Arthur White: Post 5

Arthur White IFSA- Butler Universadad Nacional Heredia, Costa Rica Fall  2018 Manuel Antonio, Cerro de la Muerte, and Monteverde, Oh My! So, the past few posts I kept teasing information about my adventures outside of Heredia, and now that I have finally gotten pictures back from my trip to Monteverde, it’s finally time for an adventure post! Shortly after we arrived in Costa Rica, the group decided to take our first and only available long weekend to go to a town called Quepos, specifically about 15 minutes outside of Quepos, near a national park called Manuel Antonio. The actual little […]

Arthur White: Post 4

Arthur White IFSA- Butler Universadad Nacional Heredia, Costa Rica Fall  2018 Money Matters and the Formal Dude So, the topics of my first couple of blog posts came to me rather easily, I basically just took the things rattling around in my head post-arrival and sorted the major things out until they were coherent enough for anyone to read. When contemplating the topics for this post, I reached out to my mom and asked what she thought would be interesting, and she mentioned that it might be a good idea to cover some of the things that had me stressed. […]

Arthur White: Post 3

Arthur White IFSA- Butler Universadad Nacional Heredia, Costa Rica Fall  2018 FOOD The very first slide of the very first orientation presentation very poignantly said of Costa Rica, “welcome to Costa Rica, where eating too much is the new normal.” Having been here for a short stint already, I can fully assure you that the program director, Rodney, was not joking. Most morning, Iliana prepares fried eggs, some form of meat, an assortment of fruit which always includes papaya, various types of bread, and occasionally gallo pinto. This last one is a very popular dish in Costa Rica and consists […]

Arthur White: Post 2

Arthur White IFSA- Butler Universadad Nacional Heredia, Costa Rica Fall  2018 LANGUAGE For those wondering what life is like in a country where you have the conversational skills of a child, if that, I can assure you that the experience is a humbling one. Starting at the very beginning, people who may not know me that well may not know that I’m a Spanish major. In conflict with this fact, I only started formally learning Spanish in the fall semester of my freshman year of college. The past two years have been trying; between my grammar knowledge from three years […]

Arthur White: Post 1

Arthur White IFSA- Butler Universadad Nacional Heredia, Costa Rica Fall  2018 ARRIVAL AND ADJUSTMENT I have been in Costa Rica now for three days, and what is there to say but I still cannot believe that I am in Costa Rica. Before this past Tuesday, I had never left the country. While I did live in Hawaii for a few years and in a way that’s a whole different country, nothing could have prepared me for the first time I stepped out of the Juan Santamaria Airport in San Jose. The first thing that I came to recognize about Costa […]

Taylor Anctil (May)

Taylor’s reflections on his time in France. What stereotypes did you have about your study abroad destination? Were those confirmed or negated? My study abroad destination was Aix-en-Provence, France. It is located at the mouth of the Rhone Valley in Southern France and about 35 minutes north of Marseille. My only thoughts and impressions of prior to studying in Aix were based solely on a brief stop-over we had there in the spring of 2011 with my high school. We stopped at the end of the Cours Mirabeau or Rotonde, (as is commonly referred to), and then proceeded to walk […]

William Imeson (April)

Somehow, this semester is finally coming to a close. I have only ten days left in Spain and I will soon be taking my final exams and packing up all of my things. I must say, back in January it certainly seemed like this day would never come. Although the end of a semester always comes abruptly, this study abroad experience has certainly amplified the feeling. It was seemingly just yesterday that I was stumbling around this Spanish apartment and trying to figure my way around a foreign city. As far as expectations go, I tried to limit mine so […]

Taylor Anctil (March)

Here are some pictures from my travels! Day in Cassis             Top of Cassis             Trip to Hungary             Chateau Bas and Global Wine Studies Students               La Fontain du Vaucuse                

Taylor Anctil (March)

I have yet to encounter a dish that I have not enjoyed during my stay in France. As cliché as this may sound… I have to say that my favorite dish is ratatouille. My host mother makes it quite frequently and it is my favorite because of the taste and because of its versatility. One can use it as a sauce for pasta or as a side for the plate. It is really easy to prepare and I have made sure to learn it so I can bring it back home with me. All you need is equal parts diced: […]