We are happy to announce the results of the CIEE story contest. We asked all Spring 2005 CIEE Study Center participants to submit their story – a reflection of their international experience. We asked: what did you learn about the local culture, people, yourself? How has it changed your outlook? What would you tell other students thinking of going abroad?
We received many wonderful entries. It was hard to pick the winners! For those who participated, thank you. We greatly enjoyed reading all about your experiences on a CIEE Study Center program.
Congratulations to all!
Overall Winner
Praha
Haley Lovett, University of Oregon
CIEE Prague Spring 2005
I arrived in Prague disoriented and tired from a long day of international travel, carrying so much in my backpack that had I tipped over, I would have been as helpless as a turtle on its back. It was mid-day, but the daylight seemed like a clever trick to a brain that knew it was nighttime back in the states. As I left the airport and made my way to the metro, my mind began to spin realizing that I would actually be studying in this city for the next month, and that soon those very metros that seemed so foreign would become familiar.
I was excited to meet the roommates who would share in my experiences. And I was thrilled to finally be getting the chance to study the politics of middle Europe. But I had no way of knowing that my eagerness was just scratching the surface of what I would learn over the next thirty days.
To begin with, the city of Prague. I not only figured out how to make my way around the city with ease, but found myself hopping from one metro line to the next like I’d been doing it my whole life. Figuring out the schedules of the public transit and knowing when I had enough time to run to catch the last metro at night, or whether I should take a tram ground back to my apartment. I found that in the early morning, the Charles Bridge is beautiful and calm, and that when I climbed one of the cathedral towers at the Prague Castle, I could almost see my apartment. Through the details that adorned almost every building, I found why it is referred to as “Golden Prague”. I read Kafka and visited “his” café, I realized that Alfonse Mucha and I share the same birthday. By the end of my stay, I could maneuver my way through the crowds of tourists and into a favorite coffee shop with ease.
Read Haley's entire story...
2nd Place Winner
The Futa
Jennifer Pierson, Elon University
CIEE Senegal Spring 2005
The most incredible experience of my Senegal semester was a rural visit to the North. The rural visit program sends all students to live with a Peace Corps Volunteer for a week to gain the experience of village life. It is strikingly different than life in Dakar and one could argue it is "true Senegalese life." I spent my week in a rural Pulaar village in a region called the Futa. Here I experienced a very distinct and proud culture that I greatly admired for its richness but slowly grew anxious over its difference.
Over the course of a week I learned about the Pulaar, Peace Corps, and the complexity of cultural exchange. I discovered the best way to learn about Pulaar culture is to walk into their lives and spend a day bombarded by their language, their customs, and expectations. I learned to admire the stubborn manner in which they refused to talk any language, including the predominant national Senegalese language Wolof, in place of their own Pulaar. The sound of the language would roll off the women's tongues in the market place as they shook my hand and remained contentedly oblivious to the fact I had no idea what they were saying.
Read Jennifer's entire story...
3rd Place Winner
Planet DR
Rebecca Bengel, Wofford College
CIEE Santiago, Dominican Republic Spring 2005
“I speak Spanish now, honestly, just go ahead and try it, I promise I can understand you.” Where am I going, and why won’t this person sitting next to me in these claustrophobically close, blue airplane seats habla conmigo? The white skin and red hair had not stopped any of them before, so what was the problem all of the sudden?
This airplane ride home was the first step towards the vast culture shock that I unexpectedly had racing towards me with full speed. How hard could it be to just go home? Isn’t that what I had been waiting for since the very day that I had arrived? I was suddenly feeling overwhelming emotions of puzzlement, disorientation and even an uncertainty of my own self-identity. I was puzzled because I had just completed the most stimulating journey of my adolescent life, disoriented because during this three hour plane ride, all of the sights, sounds, and faces had changed as if I had living been on a separate planet, and uncertain of exactly who I was because the last time I checked, Yo era Dominicana.
I was convinced that being home would begin to feel normal again as soon as I had tasted my mom’s homemade Italian food which I had savored in my dreams for so long. However, much to my amazement, it is now September, close to 5 months since I’ve breathed the unpleasant odor of Dominican air, embraced the sounds of Merengue while crammed into a concho surpassing capacity by three or four, or felt the incomparable compassion of a Dominican child as they told me that they knew exactly where I lived, because they had heard all about “Nueba Yol,” and still right at this very moment… I crave this culture, and a three hour airplane ride back to that planet.
Read Rebecca's entire story...
Submit Your Story!
Did you miss the story contest but want to submit your story for possible inclusion on our website or in our catalogs? Please click here and send it in!