The Brazil Course reports:
We had a Tuesday afternoon bus tour of the city of Belo Horizonte, capitol of the state of Minas Gerais and 5th largest city population-wise in Brazil. The first photo is a group one taken in front of a Catholic church (yes, it truly is a church) designed by famed architect, Oscar Niemeyer, a native of BH. The second photo is the backs of some of the students (sorry about that!) with another Niemeyer building in the background. Guess how many stories are actually in that apartment building you see? Ready…8. This is one of Niemeyer’s signature architectural creations.

Tomorrow we have a long bus ride to the historic city of Diamantina where we stay one night and then we are on to Montes Claros. Everyone is having an amazing time…and is learning a lot!




The New Zealand Course reports:
We're now in Rotorua and all is going well

The Aboriginal Australia Course reports:
After arriving in Perth we met our coordinators and enjoyed a nice dinner with our faculty; what a great way to wind down from our long travels. Our coordinators (Adrian and Ben) set up a full day of adventure for Monday. Our group of thirty split up and raced around Perth looking for restaurants, piers, shops, Aboriginal art, historical parks, etc. This race was a great way to become accustom to Perth, learn on our own, enjoy the warm weather, and find different destinations we may need to find our own way to later this week. After venturing around Perth we also headed to the Freemantle Prison and the Western Australian Maritime Museum before eating at Cottesloe beach.

Tuesday morning, our bus left around 9:30 am and we attended our first lecture at Curtain University, Center for Aboriginal Studies. Our class was lucky enough to receive a traditional Nyoongar welcome by Noel Nannup (a well known Aboriginal man) and Darren (our Curtain University faculty member). Noel began by sharing a quote with us; "For some of us, our feet still follow that of our ancestors". This quote immediately made me think of our required reading ("Why weren't we told?"); a lot of our required text spoke about never truly understanding yourself and your culture until you could understand your family history. Unfortunately, many Aboriginal people are still searching for their complete history and as they search for the answers, they trace the footsteps of their ancestors. Noel also shared an Aboriginal story with us, entitled "The Carer of Everything". This story is sacred to the Aboriginal people and challenged us to become engaged in the spiritual beliefs and values of the Aboriginal culture. Many parts of the story took place in parts of Western Australia that we will be visiting in the weeks to come; including Rottnest Island and the Wave Rock. Personally, I found the most intriguing part of his story to be when he spoke about losing all self-centered characteristics in order to be a true carer of everything. It is very easy in today's society to become self-centered and this was refreshing to hear; it made me remember that the common good goes beyond one life and beholds all humanity.

Following our first lecture, we visited the Bernadt Museum (being 75% Aboriginal Art). All of the Aboriginal Art is contemporary, being collected within one year of its making in order to have proper and thorough documentation. Our guide, John Stanton, showed us many artifacts, including carrying bowls, digging sticks, spears, clubs, boomerangs, and grinding stones. We also saw Aboriginal paintings each having their own spiritual meaning. One fascinating fact John shared with our class was that the footprints of Aboriginal people are an identification factor, as faces and fingerprints would be for us as Americans. While knowledge is seen as a privilege for the Aboriginal people, they do keep some things secretive; not sharing certain art, stories, or ways of life with outsiders. I enjoyed learning about the secretive aspect of Aboriginal culture because, we tend to forget that the richness of culture is at our fingertips. More often than not, we as Americans get caught in the materialistic ways of life that surround us and forget that we can exploit our environment and choose a multipurpose way of life.

Tomorrow we leave Perth and I can't wait for what's yet to come.

One of the photos below is of one of our students, Billy, with the books we were given as a gift from Noel Nannup. The second one is a view of Perth and Swan River from King's Park lookout. The third one is three Professors: Lesley Neale, John Mallard and Darren Garvey in the lobby of the aboriginal center at Curtin University. Behind them are three aboriginal flags. One is the Torres Straight Flag, the green represents the land; blue the ocean; and the center is a traditional head piece. The black and red with the yellow center is the universal aboriginal flag. The black represents the people, the red the land and the yellow the sun. Lastly, the center flag with the center is the Goana Flag. The fourth photo is Ross Chernin hanging off a rock on the beach at Rottnest.

The Italy Heritage Course reports:
Our class has been very busy. In Rome, we visited most of the popular ancient sites, including the Pantheon, the Coliseum, and the Forum. However, we also did some more unusual things, such as touring Ostia, visiting the Jewish Ghetto and viewing a Mithraeum (a worship site for an ancient mystery religion) under the church of San Clemente. Everyone enjoyed exploring Rome, in spite of the rainy weather. Yesterday, after visiting the catacombs, we made our way down the Amalfi coast to Sorrento. Today we explored the Greek Temples at Paestum and tomorrow we head to Pompeii. So far everything is going well and we are learning very much through these interactive lessons on Italian Heritage.

The Peru Heritage Course reports:
We are now in Nazca after moving down the coast.

In our last entry, we wrote about how some students were out sandboarding on the oasis. A few students returned saying it was the greatest thing they have ever done, while other students found the time spent in the pueblos jovenes more influential. We loved interacting with the other Elon group and look forward to seeing them at the end of the month in Machu Picchu.

We traveled in the morning to the town of Paracas. The neighboring city of Pisco was the epicenter of the August earthquake. Damage was visible in the area we visited, but our boat captain told us Pisco was totally devastated and he felt lucky to have survived. We traveled around the Ballestas Islands and witnessed close up what was once an important part of the Peruvian economy, the production of guano. The islands were covered with almost a million guano producing birds including the pelican and booby. We also saw close to a thousand sea lions and countless Humboldt penguins who migrate here to mate. It is the Humboldt Current, the cold water current that comes from Antarctica, which makes a rich environment for fish and birds, and therefore guano.

We left Paracas and stopped in Ica to tour a museum on the four coastal civilizations. At the museum the students were introduced to mummification, Peruvian style.

In Nazca we had an easy afternoon preparing for an early morning to do the overflights over the famous Nazca lines. Students were able to use the Internet to contact their parents but phone service here is confusing. Hopefully tomorrow they can call home from Arequipa. All the students took the overflights and saw the giant geoglyphs on the desert floor. Some of these, like the heron, are over 900 feet long. After breakfast the students had their first class in survival Spanish with Don Ernesto and their first environmental class with Don Daniel. Spanish covered basic phrases for hotel and restaurant use. Environmental class involved discussion of the pueblos jovenes, the possible origins of the Nazca lines, the guano industry and the Humboldt Current and its effect on the environment and the economy. After lunch we visited a series of aqueducts that have been maintained for over two thousand years. The aqueducts carry water from the Andes and still provide water for many coastal towns.

Tomorrow is a long bus ride, 12 hours, to Arequipa with several stops along the way. We will send more updates once we get there.

The Costa Rica Course reports:
We spent the past weekend at Turtuguero. This is the location where green sea turtles nest, and we were able to see one hatchling scramble to the ocean. We investigated the town of Tortuguero, explored the Tortuguero National Park for wildlife, and even held a championship soccer match, which the locals won 8 to 6.

The Tortuguero National Park outing involved a three hour bus ride followed by a 2 hour boat ride through various canals and rivers between Moin and Tortuguero Island, a 22 mile long strip containing a large nesting population of greenback turtles. We actually were able to rescue one "Lone Ranger" left behind in a nest and the group cheered when it finally made it to the sea. Additionally we observed many exotic trees/bushes/flowers and a host of local wildlife. There were crocodiles, tree frogs, iguanas, geckos, monkeys, fish, many species of birds, bats, and Caymans, to name a few. We learned much about the history of the area, its ecology, and what is being done to protect this beautiful natural resource. We had guides who knew the area well and had an astounding ability to spot a small lizard in a large tree from 50 yards! The area gets nearly 200 inches of rain annually but we were fortunate that it rained mostly at night and we had two beautiful days to explore. Dr. Brumbaugh said it was some of the best weather he's experienced there in many years.

The group is doing well. Other than a few stubbed toes/scraped knees we are all in great shape. After spending a great weekend in the Tortuguero National Park, we are settled back in San Jose for classes on Language and Culture. This afternoon we will go downtown to visit the National Museum.


The Cathedral Course reports:
We are in Florence and all is well.

The Brazil Course reports:
We arrived safely in Belo Horizonte (affectionately known as BH down here-- it translates to "beautiful horizon" due to the beauty of the mountain ranges surrounding the city). We are planning on watching the college championship football game together this evening. Tomorrow we will be visiting the city's important cultural and historical sites including some of the famous works by architect Oscar Niemeyer (Brazil's most famous architect that designed most of the buildings in the new capitol city, Brasilia, built in 1955-1960). His works in BH include an apartment building on Liberty Plaza, and a church and museum in the Pampulha Lake district. The students enjoyed the immense socio-cultural diversity in Rio, it's contrasts with BH, and are impressed with the natural and cultural wonders that make Brazil an interesting and exciting place to learn about. We've been having great discussions in our class meetings about what we have seen and done!

The Ireland Course reports:
We have arrived safely at Shannon and are looking forward to seeing Rock of Cashel and Cahir Castle tomorrow. We are all so delighted to be on Irish soil finally!

The Barbados Course reports:
Today's island orientation included a stop at Cherry Tree Hill (where this picture was taken) overlooking the eastern shore of the island. Students were introduced to many historic and culturally relevant landmarks to be further explored in the upcoming days.


The Italy Fine Arts Course reports:
The Fine Arts Italy Course is finishing up its Rome experience today. Yesterday we traveled on the Metro to the Vatican where we enjoyed an exhaustive and stimulating tour of the museum, including the Sistine Chapel. Later in the day, we made our way through the crowds to St. Peters. Despite a constant rain which has resulted in several of us purchasing umbrellas from street vendors, a few of us made it to the Feast of the Epiphany at St. Peters this morning. How meaningful it was to sit and experience a major feast day in this beautiful cathedral in the city of Rome! Of course, we saw the Pope who also spoke from his apartment after the ceremony. The music was not much like our recording of Palestrina, but what a treat to hear the papal choir, a group of singers continuing the musical tradition from centuries past.

We are enjoying the flavorful food and will continue exploring the enchantment of this ancient city this afternoon. Tomorrow morning we collect for a bus ride to Pompei and then to Naples.

The Peru Heritage Course reports:
We are now in the oasis at Huachachina after spending our first day and a half in and around Lima.

We toured the Catacombs underneath the Church of San Francisco, visited the Plaza de Armas and the Lima Cathedral (where Pizarro, the conquistador of Peru, is buried), and the area around the presidential palace while learning the history from a local guide. The group moved onto the Larco Herrara Museum and was introduced to potteries from the various eras of Peruvian history.

The students were treated to dinner and a show of folkloric dances in Miraflores as their "welcome to Peru dinner". One of our students, Larissa Long got to participate and was "married to el diablo." She played along well and a good time was had by all.

We left Lima on Saturday. On the way to Huacachina we stoppped at a "pueblo joven" called Lomas de Marchan. A pueblo joven is a new town that is quickly established on open land and slowly grows. Elon has visited for three years and has been able to witness the development. The students enjoyed meeting one of the towns elders, learning about the development, and sharing time and marbles with the children. All students said this was an important stop and would like to send photos and donations back next year. We also stopped to have lunch at a large hacienda and were able to view damage from the August earthquake. Tomorrow we will go closer to the epicenter, I have no idea what to expect.

In Huacachina the students are currently out on the sand dunes in buggies and trying their hands at sandboarding. I will update you on the success. I also was able to bump into th other Elon group and spent some time with the professors (Janet MacFall and Greg Haenel). They are all tired from a long trip but look like they are ready to begin their course.

The China Course reports:
We had a wonderful day today. We visited Mao’s mausoleum, Tiananmen Square, The Forbidden City, and The Temple of Heaven, and in the afternoon, we had a great conversation with students from Beijing No. 2 Foreign Language University. We enjoyed the famous Beijing roasted duck banquet in the evening. Our tomorrow’s itinerary includes the Great Wall of China, The Summer Palace, and the newly constructed Olympic stadium.







The Brazil Course reports:
We spent Friday morning touring Corcovado, the site of the Cristo Redentor statue, newly "elected" as one of the 7 wonders of the modern world. The picture attached is the group with Ipanema and Leblon beaches in the background. Friday afternoon some of the students went hang gliding over these same beaches, a picture of one student taking off is also attached. Today we will work with school kids in Rocinha favela and help the directors of the school with some construction and painting work.

The Brazil class visited Rocinha favela on Saturday where we painted walls at the 2 Bros Foundation and played with the children who attend English classes there. A picture is attached of the group and a few of the kids with some of the favela in the background. It was a very important outing for our class and we have had amazing discussions afterwards.

Today is Monday and we leave Rio today to fly to Belo Horizonte, capital of the state of Minas Gerais.







The Hawaii Course reports:
Things are going well here in Hawaii. Our class at UH-Manoa was terrific! We all gained a very interesting perspective of Hawaiian life and current day issues and realities. Since our last entry we have visited 'Iolani Palace. 'Iolani Palace is a hugely important fixture in Hawaiian history. It is the only royal residence on American soil. It was the home and the prison of the last reigning Hawaiian monarch. After the overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom, 'Iolani Palace was not maintained and fell into disrepair. In more recent history, the palace has been restored to it's original state. It is a symbol of Hawaiian culture and recovery. It also demonstrates the progressive nature of the Hawaiian people because this building had electricity and telephone before the White House. We also have visited Pearl Harbor and the Arizona Memorial. The events of Pearl Harbor changed the State of Hawaii and the world and has important historical significance. On to Hilo.

The Aboriginal Australia Course reports:
All of us are here and have arrived safely.