspired Beatrix Potter not only to sketch and write but also to preserve more than 4,000 acres of the countryside through conservation efforts.









Nearby countryside and Hill Top Farm

The study abroad was quickly coming to a close as the fifth week began, but more literary explorations were in store. Early in the week, Professor Mark Matheson led us on a William Blake walking tour. We started with the church where he was baptized, hunted down place for where his birthplace used to be, and ended at Bunhill Fields where he and his wife were buried. No one knows the exact spot, but a memorial marker indicates he lies nearby. Not far from Blake’s stone, Daniel Defoe (author of Robinson Crusoe) and John Bunyan (author of Pilgrims Progress) are buried.











John Bunyun's Monument and Markers for Daniel Defore (left) and William Blake (right).

On the last day of our Bloomsbury Group class, our professors took us to Virginia Woolf’s house. After having read two novels and several essays by her, visiting the house called Monk’s Head was the perfect way to end the study. The house was quite small with no room of one’s own to write in, but Woolf had her own writing shed in the garden; and the surrounding English garden seemed the perfect setting for a writer’s retreat. We prowled around the house and gardens for a while, then took the coach down to pay our respects at the River Ouse where Woolf drowned in 1941.

Monk's house, Virginia Woolf's home

The London study abroad was one of the most rewarding experiences an English major could have. All these outings and discussions brought the literature to life and gave me a deeper appreciation for the unfamiliar readings and the classics I already enjoyed. There’s nothing like getting close to your favorite authors by visiting their homes or admiring the landscapes they loved and wrote about to gain fresh insights about their work. From paying tribute to authors at the Poet’s Corner in Westminster Abbey to watching a play at Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre, there were plenty of opportunities to explore England’s treasure trove of literary geniuses and experience the literature for yourself – and I am thankful for every one of them!

Shakespeare's Globe