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For episode 3 of our Learning Conversations podcast, I had the opportunity to talk with two Global Scholars from DDCC’s International Education office: Veronica Pellegrino (Fulbright Scholar-in-Residence) and Marie Rabecq (Fulbright Foreign Language Teaching Assistant). I first had a chance to meet Veronica and Marie during one of the Culture Cafes that happens in the International Education office. But if you don’t know already, this is only a small part of what they’ve been involved with as part of their one-year stay and so I thought the podcast would be a good way to share more of what they do with the DDCC community.
Overall, it was really great to hear about the engaging and impactful work they’ve been doing here at DDCC and also, more generally, about their experiences in North Carolina. On a similar note, one of the great benefits of having Global Scholars at DDCC is that it gives us a chance to learn more about their cultures and so Veronica and Marie talked about some of the unique characteristics of Argentina and France as well as some great places to see and visit. Check out the list below for more details on this. Enjoy the conversation!
Argentina:
France
Speaker 1 00:00:11 Okay. Welcome, everyone. Welcome to this third episode of the learning XY podcast. And in this podcast, we talk to people who are involved with various aspects of the community college experience. And we’d like to really focus on people who are involved with different aspects of teaching and learning. And our guests for this episode are two people. Uh, we have with us two Fulbright scholars of Veronica Pellegrino and Reebok. Um, Maria, am I pronouncing your last name correctly? Rebecca and Veronica. Am I pronouncing your last name correctly?
Speaker 2 00:00:48 Yes. As with me, Veronica Pellegrino is just fine.
Speaker 1 00:00:56 Okay. All right. Okay. All right. So we thought we’d start off, uh, our podcast today with just getting a little bit of background about you guys, and then maybe talk a little about, uh, your experiences here at the college and at North Carolina. So maybe we’ll start with, um, let me start with you Veronica, if you could share a little bit about yourself, uh, where you’re from, maybe a little bit about your hometown and city, and then maybe a little bit about what you’ve done while you’ve been here at the college.
Speaker 2 00:01:26 Okay. Uh, well, my name is Veronica Pellegrino from Argentina. Um, uh, actually an English teacher back at home. I, uh, hold a degree as English teacher and my master’s in humanities. I work, uh, at a national university in, in Argentina it’s. Um, my hometown is located in the center of, uh, my country. The province is called Cordova and, uh, I actually live at about an hour and a half from the Capitol city of, uh, Cordova. My hometown is called visa Maria and my universities only <inaudible> there. I teach, uh, cultural studies in the English teacher training program. I work for the internationalization office and well, uh, here, I’m teaching, uh, Spanish and I’m participating in different kinds of activities, carried out by the, uh, international education office, like passport events, um, a lot of old stuff that they, they hold in here.
Speaker 1 00:02:50 Nice. Nice. And, uh, in your, uh, college or university back home, about how big are your classes typically or does it really just kind of depend on which class?
Speaker 2 00:02:59 Yes, I teach in the last years of the program, the English teacher training program and our classes are pretty small and that would depend on, but around 10 to 15 students, that’s the number of students that we get in our classes. Having a class of 30 students was like a big difference. Yes.
Speaker 1 00:03:31 And is there a favorite class that you really enjoy teaching really look forward to teaching when you’re at home?
Speaker 2 00:03:37 I’m sorry.
Speaker 1 00:03:38 Is there a favorite class that you really enjoy teaching? When you’re at home?
Speaker 2 00:03:42 I teach a class that is called, um, I mean it’s world history and I really, I really enjoyed that class yes. In that, eh, we start the year, but actually, um, analyzing the different conflicts that are there in the world. And then we try to trace back in history, some of the, of the roots for the present-day conflict and well, it’s, it’s very interesting. Yes. I like it a lot.
Speaker 1 00:04:14 I’m a big history buff. So it sounds like a great class.
Speaker 2 00:04:16 Yes.
Speaker 1 00:04:18 And Maria, how about you? Uh, what part of France are you from, and maybe tell us a little about what you do there.
Speaker 3 00:04:25 So <inaudible>, I come from France. I am a master’s student. I am halfway through my master’s, uh, isn’t as, as an English studies, even though I teach French at the recent baby, I study English, especially in the American politics and government and history. Um, I go to school at the national superior national school of Liam, which is a school that created that, uh, trains professors and researchers, and Leon is in the southeast part of France. I was raised with my two brothers note, which is on the Northern Western part of France. So that’s completely the opposite. And that’s a really great chance that I have to know those two big cities. Um, here at Davidson, there is I’m teaching the normal French classes. I’m also, um, sort of directing, trying to push the international club into still existing and doing the activities. So we’ve been to the civil rights museum in Greensboro with students. Um, and with Veronica, I also do cultural cafe and we take part in a lot of fun events.
Speaker 1 00:05:37 All right. All right. Yeah. I’ve been to the civil rights museum in Greensboro. It’s a great museum, really, really educational. Great. Um, well, let’s, uh, how about like one of your, uh, passport experiences or cultural passport experiences? Can you maybe share one that you’ve, uh, really enjoyed or went really well? And in your opinion,
Speaker 3 00:05:57 One that I really liked teaching and putting up was about, uh, French history from the 15th century to the French revolution, which is when the big Kings that we know of and the big castles and the very pretty places were built. So I gave that presentation in a festival event and in class, um, and every time it raised very important questions, like the fact that Paris wasn’t really the capital of friends until late. Um, most of the castles are located in the middle of France, along the river, where the climate is really mailed and really nice. So it’s interesting because I love teaching about history and it also brings knowledge about geography and politics in France.
Speaker 1 00:06:49 Wow. I had no idea about Paris not being the capital before, you know, long ago. What was the capital city before Paris?
Speaker 3 00:06:56 Uh, it really depends. It really depends. Uh, we had an in very important city where the Kings got anointed and crowned, and that was a different city than Paris. Um, and then it’s king at their favorite city, Always in the middle of France and Paris was important, but it was also dangerous because it was where people were leaving the Kings didn’t really like people.
Speaker 1 00:07:25 Fascinating, fascinating, pretty cool. All right. Um,
Speaker 2 00:07:29 I case I read it reading joined, uh, one of the past 40 beds, the, uh, that was about very famous writer from Argentina <inaudible> There. Um, we analyzed one of his short stories <inaudible>, um, it was very interesting and I got a, um, I really enjoyed reading the, the feedback that some of the students that attended that, uh, passport event gave me being insightful. And that I think was really nice to share that part of, uh, of the culture of Argentina.
Speaker 1 00:08:12 Fantastic. Do you know, did they happen to, did the students happen to share with you if that was their first time reading any literature by core desire?
Speaker 2 00:08:20 Yes. For most of them it was, I mean, it was their first approach to one of his short stories, you know?
Speaker 1 00:08:28 No, that’s great. That’s good. Yeah. I mean, that’s one of the great benefits to higher education is giving students the opportunity to kind of explore literature, uh, you know, political science government, you know, from countries around the world. So, um, it’s really cool. They had that experience.
Speaker 2 00:08:44 And I think that God does, that is great in that sense, because of his short stories. I mean, there, you don’t have to read, uh, a very long piece of writing and he was a master at science fiction. I mean, his stories are just delightful in that sense. So they are very engaging and, and well, he, he was a, a great writer, so,
Speaker 1 00:09:11 Oh, science fiction. I had no idea. I didn’t know. He did science fiction.
Speaker 2 00:09:15 You wrote about the fantastic. And he is said that he was surrounded by, I mean, he, his life was fantastic for him. And he said that I’m in, he, um, actually said that a lot of his, uh, short stories were like dictated to him. I mean, he, he would just have these dreams. Um, he would wake up and just, he just had to write the stories that were presented to him either in dreams or so his life was very interesting.
Speaker 1 00:09:51 Wow. Wow. Very cool. Um, is he still alive by chance or is he Okay?
Speaker 2 00:09:59 Very long time ago, but, uh, But he, he was a very prolific writer. He lived most of his life in France, actually.
Speaker 2 00:10:12 Yes. He self-exiled, eh, in the, in the fifties. And then, uh, well, okay. Here received the citizenship, uh, after the, uh, the dictatorship actually excites him. So he was forced to leave the country for good. Um, he died in, in France and he had this, um, peculiar way of speaking because he couldn’t roll the RS, you know, Danesh, we roll our ours. So everybody thought that it was because he had lived in France for so long. And well, he, he had this French accent, but action. And now he had some, uh, I mean, he couldn’t produce the, uh, the sound of, of the art. He couldn’t well VRS because of, uh, some, uh, diction problem that he had. So a lot of people, uh, actually believed that it was because of his long period in France,
Speaker 1 00:11:17 But you’re saying no,
Speaker 2 00:11:24 And use the sound as many people. Can’t. I mean, there are a lot of people that cannot roll their RS
Speaker 1 00:11:32 And
Speaker 2 00:11:34 He, his way of speaking was very distinctive and he actually recorded himself. Uh, I’m in there. A lot of his stories were recorded by himself. So he can, you can listen to him. Yes.
Speaker 1 00:11:47 Oh, fantastic.
Speaker 2 00:11:50 I’m sorry.
Speaker 1 00:11:50 On YouTube.
Speaker 2 00:11:53 On YouTube. You’ll find many of his, of his recordings.
Speaker 1 00:11:57 Cool. Uh, so let’s, uh, kind of shifting back to the US here, uh, thought I’d, uh, next thing I’d ask you guys, is, was this your first time to the US so maybe we start with you Veronica and then Marie,
Speaker 2 00:12:07 Well, no, no, this is not my first time in the US I actually was a, an exchange to them back when I was in high school very long time ago. I lived for a year in Arizona as a rotary exchange student. Um, eh, that was back in the nineties. My brother moved to the United States in the late nineties. So I had the chance of visiting him several times over the years and thanks to my, um, position at the university. I also had the opportunity of coming to the states for different events, conferences in several opportunities.
Speaker 1 00:12:57 Okay. So you had quite a bit of familiarity already with the US
Speaker 2 00:13:01 So staying for this long period. Well, apart from my, my stay in Arizona in 1993, and yes, my, my longest state.
Speaker 1 00:13:13 Okay. Okay. So not your first, but your longest, uh, here at the college. Okay. Okay. And Marie, how about you?
Speaker 3 00:13:20 It’s definitely the longest I’ve lived abroad. Um, but then I had the chance of traveling and my parents and my family a couple of times to the U S so, but I’d never been to North Carolina, so that’s my first time in the south and in North Carolina.
Speaker 1 00:13:34 Okay. At what parts of the USA you’ve been to before?
Speaker 3 00:13:37 Uh, I’ve been to the west coast, uh, great parks in the Rocky Mountains and the east coast.
Speaker 1 00:13:44 Okay. Okay. All right. Uh, when you’re out west, uh, Los Angeles, San Francisco, I can remember that,
Speaker 3 00:13:50 Uh, no centers, San Diego, Las Vegas, and salt lake city. Denver.
Speaker 1 00:13:56 Yeah. San Diego is beautiful. It’s a beautiful city. Yeah. Great. Uh, let’s see here. What else do I have? Um, so let’s think about, like, maybe you talk a little bit about your time here at the college. Uh, maybe we’ll just start with you. Marie is, uh, when you think about the time you spent here so far, what’s a, maybe a highlight or two or something that you’ve really kind of enjoyed overall in your experience, uh, either teaching or doing something else here at Davidson Davey.
Speaker 3 00:14:21 Um, the most recent event I can think of is international night. Last week, when all of my students attended it was required of them, but all of them came and actually prepare something. And so they had full tables and that was so nice to see them as that outside of class, but see them involved in something that was connected to French. Um, so it was very proud of it.
Speaker 3 00:14:47 And that was also very glad to go to the CCAD conference in Louisiana, um, because it also helped me. It’s really, there are two sides of what I’m doing here. There’s this side when she’s teaching and try to show people that France is like, we can create contacts between countries, even though that’s very far away. And then there’s the more diplomatic side when we get to see the, on the broader scheme, all those international people trying to create links and connections between different universities and different schools in different countries. So that would be my two highlights.
Speaker 1 00:15:23 All right. When you were at the CCID conference, uh, did you run into, uh, other people from France who also were working at other community colleges?
Speaker 3 00:15:33 No, because, uh, I am young, uh, F F TA in a community college, but there are a lot of French people because there were a lot of French universities trying to create, um, connections. It was actually, I think, a year that was centered on France. So I got to speak with the French people from all over France. That was pretty funny.
Speaker 1 00:15:54 All right. Yeah. And when you were mentioning international ed a night last from the last week, I remember seeing you there, and I think I saw your students table too. Um, and I think, man, what a great way to kind of, like you said, take the learning out of the classroom into kind of a real environment. Um, because of certainly like one thing I think we all can appreciate as educators is a, it’s one thing to kind of, uh, learn about things through books and readings and what have you, but nothing beats being actually able to go out kind of a real applied context and, uh, you know, kind of apply what you’re learning and sharing it with other people who, especially in this case probably didn’t know much about, you know, the France or know the specific aspects of France they were talking.
Speaker 3 00:16:35 Yes, no. And that was great. Some of my students brought food, so they went over what I was just requesting. So it was a good surprise for everyone.
Speaker 1 00:16:45 And, uh, Veronica, how about you, what’s been a couple of highlights from your time here at Davidson Davy?
Speaker 2 00:16:50 Well, teaching Spanish has been like really, uh, amazing, especially teaching a lot of, um, high school students. There are a lot of early college students in my, in my classes. So that’s been very fun, challenging, and fun for me. Eh, eh, also spending the whole academic year here has been great. Uh, I learned a lot about, um, how you organize things. Um, I really enjoyed attending the conferences. Yes. CCA CC ID conference was great. As Marie said, actually meeting a lot of people from different places in one place, sharing, uh, different cultures and perspectives on things it’s like, um, very inspiring, um, and great in every aspect of life. Yes. Personnel professional.
Speaker 1 00:17:55 Very cool. Uh, was that your first time to new Orleans or had you been before for the conference?
Speaker 2 00:18:00 In my case was the first time in new Orleans and it took me a while to actually notice that that was also the United States as a, um, a beautiful city in completely different from the rest. And it was great,
Speaker 1 00:18:19 Very,
Speaker 2 00:18:20 Very loud at one point I really missed, uh, the green home here. Yeah. The VCC, the quiet and the silence. It’s a beautiful, beautiful city.
Speaker 1 00:18:35 Yeah. Um, I remember reading something about new Orleans a while back that it was like one of the most, um, like unique cities in the US. Uh, just, you know, people tend to enjoy it. Um, going back to it, you know, you, you were sharing about the Spanish classes you’re teaching is that we’ll see a beginning level Spanish, or is it more intermediate or more advanced
Speaker 2 00:18:55 Beginning Spanish.
Speaker 1 00:18:59 And I remember in one of your, a world, uh, culture events, uh, you shared some films, uh, from Argentina, which I was totally making notes on. I was like, I definitely got to watch this movie and this movie it’s on. Did you share, uh, clips or a whole, um, movies from, from the, from the list that you shared with us?
Speaker 2 00:19:18 Well, I, I, I, I did it at some point with some of the groups. Yes. Um, either to highlight a particular, uh, historical event or something. Yes. The idea of that talk was actually, um, for you to be able to see our history or to have, uh, through films are serious. That was, that was the idea. So yes, for particular things about the culture, some clips where were introduced in the classes. Not a lot of them, because I, I think that, um, eh, our films are series are, are, I mean, there are a lot of things that probably a lot of high schools, students, parents would not approve for their students to see. So yes. I mean, I have to be very careful selecting the, the material.
Speaker 1 00:20:18 Right, right, right. Yeah. Depending on the age level, that’s something that we, as our teachers always have to think about. It’s like, okay, is this going to work for that particular, um, audience of students? Yeah, absolutely. I totally hear you. Okay. Uh, another thing I was going to kind of chat with you guys about is, uh, what were some things that, uh, perhaps surprised you about Davidson Davey college or, and, or North Carolina? Um, more generally, maybe we start with the usual.
Speaker 2 00:20:47 Okay. Well, I’m really surprised me as from the community in general is, um, the importance that religion has in the area. I mean, that’s something that really amazed me, the amount of churches that you have. Uh, the, I mean, the presence of religion everywhere, you know, in Argentina, we, um, we have, uh, a capitalism as the official religion in the country actually, because it’s stated in the constitution and it’s yes. The second article of the constitution states that capitalism is the official religion. And up to the mid-nineties, I mean, the constitution was last reformed in 1994. If you wanted to hold a, um, public position, if you wanted to be, I don’t know the governor or the precedent, uh, any kind of public position you had, you had to be a Catholic. So,
Speaker 2 00:21:53 But afterward, I mean, religion is, is not as important as I see it here, even though it says that some, uh, more than 75% of the population is Catholic, actually most of the people are not practitioners. And as they just follow the, the, the, the religious calendar, because that’s how, uh, our time is it’s regulated yes. With the holidays and everything. But most people do not attend masses for instance, or do not go to church very often, except for a particular, uh, event or something. And, and, and here, well, you actually can see the presence of religion and every everyone. Yes. That’s, that’s surprised me in a way. And then while I’m, I’m really amazed, that’s because probably because I’m Argentinian and Marie doesn’t have the same perception, but, um, how careful you are with time management. That’s for instance, if you, uh, if there’s a meeting that meeting lasts or an hour and not a single minute over that hour, We are not used to doing that activity takes longer. Well, it takes longer if we are more relaxed in that way, which I’m in a, I’m not saying that one thing is better than the other. It’s just different. It’s different how we, we manage time.
Speaker 1 00:23:41 Yeah. Like if you have a, an hour set aside for a meeting, let’s say it at one, it’s like, oh, sorry, it’s 1 59. We’ve got to wrap this thing up. You know, It doesn’t happen that much in D
Speaker 2 00:23:51 No, no, no. We know when a meeting starts, but normally we do not know when it ends that’s yes. And if we need to solve a particular situation or something, we are going to say to we’ll get it over. Yes. That’s very, very different.
Speaker 1 00:24:13 I like that. Because especially if the conversational momentum is going in such a direction where, you know, you feel like you’re really making progress, uh, on whatever thing it is that you’re talking about. I mean, that makes a lot of sense. Yeah. Just like, let’s keep going with this, you know, we like where this is going. Wow, cool. Um, Marie, how about you a thing or two that surprised you either about the college, your time here or in North Carolina general?
Speaker 3 00:24:34 So something I’m not really used to is to have such, so they work days. Um, the university, sometimes I start at eight and I work until 8:00 PM. So I would have time in between, but my classes ran from very early to very late. Um, and also you have people who work when you two out for their studies, but it’s much less widespread because education isn’t as expensive in the U S far from, from that. And so it’s a very different relation to work and all studies, which I think I don’t really understand fully, uh, still, um, because when I go to school, it’s mostly I go to school so that I can work afterwards. And if I need to step up what I’m doing, they working, I can, but I don’t really consider them as being working on the same plan until you graduate. So that was something very interesting from the beginning.
Speaker 3 00:25:32 And in terms of North Carolina in general, I know that some parts of the U S are rural. And I know that Lexington is in the most rural parts, but the driving, I mean, I come from cities where in 20 minutes I can get downtown and I have public transportation. I don’t own a car in France. My parents do, but I traveled by train and by public transportation. And in, when I use the bike and the Metro and the tram, and here to have, I mean, I can drive. So it’s not a big problem, but I, I don’t think I’ve ever driven, driven that much in a year. That’s definitely something that I would probably never do again. And the notion of distance is really related. It’s you can take a weekend to the beach here, which is still a five hour, one way trip, um, which I would never do for a weekend in France. That’s just not how things work and guess is a lot more expensive too. So that’s definitely not something I would do in France.
Speaker 1 00:26:36 Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. Um, when you’re in Leon, do you prefer, w it sounds like you mostly use your bike rather than even the train. Yeah.
Speaker 3 00:26:45 I rent a bike. There’s a bike rental scheme that you pay a very low fee, and then you can use them for 15 minutes, which gets you most places, all the med schools you need to go, but it’s never more than 45 minutes away, but if you take your car, it would probably take you two good hours to cross the city. So, yeah.
Speaker 1 00:27:07 Yeah. Interesting. Yeah. I mean, I really hear you on the, on the bicycle thing, because, um, I moved here about a year or so ago from Philadelphia and, um, they were really trying to promote, encourage people to use bikes more often, but one of the challenges they found, and I think New York, same kind of thing is not wide enough bike lanes. So people didn’t feel, um, safe or comfortable enough. How about in the own or other parts of France, um, do they have like pretty good bike lanes where you feel pretty comfortable, uh, taking your bike?
Speaker 3 00:27:39 So your has that thing. We have two rivers flowing through it. Um, and so the banks has been organized that you can bank on the banks. So that’s very safe because you’re very far away from the cows. Um, but also when COVID hits people didn’t want to take public transportation as much. And so some cities, not for instance, privatize Southern lanes that we used to be either best lanes or just normal Collins, and they became full bike lanes. Um, and I don’t think they’ve gone back to how it was before. So I think some of those roads are student really much dedicated to baking. Um, so that’s trying, and I think the pandemic also showed that we needed to have other options than the very crowded bus. And so they’re trying to either widen bike lanes or to find new alternatives that would provide a safe, uh, trip for bakers.
Speaker 1 00:28:39 Wow. That’s really great. Um, because I think that that’s a really great way to encourage people, to use their bikes. Uh, you know, if it’s just have these nice wide lanes and, you know, people feel safe and, and all that. So
Speaker 3 00:28:51 Yeah, because no one likes to be past the account from very, very close and no,
Speaker 1 00:28:58 Oh man, how am I going to get hit? All right. Well, cool. Um, nothing I thought I’d talk to you guys about is, uh, if I were to visit your country, uh, your hometown or city, whatever, what would be like, uh, uh, the first, like first couple of places or cities that you’d say, Hey, Phil, you really need to see these before you see anything else. Um, maybe start with you, Marie, what would be, uh, a couple spots that you really recommend that I should see first
Speaker 3 00:29:28 Of course, you need to go to Paris, but then from someone who doesn’t come from Paris, it’s a bit tricky because we want people to go. Other places taking the train is very easy. Leo is just two hours away and it’s also a very big city and it’s very different because Paris has been rebuilt in 19th century. It has a very medieval downtown. So it’s really nice. I would say every city has a different turn and it’s very different. And the downtown area in general, in those big cities, you can just arrive there and walk your way and see all those old buildings and the beautiful churches and cathedrals. Um, so Mo more than a couple of places, I would say, if you went to any city and walks downtown, um, you would get a wonderful experience. That was what I miss here with American cities.
Speaker 3 00:30:20 I tend to do the same and expect that because I parked somewhere downtown. I can just do everything on food and see the things that the city has to offer, um, has improved very successful. You would also want to go in the countryside. Um, I know the most sunshine is a very famous place to go, whereas have some fortified cities that are really cool. Um, I, there’s a place that I love. It’s the Northern coast of Brittany because we are very white sand. And so we have a lot of beaches and the beaches of Normandy too, which are very long and flat. Um, that’s where I spent most of my vacation and this recent, a place that I really, really enjoy. So I would recommend going there it’s different, but it’s also very graphic, very scenic. Um, you have the cliffs or you have the beaches, uh, it inspired poets. It’s just something to see.
Speaker 1 00:31:18 Nice. So the beaches of Normandy, uh, some rural parts, you mentioned Leo, I really don’t know much at all about Leo. Do you know, can you share like maybe one or two things of like, what distinguishes, I mean, is it, is it best known for like tourism or is there a specific industry that it’s well known for?
Speaker 3 00:31:36 I think it was the capital of goal, and it’s still known as being the capital of gastronomy in France. There’s a lot of very good foods coming from Liam. Um, and there’s a very beautiful cathedral. Uh, it’s a Pacifica, there’s a bit of beautiful Basilica. Um, it’s a very lively city because it’s big enough and close enough to Paris that it’s very dynamic. Um, I would also recommend going to gnomes because there’s a giant mechanical elephant. That’s walking down the banks of Ledwell and that was really the attraction when I was a child. And I used to really enjoy going there. They’ve built a giant offense and it’s walking and trumpeting and spitting water to be a people it’s wonderful.
Speaker 1 00:32:23 Well, I’m going to have to get some links from you and Veronica to these places. We can share them in the, in the podcast. Now let me apologize. Uh, Veronica, how about you? What are some, some must-see places if I go to visit your own country?
Speaker 2 00:32:36 Well, Argentina is like the eighth biggest country in the world. So well, uh, a lot of places would depend on the time of the year that you want to visit. For sure. You have to visit one of Citus in the capital city. It’s beautiful. It’s known as a little Paris of Latin America because of its gorgeous architecture and culture. I mean, it’s, it’s beautiful. And then for example, if you go in the summer, I would suggest you to go to LA Patagonia or also the Southern most city in the world. Um, but in <inaudible> you can see lakes, glaciers. I mean, you can go in the, in the winter time, if you like winter sports, you can go and have a blast there in the mountains, eh, but it’s very cold. And for instance, in Australia, if you go in the, in the winter, you practically won’t have, eh, they, the same. If you go into summer, you have very, very short night nighttime there.
Speaker 2 00:33:52 Then you should go to Mendoza. And those sites in the region of kosher, that’s where the best Malbec wine is produced. And it’s where the <inaudible> is mountain. That’s the highest peak in Western hemisphere. Um, a lot of people that want to hike want to go to the Everest first, they attempt, uh, the Aconcagua. So a lot of, uh, handiness go there then in the <inaudible> we also have, uh, a place called El tell them, which is considered to be the international capital of tracking. So if you’re into tracking, you can go there, there, there are some gorgeous, gorgeous places to hike and, and tracking. And if you go in during the winter, I would suggest to, to go to the Northwest of the country, a more desert area where you have beautiful, um, eh, colorful mountains, you can enjoy the Indian culture there, be part of this ancient rituals, eh, eh, let’s celebrate for instance, the mother earth or, uh, carbon level.
Speaker 2 00:35:21 Uh, it’s, it’s lovely. And if you want to see wonderful waterfalls, you can go to the Northeast of the country and visit there and got that at the Haley WASO USO faults, which are beautiful. Those we share with Brazil, and we always argue which side is best, which side you have to stay in. And so I am in there. They’re beautiful, beautiful places. And of course you have to come to Cordova Capitol of my city. You have a lot of, uh, history to learn from this city was one of the first cities founded by the Spanish near, and the Jesuits had a very important presence in the, in the province. They actually founded the, the school that later became the national university of, or the west. So that’s the oldest one in Latin America. It’s over 400 years old. And while we have the heels that, um, in which you can find again, beautiful lakes rivers, and it’s a very, very nice area to, to spend some holidays
Speaker 1 00:36:44 While it sounds like some great fractions.
Speaker 2 00:36:45 Yes, yes. It’s a beautiful, beautiful, confirming, whatever you go there. You have a, uh, a Massey.
Speaker 1 00:36:54 Very nice for a nice. Yeah. And, uh, when you were talking about carnival, I remembered, uh, the presentation you Emory gave on, uh, your, to kind of carnival events and celebrations. And I remember yours, you know, you had those great clips of how they were like celebrating like mother earth and Andy and culture and all that kind of thing. It was really, really nice.
Speaker 2 00:37:13 Yes. Yes. That’s uh, that takes place in the Northern provinces of <inaudible>, um, very different from the kinds of, uh, carnival celebrations that you may find in the, in the Northeast that are more similar to the Brazilian type that we are used to seeing, uh, people dancing in this, uh, very small, uh, eh, swimsuits and scattered. Yes. And in August, in August, in the Northwest, you have the celebration of mother earth, actually the 10 mama, and you have these incredible rituals in which well, the people would dig holes in the ground and would, um, offer the mother earth and that of the products that they receive as a way of giving back to the mother earth, what they received and tourists would go and just take part of the, of the rituals because you have to,
Speaker 1 00:38:24 That’s fantastic.
Speaker 2 00:38:26 It is. Yes.
Speaker 1 00:38:27 Very good. All good. And when were talking about Baalbek one, it’s like, I’m definitely a wine person and Waldeck is one of my favorites. That’s a good one.
Speaker 2 00:38:37 Yes. Mendoza is widely. Uh, I mean, you have great wines as well in the north, but different varieties you have, uh, in the province of Salta is known for one of the white varieties of wine. But my bag is like our, our national drink apart from
Speaker 1 00:39:02 Yes. Yeah, yeah. I’m a latte fan as well. I mean, Montay fan as well. Yeah, yeah, yeah. The brand, I think that, uh, they sell here in the U S at least from the grocery store. I get it’s, um, I think it’s called a Yerba Montay. It’s like in a yellow bag with like little kind of flowery kind of designed to it, but it’s pretty good. I know.
Speaker 2 00:39:21 Yes. There are different brands and yeah, it will depend on the type of service we get.
Speaker 1 00:39:30 Yeah. I’m sure it’s nowhere near as authentic as what, because you’ve served, you had, you served a Mati at a couple of different events, um, at the international ed office, right?
Speaker 2 00:39:39 Yes. Well, my math is always with me. I drink all day long. Um, yes, it it’s an acquired taste. Of course it’s a, it’s a strong flavor, eh, but some people like it sweet. They put sugar in it, they put, uh, some people drink it with, um, some kind of juice, um, called hot. That would depend. I like it hot. And without any kind of sugar, like it a magical past, we say bitter. Yes. I’m medical.
Speaker 1 00:40:17 Uh, brilliant. Um, are you a coffee drinker? Are you kind of fit the kind of popular, at least a stereotype? I have a French people drinking a French press coffee, or do you like drink tea or do you like not?
Speaker 3 00:40:34 And I discovered Matt and I’d have to find how I can keep drinking it in France. Um, but no, I’m a big tea drinker. I really don’t like coffee, even though I was forced to become accustomed to the taste of coffee because in the U S there’s coffee is never really far away. So
Speaker 1 00:40:55 Yeah. Go to Starbucks and almost every corner in both cities anywhere.
Speaker 3 00:40:59 That’s true. That’s true. That’s way too much coffee from, I always get tea with no sugar, no milk. Just hot water with a bit of flavor.
Speaker 1 00:41:09 All right. Very cool. So we’ve got a couple of months they drinkers want me to be as well as we’ve got three here on the podcast. Okay. Well, uh, I want to respect your guys’ time. Uh, so, uh, I thought I’d just close by seeing if you have any other comments or things you’d like to share before we wrap up.
Speaker 2 00:41:26 No, I would like to invite the community to actually attend the passport events. I mean, well, we are practically closing the year, but I think the passport events international night, um, are a great way of getting to know about other cultures. Sometimes we think that, eh, we may become internationalized or only if we travel abroad, but that’s not true. There are plenty of opportunities to know about other cultures and actually, uh, to learn about ourselves. Yes. Um, to, um, become a global citizens sometimes without leaving the place that we live in. So I I’m really impressed for all the, the, the amount of things that, uh, are available here, uh, the DCC in terms of internationalization. And I think that you really have to be proud of it and that you have to take part of as many of the events as you can, because they are great to, uh, they’re great opportunities to learn about the work.
Speaker 1 00:42:46 Yeah, I absolutely agree. I mean, Davidson Davey really, uh, is just a distinguished itself with all, uh, it’s, uh, international education events and, and, um, you know, we’ve got their recent over the assignment award, you know, that Suzanne, uh, shared earlier and it’s just, yeah, it’s, it’s, um, I’m really kind of just when I first came to a community college, I was kind of like unfamiliar with like their experience with international ed and they’ve just done some really great work. And I think Davidson Davey is like, you know, pretty unique compared to a lot of community colleges. So, yeah, I totally agree. And you guys have just, you know, the events I’ve been to over there and international just been really enjoyable, and I’ve definitely learned a lot about Argentina and France and it’s been good. Of course, I have much more to learn as evidenced by what we’ve talked about today. So
Speaker 3 00:43:34 No, and thank you for coming. That’s the general message. I think we want people to come and then we also want to thank all the people that made our experience happened and made the experience be what it is because without people, we are completely useless because we’re here to teach and also to interact. So a very big, thank you in general, to the people who met us, come here and helped us and then interacted with us. And it’s been a pleasure and it’s not over yet.
Speaker 1 00:44:09 All right. So let’s keep it going. Okay. Well, uh, we’ll, we’ll wrap it up there. Uh, thanks again so much, uh, Veronica Marie for your time. Really appreciate it. And, uh, just again, really enjoyed, uh, all the, uh, the work and the contribution yet contributions. Uh, you both have made here, uh, to Davidson and really appreciate it. So thanks.
Speaker 3 00:44:31 Thank you for giving us the opportunity that that’s really nice and I hope useful to reach more people. And, and in general, it’s always nice to be asked to do something. So thank you.
Speaker 2 00:44:44 Thank you, Phil, for the, for the time. Um, well, we’re here, we’re in the international office. So if you want to learn more about Argentina or France or share about, uh, your own culture, we are always ready to talk. I think that’s what we liked the most.
Speaker 1 00:45:10 Yeah, no need to like, you know, spend massive amounts of money right away on a plane ticket and that kind of thing. And just pop on over to the international ed office themselves.
Speaker 3 00:45:19 You can travel from France to Argentina in less than 10 seconds. That’s a very good deal for free
Speaker 1 00:45:26 Corporate
Speaker 3 00:45:28 Has the best deal we found so far.
Speaker 2 00:45:30 Yes.
Speaker 1 00:45:32 All right. Well, thanks again, you guys have a great rest of your week.