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Cuba, Chile and Hawaii
Where and when did you study abroad?
I studied abroad three times. My first experience took me to Havana, Cuba for J-term of 2002. After my short stint in Cuba, I spent a semester in Valparaiso, Chile from July to December 2003. After my semester in Chile, I went to Hawaii for J-term 2004.
Why did you decide to study abroad?
During my first two years at UST, I noticed that Saint Paul was like a bubble which few students were able or willing to go outside of and experience new things. I decided to study abroad because I wanted a diverse education from many different cultural viewpoints. When I studied in Cuba, I found that there was a whole world to be experienced outside the walls of UST. After my first J-term, I was hooked and have been on traveling ever since.
What is the greatest benefit of studying abroad?
My greatest benefit was learning how to speak Spanish in Chile. I lived with a family of 8 in a 3-bedroom apartment with 2 bathrooms. No one in my Chilean family spoke English so I was forced to learn how to converse on a very complicated level in only 5 months. Now I use Spanish whenever I can and am hoping to find a job where my Spanish language skills can be utilized.
What is the biggest challenge of studying abroad?
My biggest challenge came to me on the streets of Cuba. Being from a city, I am used to people begging for spare change or other material things, which happen to be lacking in their lives. In Cuba people begged for a different reason. Under communist rule, homelessness virtually does not exist nor does starvation, which is almost an everyday occurrence in the U.S. The challenge for me was people begging for medicine to cure their illnesses. Because I was obviously from the United States and possessed U.S. currency, anything was available to me, even medicine that was patented by the U.S. government. With U.S. dollars I could walk into a pharmacy around a tourist area in Havana and buy a number of U.S. products. Most Cubans do not have U.S. dollars thus making it impossible to obtain specialty medicine.
How were the services at the IEC?
The services of the IEC were great.
Did studying abroad affect your ability to graduate on time?
My study abroad experiences had an effect on my ability to graduate on time but it was not because I couldn't get credits transferred or any of the horror stories people sometimes hear about study abroad. I didn't graduate on time because I decided to add Spanish to my double major in Business Management and International Business. A triple major with three study abroad experiences took me four and a half years, which in my mind is a huge accomplishment.
Did the classes fit into your schedule?
At any major University in any part of the world students can find classes to fit their major. Remember that economics is still economics if it's taught in China or the U.S. Supply and demand curves don't change when you travel overseas.
Were finances a barrier to studying abroad?
My finances were not a problem while in Chile, Cuba or Hawaii. When considering a J-term abroad think about how much it would cost to live in that place for a month if you were not a student. It would be hard to find a person who can take a University level class while living in Hawaii for under $4000. While in Cuba finances did not cross my mind. There was no other way I could go to Cuba legally so I would have paid any amount for my experience.
Do you have any advice for students who are thinking of studying abroad?
Your family will always be your family and your friends your friends. Minnesota will always be here so why not take off for a while. There is a whole world to experience. If you step outside the norm you will never come back the same. Smile, you all have the opportunity to see what the world has to offer. A wise old man from Belize once told me that he has not worn shoes in over twenty years. Take your shoes off for a while and view things from his perspective.
Do you have a favorite study abroad story?
In Chile, the most common form of travel is by bus, especially for students who are on a travel budget and want to see everything a country has to offer. During the last few weeks of my stay in Chile I decided to leave Chile and go trout fishing in Argentina. I purchased a bus ticket from Valparaiso Chile to Puerto Mont, which is about 20 hours by bus depending on weather and how many stops the bus makes along the way. Once in Puerto Mont I would buy a ticket to Bariloche, Argentina, which would take me over the Andes Mountains into some of the best fly-fishing in the world.
The day came when I would get on the bus and start my journey to Patagonia. I bought my usual travel necessities, which comprised of three large boxes of wine, some cigars and snack food. Wine is critical while on a bus for more than eight hours because it helps someone who is 6'4" sleep in a bus seat made for people who are not taller than 5'8". Since the first leg of my trip was about 20 hours I made sure that I would not run out of wine.
I boarded the bus along with my backpack; carry on bag and my fishing rods, which I had brought all the way from the U.S. I luckily had the window seat next to a short elderly woman who said she would be on the bus all the way to Puerto Mont, Chile. I smiled and prepared for my bus ritual, which consisted of taking some Tylenol PM and having a few drinks from a box of wine. It took a while for the Tylenol to take effect so consequently I stayed awake and had more wine than usual. After a box of wine I began to sleep while the bus sped ahead on course for Puerto Mont, Chile.
I awoke the next morning in a very comfortable position. Sometime during the night my elderly companion had exited the bus and was replaced by someone else. As my eyes started to open I found myself picking my head out of the lap of a young Chilean woman who was nervously praying the rosary. She told me that during the night I had placed my pillow in her lap and decided to make myself very comfortable. She told me that despite her best efforts I could not be awoken. She also told me that I had kept her awake all night due to my very deep snoring, which had kept her along with most of the bus awake. I was very embarrassed at this point so I apologized, placed my head on the window and went back to sleep.
The rest of my story I keep for myself. I can say that after 26 ours in three different buses I made it to Argentina and caught more fish than I will see for years to come. I can't put into words what the Andes look like while floating down clear glacier fed river while catching fresh trout in a seemingly untouched part of the world.
I studied abroad three times. My first experience took me to Havana, Cuba for J-term of 2002. After my short stint in Cuba, I spent a semester in Valparaiso, Chile from July to December 2003. After my semester in Chile, I went to Hawaii for J-term 2004.
Why did you decide to study abroad?
During my first two years at UST, I noticed that Saint Paul was like a bubble which few students were able or willing to go outside of and experience new things. I decided to study abroad because I wanted a diverse education from many different cultural viewpoints. When I studied in Cuba, I found that there was a whole world to be experienced outside the walls of UST. After my first J-term, I was hooked and have been on traveling ever since.
What is the greatest benefit of studying abroad?
My greatest benefit was learning how to speak Spanish in Chile. I lived with a family of 8 in a 3-bedroom apartment with 2 bathrooms. No one in my Chilean family spoke English so I was forced to learn how to converse on a very complicated level in only 5 months. Now I use Spanish whenever I can and am hoping to find a job where my Spanish language skills can be utilized.
What is the biggest challenge of studying abroad?
My biggest challenge came to me on the streets of Cuba. Being from a city, I am used to people begging for spare change or other material things, which happen to be lacking in their lives. In Cuba people begged for a different reason. Under communist rule, homelessness virtually does not exist nor does starvation, which is almost an everyday occurrence in the U.S. The challenge for me was people begging for medicine to cure their illnesses. Because I was obviously from the United States and possessed U.S. currency, anything was available to me, even medicine that was patented by the U.S. government. With U.S. dollars I could walk into a pharmacy around a tourist area in Havana and buy a number of U.S. products. Most Cubans do not have U.S. dollars thus making it impossible to obtain specialty medicine.
How were the services at the IEC?
The services of the IEC were great.
Did studying abroad affect your ability to graduate on time?
My study abroad experiences had an effect on my ability to graduate on time but it was not because I couldn't get credits transferred or any of the horror stories people sometimes hear about study abroad. I didn't graduate on time because I decided to add Spanish to my double major in Business Management and International Business. A triple major with three study abroad experiences took me four and a half years, which in my mind is a huge accomplishment.
Did the classes fit into your schedule?
At any major University in any part of the world students can find classes to fit their major. Remember that economics is still economics if it's taught in China or the U.S. Supply and demand curves don't change when you travel overseas.
Were finances a barrier to studying abroad?
My finances were not a problem while in Chile, Cuba or Hawaii. When considering a J-term abroad think about how much it would cost to live in that place for a month if you were not a student. It would be hard to find a person who can take a University level class while living in Hawaii for under $4000. While in Cuba finances did not cross my mind. There was no other way I could go to Cuba legally so I would have paid any amount for my experience.
Do you have any advice for students who are thinking of studying abroad?
Your family will always be your family and your friends your friends. Minnesota will always be here so why not take off for a while. There is a whole world to experience. If you step outside the norm you will never come back the same. Smile, you all have the opportunity to see what the world has to offer. A wise old man from Belize once told me that he has not worn shoes in over twenty years. Take your shoes off for a while and view things from his perspective.
Do you have a favorite study abroad story?
In Chile, the most common form of travel is by bus, especially for students who are on a travel budget and want to see everything a country has to offer. During the last few weeks of my stay in Chile I decided to leave Chile and go trout fishing in Argentina. I purchased a bus ticket from Valparaiso Chile to Puerto Mont, which is about 20 hours by bus depending on weather and how many stops the bus makes along the way. Once in Puerto Mont I would buy a ticket to Bariloche, Argentina, which would take me over the Andes Mountains into some of the best fly-fishing in the world.
The day came when I would get on the bus and start my journey to Patagonia. I bought my usual travel necessities, which comprised of three large boxes of wine, some cigars and snack food. Wine is critical while on a bus for more than eight hours because it helps someone who is 6'4" sleep in a bus seat made for people who are not taller than 5'8". Since the first leg of my trip was about 20 hours I made sure that I would not run out of wine.
I boarded the bus along with my backpack; carry on bag and my fishing rods, which I had brought all the way from the U.S. I luckily had the window seat next to a short elderly woman who said she would be on the bus all the way to Puerto Mont, Chile. I smiled and prepared for my bus ritual, which consisted of taking some Tylenol PM and having a few drinks from a box of wine. It took a while for the Tylenol to take effect so consequently I stayed awake and had more wine than usual. After a box of wine I began to sleep while the bus sped ahead on course for Puerto Mont, Chile.
I awoke the next morning in a very comfortable position. Sometime during the night my elderly companion had exited the bus and was replaced by someone else. As my eyes started to open I found myself picking my head out of the lap of a young Chilean woman who was nervously praying the rosary. She told me that during the night I had placed my pillow in her lap and decided to make myself very comfortable. She told me that despite her best efforts I could not be awoken. She also told me that I had kept her awake all night due to my very deep snoring, which had kept her along with most of the bus awake. I was very embarrassed at this point so I apologized, placed my head on the window and went back to sleep.
The rest of my story I keep for myself. I can say that after 26 ours in three different buses I made it to Argentina and caught more fish than I will see for years to come. I can't put into words what the Andes look like while floating down clear glacier fed river while catching fresh trout in a seemingly untouched part of the world.
