While abroad, our group is taking two classes at the University of Belgrano with two professors there.  One of our classes is related to culture of Latin America and within Argentina specifically.  Another aspect of discrimination she had discussed with us was the way that Argentinians behave around all the foreigners that live around them in the city.  There is a large population of Chinese who own many of the supermarkets, a lot of Italian influence, and also a neighborhood named after the amount of Jewish people that have immigrated to the area.  She spent a class discussing how these different cultures are referred to by many as slang terms like Chinos or Jews.

As we’ve spent much time in all different parts of the city, these areas of certainly distinct and carry their own value within the culture of Buenos Aires and even Argentina.  These areas are unique to the city with the kinds of foods that are sold, the people that live there, the way the neighborhood is designed, and sometimes even the language spoken within the corners of the streets.  These districts have their own identity and after hearing about these areas from locals like our host families, discrimination can and is present among fellow Argentinians with different original backgrounds.

I think because of what I have learned from my host family and around the city, I am becoming more interested in the idea of discrimination between groups that may not necessarily be “indigenous,” but rather groups that are considered “minorities” within such a large city.  This other aspect of discrimination is something I never thought about before arriving abroad, but I think it is another important part of racism and discrimination within places that contain more than one different culture.  We like to the think of the United States as “The Melting Pot,” but while abroad, my eyes were definitely opened to how much influence all countries have on one another and the kind of changes they create.

When thinking about my final project, I am wondering if there is a way I am able to combine some of my ideas with what I have experienced.  With three weeks left in the semester and in Argentina, I’m hoping to visit more distinct neighborhoods to learn more about the diversity of Buenos Aires and all that it has to offer.

I have been in Spain now for about 10 months, and things are finally beginning to wind down as the end of my study abroad draws nearer. Exams are over (phew!) and most of the other international students are leaving sunny Málaga to return to their home countries and continue with their normal lives. I, however, have extended my stay until the middle of August, which leaves me with a fair amount of time on my own, as most of the people I have come to know are already gone. The thought of returning home is bittersweet for me…I love it here. This year has been a whirlwind adventure of travel, new people, new experiences, etc. Not all of it has been great, of course. But these are the things you learn from the most. But I also long for the mountains, nature, and the freedom of Montana. What they say is true–you never really know what you have until it’s gone.

I really feel like I have changed as a person over the course of my study abroad here. Arriving as one of the only Americans studying at the University of Málaga, I was forced so far out of my comfort zone. I consider myself an introvert and I have never been extremely outgoing nor exceedingly social. But being thrust into an entirely new society and culture surrounded by people I didn’t know really doesn’t give you the option of sticking to old habits. And I am so thankful for this. I made lifelong friends with people from all over the world, learned new languages, and truly gained a more broadened and global perspective on things. Not to mention the level of independence I feel I have acquired here. I came to Spain 19 years old and a little intimidated as I didn’t know anybody studying in the same city as me! The longest I had gone without seeing my family was about 5 months in high school when I participated in an exchange program in Argentina, but even then I was living with a host family. This was something entirely different. I found myself a flat with a few other international students, opened a bank account, and got myself a phone contract. These things may seem insignificant, but they are things I never had to do on my own before. I was truly living on my own and supporting myself for the first time (not counting the dorms) and in a foreign country! Not having a car was rough for the first couple of weeks, but I soon worked out how to navigate the bus and metro system. I think the thing that really made me feel like I was becoming my own person, though, was the travel I did. I took trips all over Europe (and technically Africa) on my own or with friends. I visited Gibraltar, Morocco, Sweden, Portugal, England, Scotland, and countless cities all over Spain. My favorite, however, had to be the England and Scotland trip, as I went completely alone. I was a little scared to travel alone, but I am so glad I did. It was so liberating! I planned my trip according to my interests, I could do things at my own pace, eat whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted, and it gave me the opportunity to meet new people and do things that I would not likely have done had I been traveling with others. My favorite memory has to be of the night I met a Scottish guy staying in my hostel in the highlands and we ended up going to hear some traditional Scottish music. It turned out to be one of the best nights of the whole trip, and it was spent with complete strangers! I definitely recommend solo travel to anyone and I will be going again for sure! I think it is incredibly beneficial and everyone should try it at least once in their lives.

Over the next month and a half I will be mostly alone, something that made me a little uneasy before, but now I know that I can make the most of my short time left here in this wonderful country! Ya falta poco.

Hasta luego,

Annalea

I’ve only been in Chile for a week, and I’ve already learned so much.

One of the most important things I’ve learned (or realized) is how well I know the Spanish language. Before I left, friends cautioned me that Chileans speak very quickly, use words unique to their dialect, and sometimes don’t pronounce the ‘s’ sounds that end words. All of these factors tend to confuse foreigners, they told me. So I arrived in Chile worrying that I wouldn’t be able to understand anybody, I wouldn’t be able to say anything anyone would understand, et cetera.

All of those fears proved to be unfounded. Since arriving in Valparaíso, I’ve discovered new levels of competence: I’ve gotten to know my host family on a personal level, ordered food and drinks, asked for directions several times, and engaged in complex conversations about abstract topics. For example, the second day I was here I talked to my host mother about the environmental toxicity caused by lead and copper mining, which exists both in Butte, MT and some parts of Chile. It’s exciting and satisfying to apply my prior knowledge from three years of Spanish classes at UM in these real-world contexts.

Through this language learning by immersion, my understanding of Spanish grammar has developed significantly. I’ve observed a change in the way I mentally organize my knowledge of Spanish verb morphology.

In every class or educational software that I’ve encountered, Spanish verbs are taught in their tenses, in order of increasing complexity: first students learn to conjugate verbs in the present tense, then the two aspects of the past tense, and from there on to more tricky conjugations, like the present subjunctive or past perfect.

This is the way I’ve become accustomed to conceptualizing Spanish verbs. But after a week of speaking almost entirely in Spanish, I notice I tend to think of verb endings in groups based on person: first person conjugations I use to speak about myself, second person conjugations for asking about my conversation partner, first person plural conjugations to express something about me and my friends, and so on.

I imagine this is because in actual conversation, I’m far more likely to need to switch between thinking of different tenses within the same person, than to call to mind the different forms of a certain tense for different persons. This type of metacognitive learning will no doubt prove useful when I am teaching these grammatical and linguistic concepts one day.

This is just one particularly interesting thing I’ve noticed about the process of learning a language in an immersive environment. I’m sure that as I spend more time with Chileans, I will gain more insights into their language and culture.

I took this right before landing at the airport in Santiago.

A view of Valparaíso.

New Zealand is probably one of the most beautiful places on Earth. That being said, I probably went to one of the least beautiful cities in New Zealand.

I chose to do my time abroad in Palmerston North where Massey University’s main campus is. It is the only vet school in New Zealand and is surrounded by farms. When I got to the town it was already dark out and I was so exhausted from the flights, four in total, I did not really pay attention to my surroundings. When I did get up the next morning I found myself not doing much because I had just travelled all day before, but I was invited to hang out with some Chinese exchange students who were staying in the same dorm complex as I. When we were walking around the campus, that was when I noticed that it was not as spectacular as I was expecting. The University of Montana’s campus is more beautiful than Massey’s.

As I was hanging with the other students, they were telling me how they had already been into town and that there was not much there. That was a little disappointing, but if it was the worst thing to happen on this experience then I was fine with it. While hanging out with these other students, I was the only native English speaker so many times they would all start speaking Chinese for a good amount of time. I understood that it was easier and more comforting for them to speak in their native language, but I did feel a bit left out. They did, however, invite me to eat dinner with them and I really appreciated it because no one else was in my dorm yet.

When I got back from dinner with the other exchange students, two of my roommates had shown up and they were both from South Dakota and unexpectedly male. It was then we realized that they mainly roomed people by where they were coming from and at orientation we realized that most of the people living in our dorm complex were from China. Even though I am in New Zealand, I was experience another culture by living with many Chinese exchange students. It was during orientation that I saw that even though Palmerston North, or Palmy, is not as beautiful as the rest of New Zealand it does have its moments. 

My internship at the Wilds began at the start of June and every week I surveyed butterflies and flowering plants in various restored prairies. The first few weeks were a very steep learning curve where all I could think about was trying to figure out what species each butterfly was before it flitted out of sight. It was stressful and the surveys took a lot of concentration.

As the summer continued, I became familiar with the common species, my surveys became much more enjoyable, and I began to look forward to seeing my favorite species. I loved seeing the tiny eastern tailed blue butterflies that would flutter around my feet and the silver spotted skippers that would cluster on purple bergamot flowers. The butterfly I wanted to see the most though, was a Monarch. Monarchs are the one species that everyone (including myself) is familiar with. I knew they were an iconic species and all I wanted was to see just a single one fly past.

Therefore, I will never forget the day I saw my first Monarch butterfly. I was trekking through the prairies as usual when I saw a beautiful and magnificent monarch glide over my head. It was absolutely beautiful and I remember whipping out my camera when I saw it land on a milkweed. It was amazing. Not only did I finally see a Monarch but I saw it land on a milkweed—the infamous plant essential for their survival.

When I got back to the office, I told all my fellow interns about the Monarch and I showed them the video I took of it feeding. However, when my director heard that today—in the middle of July—was the first day I saw a Monarch, she was sad rather than happy.

The summer I was at the Wilds had the lowest number of Monarch butterflies recorded for a summer so far. Over the previous five years, the number of Monarchs recorded had been steadily declining. My happiest moment had become one of the most heart-wrenching.

Butterflies are so small that they are often overlooked. They are creatures that we all recognize yet care very little about. Many people see them flutter through their yard or through fields and although they see them as beautiful, they do not see them as essential.

Butterflies are essential keystone species. They are key pollinators in many habitats such as prairies, savannas, wetlands, and even forests. Butterflies are also indicators of the health of an ecosystem because they are very sensitive to pollutants and toxins. Also, butterflies are very good indicators of the floral diversity in an ecosystem. The results of my study clearly showed that areas with a larger number of flowering plants will have more butterflies. It’s as simple as that.

I began my internship at the Wilds completely ignorant of how important and amazing butterflies truly are. Like many people, I hardly even acknowledged butterflies. I thought they were pretty but I never thought any deeper than that. Over the summer, I gained a deep appreciation for these tiny critters and I realized that I had so much left to learn. However, I am proud to say that now when I see a butterfly flit past while I am out in the field I don’t just see a pretty insect–I see a creature that is essential. I see a creature that is small but mighty.

If you are a biologist and you visit Yellowstone National Park, you often wake up before even the smallest sliver of light has broken across the horizon. You head out and get into position just as a golden edge of light begins to creep into the sky, and you wait. If you are lucky and patient you will notice a faint puff of silver fog on the edge of a tree line. Then a sleek grey muzzle will emerge followed by the slender graceful body of a wolf.

During the summer, most animals will be active at dusk and dawn. These are the coolest hours of the day and when it will cost the least amount of energy for them to forage or hunt. At the peak of the day, sensible creatures will lie down and wait out the heat. Butterflies are one of the exceptions.

Butterflies love the heat. They sit in the sun and slowly open and close their wings as they soak up the warmth. The longer they sit in the light, the more energy their muscles have and the more they can fly. Butterflies also love still windless days. They are small, fragile creatures and they have a very hard time battling any wind without being blown off course. So, I spent my summer trekking through prairies on the hottest, driest, sunniest, windless days in the baking sun in search of butterflies. Despite that, I have rarely seen so many beautiful sights or had so much fun in my life.

The Wilds is located on lands that were once heavily strip-mined. This is a mining practice where huge roving factories dig up the top few feet of the earth over vast landscapes in search of minerals. Then they throw down the seeds for whatever plant will grow the fastest and they leave. Over the years since the Wilds was established, it has worked to remove the resilient invasive plants and restore the native prairies.

The oldest restored prairies on the property are now over fifteen years old and they are absolutely beautiful. Imagine a sea of green interspersed with flowers of all colors: red, yellow, blue, purple, orange, and pink. Then imagine lush green bunches of grass that stretch above your head. Finally, imagine lovely, iridescent, fluttering, creatures that swim through the air dancing from one flower to the next. This was my summer. Of course it was hot and I was very familiar with ticks, but these are very small trade-offs for such an amazing experience.

For as long as I can remember I have loved animals. There are so many beautiful creatures on this earth and even from a young age I knew I wanted to work with them when I grew up. So, when I got to college I started studying some amazing creatures. I learned so much about grizzlies, wolves, elk, and pronghorn and all the challenges they faced. I learned just how much of a negative impact humans are having on these wonderful creatures and my resolve to help them strengthened.

After, a full year of college I thought I had a solid grasp on the key species in most ecosystems and I was ready to get out in the field and put some of my new-found knowledge to the test. So, I began an internship at the Wilds in Cumberland, Ohio. I remember hoping I would get to work on the research project focused on bison. I imagined myself in the middle of rolling green prairies observing bison and recording their every movement.

On the first day of the internship, I sat chatting shyly with my fellow interns. There was a hushed anticipation that seemed to hover in the room as we waited for the clock to hit 8:00 am. At the time I was so confident that I would get to work on the bison project but looking back now I know that my hopes were much higher than my actual experience level. I was as green as a tulip stem back then and I had no true idea what a field project would be like. Anyway, the directors for the internship finally arrived and they began announcing the projects to which we would be assigned for the summer. When they announced my project, all I remember thinking was, “I’m going to be studying . . . butterflies?”