Study Abroad is an important part of the student experience at Macalester. Approximately 60% of Macalester's students study abroad while at Macalester.
Macalester Women's Soccer has seven women studying abroad this term in the following places: Ireland, Italy, Denmark, New Zealand, Mali, Bolivia and Ecuador. This Study Abroad Profile sent to us by
Matea Wasend (Jr., Denver, Colo. / George Washington), who is studying in Quito, Ecuador.
To see where women's soccer players find themselves this year and last year with links to their blogs and profiles,
click here for a map. (
Other Player Profiles & Study Abroad Profiles)
Wasend:
"I'm studying abroad in Quito, Ecuador this semester through a program called the Higher Education Consortium for Urban Affairs (HECUA). It's an internship-based program that places us all with host-families, community internships and complements those experiences with two classes based around the theme "community participation and social change." So basically we are learning spanish through experience, and then using that spanish to learn about pretty much every Ecuadorian social issue we can pack into a semester's worth of classes. A lot of our classroom time is actually spent at community organizations, where we learn more about how specific projects are working for sustainable agriculture, affordable housing, basic education... etc. Some of our best learning takes place on our "salidas de campo," or field-trips, of which we have three; so far we have been to the Amazon to learn about petroleum extraction, and to the coast to learn about the disastrous consequences of the large shrimping industry there. It's pretty incredible how much more insight you can get into an issue when you are on the ground.
"My internship is with CENIT--in english, the Center for the Working Girl. Child labor is a HUGE problem here, because many families live in such poverty that they have little choice but to put their children to work to increase their income. So CENIT provides a school for working children (mostly girls, some boys) with financial support to help them attend. The organization also does some street outreach programs in the markets, where most of the child labor occurs, doing basic teaching and playing with the younger children there. I am fortunate enough to be involved in a combination of things--once a week I go to the markets to hang out with the little kids, who are energetic and bright and challenging and amazing all at the same time. I help out with physical education classes for the middle-to-high-school aged girls as well. They ALWAYS want to play soccer. When we realized that, a fellow volunteer and I decided to start a soccer club for the girls that want to--we had our first "practice" last week. My hope is that the club will last long after I leave CENIT.
"I've also been able to travel on my free weekends, made all the easier by the fact that Ecuador is a tiny country with a ridiculous amount of diversity. That means I can get to some incredibly different places every weekend in a few hours of travelling. Last week, for spring break, I backpacked through one of the most beautiful landscapes I have ever seen, the Ecuadorian Andes. I kept forgetting to look around, and then I'd remember where I was and have to stop to take yet another picture.
"Probably one of the best things about being here in Ecuador, though, is the soccer culture. I knew that everyone would love soccer but I didn't realize how many people would play it, but on evenings and weekends the parks are full of pick-up games that pretty much anyone can join. Unfortunately, girls soccer is pretty lacking here; but fortunately for me, that means I sometimes get cheered by onlookers even when I score what I would call a mediocre goal. On one of our salidas de campo we travelled to a small coast town, where even the young kids were really talented soccer players. I don't know how they all got so good, because I didn't see a soccer ball other than the one I brought the whole time I was there. (I ended up leaving them mine.)
"I've got six more weeks in my program. I miss my friends, family and Macalester more than I can say, but I'm loving every minute of it."
