Elizabeth Withers is an official CAPA blogger for spring 2017, sharing her story in weekly posts on CAPA World. A double major in English literature and history & philosophy of science at the University of Pittsburgh, she is studying abroad in Buenos Aires this semester.

In this week's post, Elizabeth shows us some other cultures that help make up Buenos Aires' diverse population.

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With mid-terms underway, the weather getting chillier, and a seasonal flu going around, things have been a bit hectic for me lately in Buenos Aires.  Amidst all the hustle and bustle these past few weeks, I was eager for a change of pace.  Buenos Aires is a city of immigrants, where new and old communities of many different cultures are constantly mingling and creating new spaces.  There’s always something new to try or explore or see, and this week I really enjoyed trying new foods and escaping into the tranquility of the Japanese Gardens.

Photo: The Bandeja Paisa-- we cleaned the plate.

About the food first. 

Colin Gilbert is an official CAPA blogger for spring 2017, sharing his story in weekly posts on CAPA World. A marketing and supply chain management major at the University of Pittsburgh, he is studying abroad in Sydney this semester.

In this week's post, Colin talks about finding diversity in Sydney's culinary scene and parks.

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I found myself sauntering through the thick, humid air of the CBD—the Central Business District, that is—last Sunday searching for the perfect flat white to start my morning. The heavy, overcast skies spit showers as I skipped from block to block, eventually landing at the Westfield for a cappuccino and a cannoli: the not-so-Australian-but-actually-Italian breakfast of champions. After admiring some of the opulent windows of Armani and the like, I continued to Darling Harbour to meet a friend.

The afternoon sun attempted to cut through the clouds, but the day remained overwhelmingly gray. Autumn has officially arrived in Sydney. We converged at the Chinese Garden of Friendship; a unique green space which peaks my interest each time I pass by, but hadn’t yet had the chance to explore. We serendipitously decided to discover the area accompanied with lunch at the Teahouse in the gardens. As if my breakfast weren’t ironic enough, this not-so-Australian-but-actually-Chinese lunch consisted of American sandwiches, English tea, and an Italian pastry. My point? Sydney is an incredibly diverse city influenced by a number of different cultures—as expressed (mostly) through my edible expeditions.

Natalie Emmert is an official CAPA vlogger for spring 2017, sharing her story in weekly posts on CAPA World. A nursing major at Arizona State University, she is studying abroad in Sydney this semester.

In this week's post, Natalie takes a look at the diversity in the global city of Sydney. 

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Thanks Natalie!

Natalie's journey continues every Thursday so stay tuned!

Courtney Manning is an official CAPA blogger for spring 2017, sharing her story in weekly posts on CAPA World. A Convergence Journalism major at the University of Missouri-Columbia, she is studying abroad in London this semester.

In this week's post, Courtney talks about the diversity in the global city of London and the good and bad that comes with it. 

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London is an extremely diverse city. I visited here very briefly almost three years ago, but I never really understood how many different cultures are in this city until I lived here for two months. When I was a kid and I used to think of (well, dream about) London, I always thought of the things I knew that were popular in American culture - Harry Potter, the royal family, The Beatles, etc. What I didn’t realize is that London is made up of so much more than that - so much more than red telephone booths and Big Ben and fish and chips. Sure, those are very important to London’s history and culture, but it’s really all the diverse people coming together in one beautiful place that make London so incredibly special.

One of my professors, Richard, joked with us that all Americans think that all British people “talk like the Queen.” No one really understood what he meant at first, because we definitely thought that all British people sounded pretty much the same (I still kind of do because I haven’t really learned about different accents). We also learned about how the Queen has changed her accent over time in order to sound less uppity and posh and to be able to connect with the common people more since the royal family used to be very unpopular. Apparently most British people don’t really like the royal family nowadays either, which was shocking to all of us Americans because most people in the States love the royals.

Carly Wickham is an official CAPA blogger for spring 2016, sharing her story in weekly posts on CAPA World. A Journalism major at the Emerson College, she is studying abroad in London this semester.

In this week's video, Carly gains a new perspective of diversity in London with a visit to a Muslim primary school with her "Islam in Britain" class. 

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Thanks Carly!

Carly's journey continues every Wednesday so stay tuned.

Words by Stacy Benjamin Wood, a CAPA The Global Education Network Institutional Relations Manager. Read more about Stacy in our earlier interview.

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As an Institutional Relations Manager for CAPA, I often meet students who, like the majority of U.S. citizens, have never set foot outside of the country. I remember well an exchange with one such student at a study abroad fair - let’s call her Sallie - who was a bit nervous about the prospect. Sallie wanted to go “somewhere in Europe”, and after asking typical questions such as “What types of internships are available?” and “Are there any scholarships?” she lowered her voice, leaned in closely, and asked tentatively, “But how do they treat…us…over there?”

Sallie was African-American, as am I, so I was fairly certain I knew the ‘’us” she was referring to. It’s a question I’ve been posed before, and a fear I had myself when, many moons ago, I debated whether I should study abroad in London. Since racism is such an integral part of American history, I shared her concern that we might receive a less than hospitable welcome in other countries where blacks are the minority.

Rikki Li is an official CAPA blogger for spring 2016, sharing her story in weekly posts on CAPA World. An English Writing and Psychology major at the University of Pittsburgh, she is studying abroad in London this semester.

This week, Rikki celebrates Chinese New Year in London's Chinatown where she finds a slice of home.

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Happy Chinese New Year everyone! Technically, my well wishes are a week late, but the sentiment remains the same. As is customary, I wish you all good fortune, good health, and plenty of happiness in the Year of the Monkey.

Despite living in America, my family has always celebrated Chinese New Year, though it was never quite as loud of an affair as Christmas or birthdays. However, that did not diminish its importance. We would wear red clothes for good luck, and my mother would cook a traditional meal with all the important foods, such as steamed fish, braised tofu, and stir-fried bamboo shoots. Every dish had a significance, and I would watch in awe as my mother folded each dumpling like a delicate paper star, her hands a blur as she laid them out on a massive tray, either to be pan-fried or submerged in boiling water. After dinner, as we waited for our stomachs to settle for sweet pomelos and tang yuan, my siblings and I would go out into the cold, our breaths swelling in translucent puffs, and set off the sparklers we had left over from the Fourth of July. We’d dance until our noses were stiff and pink, until we’d burned the last of our sparklers and snuffed the smoking tips in the snow, until the night, once again, returned to darkness.

“Thoughts on Education Abroad” is a monthly column written by CAPA The Global Education Network's Deputy President and Chief Academic Officer Dr. Michael Woolf.

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“I don’t know what to do!” cried Scrooge, laughing and crying in the same breath…"I am as light as a feather. I am as happy as an angel. I am as merry as a schoolboy! I am as giddy as a drunken man! A merry Christmas to everybody! A happy New Year to all the world!” - Charles Dickens, “A Christmas Carol” 1843.

As a very lapsed Jew I have no particular affinity with the icons of Christmas. Though I am able to get a little weepy at the conversion of Ebenezer Scrooge, I do not share the sense of empathy with the world that possessed his reformed spirit. The Christmas tree topped by the obligatory angel moves me not at all. As a child, the plastic tree in our religiously confused household arrived regularly on Christmas Eve from the window of the dress shop in which my mother worked. It bore the winking legend “A Merry Christmas to All Our Customers”.

Illustration by John Leech, 1843, a public domain image

Sara Urner is an official CAPA blogger for Fall 2015, sharing her story in weekly posts on CAPA World. An English major at Lebanon Valley College, she is studying abroad in Shanghai this semester.

In her post below, Sara talks about attending ECNU's International Culture Festival in Shanghai.

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Last weekend, East China Nornal University (ECNU - where CAPA classes are held) hosted its annual International Culture Festival, and I don’t think it could’ve come at a better time. Considering all of the tragedy and turmoil that has been going on in the world lately, it was so refreshing to take a break and come together to celebrate the cultures of this beautiful planet.

I knew that there were a lot of international students from a multitude of different countries, but I had no idea just how many different parts of the world were represented at ECNU. In just a small section of a street on campus, all kinds of dress, food, and dance were brought together in a super fun space full of music, color, laughter, and amazing smells. I’ll admit, after missing breakfast that morning, the food was my main focus, and it’s always been so interesting to see how culture influences food, like what ingredients are staples in various cultures, and so on. You could go from Bolivia to Vietnam to Kyrgyzstan and beyond. I mean really, forget it Jules Verne. It took me a few hours to go around the world, not 80 days.

Stefanie Mandel is an official CAPA blogger for fall 2015, sharing her story in weekly posts on CAPA World. A Writing for Film & Television at Emerson College, she is studying abroad in Florence this semester.

Below, Stefanie takes us on an adventure to Israel to celebrate Rosh Hashana, the Jewish New Year. 

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This weekend, I packed my bags and a bottle of Italian wine (not American wine; that's an insult of a gift), and headed to a place far too many people hold the wrong impression of. 

But first, a little backstory...

I'm a Jew. Like, a total 100%, when a glass breaks I'm probably screaming "Mazel Tov!", has a grandma who cannot mind her own business and will never stop feeding me, Jew. This past summer, me and 40 other Jews were lucky enough to have the opportunity to go on a free trip to Israel with a program called Birthright. 

Everything that you can imagine would happen when a group of 40 young adults travel together for 10 days straight, happened. Aka- we were "The Real World: Israel Edition". We laughed, we cried, some wasted their time talking poorly about others, and some even cheated on their S.O.'s back at home. Somewhere in between all of that, I managed to find a diamond in the rough. 

Meet Roni. 

She’s only 23-years-old, and has been a commander in the Israeli Air Force for almost five years. The best way I can describe Roni to you, is that no matter where you are, she will indefinitely stop and whisper in your ear, "Are you SURE you don't want to get some ice cream?"