{"id":34321,"date":"2012-01-11T14:37:22","date_gmt":"2012-01-11T18:37:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/?p=34321"},"modified":"2012-01-11T14:37:22","modified_gmt":"2012-01-11T18:37:22","slug":"geography-students-spend-winter-break-in-cambodia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/2012\/01\/11\/geography-students-spend-winter-break-in-cambodia\/","title":{"rendered":"Geography Students Spend Winter Break in Cambodia"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
Students explore Bayon Temple<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

While winter break sent scores of college students scrambling for the comforts of home, UMW geography major Brian Brown spent his winter break out of the country for the very first time.\u00a0 He was one of seven UMW seniors in Cambodia as part of a three-and-a-half week study abroad program with Associate Professor of Geography Donald Rallis and Assistant Dean of Academic Services Amber Huffman, who is a geography graduate of UMW. The students chronicled their journeys through blog posts and social media, like Brown\u2019s description of his arrival in the country:<\/p>\n

A pop sounded from the rear of the car. \u00a0The driver slowly pulled off the dusty and dark avenue to assess the situation. \u00a0A haze hung in the air, tinted blue by a sign for a cheap hotel. \u00a0The back tire was flat. \u00a0I waited, watching motorcycles drift by at a carefree pace, while my first Cambodian acquaintance worked to get us back on the road.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Hannah Carloni and Brian Brown on the boat from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The winter break program, offered for the first time at Mary Washington, is one of only a few of its kind in the country, according to Rallis. Students on the trip will earn credit for a Geographic Study Abroad course toward the requirements for the geography major.<\/p>\n

The group arrived in Phnom Penh on December 19, toured towns and villages, attended meetings with the Peace Corps and the U.S. Agency for International Development, and learned firsthand about the challenges of rural life in the Southeast Asian country.<\/p>\n

And the students know no better travel expert and cultural guide than Rallis, who has logged 14 trips to Cambodia and countless others around the world.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis isn\u2019t just an opportunity to go to Cambodia as a trip but to spend it learning from someone who has spent his whole life engaged in other cultures,\u201d said Brown, who plans to write an honors thesis this semester based on his research in the country.<\/p>\n

With the trip at its end \u2013 the program officially ended January 11 \u2013 Brown said he was most impressed by the Cambodian people he has met.<\/p>\n

\u201cProfessor Rallis has given us chances throughout the whole trip to engage with other Cambodians one on one,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Students try their hands at harvesting rice in Takeo Province<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The students met with a survivor of the Khmer Rouge genocide who now serves as director of the Documentation Centre of Cambodia.<\/p>\n

\u201cCollecting documents to unmask the horrors of Cambodia\u2019s past was Mr. Chhang\u2019s \u2018one thing\u2019,\u201d student Hannah Carloni wrote in her blog. \u201cHe urged us to find our one thing, make it small, and nurture it.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Casey Custer, an international affairs major, the whole experience was eye-opening.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have learned to try more things, open my mind up to new experiences and to embrace the unknown,\u201d she said, noting she has gained a new respect for the Cambodian people.<\/p>\n

Traveling with his students also provided Rallis with a unique perspective.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is immensely rewarding, and more than a little humbling, to see students so engaged, interested and motivated,\u201d Rallis recently posted on Facebook. \u201cI am learning a lot more from them than they are from me. Trade secret: this is what makes teaching so worthwhile.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

To read the students\u2019 blogs or to view pictures from the trip, visit http:\/\/www.regionalgeography.org\/cambodia2011\/<\/a> and https:\/\/plus.google.com\/photos\/109852512108217343272\/albums\/5691109934136436113?banner=pwa<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n