Studying Abroad in Cuba - More from Jacob!

Studying Abroad in Cuba - More from Jacob!

Hey all,

I am still safe and sound in Cuba!  I realized that in exactly two months from today, I will be boarding a plane back to the US, so I decided to celebrate by promising to speak only Spanish from 7:00 AM to 7:00 PM for the rest of the trip.  This week was definitely one of the busier weeks for me.  For the Tulane class, we had to conduct interviews with Cuban citizens about their opinions and perceptions of Cuba, the revolution, their lives today, and anything else they wanted to talk about.  I learned an incredible amount about popular opinion in Cuba, scribed some powerful and eloquent quotes, and had a great time doing so.  Some of my favorites:

“Freedom is in your head”  “We have to live through it, we have to suffer through it”

“Perhaps, I have faith in what is possible”(In relation to the future of the Revolution)

            On Monday, I went to a used clothing store to find some new Cuban clothes.  The building did not have a sign outside, just an open door and a constant stream of people coming and going.  The inside was hot and packed wall to wall with people and clothing racks.  I could barely move around when we went inside, and I was pouring sweat the whole time.  The other people in the shop were not wasting any time, moving systematically from rack to rack, they went through hundreds of articles of clothing in the time it took me to look at one bin.  I ended up getting a questionable green polo, and some shorts that turned the water black when I got home and washed them.

            Tulane sent their president of the office of study abroad to Cuba for the week, so we’ve spent a good amount of time with the OSA president Scott Pentzer.  It turns out that he was born in Sacramento and grew up in Davis! So we had plenty to talk about, it turns out we went to the same elementary school.  Small world, huh?

            The Tulane group had TWO birthdays last week (three total in the house), back to back, so we had a great time celebrating the end of their first score, they both are expecting this set of twenty years to be even better.  Our director Annie threw a party for them on Wednesday, and we had a great time eating cake and dancing salsa until late into the night.  For presents, I went out and bought them each one box (the size/design of a milk carton) of the cheapest rum you can buy, called Planchao, which I lovingly wrapped with pink ribbon and presented to them with a classy birthday card (stick note). It was basically a weeklong birthday bash, and everyone survived!  (Except my pride when I accidentally ordered a martini glass FULL of olives – nothing else- when we were out at a bar.  It was quite the misunderstanding, at least they were tasty!)

            This week was filled with me being “sporty”.  On Tuesday, we found some public basketball courts that rented out basketballs.  We played three or four games, and my team did not win a single game, it was definitely a fluke.  The following day, a few of the neighborhood kids invited me to play baseball with them.  They started with a jagged rock and a thick branch, but eventually decided to get their plastic ball, which made things a little safer.  The kids live few houses down and are absolutely adorable.  They are 6, 8, and 9, two brothers and their female cousin.  They eventually got bored with the game so I started picking them up and spinning them in the air, which they loved, and made me realize how exhausting it is to work with kids.  After less than an hour, I was out of gas, and decided to go read.

            I had a little extra time this weekend and decided to read the Communist Manifesto.  It was really nice just to read something for pleasure again.  Even here I still find that most of the reading that I do is for class or research.  I experienced an incredible example of the conflict between haves and have-nots on Friday evening.  Yo-Yo Ma was performing at a venue downtown, and we went down there to see if we could buy some tickets at the gate.  It turns out they had been sold out for two weeks and they were not interested in letting us in.  This concert was part of a music festival in honor of Leo Brower, who believes that everyone should be able to gain entrance into a show who wants to attend.  After waiting outside, in the rain, for two hours the forty or so people gathered at the pad-locked gate started protesting and chanting,  “We want to enter, we want to enter” and “Le-O, Le-O”. It was a really cool thing to be a part of, aside from the being soaking wet part.  So now we wait … The proletarians have nothing to lose but their chains.  Patience is most definitely a virtue, they opened up the gates and we were seated during intermission, right before Yo-Yo Ma went on to perform!

 On Saturday night, I went with a friend to a Foam Party put on by a local club, La Tropical.  I must have misunderstood part of the flier, because the first hour or so of the party was actually a car show, which was really confusing.  We got to the party to see hundreds of Cubans gathered in a circle to watch these beat up old cars do donuts and spit fire out of their exhaust pipes.  The only person in the competition with a relatively new car had a weird little Toyota compact car, which he used to do donuts and spin out.  After he got bored with that, he popped the car into reverse, did donuts in REVERSE and kicked open his door, turned on the interior lights, and stood up/out of his car whilst doing reverse donuts.  It was definitely a unique experience.  

Once the car show ended, they called everyone down to the dance floor and started playing music.   We went down, and were very confused by the serious lack of foam and bubbly goodness.  Then, I turned around to see a huge blue, oddly phallic, FOAM CANNON! When the beat dropped, they started took their big blue blaster covered every single person from head to toe in foam.  It got to the point where I could no longer see nor breathe, and I decided to take a little break.  American music is incredibly popular in Cuba, and so we expected the usual songs such as Wiggle, but they threw some curveballs with a dubstep/house remix of We Will Rock You, and decided to turn to Bob Marley when they needed a slow jam.  We danced, slipped, and people watched until 3 AM, it was phenomenal!

Wow, this update is getting long, so just one more thing:  I went on a cemetery tour to the Columbus on Sunday, the third largest necropolis in the world!  Almost exclusively above ground, the architecture and layout were incredible.  I took a lot of great pictures, but I am having a hard time attaching photos as of late.  It was an intense emotional experience.  I was able to reflect on death, and the role of death plays in communities and families.  We ended up getting lost in the stone forest of temples, urns, columns, and angels for hours.  We eventually found our way out of the maze of wilted flowers, popped balloons, rusted locks, naked baby statues, silent butterflies, and stained glass just in time for dinner.  I love and miss you all!  

Besos,

Jacobo

Studying Abroad in Europe On the Cheap - Christopher Halbohn

Studying Abroad In Europe On the Cheap

Christopher Halbohn

With fellow intern Sean Saxon in Paris!

            Studying abroad is every student’s chance to experience life in another nation, under the guise of “studying.” If you’re studying abroad, you’ve managed to convince university administrators, your parents, and your friends that going abroad is pertinent to mastering the major you’ve been pursuing.  You’re also going to have the chance to do this at the most ripe of ages! Kudos.

            Now that the hard part is over, you’re set to leave the United States (possibly for the first time) and make a leap of faith into the unknown. Many locales will allow the opportunity for travel, giving you the chance to not only learn the culture of the place where you’ll be living, but also to briefly encounter the cultures of other nations near it. Traveling to these places can often be the most taxing, but most rewarding part of the abroad experience.  The information that follows will allow you the opportunity to learn how to make the most of your time overseas, without completely robbing you of every penny you’ve ever earned. Here are just a few tips to minimize costs when traveling and living abroad:

1) Use the Student ID that the university you are attending issues you.

           

This card will generally allow you free entry to many museums, exhibits, and other installations throughout the city you’re in and the cities to which you will be traveling. This rule will prove especially true in Europe, a continent that acts very much like one single nation. A student studying in Paris, but traveling in Amsterdam with a student ID in hand from his/her host university, will be able to access the Van Gogh Museum and many other attractions, free of charge or for a reduced admission fee. Various student-led travel companies will also accept these cards as proof that you are indeed a student, giving you access to reduced-rate tours.

2) Find an “off-the-books” job.

           

This recommendation is a lot less sketchy and a lot easier than it sounds. You’ll find that whilst studying abroad, you’ll gain a newfound appreciation for being a native English speaker. Knowing English is a highly marketable skill that families will pay you handsomely for because they want their children to grow up being able to speak English fluently. Families often seek out English-speaking students to babysit their children and speak to them solely in English. That sounds like an easy way to make some extra cash if you ask me! Other similar jobs include tutoring, if that is more your speed.

3) Ask locals how they get around and explore cheaper travel options.

            Before you leave, everyone and their mother will advise you that traveling by train is the cheapest option. Do not listen to this. Though traveling by high-speed rail is incredibly advanced and efficient in Europe, it is not always the most economical. Explore options like Megabus,  a company that also operates within the United States, and budget airlines like Ryanair and easyJet. These companies have incredibly low rates and offer a “no-frills” travel experience, but they will charge for things like checked bags, so pack lightly.  If you are into car travel, check out BlahBlahCar, a carpooling site that vets its drivers beforehand (as to make sure they aren’t criminals or psychopaths). If, after all that searching, you decide that train is still your preferred method of transportation, then look into EuroStar for European travel in general, or the SNCF, if you’re in France.

4) If you have a kitchen, take advantage of that.

           

            This is a great way to explore the local recipes and impress your family when you’re arrived back home stateside. Cooking is also a great way to make friends, so invite the people you’ve met over for a dinner party (but make sure there’s a good bottle of wine to pair with). Even though you are in Europe, you are on a budget—eating out all the time will quickly drain you of your allowance and disallow you from experiencing other great moments like traveling and going out in your respective cities.

5) Make a budget for yourself.

            For a lot of you, like myself, you will be going abroad with a sum of money you’ve saved for months, or even years. Budgeting this allotment will be pertinent in making sure you have enough funds to explore everything that Europe has to offer. When you arrive and feel like you understand the economics and purchasing abilities of the places in which you are, set aside money for different things: shopping, eating, traveling, etc. Once you have this established, stick to it, but also account for some emergencies. Maybe you’ll find a fabulous leather jacket in Paris that is just outside your price range—take money from other areas of your budget, but be cognizant that you’ve done this. Further, you may want to buy your whole family souvenirs, but trust me they don’t need or want everything you see.

With these tips, go forth and conquer. Make the most of your time and take time to talk to everyone you meet. You are about to have the time of your life! Don’t forget to take pictures!

Study Abroad Blog- Jacob in Cuba

Hey all, Jacob in Cuba here!  I am currently writing in an empty apartment, because all of the other Tulane guys are away for the weekend for their Biodiversity class field trip.  It is safe to say I have been enjoying my well-deserved naked time in this oddly quiet flat.

This Sunday we took a group excursion to la Playa Girón (the Bay of Pigs).  The drive was cramped and hot, we fit 14 people in a vehicle not much bigger than a Honda Odyssey.   We spent a few hours in the Bay of Pigs museum, where I read the phase “gobierno yanqui” (Yankee Government) more times than I could count.  Also each sign in the museum had a description in Spanish, and below that a translation in English.  I found that the English translations were often lacking harsh adjectives used in the Spanish versions, including allegations of blackmail that were nowhere to be seen in the English version.  The hostility and anti-American sentiment in the exhibit were palpable and thought provoking.  On a lighter note, the only other city displayed on a US map found in the exhibit was New Orleans!!  It has been crazy how often I find myself comparing Havana and New Orleans: the architecture, the humidity and heat, the kindness of the citizens, and the slower pace of life all remind me of being back at school.


After the exhibit, we all piled in the van and drove to where we could SCUBA DIVE!! While it normally costs hundreds of dollars and requires a lengthy process of training/certification in the states, scuba diving in Cuba costs 35 dollars for an hour and requires approximately ten minutes of training.  I put on my assigned wetsuit, vest, flippers, goggles, weight belt and air tank and was ready to go.  Like a drunken penguin, I waddled over to the water and slowly submerged myself into the sea.  Once we finally set off, I was immediately blown away by what I was experiencing.  Gliding underwater next to schools of brilliantly colored fish, so close that I could reach out and touch them.  There were hundreds, maybe thousands of fish of all different colors and sizes!  Incredible colonies of coral reef, sensitive and cautious neon-colored sea anemones, barely visible bottom-dwellers, soft white sand, and water clear enough to take it all in.  Not swimming among them as an intruder but more as an equal, I gently flexed my legs to propel myself forward, letting the subtle movements of the flippers propel me though this astonishing underwater paradise.  I can officially check scuba dive off the bucket list!

I felt very cultured the past few days because I took part in a walking tour of Old Havana and went to two separate art exhibits in the span of 36 hours.  The first gallery, La Fabrica, was a once successful production plant and warehouse, now converted into an art exhibit / nightclub.  The ground floor has quotes in Spanish from famous people around the world printed on the walls, and a live band playing at full volume. The next two stories house a series of progressive art installations and videos, one of my favorite works was a portrait done exclusively with Silly Bandz.  The other venue, Casa Biblioteca, was a converted mansion that now houses some art that is vague and amorphous, while at the same time being overtly sexual.  I picked a few of the more obvious sexual ones for your viewing pleasure.

Efren in Rome part 4

Can’t miss an opportunity to catch a thousand words.

We walk everywhere. But it’s nothing like walking on streets in America. At least not the American streets I’ve walked on: flattened, rationed, and stained with the odor of popular culture, they reek of the melting pot I refuse to believe in. These streets are reminiscent of El Potrero de Gallegos. Streets cobble-stoned, washed, and transparent. Streets with character. With stories. With wounds. Yet this is no I’ve-come-to-Europe-and-now-America-seems-to-be-missing-so-much manifesto, no, I’ve thought this for many years, before coming to Rome. This is no bashing on the head of a nail that simply won’t hold two pieces of wood together either. The honest truth is that this is simply a reflection of an experience abroad. I’ve come to revisit a spiritual peace, being in Rome, that I have only arrived at while visiting the rural motherland, Mexico, eight years ago.

But the experiences sit a part from each other like fresh poultry and raw vegetables. They work extremely well together, yet if stored together in the same memory, a pain in the pit of the stomach after consumption is sure to arise. Mental salmonella that will ruin any future endeavors in the same arena of cultural expansion. But fear salmonella not, for if this poultry is properly marinated and understood from the beginning (i.e. this blog) to be a mouth-watering rosemary infused thigh fillet to come, it will complement the already seasoned arroz y frijoles a la mexicana that have been prepared for years. So while we walk, I make sure to carry my rice and bean burritos with me in my backpack. Ready to eat at the first sign of hunger, I walk around soaking in the Roman marinade.

A new recipe for a conversation many college students are deprived of: Assimilation vs. Acculturation. Whilst in Los Angeles and New Orleans, the conversation revolves around white-picket-fence pursuers struggling to maintain motherland cultural roots, the Italian table presents a similar anomaly. The most obvious two cents to add to the mix is that I will only be living here for four months, yet the language, the culinary adventure, and the curious feline within me beg for adaptation. So I refer to my experience with Mexican-Americanism in America and turn to the page with the recipe that many of my family members taught me from six years old: No te olvides de los pobres. Knowing the recipe by heart, I only check to remind myself of where I came from, of the metaphorical village that it took to get me to where I am, that I need not erase where I came from in order to grow. So I continue to cook with an open mind, an open heart, and an open stomach.

Tucked inside the grotto looking out at the still, mysterious lake. 

The perks of being the Italian president’s guest include staying in this humble abode.

Rome: 1, 2, 3, GO! Many

If there’s something that needs to be said, it is that jet lag is real! Day 1 consisted of trying to stay awake through the day (which my mind and body still thinks is the night in Los Angeles) without falling asleep. This included the nausea that comes with an all nighter, but no great feeling of accomplishment that you just completed your final review (for those of you familiar with the plight of the pre-review final stretch). But there is always a great consolation, I’m quickly learning, remembering that I am in Rome.

In Italy.

In Europe.

It blows my mind. But to take care of the fatigue, there is a nifty little beverage called espresso, not to be confused with eXpresso, which I learned a few months ago doesn’t exist because the Starbucks barista would flinch every time I would order it, But I digress, although tasting espresso, not just drinking it for its caffeine, has made me realize that when I go back to the States, coffee will never be the same. Coffee (espresso) here tastes as if the Roman gods themselves harvest and manufacture the beans to then gift the people of Rome with a small, yet abundantly concentrated, dose of heaven.

So I’m not opposed whatsoever to the drinking of the heavenly syrup and one main reason is that it gives you enough energy to walk through the cavern-like streets of Rome and see all the monuments there is to see. But there’s always a catch, and Rome knowing that people who drink espresso will need water, placed fountains of natural water all over the city that is constantly flowing. (Realizing that some people may think that the fountains were actually installed to hydrate folks who drink too much espresso, I must say this: It is absolutely true.) The water is perfectly safe to drink and preserves the old style of living which used aqueducts to deliver water to the people of Rome.

The first couple of days here have been Orientation style and have been full of adventures and culture shock (for lack of a better phrase). Our professor, Giovanna Galfione-Cox, is simply one of the best. I am not just saying that because she had us over her apartment for gelato, but because she treats us all as if we were family, with love and understanding. I’m excited to see what else is in store.

Our professor had us all over to her rooftop apartment that looked over Rome

Many people refill their water bottles, wash their hands and face, or splash water on themselves to cool down at many of these fountains all over Rome.