The Weekend!

Well, Friday and Saturday were both pretty exciting and active days, so I'm happy that today we're traveling and not having to walk a crazy amount. On Friday, we took a long trek out to Lavuk, which is a school and after-school club for students with disabilities, ranging from ages 12-25. It was really interesting to hear about their philosophy in helping these students and their culture revolving around education. Jimmy, Paige, and I talked to a pedagog, Pia, for a long time about their school and educational system. Basically, they really value recreational skills and building these students' self-confidence rather than focusing completely on educational content. The kids did seem to really enjoy themselves at the club and relaxing with one another. However, we also had to consider the fact that they are completely segregated from their same-aged peers. A very interesting paradox.

We hung out at Lavuk nearly all day and got to chill with the students as they did scooter races and arts and crafts. The group also walked to their harbor where they have sailing and ate lunch there. We headed back into Copenhagen and Melissa, Jimmy, Cam, and I got some AWESOME pizza (spinach, onion, and feta) and hot dogs, which we downed super fast. As we were still hungry, we ate dinner at the hostel with our group and chatted about our trip that day. Then, we went back out to Lavuk for their dance that they have every Friday. I didn't dance all that much, but I did get to play Uno with some awesome and super friendly kids. After the dance, we went to Tivoli Gardens to hear a free concert that was PACKED (about 5,000 people) and ride the swings, which was so cool, especially at night. They're 260 feet up in the air and one of the tallest swing rides in the world, which gave us an amazing view at night with all the lights. A bunch of us chilled there, nearly until the place closed, and then we wandered the streets until we found a nice place to hang out. The Mermaid Bar was our location of choice, and we finally saw some loud Danish people! There's a first time for everything!

We had our first full free day on Saturday, which was really incredible, even though it was exhausting! Cam, Melissa, Jimmy, and I started off the day searching for a place to have brunch. We found a wonderful place that had eggs and bacon and ORANGE JUICE. For those of you who know me well, I value orange juice more than any other beverage in the world, and I have not had it in a week. I was ecstatic, to say the least, and it was delicious. After that, we walked for what felt like forever trying to find this flea market people had talked about. Honestly, the walking was kinda of awful, but we found the market, and it was huge. It was kind of like a gigantic garage sale, but I found a cool dress there, and it was just an interesting experience. From there, we got a bit lost with the buses and had to reroute to get by Our Saviour's Church, which has a HUGE spiral tower at the top. Jimmy, Cam, Melissa, and I walked up a ton of stairs and got to see the amazing view from the top. It was really cool and refreshing up there. I really liked it. We headed into Christiania to explore a bit more after that, and we got to relax and actually see the residential area of the place, which was nice. From there, we headed to Nyhavn, which is the famous place with all the colorful buildings on the water. It was insanely packed, cause the weather was nice, but definitely good to see. Next (super busy day), we walked to the mermaid statue. This was also quite an insane walk, as people kept telling us, "It's not that far." Actually, yes, it was very far away. However, we made it and took lots of pictures there. We took a train back and got McDonald's here, cause we were super hungry. Then, we relaxed at the hostel and went to bed early to pack and rest our super tired feet. 

This morning (Sunday), we ate breakfast, packed up, and checked out in order to start our day of travel to Aarhus, which is the second largest city in Copenhagen and it has a university. We're excited to go somewhere new and have some more experiences. Miss you all, and hope you're doing well!

Educational Experiences

Alrighty, everyone. On to the next few days...

After Christiania on Wednesday, we had dinner as a group and then Gabby, Ashleigh, Cam, Jimmy, Melissa, and I walked around the pedestrian streets here trying to find a good place to get some desserts. Originally we wanted pastries, but all the bakeries seemed to be closed. Instead, we found an awesome Spanish tapas place and got creme brûlée, chocolate cake, and amazing raspberry sorbet. Seriously though, the food was delicious. The night wasn't too exciting, and we were in bed early, but it's always nice to check things out.

Yesterday (Thursday), we traveled a bit out of town to the most accessible building in the world! It's crazy to think about how much time and energy went into its creation. It currently houses a ton of nongovernmental organizations that support disabilities in some way. As it was their Constitution Day yesterday, a man from LEV came in on his day off and spoke to us. It was incredibly nice of him. He talked a lot about the history of intellectual disability and treatment in Denmark, but then we got to talk more about institutionalization and the differences in views between the government and other groups. It was pretty fascinating, and we could relate well with certain issues in the United States. Personally, I found it interesting, because he kept talking about making "reasonable adjustments," and I feel like we don't support that enough in the United States. It's so easy to make a reasonable adjustment for someone and help them succeed.

After that talk and heading back into the city, Melissa, Jimmy, and I headed over to Rosenborg Castle and Gardens. It started to rain, unfortunately, cause we wanted to hang out in the beautiful gardens, but it was still gorgeous and the castle was pretty amazing. I love seeing crazy stuff like that, and the crown jewels! After that, we found a pretty swanky cafe called Electricity (in Danish) and had some nachos, and I tried my first Moscow Mule, which was delicious (thanks for the recommendation, Jimmy and Melissa!). We headed back for dinner with the group, and then Caspar (Ashleigh's Danish friend) took us to Distortion. Honestly, that was one of the best experiences here so far, socially. This music festival switches locations every night and approximately 200,000 Danish people attend each year. There were older individuals, children, and college age students listening to music and hanging out in the streets. It was a pretty crazy experience, but I loved seeing their culture and community so vividly in one place. 

We headed back on the bus and hung out in the lobby with Jordan and Meaghan (our professors) and talked for about an hour and half. It was nice to actually relax with them and discuss research, Denmark, graduate programs, and our education program at CMU. It definitely was a nice way to end the day, and I'm excited to start again this morning! 

Premiere Copenhagen Days

Hello, everyone!

So, originally I had decided that I wasn't going to continue with this blog from when I studied in Chile, but as I've been here, I've realized that we are doing so much each day, and I am learning so much that I don't want to forget. Therefore, I decided I'd keep it up for whoever is interested. However, the posts may dwindle as I continue to travel.

For those of you who don't know, I am currently studying in Copenhagen, Denmark. This is a premiere faculty-led study abroad trip for Special Education majors. There are 15 of us from Central Michigan University, and, honestly, it is an awesome group. Everyone is so friendly, and it's a great environment. After this, Hannah (my lovely roommate from CMU) will be meeting me and we're traveling to 6 other countries in Europe.

I flew out of Michigan on Sunday and arrived here on Monday morning around 11 am (this time, which is 6 hours ahead of MI folks). After walking to our hostel and being assigned an AWESOME room (16th floor looking out over the canal and city), about 10 of us walked along the canal and checked out the swimming pool that's a part of the canal. After that, we picked up 3 more members of our group and headed to the pedestrian walking streets and tried the national Danish beer, Carlsberg. I thought it was pretty delicious! It was really great to meet up with everyone and catch up with some funny stories, especially from the people who had traveled beforehand. We had dinner as a group that night and headed to bed early to work on our jet leg.

On Tuesday, yesterday, we got up early and headed to UCC (University College Capital) and heard some presentations about their training. We got to talk to future teachers from India, the Philippines, Denmark, Ghana, and Turkey. I seriously loved it. Everyone's perspectives are so different, and I learned a lot just from one conversation. Here in Denmark, they have "pedagogs" who are typically preschool teachers, but they are the only ones really trained to work with students with special needs, even though these students are frequently included in the classroom. It's a very different inclusive setting and teacher training than we're used to, but fascinating. We then went on an incredibly rainy canal tour, which was beautiful, but very wet. I went off with a few friends (Jimmy, Melissa, and Gabby) to find a coffee shop (AMAZING chai tea latte) and explore for a while before heading back to dinner. After dinner, the group went to Tivoli Gardens and Amusement Park. We walked around for about an hour and then, Jimmy, Melissa, Gabby, Ashleigh and I decided to find someplace to hang out and talk. We went to a really small pub called Her-er-o and chatted. We wandered for a bit more after and found another place that was so great. We made Danish friends, and they invited us to play foosball with them. We talked to a guy from New Zealand, danced with other Danish people, and really got to experience more of the culture on our own, which was fantastic.

Today, we started the day at the Ministry of Education and had a nice presentation about their inclusive education here. Then, we went to another campus of UCC and had more presentations and conversations with lots of Danish students! I learned a ton today about their system and view on intellectual disabilities, which was wonderful. The students have all been so friendly, and I'm excited to add them all on Facebook to hopefully keep up the connections after this. We had a tour of Christiania from a resident there, which is this commune in Copenhagen where they live completely democratically. All the members (800 of them) have to agree to every decision made, and it is a very sustainable and relaxing place. It's right on the river, and it was really a beautiful place to explore with the group and check everything out. We just finished our dinner with the group, so we're getting ready to head out and explore more! Hope you all enjoyed hearing these random stories.

ALSO-Paige, a girl in our group, has met Miley Cyrus' sister and Steven Tyler so far. Crazy.

Despedidas

Hey, people

I cannot believe that I am leaving Chile today. The whole experience has felt so surreal, and it went so quickly. I'm going to miss seeing the beautiful ocean every day and having the amazing opportunity to practice my Spanish.

Yesterday was a great last day. I went to our classes for the last time in the morning. We had a final, graded discussion in my Film and Literature class. It went much better than I thought it was going to cause some people in the class are slightly aggressive in their opinions. In my Chilean Conversation and Culture class, we talked about what we would teach Chileans who came to the United States about our culture. It was interesting.

Rachael and I went to a store called "Paris" after class, and I bought a cute shirt. Then we got some cheese empanadas, while we waited to find out our grades from our first class. We had to return to the university to get our grades for the discussion and our final average. I'm very happy with it! We should be getting an email within the next week for the grade of our other class. Rachael, Kate, Liz and I went a tour of the port. It was super fun, and the guys who took us were really nice.

I went back to my house to finish packing and rest for a while. Christine and I had a nice dinner together. I went out to the bar, Oasis, in Viña del Mar with a lovely group of girls-Elizabeth, Taryne, Kate, Liz and Rachael. It was super fun and a wonderful way to end the trip. I'll be having a big lunch with my host family soon, and then it's off to the airport with ISA!

I'm so excited to be coming home, but it's going to be really strange. I hope everyone's been doing well and can't wait to see everyone so soon!

Finishing Up!

Hello, everyone

Well, I feel like I should be writing my final reflections on my time here so there may be a bit of that intertwined in the doings of the past couple days.

Tuesday night, Rachael and I went to an interesting restaurant in Viña del Mar called Restobar. We got to sit on a balcony outside and relax, which was really nice. I had a delicious pineapple daiquiri and "churrasco a lo pobre." Churrasco is kind of like roast beef, and I had it in a mix of fried eggs, french fries, and onions. It was really good. I like their random mixes of food here.

On Wednesday I went to class, as usual. We went around two cerros (big hills) to view the street art and graffiti that is super common in Valparaíso (in case you can't tell from all my pictures). It was pretty cool, but we were walking SO fast to get through everything in an hour and a half. It was a bit chaotic, but still better than sitting in the classroom. After classes, I went home to eat and drop off my things. Then Rachael and I went to the archaeology and Francisco Fonck museum. We were told by our friend, Kat, that it was the best of four in the area. It was pretty cool, but nothing incredibly exciting. Even though I really like history, I think art museums are more interesting for me. I spent the rest of the day finishing up some homework and starting to pack (AH!).

Our classes today weren't too exciting. Things are obviously starting to wrap up and slow down a bit. Rachael and I went to some shops by the university for a little bit after school. Sadly, we ran into two of our friends as we were walking and found out that one of our friend's had her iPhone stolen right out of her hand on the street by our school. It was a completely ridiculous situation. I feel horrible, and it's the first case our group has really had of robbery. I'm about to have a huge and delicious lunch with my host family because it's really nice outside. We'll see what the rest of the day holds! Rachael and I wanted to go ziplining in the Botanical Gardens here, but they only will open it for a group of 12 because it's the winter here, so that's pretty disappointing.

In general, this has been a very interesting trip. I've found out that I do not want to live in a city in the future. It's too overwhelming for me, and I just don't like it. I love to be in nature and see trees and grass and other green things. As much as I love Spanish and the history of Latin America and Spain, living the culture is so, so different from learning about anything. It's been exhausting, but my Spanish has definitely improved. It's going to be really different to be back in the United States, especially in the intense heat that's been going on! I'm so excited to see everyone though and be able to relax and speak in English. I hope everyone's doing well, and I can't wait to be back on Sunday. 

4 Days Left!

Hey, everyone.

I am feeling quite a bit better now. I finally began to be able to eat some real food on Sunday and am feeling LOADS better because of this. This weekend was a bit rough because I was exhausted and couldn't move around too well due to lack of food. However, I've been going to classes and walking around this week, so that's great! I still can't have too many kinds of food, but feeling much better now.

The rain has finally stopped here so we've gotten back to exploring and doing some fun stuff, which I'm happy about. On Saturday and Sunday, I rested a LOT and wrote my essay which was due yesterday. Last one for that class, hooray!

Yesterday after classes, Rachael and I went to the artisan markets in Viña del Mar to pick up our final souvenirs for people. Then we worked on homework for most of the afternoon so we won't have too much as our week finishes up. Today, we stopped at the "Portales" station on the metro. It's right by the water with quite a few restaurants and things. We wanted to take some pictures and check it out. It wasn't too long, but still fun. Tonight, we're planning on going to dinner somewhere and hanging out for a bit. It should be relaxing.

I also thought I'd show everyone how we have to get to classes in the morning. We don't take classes in the normal classrooms of the university because we're international students. Our classrooms are in this crazy location. Here's a video. Can't wait to be home -4 days!

Sick Days in Bed

Hello, all

Unfortunately, I don't have much to report from these past couple days cause I've been really sick. On Tuesday, my family and I had lunch together. We had a soup, some pasta and vegetables, and an empanada de pino (ground beef, eggs, olives). My host mom, Christine and I all got some type of bad food poisoning that we think is from the empanada.

I went to class on Wednesday after a night of throwing up (sorry for the slightly detailed info). However, I then slept all day and could not go to class on Thursday. I stayed in bed all day and tried to do a little bit of homework.

I did get up and go to class this morning. I'm feeling quite a bit better, although my stomach is still kind of upset. I'm just trying to take it easy, mostly, because it's not good if I move too much. Really though, I don't have anything else to say other than I hate food poisoning. It's been quite an awful experience, but it was a total mistake. Hopefully I'll get to do something pretty fun this weekend, depending on the weather (it's been raining for a couple days).

Anyway, I hope you all are doing well. Can't wait to be home in a little over a week!