CIEE 2015 SMHS Global Navigator Scholars
"Hi, my name is Katie Kelker, and this summer I studied abroad in Bonaire with CIEE from June 27 to July 18. For those of you who don’t know, Bonaire is a small, Dutch island in the Caribbean located about 50 miles off the coast of Venezuela. Bonaire is home to some of the best preserved coral reefs in the world, making it the ideal location to study Marine Ecology.
My living situation while abroad was different than that of the other South Meck study abroad participants. Rather than staying with a host family, all of the students in my program lived in a house together, which enabled us to form strong friendships with each other. Additionally, two native students studied, travelled, and often spent the night with us. This gave us great exposure to the similarities and differences between Bonaire and American culture.
A typical day in Bonaire began with grabbing breakfast in the kitchen prior to class time. All three of our meals were prepared by a Bonaire native: Gibi, who cooked a cuisine traditional to the area. Over my three weeks in Bonaire, I tried many different foods I normally wouldn’t have eaten. For example, due to the limited resources on the island, iguana meat was used instead of chicken. During class time, we would discuss things that we had seen in the marine park the previous day alongside other topics such as the harmful effects of chemical sunscreen on coral. Some days, we would venture across the street to the CIEE Research Station to work in the lab. There, we participated in a variety of interesting activities, including dissecting lionfish and identifying different types of phytoplankton under a microscope.
Over the course of the trip, I completed my Scuba Dive Certification by going on a dive nearly every day. Scuba diving helped me realize the expanse of life that exists on earth. While diving, I was surrounded by hundreds of different organisms during any given moment. I saw squids, octopi, and more fish than I could have ever imagined existed. I was even lucky enough to see two different species of sea turtle!
In my spare time, I often went for a snorkel or a mile, oceanfront walk into town. By far the most popular shop in town was Gio’s: the gelato parlor, which my friends and I frequented daily. To say that Gio’s gelato was delicious would be an understatement. On the weekends, my group took trips all across the island. We hiked in the national park, learned how to windsurf, and kayaked in a mangrove forest.
Studying abroad in Bonaire was an eye opening experience. I not only deepened my understanding and appreciation of the natural world, but I also grew more cognizant of the diverse ways cultures operate around the globe. Although American’s have a constant flow of resources to their supermarket shelves, other areas, such as Bonaire, only receive a weekly shipment of goods, which greatly limits consumers. I made many amazing memories and enjoyed once in a lifetime opportunities while studying abroad in Bonaire. I would highly recommend the study experience to anyone considering it!
My living situation while abroad was different than that of the other South Meck study abroad participants. Rather than staying with a host family, all of the students in my program lived in a house together, which enabled us to form strong friendships with each other. Additionally, two native students studied, travelled, and often spent the night with us. This gave us great exposure to the similarities and differences between Bonaire and American culture.
A typical day in Bonaire began with grabbing breakfast in the kitchen prior to class time. All three of our meals were prepared by a Bonaire native: Gibi, who cooked a cuisine traditional to the area. Over my three weeks in Bonaire, I tried many different foods I normally wouldn’t have eaten. For example, due to the limited resources on the island, iguana meat was used instead of chicken. During class time, we would discuss things that we had seen in the marine park the previous day alongside other topics such as the harmful effects of chemical sunscreen on coral. Some days, we would venture across the street to the CIEE Research Station to work in the lab. There, we participated in a variety of interesting activities, including dissecting lionfish and identifying different types of phytoplankton under a microscope.
Over the course of the trip, I completed my Scuba Dive Certification by going on a dive nearly every day. Scuba diving helped me realize the expanse of life that exists on earth. While diving, I was surrounded by hundreds of different organisms during any given moment. I saw squids, octopi, and more fish than I could have ever imagined existed. I was even lucky enough to see two different species of sea turtle!
In my spare time, I often went for a snorkel or a mile, oceanfront walk into town. By far the most popular shop in town was Gio’s: the gelato parlor, which my friends and I frequented daily. To say that Gio’s gelato was delicious would be an understatement. On the weekends, my group took trips all across the island. We hiked in the national park, learned how to windsurf, and kayaked in a mangrove forest.
Studying abroad in Bonaire was an eye opening experience. I not only deepened my understanding and appreciation of the natural world, but I also grew more cognizant of the diverse ways cultures operate around the globe. Although American’s have a constant flow of resources to their supermarket shelves, other areas, such as Bonaire, only receive a weekly shipment of goods, which greatly limits consumers. I made many amazing memories and enjoyed once in a lifetime opportunities while studying abroad in Bonaire. I would highly recommend the study experience to anyone considering it!
"Hi, my name is Ally Scala and summer 2015 I traveled through CIEE Summer Abroad Program to the Dominican Republic. I traveled to the capital, Santo Domingo, to embark on the Children’s Right’s and Education program with thirty other Americans from all over the US. I left on July 10th and was supposed to come back on August 1st but I ended up coming home August 8th due to falling very sick on the last night.
Every one of us was carefully placed into host families in a “middle class” part of town. This differed greatly from America’s standard of middle class. My host family of five shared two bedrooms and one bathroom and had no sort of sink or washing machine for dishes and clothes. Many times a week the power would go out, cutting off our only fan in the house. Also, about four times a week they would run out of water for showers, so we would have to wait for more to come. Although it was extremely different from my life at home, I am so glad that I was able to live like that because I was truly immerged into the Dominican life, instead of staying in a resort like many tourists do. I got to see the true life of a Dominican. This homestead life really did open my eyes to the rest of the world, and the daily struggle people have to go through.
Every day I and my peers woke up early to drive to a small impoverished town called La Piedra, about 45 minutes away from where we lived. There we worked and played with the children at a summer camp at the local school. We also helped complete censuses of the town and pick up the massive amounts of trash around town. Most of our time was spent with the beautiful kids when we taught them English, sang, danced, and played sports. It was the most rewarding experience ever, I left knowing that these little kids now know more about the alphabet, body parts, and animals than they would have ever learned. There was not one day that they didn’t make me smile and laugh. As the days went by, certain kids would start attaching to you and they would look for you as soon as you got off the bus, and would run and hug and kiss you. There has not been one day ever since this experience that I have not thought about my little baby that I became extremely attached to.
After six hours working in the town, we drove to the city to have Spanish and leadership classes every day. I was able to further my Spanish by living with my host family who spoke no English, and by attending the Spanish classes and interacting with the children.
I went to the Dominican with the mindset that I would be helping this community out, but in the end, they were the ones who helped me. This whole experience has helped me to find a part of myself that I never knew I had, it has given me lifelong best friends whom I talk to every day, and most of all it has made the Dominican Republic my second home. This is why I am excited to say that I have already made plans to go back next August to the same town I worked in and stay there to teach English for a few months."
Every one of us was carefully placed into host families in a “middle class” part of town. This differed greatly from America’s standard of middle class. My host family of five shared two bedrooms and one bathroom and had no sort of sink or washing machine for dishes and clothes. Many times a week the power would go out, cutting off our only fan in the house. Also, about four times a week they would run out of water for showers, so we would have to wait for more to come. Although it was extremely different from my life at home, I am so glad that I was able to live like that because I was truly immerged into the Dominican life, instead of staying in a resort like many tourists do. I got to see the true life of a Dominican. This homestead life really did open my eyes to the rest of the world, and the daily struggle people have to go through.
Every day I and my peers woke up early to drive to a small impoverished town called La Piedra, about 45 minutes away from where we lived. There we worked and played with the children at a summer camp at the local school. We also helped complete censuses of the town and pick up the massive amounts of trash around town. Most of our time was spent with the beautiful kids when we taught them English, sang, danced, and played sports. It was the most rewarding experience ever, I left knowing that these little kids now know more about the alphabet, body parts, and animals than they would have ever learned. There was not one day that they didn’t make me smile and laugh. As the days went by, certain kids would start attaching to you and they would look for you as soon as you got off the bus, and would run and hug and kiss you. There has not been one day ever since this experience that I have not thought about my little baby that I became extremely attached to.
After six hours working in the town, we drove to the city to have Spanish and leadership classes every day. I was able to further my Spanish by living with my host family who spoke no English, and by attending the Spanish classes and interacting with the children.
I went to the Dominican with the mindset that I would be helping this community out, but in the end, they were the ones who helped me. This whole experience has helped me to find a part of myself that I never knew I had, it has given me lifelong best friends whom I talk to every day, and most of all it has made the Dominican Republic my second home. This is why I am excited to say that I have already made plans to go back next August to the same town I worked in and stay there to teach English for a few months."
From July 17th to August 8th Jenna Israel, one of six South Meck CIEE Global Navigator Scholarship recipients, spent three of the most amazing weeks of her life in Ireland! As part of the Global Entrepreneurship program she primarily focused on the skills needed to start a business and how Irish history and culture impact today’s Irish entrepreneurs. One project she worked on was a case study where the group studied interest in a local soccer team and how they could increase ticket sales with a very limited budget. Then, she and her classmates met the manager of the team and talked to him about their ideas, afterward getting to sit in the VIP seats at a match!
While in western Ireland they talked with business owners and learned what obstacles they had to overcome to be successful. Ireland has had a tumultuous economic history but they are able to bounce back because of the people who are willing to adapt their strategies and find a need. One shop she went to only sold products made with lavender imported from Italy!
Jenna loved how she was able to put the knowledge learned in the classroom to practice with hands on projects. The course culminated with a project where she took an Irish product sold in tourist shops and created an original business plan featuring the product, presenting the plans to their teachers and community members like they were on “Shark Tank”, complete with the intimidating music.
In addition to the course work, where she and her classmates became very close in their classes, they also made excursions into the city. One of her favorite excursions was taking a trip to the western part of Ireland where she and the CIEE team visited a sheep dog farm and a country home. Everything was so beautiful and green! She was so glad to get away from the unbearable 90-degree Charlotte summer days and stroll along the cool, windy, and often rainy Irish coast with friends from all over the United States.
Jenna also learned to play an Irish sport called Gaelic football, which is a mix of soccer, basketball, and rugby, and even went to the semifinal match in a stadium with over 50,000 people from all over Ireland!
Jenna feels so grateful to have seen Ireland, a beautiful country with amazing people from all over the world. Her Irish teachers were so funny and kind, and they were careful to expose her to all sides of Dublin, not just the touristy parts. She read James Joyce’s Dubliners while travelling and it was very apparent to her how much Dublin has changed through time, but also how it has held on to its many layers of culture. Jenna can’t wait to go back!
While in western Ireland they talked with business owners and learned what obstacles they had to overcome to be successful. Ireland has had a tumultuous economic history but they are able to bounce back because of the people who are willing to adapt their strategies and find a need. One shop she went to only sold products made with lavender imported from Italy!
Jenna loved how she was able to put the knowledge learned in the classroom to practice with hands on projects. The course culminated with a project where she took an Irish product sold in tourist shops and created an original business plan featuring the product, presenting the plans to their teachers and community members like they were on “Shark Tank”, complete with the intimidating music.
In addition to the course work, where she and her classmates became very close in their classes, they also made excursions into the city. One of her favorite excursions was taking a trip to the western part of Ireland where she and the CIEE team visited a sheep dog farm and a country home. Everything was so beautiful and green! She was so glad to get away from the unbearable 90-degree Charlotte summer days and stroll along the cool, windy, and often rainy Irish coast with friends from all over the United States.
Jenna also learned to play an Irish sport called Gaelic football, which is a mix of soccer, basketball, and rugby, and even went to the semifinal match in a stadium with over 50,000 people from all over Ireland!
Jenna feels so grateful to have seen Ireland, a beautiful country with amazing people from all over the world. Her Irish teachers were so funny and kind, and they were careful to expose her to all sides of Dublin, not just the touristy parts. She read James Joyce’s Dubliners while travelling and it was very apparent to her how much Dublin has changed through time, but also how it has held on to its many layers of culture. Jenna can’t wait to go back!