Students, faculty experience Central, South America adventures

Since March 2005, Spanish Professor Laura Yocom and Anthropology Professor Greg van Alstyne have organized six trips to Central and South America. These trips have impacted students, faculty and even the community.

Ten-day spring break trips and summer trips lasting three weeks have taken students on adventures they will never forget.

The professors make a point to travel where tourism is low or nonexistent.

"We've explored the Maya culture quite extensively. That was our focus of the first four trips," said Yocom. "The exciting this is that no one is there. If you get off the beaten track and go to a distant site, you've got the whole place to yourself."

van Alstyne adds to the long list of activities participants have enjoyed on these trips.

"We snorkeled in coral reefs in South Mexico and climbed up sides of mountains. In Peru we visited Incan archeological ruins," he said. "We traveled in the Amazon basin in Peru and Colombia. We went tree canopy walking down in the tropical rainforest and saw pink dolphins in the Amazon. Standing on the top of the Andes, a condor flew up right in front of us."

Travelling to remote areas and experiencing what only the native population experiences on a regular basis has had a pattern of changing students' beliefs and perceptions of the world.

"There are a lot of human interactions and it opens up a worldview that cannot be gained from going where all the tourists go," said van Alstyne. "Each place we go to is full of various geographical settings, aside from cultural changes."

The time spent in foreign countries give participants a positive outlook of the world.

"Eating, breathing, speaking and living the way other people do changes a person," said van Alstyne. "Students get new experiences and insights into other cultures, and they can learn from that."

Student Nicole Wall, 25, agrees that these trips change lives and worldviews. She travelled on three of the six previous trips, and plans to travel to Nicargua, Costa Rica and Panama this spring break.

"My favorite trip was the Yucatan trip. It was my first trip," said Wall. "The Mayan temples were well preserved and it just blew my mind. I really enjoyed South Mexico."

The group was also able to interact with the modern people of that culture.

"We were amongst contemporary Maya. We stayed in a very remote village and we visited sacred caves," said van Alstyne. "We also saw quetzals, a bird sacred to the Maya."

Wall's decision to pursue a career in anthropology was largely impacted by the trips she participated in.

 "It was a huge breakthrough to actually go experience the language, culture and beautiful towns," she said.

Although the experience had such an impact on her life, the travel opportunity came as a sudden surprise to Wall.

"I was walking to class and just happened to see Laura's poster about Mayans. I was kind of leaning on the door looking at it. She opened the door to leave and I sort of just fell into her office," she said. "She told me the trips were full, but I could put my name on a waiting list. I did, and someone dropped out and I took their spot. It was a miracle, and I just stumbled upon it."

Fluency or lack of fluency with the Spanish language does not affect the impact of travelling to Central and South America.

"I had never taken Spanish, but you learn when you're down there. Your survival skills really kick in," said Wall.

Interaction with the local population allows a traveler to pick up at least some of the language.

"It's a challenge. Sometimes it's really fun for the locals," said Wall. "They get to learn a little English and you get to learn a little Spanish. It's really amazing. Shopping and bartering is a new experience for yourself."

Both the professors speak Spanish, but Yocom is the official translator.

Wall also enjoyed her third trip in the summer of 2009.

"Colombia is a wonderful country that doesn't get the respect it deserves," she said. "I found that it is not at all what we perceive."

Student Selena Johnston, 19, also participated in the Colombia trip.

"We did a five day hike to the Lost City, in the middle of these hills in Colombia," she said. "It really changed the way I think about the world."

The spring break trip of 2009 went to Guatemala and Honduras. Student Pianjo Huriavi, 18, traveled with Yocom, van Alstyne and eleven other students.

"I really enjoyed going to this little town in the middle of nowhere. It was cut off from everywhere else in the world," she said. "It was really interesting to see how they lived. It changed my whole perspective and how I look at life."

Trips like these allow for a positive basis of future voyages.

"The trips introduce people to travel. After they go with us, they feel comfortable travelling alone," said Yocom. "For us, it's really exciting to see someone from Centralia, Lewis County, Washington change right before your eyes."

Trips like these bring benefits that change lives, and are worth more than monetary costs.

"If this is something you really desire to do, but it's the money that's holding you back, you can do fundraisers or whatever, but you have to be creative," said Wall. "I tie-dyed shirts and sold them to my friends."

Wall sums up the importance of international experiences.

"It's important to know how different cultures and places really are, and to develop a love for how beautiful our world is," she said.

For more information visit Centralia.edu/academics/foreignlang/past_trips.html.