The worldwide Augustana College experience
Before adventuring to Greenland, we will be holding the Polar Palooza. We invite families and children to the event to come and learn about the Arctic, how animals survive the cold, and other cool things! The event will be held April 28th from 9am-12pm in the Swenson GeoSciences Building. Hope to see you there!
Posted on April 21st, 2012 by clairebehnke09
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I apologize for the delay with this blog – I meant to write a wrap-up of Australia sooner, however, the journey home and now the first week of classes at Augie were much more hectic than I had anticipated.
Anyways, to begin with:
Posted on March 10th, 2012 by cearacampos09
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Its so disappointing to have to say this, but this will be my last post. Being back in America although great seeing family and friend, is a disheartening truth. To think I was on a beach a week ago and its 30 outside now, is a sad reality. Flipping through thousands of pictures, all I can think is how much I appreciated my time in Brazil and how much I’d like to go back.
Before traveling to Brazil, I thought it knew what it meant to truly explore a culture. Through my travels in Europe, I felt like a well traveled person. That was where I was mistaken, Brazil showed me there is so many places I am still yet to discover.
Posted on February 27th, 2012 by patrickhowell09
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As I began learning about Brazil during the first half of Winter term I was incredibly fearful of the country and our upcoming travels. I thought that I was going to definitely have all of my things stolen and it was likely that I would be abducted and entered into the sex trade. At the very least I was certain that I would be scared throughout our entire travel. How wrong I was…
I never once felt unsafe throughout our travels to and through Brazil. I did as I pleased, was smart while doing it (i.e. go out at night but only bring R$20 and dont bring a camera) and although I may have been stared at more than I was used to (it is cultural for men to stare women down until they can physically no longer see them) I never felt unsafe–even during a police strike in Salvador.
Posted on February 25th, 2012 by Ellen Lose
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Maceio is well known for its beauty and I can easily see why. The beaches are incredibly pretty; the water is a clear blue/green and it meets the sky which is pure blue and fluffy white clouds. All around are colors and boats and people and excitement. I love it.
Mariano’s dad, who is currently working for the Governor of the state of Alagoas–where Maceio is located– spoke with us about Alagoas and its current goal in overcoming its historically “last in line” reputation. They are diligently working on creating jobs and industry in Alagoas and taking advantage of its rich natural resources, etc. It was quite exciting to hear.
Posted on February 25th, 2012 by Ellen Lose
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Brasilia was definitely the most…interesting… city that we visited. It is the capital of the country and is one of the few planned capitals in the world. The designers decided to section off the city based on category. For instance, there is a hotel district, a food district, a governmental district, a nightlife district, etc. This makes sense in theory and is seemingly efficient however; in practice it creates some difficulties.
The only place that we had to eat around our hotel was the mall that was across the street. Thank goodness that food court food in Brazil is not what it is in the US. We had sandwiches, sushi, pasta, pizza, steak, fish, etc. to choose from and it was all very good (even the sushi!) We would see people in suits here grabbing food and drinks after work, families, and couples on dates, etc. It was very funny that the sectionization of the city created for such an interesting mix of people in a food court.
Posted on February 25th, 2012 by Ellen Lose
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As I was not too in love with Salvador in my first few days there, my uncertainty didn’t last long and all in all Salvador is a nice city full of culture and history.
Pelourinho is a district of the city that is full of both of these things, shops, Capoeira, museums, art, etc. We’ve been there a number of times now and I enjoy it each time. All of the buildings are colored pink, blue, yellow, orange… There are Bahiana’s (traditional Bahian women) around the area, often times selling the traditional Acaraja–a fried ball filled with shrimp and other things. Also, there are Capoeira practioners throughout the area. Capoeira is a martial art/dance “game” that finds its roots in Slavery and self-protection.
Posted on February 25th, 2012 by Ellen Lose
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Oi!
Our final stop of Brazil has been the most amazing, but tranquil of the places we have visited. Maceio is a smaller town on the coast, which is home to the most beautiful beaches, people and sights of all of Brazil. It is a significant change from the futuristic city sights of Brasilia, which presented a much different picture of the country.
While in Maceio, we have experienced soccer stadiums, local farms and not to mention natural pools miles from the beach. I never thought life could get as good as this. There is so much history that comes along with the city including the sail boats without motors that travel throughout the and the local fishing markets. The city was based upon the sugar export of the area and it is seen throughout the entire downtown. The street lining city hall includes various churches and official buildings, but most importantly old warehouses of the past sugar enterprise.
Posted on February 20th, 2012 by patrickhowell09
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After spending most of my day in natural pools in the ocean in Maceio, I am sitting in my hotel room reminiscing about my time spent in Brazil. It feels like it was just yesterday that I got off the plane in Rio de Janeiro, anxiously awaiting to discover what adventures would follow in the next six weeks. ‘
I specifically remember getting off of the plane and getting in line to get our passports checked when a woman that worked there said “foreigners to the right!’ and guided us in the right direction. This really stood out to me because it was the first time for a lot of us that we were the foreigners in a different country…. I was the one who didn’t speak the language, I was the one who didn’t know how to get around, I was the one who stood out and looked like an outsider.
Posted on February 20th, 2012 by sophia-ali
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I tried blogging while we were in Brasilia, but the internet connection didn’t work very well, so here is my blog that I was going to post but wasn’t able to:
Last Thursday we were forced to leave Salvador earlier than originally planned because of concerns due to the police strike. While I cannot speak for everyone on the trip, I never once felt that I was unsafe during our stay in Salvador. I know that a lot of us were really disappointed about leaving early and I wish that we had been able to stay for the extra few days. Thankfully, despite the fact that we left early, I was able to visit my host family one last time to officially say good-bye before leaving Salvador for Brasilia.
Posted on February 20th, 2012 by sophia-ali
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