We had an early start this morning to depart for Regensburg to visit Aumovio and explore the Old Town Hall. As soon as we arrived, I noticed how different this city felt compared to other places we had visited. The colorful buildings and riverside made the city feel very historic with a special touch. Walking…
Category: Plus3 2025
Day 10: Running Out of Time
We had yet another Vietnamese language class to start our day today. We learned the alphabet and how to pronounce the letters, which was so much harder than expected because of the 6 different tones. We also learned a few phrases to use at the market that we would be going to later in the…
Day 10 – Painting, shopping & learning
Today was a fun mix of activities that all connected in some way which I was surprised by. We started with language class, where I learned how to say “hi how much,” followed by “so expensive, please discount,” – Bao nhiêu tiėn? Đắt quá, giảm giá dim – which I felt was all I was…
Áo My Gosh
Day 10: Áo Dài, Vietnamese Language Practice @ Ben Thanh, U.S. Consulate, and Waterbus Tour This morning we learned more Vietnamese language. They still use the English alphabet except for the letters F, J, and W. We were all initially intimidated by the accents, but logically it actually makes more sense that one letter with…
Day 10: Bargain Bargain Bargain
Yesterday we started off the day at UEF doing a Vietnamese language class. Right before class I had a cup of coffee and I really think that was a great start to my day. The class was super fun and energetic trying to learn some bargaining phrases to later be used. After the language class…
May 20th – Cloudy Cloudy
Today was mine and my classmates (probably) first time in a real-life cloud forest. But I think after visiting the Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve and hearing from the Monteverde Institute, I think limiting tourism in protected natural areas is a necessary tradeoff rather than something unfair. While it could sometimes feel restrictive to have limited…
May 20th – Limiting tourism is worth it
Today we hiked the Monteverde Cloud Forest and heard from the Monteverde Institute about how the community manages tourism. On the trail, we could only use one of four paths, which could feel limiting given how far we traveled, but I didn’t mind. Doing all four might have actually been too much anyway because it…
Nature 1, Shoes 0 – 05/20
Hoy el bosque me ganó. To start off the day I had an amazing breakfast at the hotel, with pancakes (10/10), a breakfast wrap, and fruit. Today we went on trail in the Monteverde Cloud Forest National Park, where I got extremely muddy. Honestly, I don’t even know how I got THAT much mud on…
Day 10: Rice Hats, Knock-Offs, and Diplomatic Irony
Another fun day for me in the books. From decoding a new alphabet to negotiating in bustling market aisles, today was the ultimate crash course in Vietnamese culture and commerce. We started the morning trying to tackle the Vietnamese alphabet. To be honest, mastering those tonal marks felt completely impossible, but it gave us an…
Day 10: The Beginning of the End
Today was the last day of the regularly scheduled programming of site visits and classes at UEF. Time flies so fast! We first had a language class to practice basic phrases used in a market to prepare for our trip to Banh Thanh market. It was really hard to remember letters and their intonations, I…
Protecting what Tourists Come to See
When visiting the cloud forest and the Monteverde Institute the complex relationship between tourism and conservation was exposed. In the cloud forest we were able to immerse ourselves in nature while following a designated trail through one of the most biodiverse ecosystems in the world. Nature walks like this are extremely common tourist activities in…
Costa Rica Blog Post 10 – 05/20
Today made me realize that limiting tourism in a place like Monteverde is a necessary tradeoff. While walking through the Sendero Corazón del Bosque, the forest felt protected in a way that was very intentional. Like Hosay mentioned, in the past there was more scope to explore, but with a growing emphasis on sustainability, some…
May 20 – Clouds full of Capuchin
Today we got to hike through the Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve and later visit the Monteverde Institute, and both experiences made me think more deeply about the balance between tourism and conservation. The cloud forest itself it felt different from some of the rainforests we had explored earlier in the trip (also very muddy!). It…
Protecting Nature for the Future
Today we visited the Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve and the Monteverde Institute. I learned how hard it can be to balance protecting the environment while also supporting tourism and the economy. While walking the Sendero Corazón del Bosque trail, I noticed that some areas were closed off or had limited access. Monteverde is one of…
Learning to Leave It Better
Across the wide varieties of companies we have visited during our time in Costa Rica, we have heard over and over again how they value sustainability. We have seen it through how they operate at the farms through avoiding pesticides and using natural resources to ward off pests. We have seen how Arenal only uses…
Day 10: Nearing The End
I can’t believe this trip is wrapping up soon, and that in only a couple days I will be back on a flight to America. The past two weeks have been so amazing to me, and there are no words I can use to describe how grateful I am for this experience. I chose to…
Day 9
We had an early start this morning to depart Nürnberg to visit MAN and tour the Kunstbunker. Once we arrived in the city, I was in awe of the beautiful architecture and the old charm of the area. Walking around, I felt like the hilly structure and buildings reminded me of Edinburgh a little bit….
Day 3 – Im starting to love it here!
Today is our first full day in Germany! We were out the door by 7:45, and I was definitely starting to feel the time change, but I was too excited to let it bother me! Today, we departed from the Konigsplatz station and took a streetcar to the University of Augsburg. I was surprised to…
Waorani Way to the Jungle
Sunday started painfully early. Like 5:30 a.m. early. We grabbed a quick breakfast, loaded onto the bus, and immediately got introduced to what I can only describe as a two hour whiplash session disguised as a road. From there, we loaded all our stuff onto these big motorized canoes manned by the Geyepare tribe, with…
Day 12- A City Powered by Audi
We had a much needed later start today and I was feeling very refreshed and excited to finally see Audi, the company I’m presenting on. We had the Audi speaker a week ago so I was looking forward to bringing everything that was said to life. The Audi campus was so grand and very modern….