Margaret Reynolds

I very much enjoyed my time during ICADS this spring. I learned about the topics I had been wanting to, gaining a general understanding of the ecology, economy, history, culture, and politics of the area. I felt that there was a lot of work at times, however I did want to learn all that I learned and I am glad that the courses were so comprehensive. They gave me a better understanding of the United States and the importance of the decisions being made in Washington for the country and the world. At the very least I can say this helped with debates with conservative relatives, but I also recognize that some of my actions actually did change as a result of learned impacts and that my life direction could have been altered significantly based on what I came to understand. The day trips we took were a huge part of that. I loved visiting the farms and the businesses, conducting interviews in San Jose.... Also nearly all of the guest speakers were very useful and engaging. I never felt that I could miss a class or not take notes because I wanted to know everything that was being discussed. ICADS has a great selection of material.
My biggest issue when I was abroad was that I felt a bit lonely at times because I wasn't given as much of an opportunity to connect with the people or the place that I was in as I would have liked. The internship was very valuable for me. I loved being away and not with others that are my age or from the US. This seems a bit counter-intuitive considering what I just said, but I valued being on my own and making connections with the people that I worked with or the people in town. That is where a majority of my personal development came from. I learned the most from the friendships that I was able to make in the initial time when I had not looked at the rule manual in a while and forgot some regulations (curfew). These friendships I continue to learn from, as I am still talking via Skype or Facebook to the people I spent my time with.
That paragraph sounds like a complaint but to be clear I absolutely loved my experience here. I got to do so much with my internship- I got to help directly with the workshops that the group conducted to change the oppressive/ violent culture towards women and to give them a more powerful voice, I had a say in designing them and was trained like the facilitators on the issues at hand, I made national news three times for being at different feminist events (playing the drums and singing in one, which I NEVER do but was fun), and I was able to attend many similar (non televised) events that helped with my understanding of the situation in the region and of my place in the world. I was also trusted with the task of teaching an English class informally, which I did not expect and which ended up being great for comprehension of both Spanish and English and for experience designing lesson plans or homework to get points across. I was also given the opportunity to paint (a hobby of mine) and to conduct my own research. Honestly, my internship was fantastic and unlike anything any of my peers on other study abroad trips could have experienced. I am so very glad that I chose ICADS and that I landed in the program that I did. I would highly recommend the program to anyone interested.