FAES3797: Study at a Foreign Institution
Class Description
The overarching purpose of this class during the autumn of 2014 was to prepare our group for our eleven day program in Nicaragua. In this course we had speakers from the university come in who had affiliation with the country to give us their perspective on the culture and other aspects of what to expect while in Nicaragua. In addition, we also explored some of the countries traditions, political situation, environment and more. Our final project was to select a place we would be visiting on out itinerary and doing our research on the location in-order to know what to expect so that we could maximize the experiences we had while in country.
Class Reflection
This course was extremely beneficial in preparing me and my classmates for our program abroad. We had a very strong basic knowledge of the Nicaragua and the people who live there which allowed us to act in an acceptable way for the cultural norms. One thing that really stood out to me in the class was the strong muchisimo culture among men and women. Initially when we learned about this in class, I thought the professors were exaggerating; however, once we were in the country it was very apparent that it was a valid point about the culture. Because we had prior knowledge of this cultural tendency, women were able to dress in a way to minimize issues. In addition, us gentlemen were constantly aware of our surroundings in-order to watch out for the ladies and keep everybody safe.
Learning about culture and language was also very important. This proved true during our home-stays. My host family, in the coffee farming cooperative, couldn’t speak a lick of English and it was very helpful to have had a little bit of a Spanish refresher back at Ohio State before being thrown into this foreign environment. During the class I grew fond of the Nica culture. This grew into great anticipation for this new experience. I had expectations of what to prepare for during the program and once we experienced Nicaragua first-hand, it was apparent that each expectation was exceeded. I enjoyed the opportunity to pick coffee, learn about the entire production process of coffee, live with a kind family, try the new cuisine and also make some friends that have stuck with me all the way through my time here at Ohio State.
