Students Need to Work Before Studying Abroad

It is a warm night in downtown Havana, Cuba, and the Malecón sea road is buzzing. It’s January, yet it’s 70 degrees. I am at a hotel I could never afford, just above the water, looking at the view with my fellow students. We are surrounded by other tourists – the languages around us include German, French and what sounds like Italian and, of course, Spanish. We are almost ready to leave when we hear unmistakable, shrill American accents, not so different than our own. “Hey! Will you take our picture?” A smiley girl in a sparkly tank top hands me a camera.

I say “Sure”, and she gathers her friends around her like accessories to her outfit. She grins wide on three. She tells me they are here studying too, just like us. She’s from Illinois. Her friends are from across the States – they list their home states for me in a rush. We ask them what school they are from, assuming that, like us, they came with their university. “We’re all from different schools. It’s a private programme,” the girl explains.

My friend asks her if they read about the country before leaving or did any sort of preparation. She looks at us quizzically and says, “No, not at all”. She didn’t even know, before arriving, about Cuba’s infamous dual currency system and still struggles to understand it after almost three weeks in Havana. I give the girl back her camera and our evening continues, but I find myself thinking back to this moment for the rest of our trip.

More information: http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20161018121243741