I taught a course this fall where we used the history and culture of Puerto Rico as a lens to examine our own cultural identity - it combined an orientation course for freshman with a travel study open to upperclassmen. The day after final exams were done, we headed off to the island to experience firsthand the culture we'd been studying for the past few months.
The great thing about Puerto Rico in terms of people who've never been
abroad before is, since it's a U.S. territory, you don't need a passport
to go there, so it was accessible to those students who had never left
the mid-west before. It was also a good introduction to being in another
culture with enough American elements for them to not have complete
culture shock. My intention of the course was threefold: for them start
thinking about their own cultural identity (people always think about
culture as "exotic" and "the other," but really culture is what "makes
sense" to us. When you are exposed to and/or confronted with another
culture, you realize that what you considered "common sense" or "normal"
are rarely universal); for them to learn more about Puerto Rico and its
people; and to whet their appetite for travel further afield- hopefully
to live and study a semester abroad.
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| The plaza below our hostel's balcony. |
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I organized the 10-day trip for my 19 students, and knew that I wouldn't
be able to leave my kids behind. I'm not ready to be without them even
one day. So, I mentioned to my mom that I would have to find a
babysitter to come with us, and she said, "what about their
grandmother?" So, that's how my parents also joined the group. They
stayed back at the hostel with the kids when it got too late or if the
activities weren't appropriate for little ones, like kayaking or a night
tour of the city.
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| The plaza at night decorated for Christmas |
I'll show you some highlights in the coming days. We had a wonderful group and I think it's safe to say that everyone had a great time. Many students said it far exceeded their expectations. They learned a few things and had fun doing it ;) And, sure enough, I overheard a few conversations about how they definitely had to study abroad before they graduated. Mission accomplished!
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