The Brazil Course reports:
The Brazil class is now in Salvador, the heart of the Afro-Brazilian area. We did not realize our first day would be the day of Salvador´s most important religious festival, the washing of the steps of the Church of the Bonfim. The procession got started early right outside our hotel and the first picture is one of that gathering. Unfortunately, because of today´s celebration we were unable to visit the Church of the Bonfim, but we had a fabulous tour of the city, nonetheless. We also had another in a series of class meetings where students present their research on various aspects of Brazilian culture, politics, economics, geography, etc. The second picture is of the class during one student´s presentation.




The Costa Rica Course reports:
After a four-day weekend excursion, the group is now back in San Jose with three full days of classes in preparation for Saturday's final exams in Spanish and in the culture/history/ecology/politics of Costa Rica.

This past weekend began with a five hour bus ride to the Monte Verde ("Green Mountain") Cloud Forest Reserve. A cloud Forest, we learned, is like a rain forest except it is located at high altitude and gets its abundant moisture from clouds that come through from the nearby Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. It was amazing to actually be "in" the clouds as they blew through at 50+ mph. The abundant plant and animal species were seen and identified thanks to our expert local guides. Highlights of the day included a tarantula, chameleon-like lizard, howler monkeys, and the elusive Resplendent Quetzal.

We finished the long weekend with a day and night at the Arenal Volcano (about a 4 hour ride). As we arrived we were able to see the very top of the dual coned pyramid, which we later learned was quite a treat since it is normally covered by clouds. The clouds did come and we were unable to see the nighttime slow eruptions of lava and red hot rock.

Wednesday brought a brief trip to the local emergency room as one of our crew was a bit under the weather (but no worries, all are fine now except for a few sniffles). The experience was educational as we learned much about the health care system here. We were seen by a well trained, pleasant physician faster than it takes to even get your insurance info completed in most US hospitals. Within 15 minutes of walking in the door, the intake and triage were done and we were with one of the ER docs. The care was constant, competent, and thorough. And this good care came at a low cost... you could FLY TO COSTA RICA, be seen in a private hospital ER and fly back cheaper than most visits to an ER in the US. Some people even come down for elective surgeries because they are less expensive and the care is superb (they utilize current technology and top notch care in this particular hospital). The country also has universal public health care and universal insurance, although there are wait lists for elective surgeries and patient needs are prioritized by urgency rather than ability to pay.

Today the students are in class preparing for tomorrow's final exams. They have three hours of Spanish this morning and then one final guest speaker this afternoon. On Sunday we will head to the Irazu Volcano for a day and night and then on to end the course with some R & R at Manuel Antonio, on the Atlantic Ocean. We'll then be back in San Jose for one night before a very early wake-up and flight home on the 25th.

The New Zealand Business Course reports:

The WWII Course reports:
We have arrived in Krakow safely.

The Costa Rica Course reports:
We are doing fine.

The Brazil Course reports:
We have safely arrived in Salvador but internet access is not as convenient. Pictures to come later! Everyone loves it here!

The Peru Biology Course reports:
We are doing well in the Amazon Basin.

The Italy Fine Arts Course reports:
We are doing well. We will be heading to Florence soon.

The Brazil Course reports:
On Tuesday we spent our last day in Montes Claros by visiting the local hospital where we heard a lecture on their humanization project, made room decorations for the pediatric wing and participated in an arts project. We also attracted local TV coverage again. The pictures are a group shot following the lecture and two students giving interviews to the TV crews.

On Wednesday we visit our next to the last spot, Salvador, the Afro-Brazilian capital. Internet access will become more spotty and updates will probably be less frequent.






The Ireland Course reports:
After crossing a border that we could not see and exchanging Euros for pounds, we have settled into our hotel in Derry. Today we will explore the history of this city at the Tower Museum and then take a walking tour of the murals commemorating Bloody Sunday and the city walls.

The Peru Heritage Course reports:
We have arrived in Cuzco for 3 nights and 2 days of class and local touring.

We spent the last four days in Chivay, Puno and on the island of Amantani. On the way from Arequipa to Puno we crossed over the Andes at 16,000 feet but decided not to stop because of inclement weather. In Chivay, we stayed at a quaint little hotel that Wade Harvey dubbed "the Shire" because it reminded him of the Lord of the Rings. The students enjoyed a visit to the hot springs and a quiet night of adjusting to the altitude. The next morning we awoke early to try to catch a glimpse of the Andean Condors as they rise on the thermal currents. It was a cold morning and even though we saw condors, we did not get a close up view. But wait, we decided to stop for lunch on the edge of the canyon and were treated with three young condors that flew directly over our heads!

After lunch we headed back over the high pass and thanks to better weather we stopped so the students could catch a great view of a series of Andean volcanoes. We then continued on a long bus ride to Puno and Lake Titicaca.

The next morning the students and Don Daniel embarked on their voyage to the floating islands, called the Uros, and onto the island of Amantani. On the Uros Islands, our local guide and island hosts explained to us how the islands were constructed and maintained. The islands are constructed of the roots of the reeds that surround the low water of the bay of Puno and when the reeds die, the roots float like cork. The students were even invited to "eat" the island since parts of the reeds are edible and are a source of fluoride for the locals. After visiting two of the floating islands we traveled across Lake Titicaca, the highest navigable lake in the world, to Amantani. The people of Amantani invited us with open arms, especially Don Daniel who has visited several times and is blessed to be a godfather to a young girl named Milagros.

After lunch we divided into groups and met the families that would host us for our home stays. The students settled in and then hiked to the top of the island to view the sunset on the lake and get a view of Bolivia. Our first day on Amantani was finished with a fire and dancing. Don Daniel was the first to dance and taught everyone the local dance. At the end of the night the students presented Don Turibio, one of the local elders, with books and supplies to help the school children and pledged that they would try to perpetuate this exchange. All the locals thanked us on behalf of their children and grandchildren.

The next morning was spent working the fields or cooking with our families. For example, Larissa and Lauren plowed the field with Don Benedicto and Annie, Dan, Jordan, and Kelly helped weed and harvest potatoes. After lunch we returned to Puno.

From Puno we headed to Cuzco. The students are currently on their own eating dinner and we will start our formal schedule tomorrow.

The China Course reports:
After coming down from the roof the world, we've arrived at Yunnan Province at the foot of the Himalayas. Everybody just loves Yunnan Province in southern China very much. Here, the air is fresh, the hotel is nice, the food is delicious, and the landscape is beautiful.

Yesterday morning, we visited a small village called Qixing, which is home for Sani people, one of the 56 minority ethnic groups in China. In the afternoon, we enjoyed the fantastic Stone Forest, a unique karst landscape that has been designated as a UNESCO Geopark and World Heritage.

This morning, we went to see the Minority Cultural Village which is an epitome of the 56 minority groups in Yunnan province. While enjoying the various beautiful buildings and unique architectures there, the students had a chance to ride elephants and fly on the zipline.

After lunch, we flew to Lijang, which is believed to be the real location for Shangri-La. Many students have instantly fallen in love with it and don't want to leave for the rest of the course. We'll keep you updated when we start our exciting journey tomorrow!

Here are some pictures from our journey:

The WWII Course reports:
Since Saturday we have been in Prague. The pictures below show the Astronomical Clock and St. Vitus Cathedral in the Prague Castle (Photo 1 & 2). On Sunday we toured the site of Lidice, a Czech town razed to the ground by the Nazis in revenge for the assassination of the German commander Reinhard Heydrich. All 192 men in the village were shot and all the women and children were sent to concentration camps, where 52 women died by torture and 88 of 105 children were gassed. We met with Mrs. Miloslava Kalibova (Photo 3), who was 19 when she was sent to the concentration camp and was one of the few who survived. On the site is a memorial consisting of life-sized statues of the 105 children (Photo 4).

On Monday, we toured Josefov, the former Jewish quarter of Prague. We visited the Jewish Cemetery which was used from the 14th to the 18th centuries (Photo 5), and then met with Pavel Stransky, a Holocaust survivor of the Theresienstadt and Auschwitz concentration camps (Photo 6).








The Costa Rica Course reports:
We are in Arenal on a mountain top tonight before heading back to San Jose tomorrow. All is well after a wonderful visit to Monteverde. We had great weather there and were able to see Arenal Volcano entirely today, quite a rare treat. All students are doing fine and the group is doing well collectively.

The Guam Course reports:
Hafa Adai from Guam!
We toured Saipan this weekend and saw several points of WWII history, including two war museums, Suicide Cliff, Bonzai Cliff, and several bunkers. We also toured the beautiful grotto, saw some sunken tanks and planes just offshore of our resort, and our tour was concluded with a star-studded performance at the Hard Rock Cafe Saipan.
This week our work with Catholic Social Services includes visits to several centers around the island. Tonight we're going to the opening day of Guam Major League Baseball and then we're off to the Chamorro Village Market tomorrow night. This weekend we'll take a dolphin watch snorkeling tour and go on a jungle hike, otherwise known as a boonie stomp!






The Ireland Course reports:
Here are our students at Kylemore Abbey situated in the Connemara Mountains in Western Ireland and at Glencar Lough and waterfalls in Yeats' country, Sligo. We're off to Derry in Northern Ireland in the morning.




The Brazil Course reports:
On Monday the Brazil class had their third and final Capoeira lesson. I hear some of them plan to bring Capoeira back to Elon. Here’s a group shot with our master instructor.

We also finished our service project with Laborearte by decorating the gazebo at the assisted living facility for Carnival and having a party…as you can see from the pictures.
A local TV station came to do a story on our project, too!

The Mexico Course reports:

Hemos estado ocupados durante la semana pasada. Empezamos en Mérida, México y entonces nos mudamos a los pueblos Tinum y Loop Xul por dos noches. La primera foto muestra a nuestro grupo en la primera noche en México cerca del centro de la cuidad donde pasamos tiempo juntos y llevamos sombreros tradicionales. El segundo día, conocimos a nuestras familias anfitrionas y nos establecimos antes de prepararmos para las actividades del próximo día. La segunda foto es una de las ruinas de Dzibilchaltún donde tuvimos nuestra primera lección de la historia de los mayas. Aprendimos sobre el calendario, el estilo de vida, y las tradiciones. La tercera foto es de nuestro tiempo en Loop Xul, un pueblo cerca de Tinum, en una milpa tradicional donde ayudamos a la familia de granjeros a hacer canastas. Aquí, nos acostumbramos a la vida sencilla. Dormimos en hamacas, visitamos una panadería, ayudamos a un carpintero, y aprendimos sobre medicinas tradicionales herbales. En el viaje de vuelta a Mérida, aumentamos nuestro conocimiento de los mayas con una parada en Chichén Itzá, uno de los Siete Maravillas del Mundo. Durante nuestro tiempo en Tinum aprendimos a bañarnos al estilo maya con un cubo y una copa, y disfrutamos de nadar en el cenote mostrado en la cuarta foto.

(English Translation of above)
We have been very busy the last week. We began in Mérida, Mexico and then moved to the villages of Tinum and Loop Xul for two nights. The first photo shows our group on our first night in Mexico near the center of the city spending time together and wearing traditional sombreros. On the second day, we met our host families and got settled before we prepared for the next day’s activities. The second photo is one of the ruins of Dzibilchaltún where we had our first Maya history lesson. We learned about the calendar, the lifestyle, and the traditions. The third photo is of our time in Loop Xul, a village close to Tinum, in a traditional milpa where we helped a family of farmers make baskets. Here, we became accustomed to the simple life. We slept in hammocks, visited a bread bakery, assisted a carpenter, and learned about traditional herbal medicines. On the trip back to Mérida, we increased our knowledge of the Maya with a stop at Chichen Itza, one of the Seven Wonders of the World. During our time in Tinum we bathed with a bucket and a cup like the Maya, and we enjoyed swimming in the cenote shown in the fourth photo.

Written by class reporters Caitlin McGuire, Brett Patterson and Laura Ward.





The New Zealand Business Course reports:
We're now in Napier. Everything is going very smoothly.

The London Course reports:
Things have been going swimmingly because all is well and the amount of rain we have received since our arrival. While we are all conscious that this is typical weather for this time of year, I suppose we also thought that our auspicious arrival would somehow change the universe.

On Monday, the entire group saw “The History Boys”, a play about different philosophies of teaching and human relationships. The topical issues and humor excited discussions about teaching and learning as well as the ethics of certain kinds of behavior. It was originally produced at the National Theatre but became so popular that it demanded a West End venue. We highly recommend History Boys as an intelligent and thought provoking experience.

Wednesday and Thursday tested our students’ resolve with high winds and constant rain in Wales. This was especially the case at Big Pit, an operating coal mine, located on the barren hills a ways outside of Cardiff. We learned a great deal about coal production for the avarice appetite of industry in England and, perhaps even more importantly, the gentleness and dry humor of the Welsh. Our guide was a retired miner who, without a trace of anxiety, took us through a malfunctioning exhibition with rough grace and humanity.

Tomorrow, we leave for a tour of Canterbury Cathedral in the morning and an experimental excursion to medieval ruins, beach and an oyster harvesting around Whitstable. We do not know what to expect of this part of our travels but we all decided to take a chance and attempt something different. The decision forced us to function on that continuum between courage and ignorance.

The WWII Course reports:
We arrived in Prague just fine after a 12-hour train trip from Amsterdam. Had a walking tour around the Old Town and the Prague Castle this morning.

The Italy Heritage Course reports:
We have been traveling quite a bit. We were in Sorrento for a few days and from there we made day trips to Pompeii, Paestum, and Naples (where a garbage strike was in full force). In Pompeii we checked out the ancient brothel, among other interesting places! After Sorrento, we spent a couple of nights in Orvieto. A highlight for many of us was a visit to Civita Banreggio, a hill city that is slowly eroding away. Our presence in the city tripled the population and we had to walk across a footbridge to reach the city. Today we travelled to Spoleto, where tomorrow we meet the mayor and experience the yearly procession of the skull of the town's patron saint.

The China Course reports:
We've arrived at the roof of the world – Tibet. Although a few students are still adjusting the high altitude, in general, the whole group is doing very well and having a great time here. Yesterday, we visited Portala Palace (winter palace for Dalai Lama), Jokhang Temple (the holiest place for Tibetan), and Tibet Hospital. Today, we went to Norbulinka (Summer Palace for Dalai Lama), Tibet Museum, and Sera Monastery. Tomorrow morning we'll leave Lhasa for Kunming.





The Ireland Course reports:
We left Galway this morning after a memorable time there experiencing the seafaring culture in connection to the drama of Synge and enjoying the abundance of traditional music. This morning we learned about the mining of Connemara marble (and made a few purchases!) and then visited the beautiful Kylemore Abbey. Tonight we will discuss several Yeats poems in preparation for our tour of Yeats country around Sligo tomorrow.

The Brazil Course reports:
On Saturday we had a 2nd Capoeira lesson and returned to Laborearte to continue work on our service art project. Once again we were joined by children from the orphanage and residents of the assisted living facility where our art will be displayed. Those old folks sure do like to dance! The picture is of the group having a Samba lesson. At least one student has said Saturday was a life-changing experience for them. That’s why we’re here!



The Barbados Course reports:

We will spend most of the remaining time in country exploring the island's history and culture in small groups. This is a bit challenging as it requires utilization of a public bus system that is often over burdened and difficult to navigate. We have had the opportunity to visit some of the old sugar plantations as well as the Barbados wildlife preserve. The famous 'green monkeys' made an appearance just as we were preparing to board the bus! These most recent pictures highlight a large drive wheel once used to crush cane in the rum production process as well as students enjoying a few hours of relaxation at Bottom Bay, one of Barbados east coast beaches.