CAPA WORLD

Hannah Hardenbergh is an official CAPA blogger for summer 2018, sharing her story in weekly posts on CAPA World. An American History and Literature major at Harvard College, she is studying abroad in Florence this semester.

In this week's post, Hannah discusses her hands-on experience with Italian cuisine and how this encouraged more interactions with locals in Florence.

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One of CAPA’s excellent opportunities for me to engage with the culture of my study abroad city is their My Global City events. These events, ranging from boat rides down the Arno river and hikes in nearby Tuscan hills to attending lectures taught by visiting authors, encourage students to see a culture through new experiences and to learn about different customs through being active in the local community. I went to a CAPA My Global City event at Cookery World on Borgo San Frediano, in the Santo Spirito neighborhood (south of the Arno river)—for cooking school!

A photo of our recipes on a Cookery World pamphlet signed by Alberto himself!

There, I met up with a group of CAPA students from my Italian class to learn how to cook dishes with pasta fresca, risotto, and cantucci—almond biscuits that are traditionally served. Our teacher, Alberto, led us in making fresh dough balls, flattening and drying the dough, cutting the dough with the pasta cutter, and boiling it to perfection. Alberto was amiable and curious about our lives as students in the States.

Ryan is an official CAPA blogger, sharing her story on CAPA World. A Graphic Design major at University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, she is studying abroad in London.

In today's post, Ryan attends The Beatles Magic Mystery Tour as part of CAPA London's My Global City event for the semester and gets to know more about the city along the way.

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In the second week upon my arriving, I participated in a My Global City event with CAPA London! This event was the Beatles Magical Mystery Tour. I had heard that the tour was a wonderful way to experience the area of Camden and to celebrate and step in the path of the Beatles. I was so excited to go on this tour because I feel that the My Global City events help to create an immense amount of connection with the city that you live in. I think it is important because they help students to understand where they live and how they can get around, and what to explore. They also help to meet other students in the program and provide many other great opportunities! I couldn’t wait to try out one for myself!

Posing on the famous crosswalk!

I headed out to Tottenham Court Station, to meet the group for the walking tour! The day started off with a great deal of sunshine and a small breeze. It was perfect weather for walking! The plan was to visit important sights where John, Paul, George, and Ringo had been in London. We also were going to go to Abbey Road to see where this major band created a historical mark.

In this week's vlog, Jude brings us along to Tibidabo Mountain on a My Global City event with their friends and shows us some of the best views of Barcelona.

Marianne Zarzar is an official CAPA blogger for summer 2018, sharing her story in weekly posts on CAPA World. A Sociology of Law, Criminology, and Deviance major at the University of Minnesota - Twin Cities, she is studying abroad in Sydney this semester.

In this week's post, Marianne talks about her favorite My Global City event at the Sydney Observatory and seeing the Australian night sky, planets, and a new way of our place in the universe.

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One of the things I love about CAPA is the number of group activities they plan for us. Not only do these events allow us to experience the city, they also enable us to learn more about the culture of our new home for the summer. Some activities we have done so far include a food crawl in Newtown, a tour of the Blue Mountains and Featherdale Wildlife Park, and a film during the Film Festival. But that’s not all; just last week we had the opportunity of going to the Sydney Observatory by Barangaroo to learn about the Universe and our Solar System.

The night sky from one of the domes.

Going to the Observatory has definitely been one of my favorite activities thus far. I love learning about anything and everything, and so listening to all of the facts our tour guide shared with us during our tour was amazing. Not only did we get to learn from Chris, our tour guide, we also had the opportunity to look through two different telescopes and go inside a room to look at what our night sky would look like without light pollution.

Alice is an official CAPA blogger for summer 2018, sharing her story in weekly posts on CAPA World. A Computer Science and Marketing major at Northeastern University, she is studying abroad in London this semester.

In this week's post, Alice takes us along on the Greenwich Boat Tour—a My Global City event—and gives us a look around London and its landmarks.

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Boats have never really been my thing. I used to get seasick as a kid (and honestly, I still get a little nauseous when on a boat even today) so I’ve tried to steer clear of anything to do with a vessel on water whenever possible.

The beauty of being on a boat: you get to be closer to Tower Bridge for a spectacular shot!

The Thames River though… Not really known for waves, right? That and the idea of going to Greenwich? It was enough to convince me to put that deposit in and secure my spot for the Greenwich Boat Tour, a My Global City (MGC) event that my flatmates, other friends from CAPA, and I decided to go on.

Allyson Barnes is an official CAPA blogger for summer 2018, sharing her story in weekly posts on CAPA World. An Anthropology, Evolutionary Biology and Ecology, and Studio Arts major at University of Colorado - Boulder, she is studying abroad in Florence this semester.

In this week's post, Allyson attends a My Global City cooking class with her roommates in Florence and learns how to make Italian dishes from scratch.

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As an adventurous person everywhere except for the kitchen, I was excited to try my hand at cooking some traditional Italian dishes when I made my journey to Florence. I was over the moon that I would not only be able to try that in my apartment, but also in an actual cooking class! Now, to give you some background on me, I am probably the worst cook you could ever meet. I once ruined a perfectly good can of soup trying to heat it up on the stove. Don’t ask me how, I don’t even know. I just have a knack for ruining foods that I attempt to cook. Needless to say, I was nervous for the class and the fact that I would have to learn how to make 3 courses of pasta dishes from scratch.

Ready to get started in this cooking class!

This was my My Global City experience. Two of my roommates signed up for the cooking class with me and I couldn’t recommend it more to someone looking for one of those unique hands-on experiences.

Trisha is an official CAPA blogger for summer 2018, sharing her story in weekly posts on CAPA World. An International Business major at Champlain College, she is studying abroad in Shanghai this semester.

In this week's post, Trisha visits the Yu Garden on a My Global City outing and shares some fun observations from her experience.

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During my first two weeks in China, one of my favorite first places that we visited during a My Global City event arranged by the CAPA staff here in Shanghai was something that piqued my interest at an earlier outing. Our first weekend here, CAPA resident director Colin Speakman took us to see the Shanghai Urban Planning Exhibition Center, which was filled with scale models of many of Shanghai’s most famous sites and tourist attractions. One of the models that most caught my eye was Yuyuan Garden.

On the way to Yu Garden.

The following week a small group of students and myself were led by CAPA on the metro to see this beautiful place for ourselves. The Yu Garden was originally built in 1559 during the Ming Dynasty by Pan Yunduan as a pleasure for his ancestors in their old age. The garden itself is more temple than garden, with beautiful structures spanning the entire course. You can walk through almost the entire thing without ever having to step out from the shade of a rooftop! Amongst the beautiful foliage there are meticulously placed small tiles forming stone paths spreading out in every direction and bordering the ponds of giant koi fish.

Claire Shrader is an official CAPA blogger for spring 2018, sharing her story in weekly posts on CAPA World. A Pre-Occupational Therapy major at Mississippi College, she is studying abroad in Buenos Aires this semester.

In this week's post, Claire participates in a My Global City event filled with tango music and dancing with lots of new friends.

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This last Saturday, many of the CAPA students and I gathered for one last My Global City event. I ran into a group of students from my internship class on the way to La Catedral tango club, still thinking it a hilarious delight to find familiar faces on the streets of this city. We joined forces with the summer study abroad group. It is strangely beautiful to get to give advice on living in this city to the newcomers and also to realize that our time here is rapidly coming to a close. My classes end next Tuesday, and on Thursday my plane heads back to the United States.

I keep trying to process everything that this semester has held and everything that its end means, but it’s simply too much, so I keep focusing on the next thing. This Saturday, it was tango class.

Brandon is an official CAPA blogger for spring 2018, sharing his story in weekly posts on CAPA World. A Political Science major at Clark University, he is studying abroad in Dublin this semester.

In this week's post, Brandon shares why he recommends attending this My Global City event to Belfast and how rich the history in Northern Ireland is.

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Today I thought that I would spend some time talking about another My Global City event. Last Friday, we went on a CAPA-sponsored trip to Belfast, which was mandatory for those in Irish History (which is a Griffith-offered course) and optional (but highly suggested) for all others on the program. I’m not in Irish History, but I do know that before the trip began, the professor emailed them some videos about Belfast’s history during the Troubles and various other materials to better illustrate the stops during the trip. He explained it to all of us, however, so reviewing this material beforehand was not necessary.

Graffiti of a wall outside a Catholic neighborhood.

We started out for Belfast bright and early at 7:15am; taking a coach bus north from Dublin on the M1. The bus was filled with a lot of other international students who were quite hyper for how early it was. I tried to nap and get some rest, but they had apparently filled up on coffee before getting on the bus, so I ended up just putting in my headphones and watching the scenery fly by. We stopped briefly at a truck rest-stop having crossed the border into Northern Ireland to have a bathroom break and for people to get a quick breakfast if they were hungry. It was so odd that there was no border wall or any kind of checkpoint between Northern Ireland and Ireland. There was the slightest line in the road to mark where the border was and that was it. With the implications of Brexit, however, this free flow between the two countries is much contested, and it is not known if there will be actual checkpoints in the future.

Michaella Estevez is an official CAPA vlogger for spring 2018, sharing her story in weekly posts on CAPA World. A Marketing major at University of Massachusetts Amherst, she is studying abroad in Florence this semester.

In this week's post, Michaella brings us along on a My Global City event and hikes up and down Fiesole to catch the beautiful sights in the area.

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Thanks Michaella!

Michaella's journey continues every Tuesday so stay tuned.