Can freshmen and seniors study abroad? YES!!!

Study abroad is offered to EVERYONE!

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Students completing their first year can study abroad on a semester program during  second semester of freshman year, although this is not typical and only offered for a select handful of programs. However, freshman students are welcome to apply for winter intercession programs and/or summer programs after their first year is completed.

Students are welcome to apply for an academic year, semester or summer study abroad program during their sophomore, junior or senior year. View specific program requirements on the program brochure pages.
Seniors or final-semester students are eligible to participate on study abroad programs. Any student in their 4th or final-semester of study should consult with their study abroad and academic advisers prior to submitting an application to study abroad.
If Not Now When

Food, Food, Food!

Alright, so if any of you know me at all, you know I LOVE food.

ESPECIALLY sweets.

So, this blog will be dedicated to food here in Ecuador. And best believe North American, Middle-Eastern and Asian food can be found all around Samborondón.  Here are tons of pictures of food I’ve eaten and food I’ve made.

 

This picture is from the first time I baked here in Ecuador. It was difficult to find all the ingredients (because they looked different and their names are all in Spanish), but I did it with the help of my friends from México!

 

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However, I bought all of the ingredients without realizing that we don’t have an oven in our kitchen! Thankfully we do have a toaster oven, so I worked with what I had!

 

Here are my loved pancakes <3

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Spaghetti & vegetables with patecones (fried plantains)

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Arroz con pollo, maduro y ensaladita

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Chicken with a creamy white sauce and mac ‘n’ cheese -My birthday meal!

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A truffle-like chocolate cake and tiramisu my host mom bought for an after-almnuerzo treat on my birthday!

 

My birthday dinner: California roll from Noé

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Lunch at the Villavicencio-Zurita house.

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Burgers and fries my Ecuadorian friend made me.

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The best cupcake I’ve ever eaten here. Dulce de leche filling with a cheesecake frosting and white chocolate. They need to add this to the menu at Moxie! I wish I could steal the recipe.

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Yesterday I learned how to make Seco de Pollo, one of my favorite typical dishes here in Ecuador =]

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Dinner last night. My first time in Bundheo, a fast-food place that sells Mexican, Arabic, and a mixture of other types of food!

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These are just some of the foods I’ve eaten here in Ecuador, and it’s no wonder I’ve gained weight! But you know what? For me, good food doesn’t only fill my belly. It feeds my soul.

 

<3 Peace!

Financial Aid CAN be used for Study Abroad!

If you are currently receiving financial aid in the form of a scholarship, grant, or loan from your home campus, you may be able to continue to receive that same financial aid to apply towards billed expenses to study abroad.

You can review your financial aid on my.newpaltz.edu

Any excess aid would get refunded to you to help pay for the non-billed expenses listed on your budget sheet (e.g. airfare, etc.). Refunds are issued by the Office of Student Accounts.

Each New Paltz program varies in cost and fees for each program are listed on each program brochure page under “Budget Sheet” as well as “Program Cost”.  The budget sheets are meant to be used as a guideline since costs are subject to change and can fluctuate based on exchange rates.

For additional information on Financial Aid, please contact the SUNY New Paltz Financial Aid office.

The Wanderlust Has Definitely Been Caught!

Hi I’m Ellie, your guest blogger for today!

I’m a graduate student assistant here at the Center for International Programs. I’m going to talk a little bit about what I do here at the office and my study abroad experience (and why you should study abroad too)!

So first, a little bit about my job here at the office. I am the Graduate Assistant at the Center for International Programs and I’m in charge of entering all of the forms from students who are applying to study abroad, I create folders, do filing, check off received documents and email students to keep them up-to-date on the status of their application.

Secondary duties include assisting answering the phones at busy times, talk with students about their plans to study abroad and general administrative assistance around the office.  It’s a fun job and I’m glad that I can do it while also having time to take my classes and finish my degree.

The good news for future graduate students who are interested in working in an international environment is that the Center for International Programs will be looking for a new Graduate Assistant next semester!

Be on the lookout for emails about this job opening and definitely apply if you’re interested. For more info and to apply, visit www.newpaltz.edu/studyabroad.

Okay, now on to a bit about my study abroad experience…

I studied abroad four years ago, in the fall of 2010 in London, England.

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That’s me falling in love with Greenwich, a section of outer London.

To say that London changed my life would be an understatement.

The city is incredibly rich in history and learning opportunities. The school I attended was great. I was able to stay in dorms on campus, take part in student union activities, attend class and be just a 10-15 minute Overground ride to the center of London.

Because I was a Psychology student, it was easy for me to find classes in the liberal arts college.  The classes were set up a bit differently than the American classes I was used to at home. Independent reading was a must when the class only met once a week.

The best part about my academics while abroad was the different perspective I was able to get on topics that I had covered briefly in my home campus’s classes.

When I wasn’t in class or the library getting work done, I was making trips into the heart of London and taking everything in!! The ease of travel from one place to another, even one country to another, was incredible.  I was lucky enough to go to Scotland by train and Italy by plane while I was abroad.

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My friends and I took a trip to Rome over our November break – and it was a perfect getaway.  We were able to see not just the Sistine Chapel, but the inside of the Vatican, parts of Tuscany (in Siena, Italy), Venice and Florence. This was accomplished in four days!

Needless to say, when I returned home from my semester abroad, I was ready to go travel to a new country and see more of the world…

The wanderlust had definitely been caught!

Well, that’s all I’ve got for today.  I hope you’ve enjoyed reading along with me!

Don’t forget to stop by the office if you’ve got questions about studying abroad.  Hope to see you soon!

–   Ellie

Flashback Friday: Orientation Edition

Flashback Friday to Hacienda Ciénaga. Hacienda means plantation and Cienaga means swamp. But (if I understood correctly), we were told that the “cien” of Cienaga also means that there are at least 100 meters of land. Here we stopped to hear some live music, drink some hot chocolate, and see the beautiful church, garden, and plantation while on our way to the Salasaca community to have a typical lunch and hear some more typical music. Everything was so beautiful.

Hacienda Ciénaga

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La iglesia at Hacienda Ciénaga

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El jardín at Hacienda Ciénaga

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La iglesia

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Inside la iglesia

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Helado con mis amigas de México

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The internationals at the Salasaca community witnessing typical festival dances/song

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Chimes

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Discover You. Discover the World.

Hi! I’m Sam.

I work for the Center for International Programs at SUNY New Paltz as the Study Abroad Marketing Assistant.

Remember to follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter #newpaltzabroad

Study Abroad Twitter

You have heard it all before: “Study Abroad is… AMAZING, life-changing, crazy, exciting… and that if you could, you would do it all over again.”

Well, I am not going to tell you any different.

But I will be telling you about scholarship opportunities, the kind of study abroad programs we offer, where we offer programs, how to apply, that Financial Aid CAN be applied to your study abroad experience… and that Studying Abroad is amazing, obviously.

Blog you later,

Sam

 

Welcome to my blog!

Wow! I’m so excited to begin blogging! First I want to tell you all thanks for stopping by and reading my blog! I hope you enjoy it and come back for more!

First off, my name is Danielle Roberts, I’m a Junior, a Music major with a concentration in Vocal Jazz, and a Black Studies minor. I am half Puerto Rican and half a big ol’ mix of English, Irish, French, German, and I just found out that I’m Scottish too! It’s getting to the point where I can’t even remember everything! I came here to Ecuador to study Spanish so I can visit my family in Puerto Rico and be able to communicate with them with more ease. I also decided to study abroad to broaden my horizons, spread my wings as an individual, and learn to thrive independently. I have always been a homebody and I pushed myself to do this so I can be an everywherebody!

Since I’ve been here for precisely two months and five days, I have a LOT to fill you in on! Let’s start at the beginning, shall we?

First off, orientation began almost from the moment we landed! I got to the airport in Quito, Ecuador in the evening on January 2nd and was met with the wonderful Angelike Paez, inbound coordinator. We met with some other students who came in on the same plane, and we headed to the hotel.

First thing in the morning we went to breakfast and met all of the other international students from our group. There’s about twenty of us. It was interesting being in a new city, a new region, and a new country! The view from the window at breakfast was so pretty!

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Angelike and Andrea began orientation, making sure we were all comfortable, giving us some information and pointers, and having us introduce ourselves. The support system here was evident from the very start.

The first day, we visited un museo del arte de Oswaldo Guayasamín, a very famous Ecuadorian artist, and then we had a tour of Quito, the second most populated city in Ecuador.

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Some of the things I remember most about orientation were going to Otavalo and visiting Chimborazo.

Otavalo is a small town in which I first noticed that Ecuador has a large mixture of rich culture and modern influences. It was interesting to see indigenous women in their traditional colorful wool skirts and high socks next to people in jeans and t-shirts. To me, this shows the history, tradition, and culture mixed with the modernization and urbanization of the country.

Chimborazo is a different story. Chimborazo, the highest mountain in Ecuador, is situated at 6,268 metros, which is about 20,564 feet. It was so difficult to get used to the altitude that I couldn’t even climb the mountain with the others. But, I did take some selfies next to the active snow-capped volcano!

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Since orientation we have been to Manglares Churute, which are mangroves and a cacao plantation,

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Cuenca, which is a beautiful city with 52 churches, also the home city of some of my best friends from NY,

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Canoa, a tiny town with a beautiful beach,

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and Ambato to celebrate Carnaval, which is the festival before Lent. Yeah, Ecuador’s pretty religious! But they sure know how to have fun!

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And although I am having tons of fun and I’ve seen more places than I even realized, I do miss my family so much. Two months away from home is going by so slow, but all the while super fast. I can’t wait to visit more places while I’m here, but I’m also makng a super long list of things I want to do when I get back home!

-cookie cake

-peanut butter

-family time

Oh, and did I mention? Tomorrow is my birthday! March 8th, pisces!

 

#Peace!