Rustic Pathways

Anna Shepard

Class of: 2013

Name of Program: Rustic Pathways

When you did the program: Summer 2012

Location: Ghana and Morocco

Type of Program: Travel, Home stay, Community Service

Short Summary: An existential and enlightening cultural experience that will change the way you view your country, other cultures and your own life. It was the most fun I have had in a while and you will make amazing memories.

About how many kids were in the program? 14

Who were the adults and what role did they play in your experience? There were young adults working with us. They were like friends who kept us safe.

How much free time did you have and what did you do with it? We had a reasonable amount of free time, which I spent running.

Did you have room and board or a home stay in another country? If so, what was your experience like? Yes there was room and board. It varied... it was pretty rural and Africa-y or somewhat posh.

What were the other students in your program like and how were the relationships that you formed? The students were very diverse and I formed really good friendships.

What kinds of activities, social events, and trips were organized for the students? We did everything from sitting on a crocodile, touring the largest markets and mosques, riding a camel into the Sahara desert, seeing giant African elephants, sand boarding, community service, and playing soccer. 

If you had academic classes or homework, how many hours a day did you spend on schoolwork? There was no academic work!

About how much of your own money do you think you spent on gifts, food, transportation and other things not provided by the program? About $300

Did you have a curfew? If so, what time? It depended on where we were but it’s generally not a good idea to walk around at night or independently in a foreign country where you don’t know the language.

How organized was the program? How much flexibility was there with the agendas? How much of a say did the students have in this? The program was pretty relaxed and we got to give a lot of input.

How was the food? Rate from 1-5 (1 being the worst and 5 being the best): 3

What is at least one thing you would do to improve the program? Have better food.

Who would you recommend this program to? Who would this program not be best suited to?

I would recommend it to anybody who wants an adventure of a lifetime.

Rate your overall experience (from 1 to 5): 5 (life-changing)

Other comments: Go to Africa. You won’t regret it. The nicest people live there. Seriously. You will learn how to be happy independently of societal-defined success. 

Rassias Summer Language Program

Zachary Heller

Class of: 2014

Name of Program: Rassias Summer Language Program

When they did the program: Last Summer

Location: Cities in the South of Spain

Type of Program: Travel, Homestay, Spanish

Short Summary: The program consisted of lot of traveling and seeing tourist sites. It was fun for a while, but I got tired of seeing cathedral after cathedral.  By the second week we could explore the cities by ourselves, but we did not spend more than 2 to 4 days in each city. It was a fun Spanish Immersion program, but I did not learn very much actual Spanish; the classes were not taught very well and no one actually wanted to learn. Your experience is mainly defined by how active of a homestay family you get (mine never went anywhere, and we only saw each other at meals) and who the group is composed of.

About how many kids were in the summer program? 18

Who were the adults and what role did they play in your experience? There were two teachers who traveled with us, and the leader of the program who sometimes came in and talked.  We also had home stay parents.

How much free time did you have and what did you do with it? We did not have any free time at the beginning of the program, and too much free time at the end with the homestays. There were no activities in the cities besides bowling and watching movies in Spanish.

Did you have room and board or a home stay in another country? If so, what was your experience like? Yes, it was boring in the house, so I would walk around Segovia.

What were the other students in your program like and how were the relationships that you formed? A lot of them were cliquey and I did not know half of them because they would disappear into their small groups. I had about 3 really good friends and some good friends in the large group.

What kinds of activities, social events, and trips were organized for the students? Some activities we did were kayaking, movies, and a scavenger hunt.

If you had academic classes or homework, how many hours a day did you spend on schoolwork? There was a three hour program every morning during the last two weeks. The only homework that we had to do was to Google the paintings that we were going to see at museums.

About how much of your own money do you think you spent on gifts, food, transportation and other things not provided by the program? $200

Did you have a curfew? If so, what time? The curfew was 12:00, but many people stayed out later. Some even stayed out until 4 AM, but the leader of the program got really mad at them.

Did you have internet access? If so, how much time did you spend using it? Not at home, but when we were in hotels or in cafes we did.

How organized was the program? How much flexibility was there with the agendas? How much of a say did the students have in this? The program was very organized.

How was the food? Rate from 1-5 (1 being the worst and 5 being the best) 3

What is at least one thing you would do to improve the program? I wish there was less scheduling and people who wanted to learn and not be disruptive.

Who would you recommend this program to? Who would this program not be best suited to?

I would recommend this program to people who want to have a good time in Spain and practice conversational Spanish. This is not a hardcore Spanish training program.

Rate your overall experience (from 1 to 5): 3 (average)

Horizontes Futuros de Alianzas Internacionales

WHO:  Current high school students 

WHAT:  homestay program in Spain

WHERE:  Cordoba, Spain

WHEN:  Over the summer (6 weeks)

APPLICATION DEADLINE:  February 15

FOR MORE INFO:  http://www.hfai.org/

EMAIL FOR INFO:  hfai2013@gmail.com

FINANCIAL AID AVAILABLE:  Yes

NAME OF PROGRAM:   Horizontes Futuros de Alianzas Internacionales

SHORT SUMMARY OF PROGRAM:

• Explore the cities and countryside of Spain?
• Watch the sunrise from the summit of Spain’s highest peak?
• Join in La Romeria during El Festival de La Orotava?
• Gain an entirely new family as you live with a host Spanish family for 4 and a half weeks?
• Go _____* with your host sibling as you immerse yourself in Spanish culture? (* includes, but is certainly not limited to, “surf and relax at a black sand beach”, “explore a 500 year old building”, “catch a new movie”, “play tennis or soccer”, and “for a hike”. How will you fill in the blank?)
• Explore the caldera of the El Teide volcano under a full moon?
• Carry out a research project investigating one of the environmental issues facing the Canary Islands?
• Become fluent in Spanish 

HIGHLIGHTS:  Run by a former Bay School teacher, Spence Stevens. 

The Experiment in International Living

Student: Sabrina Perell

Class of: 2014

Name of Program: The Experiment in International Living

When you did the program: Summer 2012

Location: Spain
Link: http://www.experimentinternational.org/eil_ESCS.cfm#.URGXkqU82So

Summary: We all met in New York, took the international flight over to Madrid together and did orientation there. Regional toured and oriented us in each new region we visited. Most of the information we learned about focused on the three Abrahamic traditions. We visited various religious sights and museum, connecting the information we gained to people we met.  

In Madrid we mostly shopped, visited museums and did a scavenger hunt in small groups.

In Toledo we spent some time with kids our age who were immigrants from Latin America and visited the church.

We spent about two weeks in Acros with our host families and went outside the town to visit the beach and such.

In Zaragoza we helped out with the Red Cross summer camp with kids ranging from about 6 years old to 12. 

 We finished our trip in Barcelona where we explored the architecture, spent time at the beach, cooked in our apartments, visited an aquarium and other religious sights. With free time we mostly shopped.

About how many kids were in your summer program? 5 boys; 5 girls

Who were the adults and what role did they play in your experience? We had host parents, local guides in and we had one group leader who was with us the entire time. She was someone we could check in with if we were having problems, kept us organized and also helped us figure out what we were doing day to day and how we would get there.

How much free time did you have and what did you do with it? We started off with minimal free time so it was hard to get off the get lag but as the trip went on we had more and more--especially in Barcelona and on our home stays.

Did you have room and board or a home stay in another country? If so, what was your experience like? Yes. We stayed in hotels, hostels, an apartment and in the house of the host family. Some of the hostels we stayed in had some issues so we had to switch rooms but otherwise we were fine.

 What were the other students in your program like and how were the relationships that you formed? We came from all over the US, all with big personalities various goals for the program but together we made a contract that bound our different ideas. I made one extraordinary friendship that is still alive and well across the country.

What kinds of activities, social events, and trips were organized for the students? We hung out at the beach and with the friends of our host siblings.

About how much of your own money do you think you spent on gifts, food, transportation and other things not provided by the program? I spent close to $300 euro.

Did you have a curfew? If so, what time? Sometimes. During our home stay our parents would decide what time they wanted us back. The rest of the time our group leader would decide depending on the day ahead and what time we ended our activities in the evening.

Did you have internet access? If so, how much time did you spend using it?  In hotels it was typically available and my host family had wifi. At the start of the trip I used it very infrequently but later, with more free time I began to use it more.

How organized was the program? How much flexibility was there with the agendas? How much of a say did the students have in this? We had a lot of flexibility in our itinerary so we got to decide when we visited certain sites.

How was the food? Rate from 1-5 (1 being the worst and 5 being the best)  Three.

What is at least one thing you would do to improve the program? In the cities I would have liked to visit more famous sights and attractions. I wish I had more time with my host family. It was difficult because my host parents were working and we did day trips with the group.  I wish I would have seen the south of Spain with my host family under their own schedule.

What was your biggest takeaway from the experience/what will you most remember? Mostly I will remember the friendships I built and my growth in the Spanish language. I didn’t actually realize it until i came back to bay but my Spanish speaking abilities grew quite a bit.

Who would you recommend this program to? Who would this program not be best suited to? I found that the kids in my program who had never been outside of the USA liked it most. Also, I also would recommend this program only to those of you who feel fairly confident in speaking Spanish.

Rate your overall experience (1-5): 3 (average)

School Year Abroad

WHO:   

     - Year abroad programs: juniors (most commonly) and seniors; 

     - Summer programs: rising 10^th, 11^th, and 12^th graders; 

     - Vietnam: juniors and seniors; post-graduate

WHAT:   Study abroad opportunity

WHERE:  France, Spain, Italy, China, Vietnam

WHEN:  Yearlong; Semester-long; Summer programs (See above descriptions)

APPLICATION DEADLINE:   

     - Year abroad: rolling admission but spots go quickly—apply ASAP!, financial aid application due Feb 1st; 

     - Summer programs: rolling admission beginning on Jan 23^rd, until programs are full 

FOR MORE INFO: www.sya.org

Student Participant 2010-2011 academic year: Ava Hoffman ('12) 

A perspective from Ava Hoffman ('12):

NAME OF PROGRAM: School Year Abroad (SYA)

SHORT SUMMARY OF PROGRAM: SYA is a study abroad program placing students with host families while learning at the program’s school across the globe. Students are immersed for the entire academic year (August through May) in cities in their choice of four countries—France, Spain, Italy, China—with an additional semester-long and post-graduate program in Vietnam.  SYA also offers 5-week long summer programs in France, Spain, Italy, and China incorporating a home-stay in addition to guided travel throughout the country of choice.

HIGHLIGHTS: SYA is an amazing opportunity to learn a new language, learn about rich cultural traditions of a nation, building a connection with a host family, and experiencing a foreign country with a hands-on learning approach—all while completing academic credit from an American-designed academic curriculum at one of SYA’s five schools.

LOWS: I have no reservations about recommending SYA! It is important to note, however, that embarking abroad for such an extended period of time is a serious commitment and students should be certain that they are up to the challenge that comes along with adjusting to an entirely new lifestyle.

Feel free to contact me with questions about this program

Ava Hoffman ahoffman@bayschoolsf.org