Blog Sections
Archives
August, 2008 (4)July, 2008 (16)June, 2008 (24)May, 2008 (4)April, 2008 (2)March, 2008 (7)February, 2008 (12)January, 2008 (3)December, 2007 (3)November, 2007 (5)October, 2007 (1)September, 2007 (3)August, 2007 (9)July, 2007 (18)June, 2007 (11)May, 2007 (14)April, 2007 (13)March, 2007 (13)February, 2007 (18)January, 2007 (2)
Post Categories
|
Blogs -
Postings from resident directors and students currently abroad, important announcements and useful infomation for planning your study abroad experience.
May 2008 Entries
Are you allergic to nuts, don't eat pork or shellfish for religious reasons, have celiac disease, or are a vegan? None of this has to stop you from studying abroad! More and more students with food allergies and other dietary issues are studying abroad. You just have to do a little more preparation before you go.
As someone with food allergies, I am very aware of some of the difficulties in traveling abroad. I want to share with you some tips I have picked up over the years. In addition, a recent article in the Living Without magazine has an article on traveling with food allergies and they provide some excellent suggestions.
Pre-Departure Preparation
- Translate all of your allergies or dietary issues into the language of your host country and make a wallet-size card that you can carry with you. If you plan on traveling to several countries, include those translations as well.
- Many of you will be purchasing prepared foods. In order to avoid specific ingredients that could contain restricted foods, make a list of those ingredients and translate those as well. Or better yet, just avoid purchasing prepared foods! Cooking from scratch is a healthier, tastier option.
- Talk to your doctor about medications to take with you and make sure you have your medication in your carry-on bag. If you use an epi pen, make sure to bring it with you!
- ALWAYS inform your program of any allergies or dietary issues. This is the only way we can help you have a successful experience.
- Pack some food for your trip abroad in case you are stuck in an airport with nothing that you can eat safely.
While Abroad
- Inform your roommates about your allergies or dietary issues so they are aware of what you need to avoid. For example, if you have an allergy to a food that is environmental as well as eating you need to let them know you cannot have it in the apartment. This can be a sensitive issue so make sure you approach it diplomatically but firmly as this is a health issue.
- Also let your roommates and friends on the program, as well as your resident director, what to do in case you accidentally consume something that causes an allergic reaction.
- If you are a vegetarian or vegan, or only eat some meat, make sure to tell your resident director at the beginning of the program.
- When going out to eat, order things plain. Sauces often contain the most allergenic foods (wheat, milk products, onions, and nuts).
- My own rule: If I can't identify all the ingredients and the server can't tell me either, I don't eat it. It's just not worth it!
I studied abroad for a year and have traveled abroad extensively without too many food problems. By being careful I have had wonderful experiences even if I can't eat everything that everyone else can. So can you!
- Ann Halpin
The US State Department has prodcued a new website specifically for students travelling abroad. It provides a whole range of information from travel documents to health and safety to smart travel. There is also a section on voting abroad. Check out the website at http://studentsabroad.state.gov/.
The sun is finally shining in Paris and all things summer are appearing in the city. Happiness :)
Most interestingly, I just returned from a ten day spring break! My roommate Jenn and I bought Eurail passes to travel by train through France, Italy, and Spain during break. First, we took a 12 hour night train to Barcelona. In Barcelona we took a day to see all the sights and wonder around the city. First impressions- Barcelona is much more beautiful than Madrid. What Jenn and I were most looking forward to was the beach. We headed down to the beach and lounged around looking out across that beautiful Mediterranean all day. This was my second time seeing the Med, but it was still so amazingly blue and clear. The beach seemed more party than classy (as did much of Barcelona) with its various illegal salesmen selling everything from messages to cerveza. Our hostel had free tickets to a club on the beach, so we checked that out one night. It was a lot like clubs in Paris except that the patio looked out onto the ocean. Very nice :)
After 4 days in Barcelona, we headed off to Cannes- an 8 hour trek. This train ride was actually quite enjoyable since the train went almost entirely along the ocean. We saw just amazing views! We got into Cannes, looked for a taxi and what we found was a line of very expensive cars (think mercedes, bmw...) with tinted windows.. that we all taxis. Ha! Feeling very glamorous, we got in one and a few minutes later we arrived at our hostel. It was by far the nicest hostel I've ever seen. We had a studio apartment with a kitchen and bathroom and best of all, an ocean view from our balcony! It was nice to be back in France where I can actually communicate with people and we know the customs and culture. Our hostel was a little walk from the city center so we rotated between town and beach. The town was rather glamorous- all the designer stores, bien sur. The beach in Cannes was sooooo beautiful. Our hostel was literally like 3 minutes from a secluded little beach and about 7 minutes from a more populated beach. There were palm trees and families and ice cream stands everywhere. It was sooo enjoyable. A few things separated Cannes from a typical Californian beach- topless tanners and speedos. Jenn and I decided on our last day, after soaking up that Mediterranean culture, that we should do a little topless tanning ourselves. We finally got brave and did it! I felt oh so French :)
Originally, we had planned on going to Verona and Venice after Cannes but we had a little train booking trouble and ended up on another night train to Rome. This ride was about 10 hours and horrible. We had pretty bad seats that did not recline at all and old snoring Italian men as cabin mates. After what felt like forever, we arrived in Roma, settled into our hostel, and set out to explore. We got one of those tourist maps and basically saw everything on it within the 3 days we  were in Rome. I really enjoyed seeing the Coliseum and Trevi Fountain was my favorite site in Rome. I think by the end of our time in Rome, we had walked that entire city. Jenn and I both decided that we would like to live there one day. It just seemed like a very livable city, plus the food was AMAZING. I am proud to announce that I have now tried 12 different flavors of real Italian gelato :) The Italian people where very friendly but we both missed the 'Frenchies' after a few days. We left Rome on another night train- this was our longest ride yet, 15 hours. This time we got smart and paid a little extra for beds and it was SO worth it. We had a fabulous trip overall but after 2 weeks we were glad to be back in Paris.
This past weekend we got to celebrate our French friend's birthday. He and his family own the bakery down the street and we have all become good friends with him. We got to his house to drink champagne with him and his friends before we went to his favorite club. Anyone who thinks French people aren't that friendly should meet Anthony's friends. All of them were so nice and welcoming. The only thing I still can't get over is the kissing thing. Every single person who came over had to kiss one another on the cheeks. It's like a kissing line. You can't get out of it! We all really enjoyed being a part of a French birthday celebration.
Since the weather has been nice lots of people go to the park and have picnics or just lounge around. We have a park right near our apartment so we have been going and it is quite enjoyable. Paris in the spring really is very beautiful.
Well, I'll be home in less than a month now and I'm having mixed emotions. 8 months has been too long to not see my family and Honey and I really miss them, but Paris is Paris- it just doesn't really compare to Galt. Haha.
Abroadco is now on Facebook! Check out our page and meet the students who are going abroad as well as some of our alumni. And make sure you look through the photo albums of our locations, with photos taken by Abroadco students and staff.
|