Monthly Archives: October 2013

Harvard student questions Teach for America

3 Replies

I just ran into this article in the Huffington Post’s College Blog, “Why I Said No to Teach for America and Why You Should Too”. I have always liked this program’s basic premise, but Sandra Korn raises some interesting questions here, questions that are related to some of the issues we have discussed in class – “charity” vs. “social justice”. The article also questions the ways in which we measure student success and reminds us of the importance of long term engagement. I leave it here as food for thought and look forward to your reaction to the ideas presented.

Llegada a Madrid

2 Replies

Aunque sabía que Europa sería distinta, no esperé tener mucho choque cultural. Después de todas mis aventuras por América Latina, he aprendido viajar, ser independiente, estar más consciente y usar mi intuición, resolver problemas con muy poco, ser ahorrativa y creativa en sobrevivir, y más que nada, ¡hablar el español! Creo que la lengua es la mitad de la batalla en estudiar en el extranjero. Aunque fui con la mente abierta, no esperé que un país hispanohablante del primer mundo en Europa me pudiera chocar mucho.

Pero como dijo el amigo de mi mama: ¨Spain will continue to surprise you¨. Continue reading →

Decidido: ¡a Madrid!

Leave a reply

¡Aquí estoy! Llevo casi dos meses en Madrid, España, donde estaré todo el año hasta la graduación en Mayo. He estado escribiendo en un diario que me ayuda procesar todas las experiencias que tengo en mi vida cotidiana española. Así que puedo referir a ello en contarles de mi estancia aquí, desde llegar el primer día hasta las emociones y experiencias más recientes.

Es mi primera vez en Europa y mi último año en la universidad. En los últimos 3 años en mis estudios en UMass, he estudiado energéticamente y seriamente todo posible para sacar el certificado de los estudios de América Latina, junto con mi especialidad de español. Aproveché de cada oportunidad de aprender más y viajar por América Latina. Ha sido una experiencia muy, muy bonita. Continue reading →

Two Weeks of Ignorance

3 Replies

Buen día a todos, espero que todo vaya bien.

I’m 8 days away from my Uruguayan tourist visa running out which means I’m 8 days away from the 3 month mark of my stay in Montevideo. Like Siobhan has mentioned a few times, the time flies, so take advantage of it, I can only imagine how fast her one month program went! For any future generation students reading this a one month program is a great experience, a semester is an awesome experience but the best has to be the year long program. I was planning on the one year plan down here in Montevideo but I’m going to be mixing up my academics a little bit back at UMass which means I have to get back home after just a semester. At first I was excited because I had been feeling overwhelmed by the idea of a year down here, but now that I’ve been here for almost three months I feel settled. Continue reading →

MY UMASS SPANPORT STUDY ABROAD & SERVICE LEARNING EXPERIENCES – by SIOBHAN ELVIN, SPANISH ’14

3 Replies

¡Hola queridos!

Writing here as a student involved in the Integrative Experience/Spanish & Portuguese studies here at UMass Amherst to bring you up to speed on what I have personally been doing over the past few months with my studies, travel, service learning, etc! I hope this post helps give SPANPORT students interested in Study Abroad/Service Learning helpful information as well as some ideas/suggestions about the opportunities that are available to them if they are looking to get more involved. If anything I talk about in this post about interests you please do not hesitate to email me with questions. My information is on the bottom of this page. I love the Spanish & Portuguese Department here at UMass so I would be more than happy to help others take advantage of as many opportunities as possible here. Continue reading →