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[post_content] => If you did not get your 2019 issue of The Dragons Journal in the mail, we've got a digital version for you!
The Dragons Journal
Community I Stories I Perspectives
The Dragons Journal is a compilation of stories and images that reflect the perspectives, ideas, and experiences of our participants, educators, and international colleagues and communities. It’s a publication of Where There Be Dragons, an experiential education organization dedicated to nurturing meaningful intercultural relationships through immersive travel.
Excerpts are below, or feel free to jump fully in....
|
Page Six | 6 | |
|
|
SENEGAL |
|
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------- |
|
|
Princeton Bridge Year: I'm (not) Writing About My Family |
|
|
BY FERNANDA ROMO, STUDENT |
|
|
 |
|
"Mungi dox literally translates to, 'it walks.' In conversation, however, one might use it to mean "it's going," "it's fine," or "it works. When I set out to write this piece, with the prompt of mungi dox in mind, I immediately thought about my family. After all, I'm living in a homestay with a total of nineteen people (I think), including three married couples and twelve kids of various ages. This is naturally bound to be a bit chaotic and might seem like a headache for people more habituated to smaller "nuclear family" living arrangements. For this reason, writing about how my household functions, how everyone pitches in, and how living in these big families actually works was sure to be a crowd pleaser. Wouldn't everyone love to hear the conclusions I'd drawn about African family structures from my experience living with the Mbayes? Regrettably, as appealing as that piece might sound, I'm not writing it. Mainly, because I can't. The more I've thought about it, the more I've realized that the chances of me being able to provide a fair analysis of this family's dynamics are about as high as those of snowfall in Dakar."
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|
Page Seven | 7 | |
| GLOBAL |
| ------- |
|
Dealing with Being a Privileged Foreigner |
| BY DANIELA PAPI-THORNTON & CLAIRE BENNETT, |
| INSTRUCTORS |
|
"Volunteers must avoid assuming that a stint as a volunteer learning from and supporting the communities in which they work enables them to truly understand the challenges faced by people in those communities. You may be able to gain awareness, get angry about the root causes of poverty, and cultivate empathy, but that umbilical cord, which acts as a safety net, means you will not be able to experience the effects of such problems in the same way. Andrea Foster, who volunteered in Guyana says, "Our economic background makes it hard for us to understand the degree of financial struggle most people in developing nations endure. Volunteers eventually come to realize how fortunate we are and usually how spoiled we are." The most important advice we have about the umbilical cord of privilege is to be aware it exists and realize others can see it, even when you cannot."
|
|
Page Twenty | 20 | |
| CHINA |
| ------- |
|
When Things Go Wrong |
| BY JODY SEGAR, CHINA PROGRAM DIRECTOR |
|
|
"Kiri also had concrete survival skills as a result of the time he spent escaping war in the wilderness. One day, Kiri came with my family for a walk in the woods and he and I went down to a stream below the path. I watched him pull a live fish, about six inches long, out of the stream with his bare hands. From that moment on, I did everything I could to emulate Kiri. Kiri had a habit of carrying photos around with him inside his t-shirt, "close to the heart." One was of his parents. Another was of a tank. After he showed me the photos, I asked my parents for some photos to put inside my t-shirt." |
|
Page Twenty Four | 24 | |
| NEPAL |
| ------- |
|
How to: Walk |
| BY AUSTIN SCHMIDT, STUDENT |
|
|
"THE SUSPENSION BRIDGE: Some of the bridges here contribute to moments of intense stress. You take the first step onto the wooden planks, alone because the bridge can support only one person (or maybe you're just the group guinea pig). The bridge is long and narrow and hundreds of feet above a river rushing down valley. The bridge swings with every step and the wooden planks creak and seem just about ready to collapse. You grasp the side of the bridge, knuckles turning white, and walk slowly, hoping your feet don't slip off the side. You wonder how it seems that you have been on this bridge forever yet you aren't even halfway across. For a second, you look up and all the fear leaves. In its place, comes amazement of your small presence among the tallest mountains in the world." |
You can read more essays from past issues of the The Dragons Journal (formerly known as The Map's Edge) or even submit a piece to be featured in our next issue by sending an email to christina@wheretherebedragons.com.
[post_title] => Digital 2019 Issue of The Dragons Journal
[post_excerpt] => The Dragons Journal is a compilation of stories and images that reflect the perspectives, ideas, and experiences of our participants, educators, and international colleagues and communities. If you did not get your 2019 issue of The Dragons Journal in the mail, we've got a digital version for you!
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The Dragons Journal is a compilation of stories and images that reflect the perspectives, ideas, and experiences of our participants, educators, and international colleagues and communities. If you did not get…
Read More
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[post_date] => 2019-02-21 12:08:17
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[post_content] => We love to see research supporting the same conclusions our alumni students and parents have come to. If you're debating the pros and cons of a Gap Year, we highly recommend this article by Psychology Today.
Here's an excerpt: 
"Universities are starting to understand the benefits of the gap year and making deferrals easier, even offering their own gap year service experiences. Tufts and Princeton offer tuition-free international service programs. Florida State University, University of North Carolina, and Duke are offering scholarships to make gap years available to students of diverse backgrounds.
“Why should we live with such hurry ….?” Henry David Thoreau wrote in 1846. This is a question we can ask ourselves today in our fast-paced society. The gap year may be a solution for some students to grow socially and emotionally, to gain maturity, or to get a stronger financial footing, so they can achieve success in the college years."
[post_title] => Featured Article by Psychology Today: Is a Gap Year Good for Your Child's Mental Health and GPA?
[post_excerpt] => We love to see research supporting the same conclusions our alumni students and parents have come to. If you're debating the pros and cons of a Gap Year, we highly recommend this article by Psychology Today...
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We love to see research supporting the same conclusions our alumni students and parents have come to. If you're debating the pros and cons of a Gap Year, we highly…
Read More
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[post_date] => 2019-01-22 10:49:57
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[post_content] => Where There Be Dragons has been selected for a Community Choice Award as one of the Top Gap Year Providers of 2018 in the category of Housing by GoOverseas.com.
GoOverseas says:
We're thrilled to recognize Where There Be Dragons as one of the best travel organizations in 2018 through this merit-based award.
Thanks for the award GoOverseas!
[post_title] => GoOverseas.com Community Selects Dragons as Top Gap Year Providers of 2018
[post_excerpt] => Winners were named by the community of travelers at GoOverseas where Dragons has 108+ participant reviews, 21 interviews, and a 98% average review grade. GoOverseas says: "We're thrilled to recognize Where There Be Dragons as one of the best travel organizations in 2018 through this merit-based award."
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Winners were named by the community of travelers at GoOverseas where Dragons has 108+ participant reviews, 21 interviews, and a 98% average review grade. GoOverseas says: "We're thrilled to recognize Where There…
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[post_date] => 2018-12-26 11:26:36
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[post_content] => The WSJ forgot to give us exact credits, but none-the-less we are excited to see our Bridge Year Program featured in the education section of the Wall Street Journal.
Here's an excerpt:
"Peter Scharer, a freshman at Princeton, spent last year studying Hindi and Urdu and volunteering at a school in northern India as part of Princeton’s Bridge Year program.
The university launched that offering for 20 students in 2009, and this year it is funding 38 students doing service projects in Bolivia, China, India, Indonesia or Senegal. Princeton covers basic living expenses and offers need-based aid for travel and incidentals like visa paperwork.
“I was stepping away from the cycle that I had been in,” said Mr. Scharer, now 19 years old. He said the
program was “a powerful way to get a different perspective on the world, better understand myself, [and] better understand what I might be interested in studying.”
Mr. Scharer said he has a new outlook on things like consumption and waste after seeing an open dump in India, and on the best way to offer aid to a needy community. He just finished a class on the interplay between national identity and language."
You can read more reflections from Peter Scharer's Princeton Bridge Year India group on our Yak board, or learn more about our Bridge Year Programs in India, Bolivia, China, Indonesia, and Senegal on Princeton's website. Or head over to the Wall Street Journal to read the full article!
[post_title] => Our Bridge Year Program Featured in the Wall Street Journal this week....
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The WSJ forgot to give us exact credits, but none-the-less we are excited to see our Bridge Year Program featured in the education section of the Wall Street Journal. The…
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[post_date] => 2018-12-13 10:03:07
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[post_content] => "It blends my love of cute things with India and this desire that I have for people to understand the rest of the world better," Sommers says.
This week, we are celebrating the recognition of Christy Sommers (Dragons South Asia Program Director) and her feature by NPR this week in a piece titled, "Dear Internet: Goats In Sweaters Are Cuter Than Kittens In Mittens." We encourage you to read the article and see for yourself seven "impossibly cute" photos of goats wearing sweaters!
From the NPR article:
"Christy Sommers, who takes the photos, first noticed the cuteness that is clothed goats in 2010, while living in a village in northwestern Bangladesh as a Fulbright scholar studying rural primary education. Now she considers the project as adding "net happiness" to the world and helping to share a little slice of life from parts of the world that Americans don't often get to see."
PS. There's also a calendar. Sales of which benefit local organizations in Varanasi, India. Sounds like Christy quickly sold out after the NPR feature, but she's working on a re-print! More details here.
[post_title] => Christy Sommers & Her Featured Goats in Sweaters!
[post_excerpt] => This week, we are celebrating the recognition of Christy Sommers (Dragons South Asia Program Director) and her feature by NPR this week in a piece titled, "Dear Internet: Goats In Sweaters Are Cuter Than Kittens In Mittens." We encourage you to read the article and see for yourself seven "impossibly cute" photos of goats wearing sweaters!
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Description
This week, we are celebrating the recognition of Christy Sommers (Dragons South Asia Program Director) and her feature by NPR this week in a piece titled, "Dear Internet: Goats In…
Read More
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[post_content] => For all those in our community that have worked, or traveled on a Dragons program, with the legendary Josh Morris, we think you'll enjoy this excerpt and article from The Salt Lake Tribune: Meet SLC Native Who Helped Rescue Thai Boys...
"The last thing that just kind of totally destroyed me in a good way was the parents came up to the headquarters area to ask if they could say thank you to the cave divers,” Morris said. “So I went out with the cave divers and translated this thank you between them.... When I saw those parents, I had a really hard time translating without crying.”
We encourage you to read the full article!
[post_title] => Dragons Alumni Instructor, Josh Morris, Making Headlines
[post_excerpt] => For all those in our community that have worked, or traveled on a Dragons program, with the legendary Josh Morris, we think you'll enjoy this excerpt and article from The Salt Lake Tribune: Meet SLC Native Who Helped Rescue Thai Boys...
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For all those in our community that have worked, or traveled on a Dragons program, with the legendary Josh Morris, we think you'll enjoy this excerpt and article from The…
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Winners were named by the community of travelers at GoOverseas where Dragons has 109 participant reviews, 21 interviews, and a 98% average review grade.
GoOverseas says:
