December 2005 Newsletter
Warm Holiday Greetings from Cuenca!
Fall Semester in Ecuador
The time is coming near and after a rich and fruitful semester our Fall
Semester in the Andes students are preparing for their departure on December
12th. Their Spanish levels are strong and many have developed nearly perfect
Cuencano accents. More have connected strongly with their Cuencana families
and are now devising methods for staying in touch with their families once
back in the U.S. Several students are already planning to return to study
with CEDEI this summer so that they can return to their "home" in South
America.
In November, the students took a Contemporary Latin American art class,
attended lectures on the politics of Ecuador, visited an animal rescue
center in the nearby mountains, and continued with their Travel Study Course
and salsa classes. During their weekends they visited two indigenous towns,
Saraguro and Principal, and visited panama hat weavers, participated in a
shamanism cleansings at a sacred waterfall, danced with local dance troupes
and hiked through the spectacular mountain landscapes.
Most significant, however, is the completion of their service-learning
project at a local low-income nursery school. The Fall Semester students
spent their afternoons painting the walls, constructing new playground
equipment, playing with the kids and repairing the small vegetable garden at
the school. A donation from Bill Johnson, the Fall Semester Academic
Director from the University of Wisconsin ? Whitewater, has contributed to
reparations for the building.
It will be with heavy hearts that we see this special group and their
fantastic TV News documentaries go, but by the way they are speaking about
Cuenca now, we wouldn?t be surprised to see many of them return soon.
Visit: http://www.cedei.org/cuenca/programs/fall/ to read more.
Intersession in Ecuador
Right on the heals of the Fall Semester?s departure comes our largest group
of students of the year with Intersession. This intensive short-term program
is open to any student, yet the majority of students come from St. Ambrose
University (in Iowa) and Salisbury University (in Maryland). This year more
than 60 of them will land just after Christmas ready to dive into the lives
of their homestay families, classes and travel within Ecuador.
This program is not for the faint of heart as students on this program are
on the move every day in order to soak up as much of Ecuador as possible. In
their 3-4 week programs they will visit the capital city of Quito, visit the
world-famous craft market in Otavalo, hike on sponge plants in Cajas
National Park, visit the Incan ruins of Ingapirca and explore Cuenca during
group field trips. Students from Salisbury University will supplement this
travel with a trip to a small indigenous community outside of Cuenca and a
few days on Ecuador?s beautiful coast to soak up the sun and eat lots of
shrimp!
We are proud to announce that this year?s Salisbury group will be
undertaking an ambitious service-learning project renovating a low-income
nursery school in Cuenca. This school is very small with limited space for
their numerous children. The ceilings and walls are in poor condition and
the Salisbury group will be contributing funds and physical labor towards
fixing up the school. The group will spend 2 full days working at the site
to repair the building, paint murals and furniture, and spruce up their
outdoor area.
Spring Semester in the Andes
The Spring Semester in the Andes program will be landing in Quito on January
10th and embarking on a 5 day cultural tour to adjust to life in Ecuador and
learn a bit about the history and culture. During this trip they will
explore some of Ecuador?s most interesting sites ? colonial Quito, the
Otavalo market, the active Tunguragua volcano (from a safe distance!), and
the indigenous weaving community of Salasaca.
This program has filled quickly due to the unprecedented travel offered this
spring ? to both the Galapagos Islands and Machu Picchu in Perú. In
addition, the program includes extensive travel in mainland Ecuador and a
wide range of cultural classes ? such as pottery and cooking ? and academic
classes. Students will be enrolled in Environmental Studies, Public Health,
Latin American Literature, International Service-Learning, Quichua and a
wide variety of Spanish classes.
For more information on this program, please visit:
http://www.cedei.org/cuenca/programs/semester/
Medical Spanish in Ecuador
Our Medical Spanish in Ecuador program is accepting enrollments for our May
and August programs. Designed to give medical students and
professionals the capacity to communicate with Spanish-speaking patients,
this program is intensive with 4 hours of high-quality Spanish instruction
every morning. To supplement the classes and provide students with a broader
sense of health and medicine in Ecuador, we will be visiting clinics,
hospitals, have a Shamanism presentation, and visit a small community to
learn about rural health challenges. Students will live with the families of
medical professionals during their stay. For more information please visit:
http://www.cedei.org/cuenca/programs/spanish/medical.php
While this program is designed for any level of Spanish, we recommend that
beginning Spanish speakers try to take some Spanish prior to enrolling in
the Medical Spanish program so that they can easily apply their new medical
vocabulary. An ideal option is to enroll in our Full Immersion Spanish
Program (http://www.cedei.org/cuenca/programs/spanish/fisp.php) for a few
weeks before joining the program. CEDEI provides a strong Spanish base as
well as activities such as salsa, music and cooking classes. This background
will prep you for travel opportunities during and after the Medical Spanish
program in the Galápagos, the Amazon and in Ecuador?s finest markets!
Individual Students
We continue to have a steady flow of unique and inspiring individual
students -- from Montreal, Boston, Switzerland and Germany this month. Many
students opt to join CEDEI?s full immersion program for a few weeks (or
sometimes a few months) before embarking on cross-country South American
travels. Taking intensive one-on-one tutorials at CEDEI is an ideal way to
prep yourself for independent travel. Teachers are diverse and talented and
are active people in the community. With the help of language teachers
students have joined bands, learned about local development efforts, and
have enjoyed the less concrete benefits of chatting about globalization,
philosophy, reincarnation, indigenous culture, and Ecuadorian chocolate in
their conversation classes. There is something for everyone ? including
guitar lessons, salsa classes, travel to Incan ruins and opportunities to
volunteer and intern. Write us and tell us what you?d like to do!
(info@cedei.org)
Fall Semester in Ecuador
The time is coming near and after a rich and fruitful semester our Fall
Semester in the Andes students are preparing for their departure on December
12th. Their Spanish levels are strong and many have developed nearly perfect
Cuencano accents. More have connected strongly with their Cuencana families
and are now devising methods for staying in touch with their families once
back in the U.S. Several students are already planning to return to study
with CEDEI this summer so that they can return to their "home" in South
America.
In November, the students took a Contemporary Latin American art class,
attended lectures on the politics of Ecuador, visited an animal rescue
center in the nearby mountains, and continued with their Travel Study Course
and salsa classes. During their weekends they visited two indigenous towns,
Saraguro and Principal, and visited panama hat weavers, participated in a
shamanism cleansings at a sacred waterfall, danced with local dance troupes
and hiked through the spectacular mountain landscapes.
Most significant, however, is the completion of their service-learning
project at a local low-income nursery school. The Fall Semester students
spent their afternoons painting the walls, constructing new playground
equipment, playing with the kids and repairing the small vegetable garden at
the school. A donation from Bill Johnson, the Fall Semester Academic
Director from the University of Wisconsin ? Whitewater, has contributed to
reparations for the building.
It will be with heavy hearts that we see this special group and their
fantastic TV News documentaries go, but by the way they are speaking about
Cuenca now, we wouldn?t be surprised to see many of them return soon.
Visit: http://www.cedei.org/cuenca/programs/fall/ to read more.
Intersession in Ecuador
Right on the heals of the Fall Semester?s departure comes our largest group
of students of the year with Intersession. This intensive short-term program
is open to any student, yet the majority of students come from St. Ambrose
University (in Iowa) and Salisbury University (in Maryland). This year more
than 60 of them will land just after Christmas ready to dive into the lives
of their homestay families, classes and travel within Ecuador.
This program is not for the faint of heart as students on this program are
on the move every day in order to soak up as much of Ecuador as possible. In
their 3-4 week programs they will visit the capital city of Quito, visit the
world-famous craft market in Otavalo, hike on sponge plants in Cajas
National Park, visit the Incan ruins of Ingapirca and explore Cuenca during
group field trips. Students from Salisbury University will supplement this
travel with a trip to a small indigenous community outside of Cuenca and a
few days on Ecuador?s beautiful coast to soak up the sun and eat lots of
shrimp!
We are proud to announce that this year?s Salisbury group will be
undertaking an ambitious service-learning project renovating a low-income
nursery school in Cuenca. This school is very small with limited space for
their numerous children. The ceilings and walls are in poor condition and
the Salisbury group will be contributing funds and physical labor towards
fixing up the school. The group will spend 2 full days working at the site
to repair the building, paint murals and furniture, and spruce up their
outdoor area.
Spring Semester in the Andes
The Spring Semester in the Andes program will be landing in Quito on January
10th and embarking on a 5 day cultural tour to adjust to life in Ecuador and
learn a bit about the history and culture. During this trip they will
explore some of Ecuador?s most interesting sites ? colonial Quito, the
Otavalo market, the active Tunguragua volcano (from a safe distance!), and
the indigenous weaving community of Salasaca.
This program has filled quickly due to the unprecedented travel offered this
spring ? to both the Galapagos Islands and Machu Picchu in Perú. In
addition, the program includes extensive travel in mainland Ecuador and a
wide range of cultural classes ? such as pottery and cooking ? and academic
classes. Students will be enrolled in Environmental Studies, Public Health,
Latin American Literature, International Service-Learning, Quichua and a
wide variety of Spanish classes.
For more information on this program, please visit:
http://www.cedei.org/cuenca/programs/semester/
Medical Spanish in Ecuador
Our Medical Spanish in Ecuador program is accepting enrollments for our May
and August programs. Designed to give medical students and
professionals the capacity to communicate with Spanish-speaking patients,
this program is intensive with 4 hours of high-quality Spanish instruction
every morning. To supplement the classes and provide students with a broader
sense of health and medicine in Ecuador, we will be visiting clinics,
hospitals, have a Shamanism presentation, and visit a small community to
learn about rural health challenges. Students will live with the families of
medical professionals during their stay. For more information please visit:
http://www.cedei.org/cuenca/programs/spanish/medical.php
While this program is designed for any level of Spanish, we recommend that
beginning Spanish speakers try to take some Spanish prior to enrolling in
the Medical Spanish program so that they can easily apply their new medical
vocabulary. An ideal option is to enroll in our Full Immersion Spanish
Program (http://www.cedei.org/cuenca/programs/spanish/fisp.php) for a few
weeks before joining the program. CEDEI provides a strong Spanish base as
well as activities such as salsa, music and cooking classes. This background
will prep you for travel opportunities during and after the Medical Spanish
program in the Galápagos, the Amazon and in Ecuador?s finest markets!
Individual Students
We continue to have a steady flow of unique and inspiring individual
students -- from Montreal, Boston, Switzerland and Germany this month. Many
students opt to join CEDEI?s full immersion program for a few weeks (or
sometimes a few months) before embarking on cross-country South American
travels. Taking intensive one-on-one tutorials at CEDEI is an ideal way to
prep yourself for independent travel. Teachers are diverse and talented and
are active people in the community. With the help of language teachers
students have joined bands, learned about local development efforts, and
have enjoyed the less concrete benefits of chatting about globalization,
philosophy, reincarnation, indigenous culture, and Ecuadorian chocolate in
their conversation classes. There is something for everyone ? including
guitar lessons, salsa classes, travel to Incan ruins and opportunities to
volunteer and intern. Write us and tell us what you?d like to do!
(info@cedei.org)
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