Going global in 2010, Part I: QERC

[Blog post & Facebook note from http://www.goglobalatsnu.blogspot.com]

The year 2010 has started off as a super month for going global at SNU. It has also meant a lot of traveling for me. Here are some things that have been going on in January.

Part I: QERC

January 4-9, I was in Costa Rica with 6 students from Southern Nazarene University and 4 students from Northwest Nazarene University (NNU). They are spending the semester at SNU's Quetzal Education and Research Center (QERC) in San Gerardo de Dota, one of the most beautiful places I have ever been. The video below is the view from the main building at QERC.



I went to Costa Rica with them to observe and participate in their initial orientation. The students are all life science (biology, bio-chem, etc.) majors and will spend the semester doing field research and taking related courses. They also take a course called Applied Cultural Integration, which is where I come in. Applied Cultural Integration helps the students integrate into the local culture, including learning enough survival Spanish that they can travel about Costa Rica on their own, and reflect on their experiences in Costa Rica and Nicaragua from a wider perspective of studying about all of Latin America. Students can also opt to take a test and receive from 6-12 hours of language credit. I will go back down in April to wrap up their ACI studies and give them their language credit test.

An interesting and challenging part of their initial orientation in Costa Rica is the day they take a bus on their own into San José...without any more Spanish than what they had when they left the U.S. Once in San José, they have two days to complete a list of tasks, working in small groups, that makes them travel throughout the downtown and adjoining areas, find designated places, do assigned activities and meet at a designated meeting place. After those two days, they have to get back to San Gerardo on their own. I think that I would find it somewhat intimidating to do all that they were assigned to do, but they all did it, and I think all of them, or at least almost all of them, enjoyed it. The most important part of their adventure was that it gave them the skills they needed to be able to travel Costa Rica on their own without the need for a sponsor or chaperone to lead them.

QERC is a super opportunity for SNU life science majors to explore a little bit of the world, immerse themselves in a different culture and fulfill course requirements in their majors, all while living in a beautiful environment. It happens every spring. If you are an SNU student, take advantage. If you are not an SNU student but are thinking about coming, it’s just one more reason to make SNU your school.

Coming up...
Part II: Two more SNU students studying at the Latin American Studies Program and one at the Nazarene International Language Institute
Part III: My visit to Tuxtla Gutiérrez, Chiapas, Mexico, to get acquainted with Healing Waters International's (Aguas de Unidad) water purification project
Par IV: Learning about study abroad opportunities in Spain while sampling Spanish tapas, cheeses and Iberian ham