Passports

Commentary: Students in Italy react to Trump's victory
By Caroline Schagrin
December 9, 2016 - 5:09pm
A Syracuse student studying abroad captured responses from Italians following the initial shock of Donald Trump's presidential victory.

The outcome of the 2016 presidential election on Nov. 9 spewed a thick wave of disappointment and resentment across Syracuse University’s Florence campus. However, more than a month has passed and students are feeling a bit more optimistic than when the news first broke. 

“I’ve been more and more accepting that this is the reality we are going to face for the next four years,” said Josh Leiner, a history junior from Bates College studying with SU’s Abroad program.

SOULscape teaches students about connection, reflection
By Georgie Silvarole
March 1, 2016 - 9:56am
For its third weekend retreat, Soulful Sit-Downs brought students to the Adirondacks for a weekend of relaxation and pondering life's big questions.

As Sean Martinelli handed out small gift bags, each with a pocket-sized journal in it, he instructed the recipients to stop what they were doing for a moment. Relax, he said, and leave your worries in Syracuse.

“Write what you feel," he said.

As the founder of Soulful Sit-Downs, Martinelli ’15 is also responsible for SOULscape — a spiritual weekend trip to the Adirondacks filled with deep discussion about life. 

Played in Paris
By Lianna Hursh
February 26, 2015 - 4:09pm
Blogger Lianna Hursh takes a trip to Paris, visits the Eiffel Tower and learns what not to do in a French restaurant.

You know that joke, a horse walks into a bar, and the bartender asks, "Why the long face?"

Here’s my revision of this joke: Two Americans walk into a French restaurant, and the waiter asks, “Want anything to drink?”

The rest of this story is funny. You will laugh. But know that at the time, my friend and I did not find this funny. We weren’t happy and we didn’t laugh. But what I’ve learned from life, and from being abroad, is often your most hideous moments end up being your greatest stories (or in this case, blogs).

London becoming home
By Lianna Hursh
February 15, 2015 - 5:34pm
After a weekend trip to Brussels, blogger Lianna Hursh realizes how quickly London is becoming her home.

London reminds me of a quieter, saner version of New York City. When I took my first trip on the tube, I found the deafening sound of silence pretty shocking. I wondered why people weren’t speaking to each other. I wondered if the older man in front of me had a wife and kids, and what the angsty teenager sitting to my right ate for lunch, but I knew I couldn’t ask. 

Lessons Learned
By Lianna Hursh
February 2, 2015 - 2:36pm
Blogger Lianna Hursh shares her first lessons learned while studying abroad in London.

There’s an uneasiness about first arriving in a foreign country that can make even the most comfortable people feel uncomfortable. About an hour into arriving in London I deemed Starbucks my safe haven for the semester. The only other American food chains I saw were KFC and McDonalds, so the choice was rather obvious.

Two Extremes
By Trevor Zalkind
November 9, 2014 - 9:52pm
Blogger Trevor Zalkind identifies the many aspects of polarization in Chile

As a circle of bohemians chant and pound on the drums in the Calama, Chile, airport, I purse my chapped lips and reach for my 1.6-liter water bottle. Chile’s Atacama Desert, the driest place in the world situated in the northern part of the country, has left its mark on me — mainly in the form of dehydration and sunburn. After a long weekend of mountain biking, swimming in salt lakes and taking in the vast dryness of salt flats, I couldn’t wait to get back to the central region of Santiago and regain all of my water weight.

Melding worlds
By Trevor Zalkind
October 20, 2014 - 5:02pm
Familiar faces experience a taste of life abroad

My fingers eagerly twitched as my American father hesitated toward the hotel concierge counter.

"Hola!" he proudly powered out. Maybe he actually did practice his Spanish like he said he did.

"Buen día, señor. Su nombre, por favor?"

Gringo and Proud
By Trevor Zalkind
September 28, 2014 - 8:09pm
Before learning about other cultures in an abroad experience, first you must embrace your own.

Just past the halfway point of my study abroad experience, I have seen and done plenty of things in my adventures across Ecuador, Argentina, Uruguay and finally my home from July to December: Chile. Three months ago, I can easily admit that I was a stereotypical gringo, blissfully ignorant, roaming the streets of various Latin American towns asking for directions in broken Spanish. Today, I can admit that I’m still a gringo. And despite what some may believe, that’s a good thing.

I AMsterdam
By Charlotte Stockdale
November 12, 2013 - 11:05pm
Exploring culture in the Netherlands