Natalia Fagundez takes over Granada, Spain!

Hello!

My name is Natalia Fagundez and I am currently a sophomore at UNC Greensboro! I am studying special education with a concentration in Spanish education, and a minor in American Sign Language. I am a part of UNCG Teaching Fellows, Reynolds Scholars, and I am completing international and disciplinary honors! 

Welcome to my study abroad journey!

I am currently completing the ISA Granada, Spain program for the spring 2023 semester. I have been in Granada for approximately a month now, and it has been such an amazing experience. 

I flew into Madrid on January 20th and from there spent two days in Madrid, one in Toledo, and then made my way to Granada to meet my host family!

As for my housing, I chose to live with a host family because I wanted to feel truly immersed in Spanish culture and live in a Spanish household. I live with my host mother and 2 other students from the U.S. 

I spent the following days learning routes to get to school, discovering panaderias, and learning about the city! I then took a placement test to decide my Spanish level, and classes started on February 1st! I decided to finish my concentration here in Spain so I am taking all Spanish courses including: literature from the 19th century to present, contemporary Spain in the media, grammar, and an oral/writing course! The class sizes are relatively smaller than American classes, ranging from 10-20 students. Grades are on a ten point scale, with students needing a five or higher to pass the course. Since I am taking Spanish learning courses, all the students in my classes are non-native speakers. 

Through ISA, I have been able to see tours of local cathedrals and visit places like Sevilla and Cordoba! It is about 40 students from the U.S. and it has provided me with a great community to rely on. Classes have been relatively easy and have little homework. Professors focus a lot on engaging with students and making connections to Spanish culture. I have also been able to travel to other places within Spain and plan on flying to places like London and Portugal! 

Overall, this experience so far has been extremely exciting and I have felt so much support from the ISA staff, UNCG study abroad office, and the honors faculty while abroad. 

Anna in the United Kingdom

 Hi, everyone! I’m Anna, and I’m an International Honors student studying Marketing and Peace & Conflict Studies. Currently, I’m studying abroad at the University of Hull in Kingston upon Hull, United Kingdom as a full-year exchange student in the Business, Law, and Politics program. To find Hull on a map, find London and go straight up until you hit that little river. That is where I’m living for the next year. I arrived at Hull in the middle of September and am leaving sometime in June.

When I was looking at countries to study abroad in, I narrowed it down to a few options: the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and France. I came up with a list of non-negotiables and started researching universities. My research (plus the COVID restrictions) lead me to the United Kingdom. For a while, I was back and forth between Manchester Metropolitan University and University of Hull. But after a deep dive into the culture, the programs, and the campus, University of Hull resonated with me.

One of the main reasons I chose the United Kingdom, quite frankly, was because they primarily speak English here. And although I did finish four levels of French, I’m not confident in my ability to learn well in a French-speaking classroom. Another reason - probably the most important reason - is London being considered the financial capital of the world. I’m not a finance major, but finance heavily plays into marketing. Being around the action was important to me.

I had three main struggles when I arrived in the United Kingdom, some continuing even now.

1. Missing important events with my family and friends. It sucks having to go to lectures on Thanksgiving knowing that your family is having a delicious meal without you. Missing birthdays, graduations, sporting events, and even little things like getting coffee with your friends is difficult and it starts to add up. As you get more acclimated to your new life and new surroundings, it gets easier. But I don’t know if it ever truly goes away.

2. Leaving your friends and having to make new ones, knowing you’re going to end up leaving. When I came to the UK, I already had a set group of friends that I frequently hung out with and relied on for advice. Now, my friends and I are on completely different schedules. Not only am I five hours ahead, but our breaks don’t line up, we’ve got different jobs and obligations, and it gets hard to find times to FaceTime. Don’t get me wrong - we’re still friends. But I had to find new people to hang out with. Except there’s a part of you that knows you’re going to end up leaving in a short amount of time and you’ll be facing the same problems all over again. It’s truly a double-edged sword. 

3. Public transportation. I have ridden on maybe two trains and a bus in my life, so having to rely solely on public transportation (especially being alone in a new country in a strange city with a giant suitcase) was very stressful. However, once you get the hang of it and you know the right apps to download, it’s pretty manageable.

But not all of it is bad. There’s a lot of beauty in studying abroad, even in the little things. I’ve done a lot of traveling since moving to the United Kingdom, with plans to do a lot more. I’ve made new friends and joined a society (which is essentially a club), I’ve connected with my professors, and I’ve answered a lot of random questions about the United States. My favorite memories range from touching the water of the Øresund Sea to collecting British candy for my brother to seeing the Scottish Highlands.

My best advice to anybody going abroad is to embrace it and remember that this is what you’ve worked for and where you wanted to be. It’s terrifying, moving abroad and being on your own to discover the world. But I’m currently writing this in a random café I stumbled upon in London and I’m realizing that freshman year Anna would be in absolute awe of me now. My second best piece of advice would be to remember that there’s no such thing as too many pictures, and make sure you’re in some of them. The experience you’ll be having is once in a lifetime, and you’re going to want to freeze it in a memory and hold on to it forever. Ignore the people giving you weird looks - you’re living your absolute best life.

If you are planning to go abroad, good luck and I hope you enjoy it more than you could’ve ever imagined. And remember - you from freshman year would be in awe of who you’re becoming. Safe travels!

Teionnah in Japan

 During my time abroad I have been staying in the city of Nagoya. One of the most famous places in this city and the Nagoya Castle that I got to go to it multiple times and sometimes for free during the holiday season. I have always been a fan of these types of places and I generally take any chance to see these beautiful castles. Japan has many beautiful places too and for me, as an international student, it has been pretty easy to get around even though I'm a beginner at Japanese. If you don't know the language like me a lot of the places had provided me with English-speaking menus and on the trains, they have the English meaning on them to make things simpler. But if you go to certain places in Kyoto it was a bit harder for me since I had to rely on using gestures or pointing at pictures and using random Japanese words. Having to do this all the time was a bit frustrating and hard for me to get used to because communication was hard, but once I started to live with her for a while and started to understand how things worked more, with getting a better grip on the language. Everything started to feel more rewarding, even seeing the sights I enjoy because I could understand the language and the culture more the longer I've been here.

Taylor Collaborates with ABROADER in Vietnam

Hello! My name is Taylor Urban, and I am a 20-year-old full university honors student majoring in School Social Work with minors in American Sign Language, Human Development and Family Studies, and Political Science. In Spring 2021, I received the Gilman Scholarship to fund my study abroad program where I was originally supposed to go to London during the summer. This pandemic had other ideas and caused my program to get cancelled. I panicked and did not know what to do since I could not go abroad anymore. I spoke to the Study Abroad office and learned about ISA and their remote study abroad internships and I have never been more grateful for things being virtual.

Taylor and Iroh the Dragon of the West

During Summer 2021, I had the pleasure of working with ABROADER in Vietnam and being placed at EVTrust as a lead English Teacher. Even though we had an 11-hour time difference, I still felt so connected to my coworkers, the students, and the local buddies that were with ABROADER. 

My internship was 9-11 am Monday-Friday and I taught 2, 45 minute long, beginner English classes to children from low-income families and I was able to make my own lesson plans. Every Tuesday and Thursday, we had feedback sessions and every other week during the 8-week internship, we had cultural exchange sessions with the local buddies through ABROADER. I was put into group chats on WhatsApp so I could talk to local buddies, the TAs and supervisors at my internship, and then one for my specific TAs for my class. 

Each week was a different theme for my classes. One week was school, another was transportation, and so on and so forth. The goal of these classes was to teach the students to be able to get around an English-speaking country in the event of them needing to leave their country or if they decide to study abroad themselves. Every day I would share a fun fact about North Carolina, like how Cheerwine and Pepsi were made here, and even told the story of the Lost Colony. The students especially loved how North Carolina has both mountains and the beach. The TAs were there to help with things that the students did not understand and would translate what I was saying to help the students understand since they all varied in levels of English.

Miss Taylor's English Class

Every other week the local buddies would have cultural exchange sessions with all of the interns from various remote placements in Vietnam for us to chat about the differences between the countries we are from, we had people from Vietnam, various parts of the United States, Germany, Finland, Switzerland, and France. We talked about work culture, business, food, music, and then different topics like social media and television when we were in breakout rooms. The last session was a farewell where the local buddies sang “You Got a Friend in Me” and we were all crying and laughing together. They did such a great job supporting us and sharing video tours of Vietnam, markets, and even doing a cooking show for us.

Local Buddies Farewell

Throughout my time with EVTrust and ABROADER, I made a few long-lasting friends with another one of the intern lead teachers from Ohio and one of my TAs from Vietnam who is in university in Hungary. I still talk to them from time to time, but I am super grateful that this remote program led to me meeting them. At the end of my internship, I was offered a full-time job with EVTrust as a lead English teacher that I sadly had to decline but was told to let them know if I ever have time to teach again. I hope to go to Vietnam to work with them in person in the future until then I hope to teach virtually so I can see the students and find out how they are doing. I am so thankful to ISA, ABROADER, Gilman, IPC/Study Abroad, the Honors College, and EVTrust for this amazing opportunity this past summer. 

Austin Takes Malta!

Hello! My name is Austin Rowland and I am a 20 year old full-honors student majoring in Arts Administration with a minor in Drama. In Spring 2020, I had the incredible opportunity to go abroad to Malta with the LIHC program. Although my time in Malta was cut short after a month due to COVID-19, my month there was incredibly eventful. Not only were the students supportive and kind of my situation and culture, there was not a single resident that I met that did not give kindness to me as I made my way around Malta. The biggest aspect of being abroad that frightened me was the acceptance of the Maltese- a problem by which I never discovered at all!

Austin and Jimmy The Dragon

While in Malta, I took 2 theatre study units while also having a dual-enrollment in two online courses at UNCG. This was very manageable, and worked out to where I only had to go to campus one day a week, and the other 6 days of the week could be spent exploring! I resided in a Hotel which serves students “dorm style”. My room was cleaned for me, there was breakfast served here, and there was a swimming pool. The area was very quiet and calm, and I did not once worry about my safety or have to deal with noise or theft. I also did not have a roommate, so it was nice and secluded.  My classes were full of students who understood me, supported me, and wanted to get to know me. That is just simply their nature. Kindness. We went out constantly, whether it be restaurants, or Malta’s capital city, Valletta.

Me and other UNCG students in Malta

I missed America as soon as I stepped onto the plane. In fact, my first question when I arrived at my residence was: “where is the nearest McDonald’s?”. There was luckily one in walking distance from where I was standing. However, as I discovered the amazing locally cooked pasta, squid, rabbit, and other endeavors- McDonald’s was a joke. I was also lucky to be in walking distance of the nearest LIDL, making grocery shopping effective, quick, and fun!

The highlight of my trip was taking the Game of Thrones filming tour. I am a die-hard Game of Thrones fan and the film tour did not disappoint! Primarily, the film tour covered "Game of Thrones", but also covered other media such as "World War Z", "Popeye", "Gladiator" and "Helen of Troy". I saw almost everything that went into filming Season One of the HBO award-winning show, and my tour guide was a crew member who worked on the show himself! The tour lasted all day, and took me around almost the entire island. I got to see where Cersei Lannister muttered the title line “When you play the Game Of Thrones, you win, or you die.”

You Win or You Die! (Game Of Thrones Tour)

I also got to see the amazing cliff dwelling by which Daeynerys gave birth to her dragons in the Season One finale. 

Dragon Birth Scene (GoT tour)

These two scenes are probably the most iconic of the show, and all my fellow fans back home demanded to see all the photos when I returned.

King's Landing Gate

The biggest disappointment about my experience being cut short was that I had planned to do so much. I had a trip to London planned on Mother’s Day weekend, birthday plans for my 21st in June with my Maltese friends, and other nights in the town which would be unforgettable. It was an emotional time as I packed up quickly, hopped into a taxi, and went home before cases of COVID-19 peaked in Malta. I speak with absolute confidence that my month there was as great as it could have been and I would change nothing. Malta is cool, calm, and collective, with people willing to include you and welcome you as their own. I hope to go back one day and reunite with the friends I had to say goodbye to so suddenly.

Popeye Village!

Shaye in Spain!

Hello! My name is Shaye Brockenborough, and I am a rising junior studying Elementary Education. This summer, I spent five weeks studying abroad with Centro MundoLengua at Asociación de la Prensa (ACP) in Cádiz, Spain! As I reflect on my time in Cádiz, I cannot help but think about all the amazing opportunities and people that I encountered along the way.

  Posing at Castillo de Santa Catalina

One thing that I really appreciated about my trip was the support of my host family and professors. Accents are a big distinguisher between people from Spain and Latin America. Spaniards have very thick accents and pronounce many of their words with a lisp. For example, they pronounce their Zs as “Th.” So, “Cádiz” becomes “Cádith.” At first, it was difficult to understand, but my host mother and her daughter (who lived next door), helped me by talking slower or using hand motions. I really appreciated their patience. In class, my professor Gloria gave us many diagrams and visuals to aid us in our learning. She had also studied abroad in the United States, so we had a special bond with her. Dr. Sotomayor, a professor at UNCG, required us to speak in Spanish during our history class. It was definitely a challenge, and because many of my peers were native speakers, the course was very fast-paced. Thankfully, Dr. Sotomayor would always have students explain things in English or put us in small groups to discuss the material. She also gave those who were not as advanced ample time to talk at their own pace. Because of this, I could tell that my listening and speaking skills grew tremendously!

My host family and roommates! Our roommate, Karen (center), was returning to Hong Kong the next day. We customized a cake from a local bakery and had an early thank you party for our host family. It was so much fun! 

My Spanish Conversation professor, Gloria!

One of my favorite activities in Càdiz was surfing on Playa de Victoria! I had never surfed before, so I was extremely excited to try it. Let me tell you, it is not as easy as it looks! I kept envisioning the movies Soul Surfer and Lilo and Stitch, but I spent most of my time falling off of my board and inhaling saltwater. Even though I was not achieving my goal like I wanted to, I did not give up. If there’s one thing my Mom has always told me, it’s “practice makes progress.” Finally, right before we ended our session, I made a momentous trip across the water on my knees! Surfing was hard, but it is definitely something I would do again. I enjoyed cheering on my friends and conversing with other surfers in Spanish.

Getting ready to surf on Playa de Victoria!

Not only did I get to experience Spanish culture, but I also learned a little French! For our free weekend, my friends and I wanted to take a day trip to Paris. We spent days deciding on what locations we wanted to tour and where we wanted to eat. It was going to be a jam-packed day, but we were ready! But, our day turned out to be a lot different than we thought. As soon as we stepped out of the airport to call an Uber, we realized that French was not as easy as it seemed. We knew nothing, and most of the drivers that we encountered did not know Spanish or English. So, something as simple as finding an Uber driver in a crowded airport took at least an hour. Then, it hit me! Being in the Honors College, I’ve learned all about the aspect of performance and play. Thinking quickly on my feet, I remembered that the Google Translate app had a conversation tab. It allows two people to speak in their native languages while translating everything for all parties to understand. Using that helped my Uber driver to take us to where we needed to be. By the time we got to our location, it was too late to do many of the things we had planned.  But, that didn’t stop us from having an amazing time! We walked around the city, ate crepes, and took pictures at the Eiffel Tower. Before we finished our pictures, my friends said, “Wait, you need a picture with your dragon!” Elisa, a name I always used in my high school Spanish classes, had been roaming around with me all throughout the trip. She was a mascot for my group of friends, and we included her in many of our pictures!

Watching Elisa in awe as she pushes the Eiffel Tower!

My time in Cádiz has allowed me to develop a stronger empathy for international students who come to the United States. Being in another country where you are not completely fluent in the language is hard, and I was thankful to have people who helped me along the way. Right now, I am interning with Duke University’s Summer Session for High School Students, where the majority of the participants are from other countries. My experiences in Cádiz have allowed me to better connect with my group of students, and we are able to bond over our diverse cultures.

On our last day in Cadiz, several of us decided to end our journey watching the sunset at Playa de Caleta. 

Posing with Elisa and fellow Honors students (L to R): Shelby, Max, Elise, and Casey at the Alhambra Palace in Granada, Spain!

I hope that this blog post has inspired you to look into the summer program in Cádiz! It is a city filled with rich history and exciting opportunities. If you have any questions or want to see more pictures and videos, feel free to follow me on Instagram @shayebrock and check out my highlights tab “Viajes.” Hope you all are having an exciting summer! ¡Hasta luego!

Laci in Uruguay!

   “¡Hola, me llamo Laci y soy de Los Estados Unidos!” is something I say a lot here, so it felt right to start with that. My name is Laci, my major is psychology, and I’m studying in Uruguay, a country that I have definitely fallen in love with. When I arrived with my fellow honors student from UNCG I was knocked off my feet from culture shock. Our flights lasted about 24 hours, our housing was not ready when we got here, and it was COLD! Cold in South America, who would have guessed that. The first day here was rough, I won’t lie, but it paved the way for me to come to appreciate everything that I would encounter in the next 5 months.

   My first few weeks at my university were exciting and a little overwhelming. At my orientation, I remember trying not to fall asleep because it was so difficult to understand what the directors were saying. I couldn’t find the library for at least a month which is sad because my school is basically one building, but it goes to show how nervous I was to ask where anything was. I felt like a visitor in someone else’s home. Now, I find myself wanting to hang out in La Cantina (our cafeteria) in my free time between classes or, something that is very common, buy a bizcocho (any sweet pastry) and lounge in the sun on the terrace. I am excited to eat lunch with my international friends and to practice speaking Spanish to strangers. Sometimes I find myself striking up conversations just to speak to someone new.

My friends and I taking in the sun at the beaches of Punta Del Este, with my dragon Chispa (spark!). 

Tango is a tradition that has very deep cultural roots in Uruguay and almost everyone knows the basic moves and rhythms of the dance. 

   Uruguay is truly a hidden gem in South America with plenty of beautiful places to travel and wonderful people to meet. A man asked me once, “¿Cómo te gusta este paisito?” How do you like this little country? What a question. The answer: “Me encanta todo.” I love everything. The people are very active in fighting for social justice and want their voices to be heard. Everywhere I go I can find posters about human/animal rights plastered on the walls of buildings or signs promoting an upcoming march. I attended my first big LGBT+ pride march here, which was a beautiful experience. People filled the main road dressed head to toe in pride gear and chanted words of acceptance. Glitter bombs shot into the air. Friends hugged and kissed each other.

My view from on top of the lighthouse at Cabo Polonio, my absolute favorite secluded beach town in Uruguay. It’s one of Uruguay’s well-kept secrets. 

   Graffiti is huge here. So huge that I don’t think I have ever seen a building, other than government official buildings, without some kind of graffiti on it. Montevideo has to have some of the most talented artists in the world because some of the things I’ve seen I cannot believe! While graffiti is still illegal here, the law is not really enforced and I think the city is even proud of some of the artworks, legal or not. I often see open space art galleries of street art with pictures of different graffitis with the locations and artists’ names if they are available. I took a graffiti tour and learned of a lot of wonderful artists like David de la Mano and Alfafa, both of which have popular pieces in Montevideo.

A graffiti that I found on the streets of Montevideo. It’s fun to imagine the positions the artist had to be in to paint the piece.

   The culture itself is my favorite part. There is always time to do what you want and relaxing and watching the sunset is encouraged. My first trip with my international student group to Piriapolis, another city in Uruguay, we watch the sunset at a very touristic spot with other tourist groups and surely many Uruguayans. When the sun finally slipped behind the horizon along the ocean everyone clapped. It was really cute, like everyone was congratulating the sun on setting another day. On any given day, no matter the weather, you can find a bunch of Uruguayans drinking their mate (the most popular tea-like drink) and chatting with amigos by La Rambla, a sidewalk that spans a lot of the coast of Montevideo. I am going to miss being expected to take my time and enjoy the little things, like the sun setting yet another day.

One of the beautiful sunrises at Los Dedos. Spending time to watch time pass is a very important part of Uruguayan culture. 

   As I write this I only have 2 weeks left of class and 5 weeks left in South America. I probably talked to 6 or 7 different people that have been to Montevideo in preparation for this trip, but nobody warned me of the friendships that I would make here. I have met people from all around the world and each one of them has impacted my life. To think that I would have never met them if not for this paisito is crazy and I will forever be grateful to Uruguay for bringing such amazing people into my life.

My international friends and I ate dinner at Hard Rock Cafe so I could taste some American food. They don’t eat macaroni and cheese here!

   If your still here, thanks for taking the time to read a bit about my journey outside of the US for the first time. Viva celeste, besos, and ciao.