Study Abroad Resources

Through personal journeys both interior and across the globe, Alden Jones investigates what motivates us to travel abroad in search of the unfamiliar. By way of explorations to Costa Rica, Bolivia, Nicaragua, Cuba, Burma, Cambodia, Egypt, and around the world on a ship, Jones chronicles her experience as a young American traveler while pondering her role as an outsider in the cultures she temporarily inhabits. Her wanderlust fuels a strong, high-adventure story and, much in the vein of classic travel literature, Jones's picaresque tale of personal evolution informs her own transitions, rites of passage, and understandings of her place as a citizen of the world. With sharp insight and stylish prose, Jones asks: Is there a right or wrong way to travel? The Blind Masseuse concludes that there is, but that it's not always black and white.

Drawing upon three decades of working, traveling, and living in Central America’s remote and dangerous landscapes, this memoir chronicles a journalist’s fascinating experiences with the people, politics, archaeology, and species of the rainforest, the cradle of Mayan civilization. The intense beauty of the forest, the fantastic locales, the ancient ruins, and the horrific violence of the jungle are brought to life through clear and compelling language. The author plays witness to archaeological discoveries, the transformation of the Lacandon people, the Zapatista indigenous uprising in Mexico, and increased drug trafficking, and she assists in the uncovering of a war crime. Great changes of the region, from a time when the jungle had virtually no roads and no visitors to the vacationers and adventure travelers who now arrive daily, are revealed in this unique exploration of the adaptation and resolve of a people.

Today it is not uncommon to find items in department stores that are hand-crafted in countries like Thailand and Costa Rica. These "traditional" crafts now make up an important part of a global market. They support local and sometimes national economies and help create and solidify cultural identity. But these crafts are not necessarily indigenous. Whereas Thailand markets crafts with a long history and cultural legacy, Costa Rica has created a local handicraft tradition where none was known to exist previously. In Global Markets and Local Crafts, Frederick F. Wherry compares the handicraft industries of Thailand and Costa Rica to show how local cultural industries break into global markets and, conversely, how global markets affect the ways in which artisans understand, adapt, and utilize their cultural traditions. Wherry develops a new framework for studying globalization by considering the phenomenon from the perspective of the supplier instead of the market. Drawing from interviews and extensive fieldwork shadowing artisans and exporters in their daily dealings, Wherry offers a rare account of globalization in motion?and what happens when market negotiations do not proceed as planned. Considering economic and political forces, flows of people and materials, and frames that define cultural and market situations as they play out in the artisan communities of these two countries, Wherry uncovers how authentic folk tradition is capitalized or created.

This is based on our full Adventure Guide to Costa Rica. It zeroes in on the Pacific Coast, including such destinations as Puntarenas, Isla del Coco, Carara Biological Reserve, Jac, Quepos & Manuel Antonio National Park, Dominical, Uvita & Playa Ojocha (Playa Tortuga), Talamanca Mountains, San Isidro de General, Chirrip National Park, and the Osa Peninsula. It contains all the practical travel information you need places to stay and eat, tourist information resources, travel advice, emergency contacts and more plus condensed sections on history and geography that give you good background knowledge of the destination. Plus, this edition is in full color throughout. The authors are fascinated with the destination and their passion comes across in the text, which is lively, revealing and a pleasure to read. Sidebars highlight unusual facts and tell of local legends, adding to your travel experience. Detailed town and regional maps make planning day-trips or city tours easy. Adventures covered range from town sightseeing tours and nature watching to sea kayaking and organized jungle excursions. Travelers looking for a more relaxed vacation may want to sign up for language classes or take a course on traditional regional cooking these cultural adventures will introduce you to the people and afford you a truly unique travel experience. We travel to grow OCo our Adventure Guides show you how. Experience the places you visit more directly, freshly, intensely than you would otherwise OCo sometimes best done on foot, in a canoe, or through cultural adventures like art courses, cooking classes, learning the language, meeting the people. This can make your trip life-changing, unforgettable. All of the detailed information you need is here about the hotels, restaurants, shopping, sightseeing. But we also lead you to new discoveries, turning corners never before turned, helping you learn about the world in a new way OCo Adventure Guides make that possible. Following are a few reviews of the full guide: I am here in Costa Rica in an internet cafe and had to take the time to tell everyone what a good book this is. It really gave us everything we needed to plan our trip and now that we are here, we use it to find just about everything. If you have not visited Costa Rica yet, get a copy of this book and come on down -- it is fabulous. -- PURA VIDA My husband and I just spent our honeymoon in Costa Rica and believe it or not, found this Adventure Guide to be the best resource for exciting things to do and see. It was also accurate for finding hotels that had that little bit of extra ambiance we wanted for romance. We had used Lonely Planet guidebooks on other trips but found this guidebook to be much better. It's easy to use, has lovely photographs, and for rainy nights it made good armchair reading. I heartily recommend the Adventure Guide for a wonderful vacation in Costa Rica. -- Amazon reviewer. I took off a point for the pedestrian writing and the sub-standard photos. (The numerous quotes struck me as tangential, but I really liked the design ephemera, including the original luggage tag from Hotel Europa, CR's oldest hotel, a nice touch ) Now, on to the good stuff: First off, Bruce & June Conord's alternative accomodations was imaginative and indispensable for me, and of course, in the true spirit of adventure. Secondly, of all the rough-and-tumble excursions they present, my favorite was their walking tour of historical San Jos(r). On foot is really the only way to see Costa Rica's one and only capital city. -- Amazon reviewer"

This is based on our full Adventure Guide to Costa Rica. It zeroes in on the Northwest and Nicoya Peninsula, including the Arenal area, Monteverde and its Cloud Forest, Liberia & Guanacaste, plus all the many beaches and national parks. It contains all the practical travel information you need: places to stay and eat, tourist information resources, travel advice, emergency contacts and more plus condensed sections on history and geography that give you good background knowledge of the destination. Plus, this edition is in full color throughout. The authors are fascinated with the destination and their passion comes across in the text, which is lively, revealing and a pleasure to read. Sidebars highlight unusual facts and tell of local legends, adding to your travel experience. Detailed town and regional maps make planning day-trips or city tours easy. Adventures covered range from town sightseeing tours and nature watching to sea kayaking and organized jungle excursions. Travelers looking for a more relaxed vacation may want to sign up for language classes or take a course on traditional regional cooking these cultural adventures will introduce you to the people and afford you a truly unique travel experience. We travel to grow – our Adventure Guides show you how. Experience the places you visit more directly, freshly, intensely than you would otherwise – sometimes best done on foot, in a canoe, or through cultural adventures like art courses, cooking classes, learning the language, meeting the people. This can make your trip life-changing, unforgettable. All of the detailed information you need is here about the hotels, restaurants, shopping, sightseeing. But we also lead you to new discoveries, turning corners never before turned, helping you learn about the world in a new way – Adventure Guides make that possible. Following are a few reviews of the full guide:'I am here in Costa Rica in an internet cafe and had to take the time to tell everyone what a good book this is. It really gave us everything we needed to plan our trip and now that we are here, we use it to find just about everything. If you have not visited Costa Rica yet, get a copy of this book and come on down -- it is fabulous.'-- PURA VIDA!'My husband and I just spent our honeymoon in Costa Rica and believe it or not, found this Adventure Guide to be the best resource for exciting things to do and see. It was also accurate for finding hotels that had that little bit of extra ambiance we wanted for romance. We had used Lonely Planet guidebooks on other trips but found this guidebook to be much better. It's easy to use, has lovely photographs, and for rainy nights it made good armchair reading. I heartily recommend the Adventure Guide for a wonderful vacation in Costa Rica.'-- Amazon reviewer.'I took off a point for the pedestrian writing and the sub-standard photos. (The numerous quotes struck me as tangential, but I really liked the design ephemera, including the original luggage tag from Hotel Europa, CR's oldest hotel, a nice touch!) Now, on to the good stuff: First off, Bruce & June Conord's'alternative accomodations'was imaginative and indispensable for me, and of course, in the true spirit of'adventure.'Secondly, of all the rough-and-tumble excursions they present, my favorite was their walking tour of historical San José. On foot is really the only way to see Costa Rica's one and only capital city.'-- Amazon reviewer

Sustainable Ecotourism in Central America: Comparative Advantage in a Globalized World examines the factors necessary for Nicaragua, Panama, and Belize to implement an economic development model based on the growth of ecotourism and foreign direct investment. In order to determine what factors are necessary to implement this model, this book analyzes the state of ecotourism development in Costa Rica and the lessons that the Costa Rican case can provide for other Central American states. It also assesses the effects of globalization and the increasing implementation of free market policies on the development of ecotourism. The book ultimately argues that globalization and neoliberalism have made it more likely that states will be able to adopt a development model based on ecotourism and foreign direct investment due to the manner in which neoliberalism and globalization help to create ever-increasing economic interconnectedness and openness. While globalization has served to shrink the world and make it easier for people to travel, the economic openness of neoliberalism has facilitated global flows of both tourists and international capital into every corner of the world. Understanding the way globalization and neoliberalism interact with ecotourism development and foreign direct investment is the key to formulating policy recommendations for states in Central America to jumpstart their economic development.

Women's Activism in Latin America and the Caribbean brings together a group of interdisciplinary scholars who analyze and document the diversity, vibrancy, and effectiveness of women's experiences and organizing in Latin America and the Caribbean during the past four decades. Most of the expressions of collective agency are analyzed in this book within the context of the neoliberal model of globalization that has seriously affected most Latin American and Caribbean women's lives in multiple ways. Contributors explore the emergence of the area's feminist movement, dictatorships of the 1970s, the Central American uprisings, the urban, grassroots organizing for better living conditions, and finally, the turn toward public policy and formal political involvement and the alternative globalization movement. Geared toward bridging cultural realities, this volume represents women's transformations, challenges, and hopes, while considering the analytical tools needed to dissect the realities, understand the alternatives, and promote gender democracy.

Chile has long considered education as a central priority and as key for its economic development. Over the past two decades the country has made great strides to increase the numbers of young people entering tertiary education. In 2008 Chile embarked on a bold initiative to develop its human capital with a scholarship abroad scheme - the Becas Chile Programme - which aims to train 30 000 outstanding students including teachers and technicians in institutions of their choice around the world. This joint OECD and World Bank report gives an overview of human capital development in Chile; describes features of the Becas Chile Programme; analyses the strategic and operational issues; and recommends ways to maintain and fine-tune the scholarship abroad scheme. This report will be useful for both Chilean education professionals and their international counterparts.