CAPA WORLD

Julia is an official CAPA vlogger for summer 2018, sharing her story in weekly posts on CAPA World. A Political Science and Global Studies major at Arizona State University, she is studying abroad in Barcelona this semester.

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

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Thanks Julia!

Julia's journey continues every Monday so stay tuned.

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 dishes what it's like to eat like a local in Shanghai and shares examples on how she stays open to new food.

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Eating in Shanghai has been the biggest no-holds-barred cultural experience (and shock) thus far, and without access to a kitchen in our residence (where we would otherwise be able to tap out and prepare a western meal on occasion), we all experienced a head-first dive into the intricacies of the local cuisine. The first culinary encounter I faced was the breakfast provided at our residence. Besides boiled eggs, all the foods were very heavy and what I would consider to be lunch or dinner meals. These were things like pan-fried noodles, fried rice and corn on the cob, giant steamed pork buns and many varieties of hot cabbage, hot cucumbers, and eggplant. It was a difficult adjustment to make from the light cereal and toast breakfasts with maybe a few sausage links or strips of bacon many of us are accustomed to having back home so early before work or class.

In fact, many of my peers resorted to strictly eating peanut butter and jelly sandwiches they provided us bread and condiments for. My coworker Billy and I eventually found ourselves migrating our breakfast routine to the fried pancake street food they serve at a cart outside our internship office. They crack an egg inside and wrap it up with either Chinese sausage (which is a bit sweet) or basted chicken. It’s still a bit heavy for breakfast, but at least it’s similar to foods we’d usually consider in the early morning!

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 shares how her desire to converse in Italian led her to become a regular at a cafe and eventually experiencing her favorite local encounter in Florence.

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As an American studying abroad, it can be not only difficult, but also scary, to become connected with the locals in your host country. They are “different” and their culture is brand new to what you are used to. For me that gave all the more intrigue. I was so interested in what was categorized as different. The new cultures, the new perspectives, anything to give me new experiences and new outlooks on life.

Having some tasty gelato by Ponte Vecchio.

Although I had hoped to merge myself with the lives of Italians here in Florence, I never really expected to make friends like I did. After all, it was only a 6-week program and I was traveling outside of Florence on weekends. But I became a regular at a little cafe down our little street, Via Faenza, which led me to a favorite encounter.

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 lists 10 desserts that reflect the global tastes of London with a guarantee to cure your sweet cravings abroad.

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It’s no secret to those who know me that I have a huge sweet tooth. During my time in London, I’ve gotten some sort of dessert at least once every 2 days; so much for eating healthy, right? In the heat of London’s summer though, I cannot say no to ice cream or any other sweet dessert, especially if it’s sold on almost every corner of the city. Through traveling to different areas of London, I’ve experienced several different types of desserts and ways to cure my sweet tooth, and not just the frozen dairy treat that everyone loves. Check it out!

1. The Green Dough

Located amongst Camden Market’s many food stalls is The Green Dough, a true diamond in the rough. As the first vegan cookie stand I’ve ever seen, the service provided by the men who worked there was phenomenal and the dessert to die for; how it was vegan I have no idea, but each bite was a taste of heaven. You can have the dough as is or they can bake Careful though, they’re cash only so come prepared! They allow free samples of their flavors as well and have a variety of toppings to choose from; truly decadent.

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.

Nora Callahan is an official CAPA blogger for summer 2018, sharing her story in weekly posts on CAPA World. An International Affairs and Math major at Northeastern University, she is studying abroad in Buenos Aires this semester.

In this week's post, Nora talks about her enthusiasm for public transit and her overall commuting experience in Buenos Aires.

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I have done the daily commute in 4 different cities now and while it wasn’t always perfect, my favorite was probably Buenos Aires. Here’s the Subte Map:

I lived a few blocks beyond Juramento on the D line and Austral’s stop was Tribunales. This means I rode almost the entirety of the D line at least twice a day during the week. The commute took almost an hour. I didn’t mind though. A train ride gives you time to read or listen to podcasts and plan or reflect on your week and sometimes spontaneous things happen like a harpist might board your car. I enjoyed the music of your typical guitar-slung subway busker more times than I can count but the harpist was memorable.

Will you represent your study abroad city as one of our official CAPA bloggers or vloggers for Fall semester 2018?

Depending on your program length, each student on our team of storytellers will receive a grant of up to $425 along with up to $225 as an explorer fund to help you create awesome weekly content for the CAPA World blog. 

Besides helping finance their adventures, previous CAPA bloggers and vloggers have loved the experience for a bunch of different reasons: 

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 writes about the consumer culture in China and explores the mall and fake markets where she also experiences the bargaining culture in Shanghai.

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Something intriguing I’ve been observing since our arrival in Shanghai has been the wide spectrum of consumer culture in China. Upon my arrival, I was well aware of the traditional politics of the country’s communist state, but I had never seen it in practice. I was anticipating having to adjust to a strong contrast from the capitalist market I’d grown up with. However, this turned out to not exactly be the case.

One visit to any mall here and you can see not only how many western brands have been integrated into the Chinese economy, but also just how heavily western marketing and capitalist ideals have begun to ingrain themselves within the Chinese culture. Walking through retail stores at the mall you’ll definitely find that familiar sense of attentiveness to the consumer, clean-cut displays, ostentatious sales discounts, and an assertive yet restrained desire for your business.

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 recommends 10 restaurants and cafes in Florence she's enjoyed dining in and also dishes on the food and atmosphere at those establishments.

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As a new online blogger, I recently learned what a “Top 10-style blog” is. So, naturally, I’ve wanted to make one about my favorite Tuscan meals in Florence! My brother came to visit me for about a week and we tried out all of Valentina’s favorite restaurants. Valentina, a staff member at CAPA, walked us through the hotspots in the city on a map, and we embarked on a culinary quest. I also have this tendency of getting up early and camping out at cafes where I enjoy the atmosphere, to read or write or complete assignments, so I’ve listed a few of my favorite cafes here as well.

This city is full of good food and places to dine in!

1. La Loggia degli Albizi

I had the best cappuccino at this café for sure. In Europe, it is custom to only get a cappuccino or latte in the morning, as it is a heavier beverage than say, an espresso. So, a cappuccino is almost like a snack if you order it after breakfast (but don’t order it after 12pm!). It is common to order an espresso or macchiato after any meal, though.

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 writes about fulfilling her passion and practice of art in a prominent and historic art city like Florence.

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My favorite class here in Florence this summer by far has been my drawing class. I love art, which is why I picked it up as another major. I am so passionate about my art and so getting to practice my art in the art capital of the world was just a dream come true.

Trying pen and ink drawings of the Ponte Vecchio.

In the class we got to not only explore art practices in the classroom and studio, but we also took outings all around the city to explore and find sculptures to base our drawing on. It was a great way to practice our techniques and also a way for us explore the wonderful city that we are in. Jaime was our professor and she did a wonderful job. She was so passionate about everything, including whatever she taught us, that it always made us more interested in the topics. She was always someone I enjoyed listening to.