Getting Ready to Climb Aboard

The decision to study abroad is easily one of the best choices I've made while attending HPU. In just a couple of days I'm leaving for Falmouth, Massachusetts to take part in a SEA Semester - Marine Biodiversity and Conservation (MBC). This program is not to be confused with Semester At Sea! A SEA (Sea Education Association) Semester takes place on a tall ship - a one hundred and thirty foot long, double-masted, steel-hulled sailing vessel with a maximum capacity of 35 students and crew; not aboard a massive cruise ship! I'm extremely excited to take part in this three month long adventure abroad. I have sailed aboard tall ships multiple times, but never for this amount of time. While I may feel somewhat at home on a floating abode, there is still a lot of firsts coming my way, and it has been a source of anxiety in my everyday life. My program MBC is the most science-intensive program offered by SEA, with classes focusing on marine ecology, biological diversity, and marine resource management and sustainable practices of coastal communities. The program starts in Woods Hole, MA, where SEA is based. This is the first "first" for me - I have never been to Massachusetts, let alone during winter! I was born and raised in southern California and then moved here to Hawaii - I feel as though I am in no way mentally prepared for a month of living in the snow! I have borrowed snow boots, winter coats, gloves, and snow caps, but daily highs of 35 and overnight lows of 18 are not particularly inviting! However, my excitement to meet my fellow student sailors far outweighs my insecurities regarding the weather. The majority of us have met via a group page on Facebook, posting about ourselves to get the introductions started! I am easily the student traveling from the furthest - over 5000 miles! The majority of students are from the New England area, and I'm looking forward to exploring Boston with the locals! After a month in snow, I'll experience my second "first" - traveling to Puerto Rico! We get to the small island two days before we board the ship, and most of us are staying in the same hostel. While it is always nerve wracking to go to a new place with people you don't know, I cannot wait to explore! While in Puerto Rico I hope to find more beautiful beaches, delicious local cuisine, eclectic communities, and a simpler, slower way of life. Hopefully we'll be able to experience a lot in just forty-eight hours! On April 20th we board the ship - this is the day I am most looking forward to. We set sail in the early afternoon, our bow set to Bermuda - another first for me! I have never seen the Atlantic, let alone sail on it or swim in it! I'm curious to see the difference between the Pacific and Atlantic oceans, especially while we collect data for our individual science topics. Mostly, I'm excited for when we lose sight of land. For many people, this would most likely be the scariest part of the trip; thankfully this is where my sailing experience comes in hand. There is nothing similar to turning 360 degrees and seeing nothing but light blue skies and dark blue ocean. Personally, I feel no sense of panic or loss - on the contrary, I feel empowered and confident that we'll find our way to where we need to go.

Activism Through Art in Matagalpa - My Research Project

I've arrived in a new city! I've spent the last two months living in the capitol city of Managua in Nicaragua, but traveling to other places almost every other week, too. On Saturday, I moved to the city of coffee and chocolate, Matagalpa. I'll be staying here for the next month to begin my research project. It will be a nice change in pace to not be moving around all the time, but I already know I'll be very busy here (like always).

My house looks down from the mountains into the heart of Matagalpa. 

My project will focus on how the people of Nicaragua are using art in public spaces (street art, murals, graffiti) for social change or social movements. Here in Matagalpa, I've already seen a good amount of feminist art; the feminist movement is very alive in this particular city. It's exciting to see how the people are taking to the streets to express their feelings, perspectives, and ignite discussion. Much of the art says things like "La revolución sera feminista o no sera," or "Las mujeres bien portadas rara vez han hecho historia." In English, they say "The revolution will be feminist or it will not be," and "The well-behaved women have rarely made history."

It's exciting to see the amount of willpower and drive that the communities have to change things for the better. I've learned a lot about the people of Nicaragua, and they have such strong hearts. The excitement to continue my research and complete my project is overwhelming, and hopefully I can share it with you all when it is complete!

Incredible India

Wow! Incredible India. I've only been here for two months and already I've explored, learned and seen more than I would in a whole year. It's incredible to be apart of such a different study abroad program. We have normal classes but have also spent a substantial amount of time outside the classroom traveling and visiting schools, NGO's and other organizations.

We are 21 students who are based out of Jaipur, Rajasthan where we all live with host families. The program is, "India: Sustainable Development and Social Change." Most of the days start with Hindi class and then we have lectures by different activists and professors who come from all different parts of India. The semester has been filled with many different activities and there is not much time to process all the things we learn and experience.

We have been completely immersed into Indian culture and now speak survival Hindi, cross the trafficked roads confidently, bargain with rickshaw drivers and shop keepers, love Indian foods and chay (tea), love Indian clothing (especially sarees), know that patience is our best friend and learned things that have changed our perspectives on everything from education to the caste system to climate change and social change.

As we have enjoyed many parts of India and this incredible program it has been a roller coaster of an experience. This place is definitely not for everyone and if you want your world perspective rocked up side down then India is the perfect place to come. This place will teach you to not take yourself too seriously (and not anything else for that matter), go with the flow, have patience, be positive and work with each situation as best as possible.

I find that the combination of classroom lectures and real world experience is the best combination and gives for a so much more holistic and valuable learning experience. To read more about this program click here. 

 Here's some pictures of our time in India so far.

First school day greeted with Indian lays

Fort over looking Jaipur city

In conversation with village girls in Bikaner

Visiting a village in Bikaner

Taj Mahal, Agra

TajYoga

So majestic.

Indian style toilet. Here they don't use toilet paper, they use water to clean themselves. Which is actually better then using toilet paper. By the way, our group got over being shy about poop, diarrhea and vomiting the first week because the transition to all the new bacterias can be rough on your health and many of us got sick.

We love henna tattoos!

India's most popular sport is cricket. So we tried to play some in a beautiful area outside the busy city.

There is trash everywhere and it seems to be linked with the mindset of people here. Their cleanliness stops at their home. Outside the home most people don' care and will throw their garbage wherever without even giving it a second thought. To see men urinating up against walls in public areas is also a common sight.

Jaipur

Urmul Trust Girls School

Celebrating Holi!

Indian brides are so beautiful! My host mom runs a beauty parlor so I get to see the brides getting ready.

My host brother, myself and my host sister before an Indian wedding.

Indian weddings are huge with thousands of people attending. You can see the bride and groom on the right. Arranged marriage is the most common form of marriage here.

Wedding

Daily Hindi quizzes and homework.

On your birthday you get a cake and some of it smirred in your face. An Indian tradition which means the people around you give you lots of love and good blessings. 

Rickshaws is our main way of getting around in the city.

Jaipur

Delicious

At a refugee camp in Jodhpur.

Indian train ride

Varanasi, oldest city in the world.

A typical street.

Ganga River

Ganga River

Sunrise at the Ganga River

Aloha from Nicaragua!

I know that I have been out of the country and off of the island for more than two months now, and I am just getting my first blog done now. Internet is not always easily accessible here in the country, in fact, less than 16% of Nicaraguans have access to it. My time here has been incredible and priceless. I've had a plethora of experiences here that have been so diverse, humbling, and fulfilling. I moved in with my family after a few days here, and they have really been the biggest factor in learning more about the culture and Nica way of life. Our houses are all colorful with intricately designed metal around the windows, there is always food being sold in the "pulperias" of the neighborhood (a vendor selling food out of his/her house), and everyone looks out for everyone else in the neighborhood. We've been on the most amazing excursions to el campo (the country), the International Poetry Festival in the city of Granada, the Caribbean coast, and most recently, to Cuba to learn about their strong ties and influence within the Nicaraguan government. There is so much to share and talk about, but I'll focus on our time on the Caribbean coast of Nicaragua.

To get across the country from our home-city, Managua, on the Pacific coast, we must trek 8 hours by bus to get to the river, at which we then take a panga boat three more hours until we reach the Atlantic city of Bluefields; it was a long day. This just served as the foreshadowing of the difference between the coasts of Nicaragua, which often gets noted, "as if they were two different countries."

Our 3-hour panga ride was quite scenic

From the city of Bluefields, we then traveled to the Garifuna community of Orinoco. The Garifuna people have descended from some of the only people who were taken from Africa, but not enslaved afterward. The captain of the vessel that was taking them to the Americas to become slaves fell ill during the journey, and their ship crashed on San Vincent island. The Garifuna people were the descendants of the Indigenous and African people who lived on the island before migrating west to Honduras, Belize, and Nicaragua. We were very fortunate to learn about their way of living in fishing, traditional medicine, and reviving their Garifuna culture of language, music, and dance which was almost lost. We felt embraced as guests and family in Orinoco, and were honored to have been a part of their lives.

A fruit in Orinoco used in traditional medicine.

Members of the community show us the "Punta," a Garifuna dance.

Always appreciating the peace and the people of Orinoco. 

The Australian Aborigine

A lot of people when they think of Australia, is that it is inhabited predominantly by white people. Today this would be true, however they were not the first people on the Australian continent. In fact they are not even indigenous. The first people to arrive on the continent, arrived some 40,000 years ago, these people are known as Indigenous Australians, we know them more commonly as "Aborigine."

Indigenous Australians are the original inhabitants of Australia,as well as other nearby islands. The are perhaps descendants of the first modern humans to migrate out of Africa some 70,000 years ago, arriving in Australia 20,000 years later. Much like the derogatory stereotype of the African continent, there is no one such ethnic group to defines the indigenous people,as a whole, where in fact there are several tribal groups of Aborigines people on the continent. for example there are the "Koori" whom the Europeans first came into contact with upon establishing the colony of New South Wale in what is now modern day Sydney. And then there was the ethnic group of indigenous people that my brother and I lived around in Townsville, the "Murri," among others.


Historically speaking the Aborigine population was never really too big. before the arrival of settlers it is presumed that there population as a whole consisted of less than one million, or 750,000 to be more accurate. There numbers did not decline until after (surprise surprise) the  British colonization of the Botany Bay area (Sydney) in 1788. One immediate consequence of British settlement was a series of European epidemic diseases, especially measles and smallpox. In the 19th century, smallpox was the principal cause of Aboriginal deaths. An example of population decline would be the smallpox epidemic in 1789 in which 90% of the "Darug" people were killed due to the lack of an immune system to counter European illnesses. Other factors for the Aborigine population decline blatant genocide (especially in the Northern Territory) as well as the appropriation of land and water resources, which continued throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries as rural lands were converted for sheep and cattle grazing. In which case several tribes land were taken from them and settled over by British farmers.

During the 20th century the indigenous population of Australia had declined to approximately 93,000, and by the 1930's to just 74,000. That was was the lowest number before their numbers began to recover soon afterward. Then there was the horrific "Stolen Generation" lasting from 1909 until well into the 1970's in which case both the Australian federal government and the state governments deliberately taken away (Kidnap would be a more appropriate word to define this six decade long event)  from their families under the guise and excuse of "child protectiveness." The government at the time felt that indigenous children were being neglect and abused under their parents traditional ways. Though this was entire fabricated, as the government knew of the Aboriginal population decline and wanted to... speed up the matter. Nevertheless the process of forced child removal ended by 1973, and in 2008, then Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd made and official apology to members of the stolen generation, whom many still suffer issues from today.

As for my official experience with Indigenous Australians, especially the mainland Aborigine, I thought they were pretty cool. The first groups that I met was a family waiting at the bus stop my first week in Townsville, and could  not stop staring at them because... well I had never seen or met and Aboriginal person before in my life. I had heard about them in books (never on TV) but never actually got to sit next to one. I was so amazed by them, I just could not take my eyes off of them. As for their opinion on my brother and I, they seemed to be more curios about us than they we were about them. One day we were in downtown Townsville for the day, and two came to talk to us. we had a great conversation about... who knows what, and then what made our conversation even more powerful and emotional was that when it was time for my brother and I to leave to go home... they called us their "Brothers." You could not imagine how much jubilation wen through my entire body from just that one saying... I literally almost started crying when the bus left to take me home. That was something that never happened to me before; complete stranger calling me their brother... that was just ecstatic. On the street we lived on there were several aborigine families on it and their children were just fascinated with us. almost everyday they would ask us questions like where we were from and what the United States was like. Some of them even asked if they could come with us back to America. when we would take casual walks they would say hi to my brother and I, and to be real honest it made us feel really good about ourselves, especially since you DO NOT see these acts of kindness anywhere in the United States. Another thing that I especially loved about them was, not just because they were blatantly awesome and cool to have a conversation with, but the fact that they are an extremely proud race of people, even more than white Australians. They have been through so much throughout the history since their first contact with Europeans, and yet they have never let that get to them, something that I wish could be done here in America, where we have caste system for everything.

To me the Aborigine people made me feel really good about myself, especially the children, because they really looked up to me in a way, and because of that I really appreciate them a lot for it. When I first encountered them, I figured that they were like the Native Americans here and that they preferred to be secluded within their own. However that was not the case, and I learned that they are an outgoing race of people who tend not to let the worst situation consume them. Basically when they world gives them lemons, they make lemonade out of it. The culture and artwork are so amazing to me, and it really reminds me a lot of artwork found all across Africa. When I do go back to Australia, I personally would not mind coming across the Aborigine and the way of life again. In fact I just may like to study them for what I would like to do as a historian.