Study Abroad with UNA
Destinations
Beijing Blues
We didn’t do much on day three besides going to some marketplaces, but day four was a totally different experience. Yesterday, we all went to the Great Wall of China. It was so incredible being there. I’ve seen pictures of it my whole life and have always wanted to go to it, and now I was finally there. We went to a section of the wall that was out in the middle of nowhere and it still hadn’t developed much for tourism. It was perfect though, because there weren’t many people there. Sometimes it would just be us at certain … // Read more
The Road to Arusha
After our brief stay in Dar es Salaam, we packed our bags for Arusha– the third largest city in Tanzania and in the northern part of the country near Mount Kilimanjaro and the Serengeti (which extends into Kenya). After another nice “working peoples” breakfast, we rolled out in our bus driven by an Arushan native, Mr. Charles, who has transported our group skillfully so far throughout our trip. Driving is a wildly exciting and equally terrifying endeavor. The roads are usually unmarked and overpopulated with cars, motorcycles, buses (known as dala dalas because they cost a “dollar”), three-wheeled vehicles (known as tuk tuks) … // Read more
Exploring the City Centre
Jambo! Wednesday 14 May was an adventurous day for our group. It began as usual with our breakfast– a “working class” breakfast of 3 pieces of white bread with butter and mixed fruit jam and an egg. We were also served instant Africo coffee with hot milk, which is generally reserved for the higher classes who can afford such luxury. Post breakfast, we traveled back to the University of Dar es Salaam to pick up our guide for the city (Dr. Humbati of the U. of D.S. Geography Department). Dr. Humbati offered a brief lecture that explained the urbanization of … // Read more
Hutongs and Skyscrapers
Day two began with a great start. We first went to the 798 Art District and got a real taste of the Beijing artist scene. Traditional Chinese art might be the first thing that pops into your head when I say that, but most of it was modern art. Wang Ning, a Chinese native who works for the Business Department at UNA, and I tried to interpret some of the work, making us feel like professional art critics, if only for a moment. Next we visited the massive Olympic Park that was constructed for the 2008 Olympics. After that, we … // Read more
Journey to the West
The flight west towards China was very long, but it was also productive and somewhat exciting. Most of the time I was either reading about China or looking out the window. At one point I saw the breathtaking northern lights. Also, a tip for future travelers: try to get up regularly during the flight! Arriving in Beijing was a surreal experience. It didn’t look extremely different from other big cities, but all I saw and heard was Chinese. I didn’t see much that night since we went straight to the hotel, but the next day was eye opening. I first … // Read more
Africa, y’all
AFRICA! From Florence to Huntsville to Philadelphia to Doha to Dar es Salaam, we finally arrived at our destination– both extraordinarily weary and uncontrollably excited, we forced our legs to move outside of the plane and into warm, humid tropical air. We left Florence around 12 noon on Saturday and stepped off the plane in Dar es Salaam around 3 pm Monday. Needless to say, our group was exhausted physically and mentally after the extensive travels. The only objective for May 12 was to find our accommodations (The Uplands Centre near the University of Dar es Salaam). A choice of … // Read more
The Long Stretch
We have already done a lot of traveling today and we haven’t even left the country yet! If you plan on traveling abroad, you’ll more than likely take one or two connecting flights before you actually leave the United States. For us, we went from Birmingham to Dallas, then from Dallas to Chicago. We all had to be at the airport in Birmingham at 4:30 am, so a lot of us are already pretty tired. Now we just have one flight left. The long stretch. The flight from Chicago to Beijing, our first destination, will take thirteen hours. THIRTEEN! It … // Read more
And so it begins
The fact that I’ll be across the world very soon hadn’t hit me until I began packing my suitcase. This trip I’ve been preparing for the past few months is suddenly becoming tangible. It is no longer just a conversation piece, but now it’s evolving into a real experience. I’m packing very lightly for this trip. Over the next three weeks we’ll be traveling to various cities in China, staying in each city for a few days before moving on to the next one. So the lighter our luggage is, the easier it will be for us to move about. … // Read more
Philly to Qatar
Our group is about an hour away from boarding our flight from Philadelphia to Doha, Qatar. It’s about a 12 hour flight to the richest country per capita in the world (average income is more than $100,000 a person!) Some folks in our group decided to stay up all of last night and through the flight in hopes of conquering the jet lag; others (like myself) couldn’t keep our eyes open on even the short flight from Huntsville to Atlanta. Regardless of what sleeping pattern each group member chose, we will all be exhausted upon landing in Qatar.
Jam Packed
You know that feeling– that feeling of “I forgot to pack something…I just don’t know what it is yet” ? I’ve been extremely lucky to have studied abroad twice before this trip, and I have noticed how international traveling changes one’s opinion on the value of items– you are thrust into “survival mode,” and OH how quickly I have seen people (myself included) abandon the connection to streaming digital communication, begin to observe the new environment, and start acclimating to new social and cultural norms. You become a refined and simpler version of yourself. To attempt to consolidate your entire … // Read more
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