My First Study Abroad Journey #HogsAbroad in Panama

Hi my name is Qirui Cui. I am a Bumpers College Honors Student who is majoring in Crop Science and minoring in Crop Biotechnology. This spring break, I participated in the Study Abroad Program: Panama Agriculture and Cultural Tour.

It is my first study aboard journey, and it is the first time I set my foot on Central America. I loved this trip. Panama is a beautiful country with diverse topography. People in Panama are very lovely and passionate. This trip is an eye-opening experience for me.

As a crop science major student, the tour of the pineapple farm was my favorite. I am so happy that I had a chance to visit the pineapple farm. It was the first time that I learned something about the tropical crops. Now, I know a bit more about these crops in a different aspect, from the crop management side, food processing side, to the economic side. I enjoyed hearing stories from the grower, such as how they processed their food, whom they sold their products to, and their view of the pineapple industry.

I am grateful that I had such a great opportunity to visit Panama! I experienced so many things that I never thought of before, and I learned a lot from all the tours we had in Panama. I will recommend my friends and classmates to attend this program if they have a chance in the future!



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Senior Crop Science major Qirui Cui spent the spring break 2019 in Panama with the U of A Faculty-Led: Panama Agricultural & Cultural Tour with the help of our Office of Study Abroad Scholarship.

Don't miss your opportunity to study or intern abroad! Start your search at http://studyabroad.uark.edu/search/

Arkansas’s forests to Panama’s Jungles #HogsAbroad in Panama

Hello, my name is Pablo A. Amaya and I am a U of A senior at the Walton College of Business. I am a double major and double major in International business/ Supply Chain Management and Spanish and French. I traveled abroad in France last summer and this summer I traveled to Panama for a total of three weeks on an International supply Chain faculty- led program.

 

These two pictures show just how diverse panama is in geological terms. The picture above shows the jungle and that green terrain that is all around the interior of the country. There is about 50% of Panama that is simply uninhabited jungle that is too dense to habitat. The picture below shows the calmer more touristic side of Panama. This picture was taken at the Buenaventura resort on the Pacific side of Panama. Since panama is surrounded on both sides by ocean (Atlantic and Pacific) there are many beaches that vary in shape and styles.

Panama was an amazing experience where I did a lot and learned even more. The transition from Northwest Arkansas was not all that difficult mainly for the fact that they were in the same time zones. That helped keep our sleeping patterns in check and maintained some form of normalcy. As soon as we arrived we felt the humidity cling to us and surround us. There were very little times where we were able to escape it. Arkansas is known as the natural state but it does not compare to the level of wilderness that is Panama. The main city that we were located was in Panama City and even though it was the most populated city in the country, it had jungles and greenery all around.

Due to Panama being the bridge between the North America and South America the Flora and Fauna are a massive array of mixed plants and greenery that came from both sides of the Americas and clashed in the middle. Everywhere we turned there were different plants and all kinds of animals that I personally had never seen before. Also all around us were wild animals that were peacefully living with the locals. 

A sloth hanging from a tree a few feet from a very busy street in the heart of Panama City.

One of the creatures I would have been happy not witnessing were the mosquitos that make the ones in Arkansas seem not as a problem as they were in Panama.

Overall Arkansas and Panama are similar in the fact that they are both naturally rich but the similarities really stop there. Panama has so many different inputs that have affected its ecology and geology in ways that would have been impossible in Arkansas. The two oceans washing away parts of its coasts of the land bridge that it became and allowed the Americas to interact in a way that would not have been possible. Overall I really enjoyed my study abroad experience and would like to one day explore other parts that I was not able to visit during my stay.

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Pablo spent the Summer 2018 term in Panama with our U of A Faculty-Led: International Business Seminar in Panama.

For more information about study abroad & internship opportunities within Walton College, visit http://walton.uark.edu/global/index.php

Upcoming Study Abroad Info Sessions

Mark your calendars for these upcoming info sessions for some of our faculty-led programs. Come meet the faculty leaders and hear more about these study abroad opportunities!

Monday, October 9

For more information, and to apply, visit the Medieval England program brochure.

Thursday, October 12

For more information, and to apply, visit the Tanzania program brochure.

Monday, October 16

For more information, and to apply, visit the Panama program brochure.

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Prepping for Panama #HogsAbroad #MondayMotivation

Today were meeting up for our last meeting at a pizza place to wrap up a couple things before flying out Sunday (also the first meal covered by the program which is sweet). Pretty excited to start getting the ball rolling on this trip.

Also this is my first blog ever so cut me some slack if this website sucks or if I can’t write words correctly, thanks!
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Read more from Caden at https://cadenstriptopanama.wordpress.com/

Learn more about studying abroad as a Walton college student at: http://walton.uark.edu/global/

A Brazilion reasons to smile #HogsAbroad On A Boat

After being on the ship for 7 days I was more than ready to get off and take on Salvador. My friends and I spent all day roaming around and saw some amazing views. 

One of my professors was born and raised in Brazil so he was able to give us some great pointers for what to do and try, one of which was a caipirinha. It’s a Brazilian drink that, according to my professor, should be consumed responsibly.

So being the curious college students we are, my friends and I went to one of the local restaurants to try them. It was probably one of the best, most refreshing drinks I’ve ever had!   Aferwards, we wandered throughout the city down random streets and ended up running into some locals who spoke English. It turns out that they were apart of a dance crew and had spent the past 15 years traveling the world with their company. They’ve even performed in Texas. Before we knew it several hours had passed by so we headed back to the ship to be in bed because our flight the next morning to Brazil departed at 5:50 am. 

Let’s just say that by no means am I a morning person. There were about 15 of us traveling together so trying to get everyone awake, together, and into taxis was a nightmare but it was all worth it when we landed in Rio.

Before landing, I saw the coolest aerial view of Rio de Janeiro. I saw Favelas and there was way more greenery than I expected to see.

After landing, our van picked us up and took us to our Airbnb which ended up being a 5 bedroom penthouse suite right across from Copacabana beach. So obviously that was the first thing that we did after we unpacked. We layed out for hours, enjoyed the cool water, and played a bunch of sand volleyball! It was also a Brazilian holiday so the beaches was PACKED with people. They even closed the mainstreet so no cars could drive on it so it was filled with cyclists and pedestrians. The weather was perfect and we ended up staying out so late that we were physically exhausted and ordered Dominos pizza for dinner and called it a night.

We got off to an early start the next day as we made our way to towards Christ the Redeemer.  
It was one of the coolest sights that I’ve been to. When we were leaving from the airport he looked so tiny but once we went all the way up the mountain it was way bigger. There was an option to hike all the way up it, but we found out that it was the equivalent to over 180 floors so we politely declined.

Afterwards, our tour guide got us as close as we could to the Favelas while keeping us safe since they are corrupt and controlled by cartels. They are typically the slums of the area and are built up on top of each other.  The coolest part of it all was that it was the same place that they filmed the movie Fast Five! Our next was stop was the Santa Theresa steps. I don’t know the history behind it, but they are so vibrant and colorful. As we were slowly making our way down the steps, a lady who was selling Açai bowls out of her house stopped us. She didn’t speak any English but her Açai bowls spoke for themselves. It was my first time ever having them and holy cow I didn’t want it to end because it was so delicious. Later on, we found out that Snoop Dogg and Pharrell Williams walked down these same steps.
 
Our last destination was to the infamous Sugar Loaf. I don’t know why it’s called that, but it it has one of the greatest views in all of Rio. They have cable cars that take you all the way up to see everything. Afterwards, while we were waiting for out driver to get us, I decided to relax and refresh with some coconut water.
 
My day started off by seeing some really cool sites, and during the evening I moved on to tasting some really good food. From day 1, I was told that I need to eat at a Brazilian Steakhouse, so that’s exactly what I did. Although it is a chain, Fogo de Chão was the number one place to go to and let me tell you, it was nothing short of amazing.

We ended up staying for 3 hours and it was filled with good company, lots of laughter, a run in with an MMA fighter, and all the meat you could imagine. Needless to say we basically rolled ourselves out of the restaurant and ubered ourselves home.

The last two days in Rio were very rainy so that kind of put a damper on our plans. It was the first port of this whole voyage  that we have had bad weather while in country. But that didn’t stop us one bit. We bought ourselves an American football and had ourselves the best 5v5 pick up game of sand football that Rio has ever seen. We were playing for hours while the rain came pouring down and it was so much fun. My team won, obviously, and afterwards we went swimming in the ocean and experienced some of the biggest waves I have ever seen.

It was sick. By the time we checked our phones it was dinner time so we went back to the Airbnb and the girls we were with made us a nice home cooked meal. After dinner, we made our way to the samba club that had a live performance by one of Brazil’s best artists. We were there forever learning to dance and having a great time. We had such a good time that we were out until 4:30am.

The last day was pretty uneventful because we were supposed to go hang gliding but due to the really and weather we ended up waiting for hours at the site hoping the weather would clear up. Unfortunately it didn’t so we just went to the airport 4 hours early and used the free wifi until finally arriving back in Salvador.

Despite the bad weather the last two days, I had an incredible time in Rio and it is definitely on my list of places that I have to come back and visit. As always, for more pictures go check out my Facebook! And if you wanna contact me then download the app “WhatsApp” or email me at: andrew.santiago.fa16@semesteratsea.org

Next stop—-> Trinidad and Tobago!!!

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Don't miss the boat!
Read more from Jordan at https://suitelifeofsanti.wordpress.com/
Find your own study abroad program to hone your professional skills and enhance your resume at: http://studyabroad.uark.edu/search
If you need help getting started with study abroad, take a look at this: http://studyabroad.uark.edu/getting-started/index.php

Home sweet Trinidad & The Panama Canal #HogsAbroad On A Boat

So I think that I speak for the whole shipboard community when I say that Trinidad has been the best port to date. From the time we were able to access the hotels wifi nearby (yes, wifi availability has a major impact on how we view a country) which was before we even docked we new that the next two days were going to be amazing. 

For those of you who don’t know, my dad was born in Trinidad and all of his family is from there so I have visited a couple times before and was so excited to be back. As we were walking down the gangway outside, we were greeted with steel drums and musical performers and it was awesome. 

Once we were out of the terminal my friends and I were greeted by my uncle! He took us to this amazing breakfast place and then we went right to the beach. The beach we went to was Maracas Beach and is hands down one of my favorite beaches. It was the first beach I went to when I visited for the first time and it was everything I remembered and more. As usual, there were several hundered of us SASers there and it was a blast. We got there around 11 and stayed until late in  the evening and there wasn’t a minute wasted. We played volleyball, went swimming, layed out, and enjoyed the beautiful scenery. 

It felt like I was on Spring Break vacation with all of my friends (throwback to freshman year lol) and was so much fun. And to top it off I got to enjoy my favorite meal in the entire world which is Bake-and-shark.

  

I know it sounds odd, but don’t write it off until you’ve tried it because I promise you it’s life changing. That was the one meal that I told all my friends and teachers to try and they fell in love. That night I was so exhausted from being out all day that I stayed in and utilized all the free wifi I could get. 

The next morning, my friends and I got an early start and went back to the same breakfast place as the day before and got some bake-and-shark while we waited for my uncle to come and get us. Once he did, we made our way north to his beach house stopping off at the super market to get all the necessary beach essentials.

After 30ish minutes we finally arrived, but beforehand went to beach we embarked on what my family likes to call the hike of death. I don’t know if it’s because I’m out of shape, the hike is just really hard, or any combination of the two but it’s intense. My uncle walks it 5 days a week and has for at least the past 5 years so he literally zoomed right up this mountain like it was a piece of cake.

Meanwhile, my friends are struggling and taking baby steps up this thing while breaking for water every 5 minutes. The beginning was so easy, we kept up good pace, enjoyed the Bamboo Cathedral, and even saw some monkeys.
But shortly after the hike took a turn for the worst and the incline started to increase and we eventually lost my uncle because he was so far ahead of us. Even though it was tough it was very rewarding to make it to the top. It was an abandoned American base to there’s a huge satellite and a bunch of Buildings up there. The descent down was way more enjoyable and as a reward for making it without passing out my uncle got us fresh coconut from his tree and we sipped on the coconut water on our way to the beach. This beach experience was completely different the Maracas because there was so few people here and was so relaxing, expecially after that hike. We hung out for the next few hours until we had to go back to the ship since it was our last day there. But right outside of the port was a party in itself because everyone was hanging out at the restaurant they had in the terminal and there were a ton of vendors outside so we were all buying last minute souvenirs. And, just as in the beginning, the sent of off to the beat of the steel drums.

Even though we were only there for barely 2 days, I had so much fun! I loved being able to see my uncle and intriguing him to some of my friends. Being able to see my favorite places and eat my favorite made the two days there absolutely amazing!

Towards the beginning of the voyage, we got divided into “seas” based on which hall we lived in and my sea was the Baltic Sea and our colors were blue! What we didn’t know was that the point of these seas were to help for the Sea Olympus that took place a few days after departing Trinidad & Tobago. We had an opening ceremony where we created and showcased a music video, mascot and chant, and a lip sync battle (which we took home the gold in all 3). Day two was jam packed with tons of events. There was ping pong (which I got first in), egg toss, tug of war, water pong, arm wrestling, three-legged race, hula hooping, and synchronized swimming, just to name a few.

We spent the entire day competing and it was a blast. Day 3 was even crazier than the previous! There was only one event that day and it was volleyball which was supposedly going to be the deciding factor for who won. But before I say who ended up winning I forgot to mention the best part about today.

WE CROSSED THROUGH THE PANAMA CANAL. After going through 6 locks and a casual $100,000 dollars we made it from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacifit Ocean. (Check my Facebook for a really cool time-lapse). The whole experience was undeal. We learned so much about the history behind it and  seeing it in person was just amazing. We got the whole day off from classes to watch the whole process. The best part about it was that we had cell phone service for the day!!

Now, back to the Sea Olympics.. My sea ended up winning the volleyball tournament and we knew that we were neck and neck with another sea to be the first place champions. Later that evening at the awards ceremony, they announced that there was a tie and the tie breaker was going to be a whip cream and bubble gum contest. So there we were, two team eager to get the first place victory and all of the bragging rights that came along with it. We were all so nervous and anxious that it seemed like forever but WE ENDED UP WINNING!! Our sea went crazy!! We were screaming, yelling, chanting, and being the most obnoxious people ever.

All in all, it turned out to be a great event and helped pass by the time until we get to Peru! As always, for more pictures go check out my Facebook! And if you wanna contact me then download the app “WhatsApp” or email me at: andrew.santiago.fa16@semesteratsea.org

Next stop—-> Peru and Machu Picchu!!

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Don't miss the boat!
Read more from Jordan at https://suitelifeofsanti.wordpress.com/
Find your own study abroad program to hone your professional skills and enhance your resume at: http://studyabroad.uark.edu/search
If you need help getting started with study abroad, take a look at this: http://studyabroad.uark.edu/getting-started/index.php