Gus & Gustavo's Travels with PSU Study Abroad

Pittsburg Goes to Heidelberg

2012-02-09T13:15:00.000-06:00

From left to right: Dr. Alex Konopelko, Brandon Wolak, Melissa Churning, David Heins, Stephanie Powers, Allen Fluck, Stevynn Cutshall, Aaron Flood, Josh Silvers, Katie Whitbeck

Pittsburg State students of physics had a rare opportunity to visit the Max Plank Institutes of Astronomy and Nuclear Physics this summer on a trip led by Dr. Alex Konopelko.

Konopelko, who is an assistant professor of the physics, took nine students to Heidelberg, Germany, in August for a behind the scenes look the famous institutes. Dr. Konopelko applied for and received support for the program from DAAD —the German Academic Exchange Service—an organization akin to the Fulbright Program in the United States. DAAD awarded PSU a “Group Study Visit Grant” which covered virtually all the on-the-ground costs for a group of students to spend 10 days on the faculty –led academic program in Germany.

“Heidelberg University is one of the top-ranking institutions in the world of international science and scholarship,” says Konopelko. “With its six-hundred-year history, it is Germany's oldest seat of higher learning.”

The visit provied a wide variety of opportunities for advanced learning that perfectly complements the physics curriculum at PSU. The group of physics students traveling to Heidelberg in summer, 2011 took a Study Abroad course entitled Introduction to Modern Astrophysics. The goal of this course is to introduce students who have a serious interest in the physical sciences to the breadth of modern Astrophysics and prepare them for more advanced topical courses in the future.

“The Department of Physics and Astronomy of Heidelberg University was very kind to agreed to serve as a host for the group,” says Konopelko. “Stefan Wagner was willing to help this group with local arrangements.”

The group of physics students from PSU will visited the Max-Planck-Institute for Nuclear Physics (MPI-K), Heidelberg, which is leading a large-scale European project in Astrophysics, which is called CTA.

“Werner Hofmann, who is one of the directors of this institute and spokesperson for CTA, supervised the classes at the MPI-K. Professors Wagner and Hofmann lectured to our students.” Says Konopelko. “In addition, a number of other professors of Heidelberg University also gave lectures in the Modern Astrophysics course. Among them are Wolfgang Kraetschmer, who together with Donald Huffman from the University of Arizona developed the world famous Kraetschmer-Huffman procedure for the synthesis of fullerenes, and Oxford-educated John Kirk, who is one of the best theoretical astrophysicists in the world.”

In addition to the opportunities in physics, foreign travel also opened educational doors for our students.

“I had never really had Germany on my list of places I wanted to visit,” says Katie Whitbeck, who is a Communication major and an Earth and Space Science minor, “but I constantly checked the study abroad listings for a good, yet cheap, trip, and the Germany trip was perfect! It fit perfectly with what I was interested in.

“Before this trip, I had only gone to Canada, and I didn't know any of the other students, but we became a tight group quickly. I enjoyed every moment and adventure over there.”

“I got a better understanding of the German culture,” says Melissa Churning, who has a double major in French and Mechanical Technology. “The culture is much different than from ours. I learned to adapt to unusual surroundings. I also learned how to understand some of the German language by reading the street signs and food menus; I learned to adapt to living with strangers in a youth hostel.”

From : Universitas, the online newsletter from Pittsburg State University College of Arts and Sciences

Students wins scholarship to study in Canada

2011-06-16T10:23:00.005-05:00

From the Pittsburg Morning Sun, 16 June 2011, by Nikki Patrick

PITTSBURG —

Canada is a close and good neighbor of the United States, but getting there turned out to be a complicated procedure for Mandy Folk, Pittsburg, a Pittsburg State University junior art education major.

However, she has triumphed, and will be spending the fall semester at the University of Victoria in British Columbia, Canada.

She applied for and received a $5,000 Killam Fellowship, a national scholarship that fosters educational exchange between America and Canada.

“Canada contains such a rich history embedded deep within everyone who lives there,” Folk said. “There are many aspects of art history in Canada that intrigue me.”

She will focus her studies on the art work of the Haida Gwaii, a Native American tribe.

“They’re the people who do totem poles,” Folk said.

Read the whole story - http://www.morningsun.net/featured/x898067061/PATRICKS-PEOPLE-Pittsburg-State-student-Mandy-Folk-to-study-in-Canada

Study Abroad Numbers Rise

2011-03-07T14:08:00.005-06:00

More Pittsburg State University students will be studying overseas this year, thanks to an increase in faculty willing to create partnerships with foreign universities and lead group programs abroad.

The Office of International Programs and Services and the Study Abroad Committee at PSU has approved more faculty-led study abroad programs than ever before, offering 12 different programs this year over just eight last year.

This year’s excursions include study opportunities (some as long as four weeks) to Spain, Bolivia, Greece, Italy, England, Scotland, Paraguay, Korea, Kazakhstan, Peru, France, Germany, Costa Rica and the Dominican Republic.

These programs, led by faculty from all corners of campus, are in addition to the individual study abroad opportunities students find.

For Dr. Craig Fuchs, head of the Honors College, leading his second program abroad is admittedly a lot of work, but a valuable experience for his students. “I’ve traveled abroad a number of times and felt the impact of those experiences on my life,” he said. “As a faculty member, it makes you want to share that with your students.”

Study Spanish in Costa Rica

2011-01-25T08:55:00.014-06:00

From December 26th, 2010-January 15th, 2011, eleven students from various backgrounds embraced the opportunity to study abroad in Costa Rica.

Led by Modern Languages Spanish Instructor Brett Smith, the students attended a private Spanish language school, and lived with host families to learn the Spanish language and culture.

During their stay, in addition to making trips to the rain forest, cloud forest, volcanoes, museums, the beach, and so much more, the students took classes from El Instituto Para Estudiantes Extranjeros Monday through Friday from 8:00-12:00.

After class students had time to explore the culture and spend time with their host families. Students experienced birthday parties with their families, learned about cultural differences, and enjoyed celebrating the New Year through the eyes of a different culture.

This is just one more example of how Pittsburg State University is opening up doors of opportunities for students to learn outside the confines of the university and experience language and globalization in real life settings.

Social Work Abroad

2011-01-06T12:13:00.008-06:00

Nikki Patrick did a wonderful article on Patty Magee and the study abroad program that took PSU Social Work students to the Dominican Republic over spring break. The program will be repeated this year. From the article:

“We went to Jaibon, a small rural community, and there we were with about 200 other U.S. and Canadian students,” Magee said. “We slept in tents and the meals were primarily beans and rice.”

The Centro para la Ninez includes an on-site school that conducts class for nearly 500 children in the community. Magee and the PSU students conducted workshops for the students in crafts, the English language and reading.”

“They’ve found that if you can introduce English to the kids in school there are a lot more job opportunities for them,” Magee said. “Reading was usually the favorite group. Some of those children had never seen a book before.”

She explained that the orphanage is not exactly the same as such facilities in the United States.

“Here, we assume that if a child is in an orphanage, his or her parents are dead,” Magee said. “In the Dominican Republic, many of the children in the orphanages do have living parents, but they can’t afford to keep them.”

One of the projects the PSU group worked on was a stone wall at the orphanage.

“They wanted a wall for security,” Magee said. “My son, Nicholas, who went with me, had just completed a masonry program, so we started a wall.”

To read the full story click here.

Semester in Finland

2010-12-06T11:22:00.005-06:00

Kylie Klenke has been in Jyvaskyla, Finland this semester.
She has her own blog - www.finnishkylie.blogspot.com. Here is an excerpt.

Remember, PSU has exchanges in Finland, where you can pay PSU tuition and study abroad - many classes are taught in English.

Friendship Family Fun

Today, October 10, I went to visit my Friendship family again. It was a very nice meeting and I got to eat a meal with them. This is the first time I think they realized I wasn’t from a big city, and they asked me to bring pictures of where I’m from the next time I see them, so I’m very excited about that. I need to ask my Dad to send me pictures of my home! While I was there I learned quite a bit about hunting and gun laws here. It is much stricter here than in the States, yet Finland has the largest gun to person ration in the world. I find that interesting. Quail season is just ending, so I finally got to meet Matti (the father) today. He was really nice and showed me pictures of the birds he killed. Also, they told me about elk season. It’s very normal to have elks run out in the road during the hunting season. I told them about how that happens with deer in my country. Then they started talking about how 15 people go out at once with dogs to hunt deer. That made me wonder what kind of super-elk they have here in Finland. Then they started describing the ‘elk’ and I realized that they were really talking about MOOSE! THEY HUNT AND EAT MOOSE HERE!!!! I was so shocked upon hearing it. It’s amazing and I can’t wait to try it, but I was not expecting it. And it made me realize why they said that ‘elk’ running out in the road is so bad. Think about your car running into a moose. I wonder which object will win. :S

*Let It snow, Let It Snow*

Today, October 12, we got our first snowfall here. The teachers all say it was abnormally early for snow, so I’m now starting to believe that it might actually be a colder winter than ever before, like all the experts are apparently saying. It was so beautiful though, because all the fall yellows, oranges, and reds were still on the trees and bushes, so you could see the colours showing through under the white, especially when it began melting.

PSU pre-med Study Abroad

2010-11-11T17:04:00.005-06:00

Every summer PSU pre-med students volunteer in clinics abroad.
Read about Belize, 2010, here.

Myika Williams wins Gilman Scholarship

2010-09-01T09:47:00.004-05:00

Congratulation to freshman Myika Williams who won a prestigious Gilman Scholarship from the US State Department to study abroad.

Myika will spend fall 2010 in Guatemala, Costa Rica and Peru, and will spend the spring at PSU in Paraguay.

Read her story here.

Learn how you can apply for a Gilman scholarship here.

Business in France

2010-08-02T10:51:00.004-05:00

Twelve students from the Kelce College of Business spent 3 weeks in June studying Management and Marketing in La Rochelle, France. One of them was Alysha White. Read her story.

Report from PSU group program to Oaxaca Mexico

2010-07-30T13:55:00.005-05:00

Went to Benito Juarez today, a small Zapotec village about 65 km from
Oaxaca and it was cool. We left Oaxaca about 7:30 am and got there a little after 9. They have a new road. Not the old winding, gravel road from Teotitlan del Valle but another one from Tlacalula. This one is sort of paved. We kept seeing signs that said, Caution this road has lots of potholes. Pay attention to those signs. But it wasn't all bad. At times there were stretches as much as 100 yards long with good pavement.

The area is now an ecotourism preserve and costs 50 pesos to get in (about $4). Well worth it. We took about an hour long hike high up a very steep hill to the top of the mountain. We took many, many & few more many's of pictures so we didn't kill ourselves getting up there. Great views, wildflowers, interesting stuff all the way. Take lots of water though.

Got to the top to the 'mirador' or viewpoint. Incredible vistas of Oaxaca valley. Also a suspended footbridge about 200 yards long across a canyon. We walked across it, the 5 of us. I made a movie of the students going across and then one of me going across. It was a little scary trying to hold the camera, talk, look down at my feet, shoot occasional still shots with my other hand, etc. The camera was a little shaky when I reached the other side. And what was on the other side? More vistas and the other side of the mountain of course. Nothing else. So we did the only logical thing. After resting and looking several minutes, we walked back across the bridge.

Rachel was first to go back and she found the zip lines we were looking for. There were two guys there with equipment waiting for us. They have 3 zip lines and the cost is 100 pesos for all three or about $7. The first line was longest and spanned the same canyon as the bridge. The cable looked in good condition but I wasn't sure I really wanted to do it. Well, Angela had to try it first. First one of the guys who met us had to go across to the other side as the 'catcher' to stop you on the other side. We watched him as he hung upside down like a monkey all the way across. Next Angela went with no problems. I thought 'that doesn´t look so bad´. I could maybe do that.

Quinn went next. Then the second helper guy went. Then we saw them go on the second line and then the third. It looked pretty easy. So when the helper guys came back the other 3 of us decided to go. I have to admit, I would have been just as happy not going, but when 4 girls do it with no problem I don't want them to think I am just a big fraidy cat. So I put on the harness and went last. It wasn't near as scary as I thought it would be, accept for getting turned around backwards in the middle of the canyon so I can't see where I am supposed to end up. But at the last minute I turned around, the helper guy caught me and I scampered up on top of the
big anchor rock.

Crystal Pihl - Story Detail - Pittsburg State University

2009-11-03T12:57:00.002-06:00

Crystal Pihl, a graduate from PSU, studied abroad in Finland and Kazakhstan. Here is her story.

Crystal Pihl - Story Detail - Pittsburg State University

Posted using ShareThis

Allison Keegan, Graduate student - Story Detail - Pittsburg State University

2009-11-03T12:53:00.002-06:00

Allison Keegan, Graduate student - Story Detail - Pittsburg State University

Posted using ShareThis

PSU Study Abroad in the News

2009-11-03T12:51:00.001-06:00

PSU Study Abroad students and programs have been featured lately in several places. Check it out.

Allison Keegan was featured on the PSU web site as a banner story for her summer study abroad in Finland and South Korea. See the previous post.

Also the PSU Group program led by Dr. Steve Harmon that traveled to South America was featured in the PSU online magazine Universitas.
http://www.pittstate.edu/newsletter/universitas/index.dot?article=141775

Allison in Finland & South Korea

2009-07-16T09:45:00.002-05:00

Allison, a graduate student at PSU, has set out on a summer of study abroad. First she studied at PSU's sister university Jyvaskyla in Finland and now she is at another sister university in South Korea, Hanyang University. She has been writing a blog about her experiences abroad. Check it out at http://allisonmkeegan.blogspot.com/2009/07/abc123.html.

Here is her last post as a sample:

One benefit I've received from studying both Finnish and Korean language is that I've been able to feel what it is like to be a child learning the alphabet for the first time. This feeling is true especially while learning Korean, since the characters are completely new to me. When I first began looking intensively at the Korean language, all I could ensue was that all those funky looking symbols meant something to somebody...but that somebody was certainly not me. I imagine that as a child I once felt the same way. My family has told me stories of how I used to listen to a story over and over, and then recite that story from memory while flipping the pages pretending as though I were actually reading. I can imagine the excitement I must have felt thinking as though I could actually read what "big people" could read.

Here I am, 20-something years after I first started "reading", and I am right back to that same beginning. I feel the same excitement when I can read more than a line or two in a story. The only difference now is that I feel myself holding in my excitement so as not to appear overly giddy and childlike. However, I've never been too good at holding back my excitement...so I am starting to just embrace it and feel happy about the accomplishments my class and I are making.

While I know we are making accomplishments, we are still often very confused because this language is so hard to grasp. I sit in class and I see my teacher try to explain things to us, and oftentimes I can see the frustration on her face because we just aren't picking it up. I completely understand her frustration because in her mind she is explaining something that is very easy and basic, and yet we are looking at her like a deer in headlights. I've been on that end many times while tutoring or teaching in a classroom, so I understand and can easily empathize with her point of view.

I feel as though this experience has given me the opportunity to empathize a little better with children in my future classroom. I knew that this experience would give me a chance to learn what it was like to be in the minority, with the hope that I could empathize with children in schools that also feel like they are in the minority. To my surprise, this experience has taught me so much more than that. At some point in time, all the students I work with will feel left out, behind or confused in the classroom...and I hope that I will be able to draw from this experience and have a greater amount of patience and understanding.

Health Campaign

2009-06-11T16:01:00.002-05:00

The ProPeru folks think there may be a strike tomorrow, which would be annoying but we would be fine where we are in Urababmba.

Today we went to Pancarhually, a small community of around 55 families, and gave health presentations off of posters we made the day before covering dental health, clean body and clean house and clean water issues, and women´s health, pap smears and STD's. Zach gave his in Spanish, while the rest of the group took advantage of the translators with the ProPeru group, especially for the women´s health issues. The community people asked great questions: if they were students in my freshman class they would all have gotten the A for the day, questions about the causes of cancer, the nature of diabetes, etc. We handed out toothpaste and toothbrushes, talked with some of the people about their most urgent concerns, and played some soccer, football with the local teenagers. We ended up with a tie with the mixed teams we had.

We are hoping to go back to do the health campaign tomorrow, but if the strike is on the roads will be blocked and we will be disappointed. After our health presentation some of the local folks took us to a very cool Pre-Incan archaeological site with some interesting petroglyphs. One of the community leaders had had family in the area for some time and pointed out the old salt road that the llamas had carried salt on when he was a child, and some alternate routes to Cuzco and Machu Picchu through the country roads that were the remains of Incan trails. Brian said he felt at home because we were in farm country: the wheat harvest looked good, and they were harvesting potatoes of a special variety that took up a distinctive flavor from their red earth, and sold as gourmet items for a premium price in the big cities.

Anyway, all are in good health and good spirits, and hopefully the change in the law stops the strikes from happening so we can do more of what we came here to do. We will see you soon!

Return from Machu Picchu

2009-06-11T09:32:00.001-05:00

The ruins of Machu Picchu were incredible, fully meriting the title of one of the wonders of the world. There were other things to see, including the Inca Bridge, the Sun Gate, and the hot springs, as well as Wainupicchu (contributing further to my gray hair), and our group split up to explore different options. This morning we saw the ruins of Ollantetambo, a mix of Incan and pre-Incan ruins with some signs of Spanish conquest. There were big battles fought there between the Incan emperor and the Spaniards, as a way to lead the conquistadores away from Machu Picchu. Right now we are working on posters for a health campaign to educate people about the need for a clean kitchen, hand washing, tooth brushing, pap smears and well-woman checks.

Everyone is well and happy, thrilled by the magnificent ruins but happy to be back at work.

2009-06-08T09:40:00.001-05:00

We are back from the Inca trail. We saw around 300 patients over the course of 2 days, and were able to deliver a lot of health care with our donated medicines. All of our students worked hard, and even those without much Spanish were able to be effective because they made great efforts to communicate with our excellent Peruvian health care professionals. There was a good bit of fun too, with some freeze tag and charades with our Peruvian friends, and a lot of good natured teasing and joking in 2 or 3 languages, and even some scary Peruvian mountain spirit tales. We also got to see some pre-Incan ruins not open to the public yet, most impressive!
We are off for Aguas Calientes and Machu Picchu now, and will be back in 3 days with some fabulous pictures and a great appreciation of the accomplishments of the Incan civilization.
More later!
Dan

Off to the Inca Trail

2009-06-05T15:57:00.001-05:00

Hola Julia!
So far it´s been a great trip: the whole group is really pitching in, and the people without much Spanish are working and practicing and are making great progress: I am really proud of this bunch. Today we head out for the Inca Trail by backpack for a health campaign in the rural countryside. This is a wonderful opportunity to see a part of Peru that you´d never see as a tourist. We´ll be staying in the villages for 2 nights and 3 days. Everybody is excited to begin the health campaigns.
We´ll be in touch in a few days.
Un abrazo!
Dan

Urubamba: Biology group program

2009-06-04T08:29:00.001-05:00

We are in Urubamba right now and it is INCREDIBLE. Last year we stayed at a Vo-tech school and it was adequate but a little, uh, rustic (Peruvian toilets, for example). This hostel is geared towards Americans and it also had hot showers (I got one anyway, not everyone was so lucky) and a beautiful Peruvian-style courtyard which features a pair of parrots. Breakfast this morning was again llama bagels, drinkable yogurt, and a variety of fruit for which we had no names.

We did our health orientation last night at the Pro-Peru office here in Urubamba. We went through descriptions of the common parasites and how to identify them in stool and blood samples. We also talked about the importance of our women´s health campaigns. They gave us the results of last year´s campaign- there were 2 cases of confirmed cervical cancer, but both women responded well to the treatment and are cancer-free now. The payment for their cancer treatment came in part from the fee dollars that we paid to ProPeru, and we were the group whose campaigns identified the women with cancer. It is humbling to think that we are actually saving lives- and it also makes us feel very guilty that we are not doing enough.

Some of the students went out last night to explore Urubamba a bit more. They met other volunteers, from Duke university and from the University of Pittsburgh. It is pretty cool that everyone else who does this is from a big, prestigious school. PSU is awesome. :)

Arriving in Cuzco: Biology program in Peru

2009-06-03T08:45:00.001-05:00

The flight to Cuzco was awesome- we stayed awake the whole time so we got to really appreciate the mountain scenery. I was sitting next to a couple of students from Ireland, and they were kind enough to snap some great pics for us through the window of the Andes beneath us.

Our hotel in Cuzco is great. The beds are hard and it's a little noisy, but the accommodations are clean and there is even some hot water. Yay! Dinner last night was Pizza Wasi which is just plain awesome (we had it last year and it was a favorite). Breakfast this morning was at the hotel, and it consisted of the yogurt drink that Peruvians love so much, mate de coca, and the bread which we in Pre-Meds in Peru affectionately refer to as "llama bagels" (apparently the real name is bread of Cuzco, lame.)

Okay, so we are getting ready to go explore the Plaza D'Armas. We saw a cool monastery with a very interesting art museum inside yesterday, which we had missed last time- there might be other treasures waiting to be found, we'll find out. :) We leave this afternoon for Urubamba where will begin setting up our health campaigns by organizing our medicines and miscellaneous supplies at the ProPeru office there.

Arrival to Peru: Biology in Peru group program

2009-06-02T08:27:00.002-05:00

News from Lima from Emily:

We've landed in Lima and are camped out in the airport waiting to see if we will successfully make it on to our StarPeru flight. So far, everything is going really well. Customs and immigration were much easier this time than last time, despite the presence of medicos in masks checking for signs of swine flu. There were graduate students in line in front of us who had much more elaborate scientific equipment than we had (like a small refrigerator, I kid you not) and it was interesting watching them go through. I am very pleased that our students have been generally very up-beat, flexible, and open-minded.

Our favorite thing so far: our Delta flight had little interactive screens for each seat, so you got to watch whatever you wanted, whenever you wanted. Megan and I sat next to each other and had dual epiphanies about how, as pre-meds, we hadn't had time for television in years. So I got to indulge my very low passion for crime dramas, something that I would normally be much too serious and busy to do. In between shows I watched our progress on the real-time map: we flew over Cuba and over the Panama canal.

Okay, back to the very uncomfortable airport seats... Hopefully I can catch a few hours of sleep before it is time to navigate our domestic air carrier!!

Safe travels

2009-05-19T10:40:00.002-05:00

Many of our PSU Group Study Abroad programs are off in different parts of the world or getting ready to go. Have a safe and exciting trip! Send back Gorillas Gone Global virtual postcards to post here for fellow gorillas to read.

Educators Discuss How to Meet Demand for International Workforce, UCLA International Institute

2008-11-04T13:58:00.000-06:00

Educators Discuss How to Meet Demand for International Workforce, UCLA International Institute

Mas noticias de Costa Rica (More new from Costa Rica)

2008-07-17T08:35:00.006-05:00

Hola!

Como estan ustedes? Pura vida aqui en Ticolandia. Que rapido pasa el tiempo, verdad? Pero, nunca me olvidare este experiencia ni a la gente que yo encontre aqui.

Yo he viajado a dos lugares hasta mi ultimo correo. Hace dos semanas yo fui a Monteverde, donde yo hice los 'zip-lines'. Que divertido! Yo tuve un experiencia marvillosa. Tres otros estudiantes y yo salimos de San Jose a las 2:30 el viernes y llegamos en Monteverde a las 8:45...era un paseo muy largo, pero no me importo. En el bus, encontramos a tres personas de Londres y cuando encontramos el hotel, ellos estaban quedado en el mismo lugar. Entonces, todos de nosotros pasabamos el fin de semana juntos.

El sabido fuimos al canopy para hacer los zip lines y un tour por los puentes. Yo tengo miedo de alturas, por eso eso dia yo tuve mucho miedo a hacer el zip line, pero yo lo hice, y estoy feliz que lo hice porque fue marvillosa. Yo sentia como un pajaro. Estabamos en alturas de casi 300ft en los arboles con solo una ropa y un pedazo de metal, pero la experiencia fue increible!

Despues nosotros regresamos del canopy, fuimos en un tour del bosque en el oscuro. No podimos ver muchos animales, pero fue muy interesante y vimos un Tarantula, un racoon y otros animales (lo siento, yo no se las palabras por aquellos en espanol). El domingo, anduvimos y exploramos el pueblo por unas horas y a las 2:30, salimos para San Jose.

Hace una semana yo fui a Manuel Antonio con otra companera de la escuela. La playa es tan bonita y el parque es maravilloso, pero habia mucha lluvia. Sin embargo yo tuve un tiempo buenisimo. Yo saque muchos fotos de la playa y el bosque y yo vi unos monos y otros animales. Fue un viaje muy relajante.

Este fin de semano yo ire al volcan Irazul con un amigo que vive aqui en San Jose. El domingo yo ire con el mismo amigo, la madre de el y mi mama tica a una iglesia Catolica. En el proximo fin de semana (el ultimo) yo ire a Guanacaste por la festival que tiene el 25 de julio. La festival es un celebracion de la fecha que Guanacate unido con Costa Rica. Pero mi amigo me dijo que iremos a 4 playas. Que divertido, verdad?

Bien es todo por ahora. Hasta luego!

Christine

For non-Spanish speakers out there here is a quick summary. Christine is enjoying her experience in Costa Rica. She went zip lining and faced her fear of heights. She loved it. She also went to a beach and forest that was amazing and saw all sorts of wildlife. She is headed to a volcano next weekend with her host mom, a friend and his mom where there is a festival. There will be four beaches!
PS She is also studying hard and it shows!

Gustavo in Korea

2008-07-11T10:28:00.001-05:00

Hello all!
I recently traveled all over Korea with a group of students and professors from PSU led by Dr. Lee. In the picture above, I am with Dr. Lee and some of the students in the Seoul Tower. Here are a few pictures of me with the group. In a few of them, you may have to play, Where's Gustavo?
Ahh do I look like candy? The students needed some extra entertainment at the museum.

Yumm noodles

With the group and some dancers from a show at a traditional Korean village

It was great fun! Look for posts from the participants.
Happy travels,
Gustavo

A picture is worth a thousand words

2008-07-11T10:17:00.000-05:00

Dr. Daniel Zurek from the Biology department led the Pre-Meds in Peru group. He sent me some of these pictures. He also told me that the group served over 800 patients during their 2 weeks.
Enjoy the pictures!

In Peru with the Premeds

2008-07-03T15:38:00.001-05:00

Hello! Gus reporting.
I just returned from an amazing program in Peru with a group of 20 pre-med and pre-dent majors at PSU. We traveled to several different villages in the Cusco area. In the area we were able to do some basic check ups & procedures and distribute medicine thanks to the help of our hosts ProPeru.
Here are some pictures of me with some of our patients and of the group I traveled with. I made lots of new friends in Peru!
Hasta luego,
Gus

Noticias from Christine in Costa Rica

2008-06-30T09:23:00.000-05:00

Christine will be a senior in Nursing at Pittsburg State. She is spending two months in San Jose, Costa Rica this summer studying Spanish and specifically medical Spanish. She sent this message which I translated for you.

How are all of you? I am good here in Costa Rica.
Despite my sickness (a stomach illness that Christine's host mom nursed her through), my trip to Puerto Viejo was very fun. Puerto Viejo is very different from other places I have visited. the poeple are a little strange and don't do much. There is a strong Jamacan influence so the food and people are different. However, I liked it a lot.
Friday five friends of mine and I went to a restaurant that had live music and people did tricks with fire, in the US we call them "flame twirlers." It was very interesting. Saturday we went to the beach to snorkel, surf and swim. I couldn't snorkel or surf because it scared me but I swam a lot. Then we went to a restaurant and then some of us went to dance at a bar. It was really fun. We danced salsa, merengue and cumbia for hours. What fun!

Sunday we rented bikes and went to another beach called Punta Uva. It was very pretty. On the way to the beach we stopped at a chocolate plantation and bought chocolate. Then we came back to San Jose. It was my favorite trip so far.
I like school and the professors a lot! I am learning a lot and I hope it is evident from my messages. See you.
Christine

Original Message:
Como estan ustedes? Estoy bien aqui en Costa Rica.

Sin mi enfermedad, mi viaje a Puerto Viejo estaba muy divertido. Puerto Viejo es un lugar muy diferente que otras lugares que he visitado. La gente alli es un poco extrano y no hace mucho. Hay un gran influencia Jaimaca, entonces la comida y la gente son diferente. Sin embargo, me gustaria mucho. El viernes 5 amigias mia y yo fuimos a un restarante que tenia musica en vivo y personas que hacia trucos con fuego, que se llama en los estados unidos "flame twirlers". Fue muy interesante. El sabido fuimos a la playa para bucear con snorkel, surfear y nadar. Yo no pude bucear, ni surfear, porque me dieron miedo, pero yo nadi mucho. Luego nosotros fuimos a un resturante y despues algunos de nosotros fuimos a bailar en un bar. Fue tan divertido. Bailemos la salsa, el merengue y el cumbia por horas. Que divertido! El domingo aquilaremos bicicletas y fuimos a una otra playa que se llama, punta uva. Ella es tan bonita! Por el camino a la playa nosotros paramos en un plantacion de chocolate y compramos chocolate. Luego regresemos a San Jose. Fue mi viaje favorito hasta yo he llegado.

Me gusta mucho la escuela y las profesoras alli. Yo estoy aprendido mucho, yo espero que sea evidente en mis mensajes! Hasta luego!

Postcards from abroad

2008-02-07T10:55:00.000-06:00

Hey everyone, If you are abroad right now for the semester or going abroad this summer on individual programs, please send Postcards to Gus and Gustavo. I will publish them on this blog. It will great to have this as a travel log of PSU students abroad.
I can post your Postcard with a picture also. So if send your pic of you or where you are. If you have anything Pitt Statey with you get it in the pic!
Send the postcards to my email!
Safe travels to all,
Julia

Gustavo in Russia

2008-02-06T14:32:00.001-06:00

Hello from Russia!

I am Gustavo the Gnome, Gus the Gorilla's friend. I traveled with the SIFE Group from PSU that went to Kazan over the winter break for about 10 days. Here are some pictures of my experience. First I am hanging out at school and then the students stuck me outside in the snow. Brrrrr so I decided to warm up with a nice cup of Russian tea. Yummy! I had so much fun with these guys.

Introductions

2008-02-06T12:51:00.000-06:00

Hello All,

This blog is for Pittsburg State students or prospective students that are interested in or have participated in the study abroad program.

We have students that travel on group programs, through exchange programs and through other programs. I am Gus the Gorilla and my friend Gustavo the Gnome are going to travel with as many students as possible to see the world and document PSU students abroad. We can't do it all so if you are studying abroad through PittState and want to blog contact our friend Julia in Intl Programs about helping us out.

Gustavo already went out on his first program. Read all about it in the Russia post!

Welcome and please share this with friends that may want to read about PSU Study Abroad.

Explore, Discover, Learn!