2020 Center Updates
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Updates from IES Abroad Center Directors
Many alumni have asked how IES Abroad is weathering the unprecedented global health and economic crisis, and we are truly appreciative. We know that the crisis has had an impact on each and every one of us, and we hope you and your families are staying safe and well. Despite the heartbreak, our belief in study abroad has not wavered. The talented team at IES Abroad is still working together tirelessly on the behalf our students' health, safety, and overall well-being.
Recently, IES Abroad Center Directors share their updates on what life has been like since students departed their programs.
Amsterdam | Arles | Barcelona | Berlin | Buenos Aires
Freiburg | Granada | London | Madrid | Milan | Nantes
Nice | Paris | Paris BIA | Santiago | Siena | Sydney | Tokyo
Quito & Galápagos Islands | Vienna
"Spring has sprung in Amsterdam for sure. It seems so ironic that for the past month we did not see a drop of rain and had majestic blue skies. Something one does not automatically associate with the Netherlands. All along while the COVID-19 crisis made a lasting impact on Dutch society.
We are grateful that no one in our study abroad community has fallen ill. The Netherlands has nearly 35,000 confirmed cases (though in reality this number is higher due to restrictions of testing). Tragically, over 3,900 have people passed away.
Like so many other countries, The Netherlands has been in a semi-lockdown mode since the middle of March to alleviate the pressure on the medical services. This meant that all educational institutions, cafes, and restaurants are closed and most people work from home..."
"Let me say first of all that I hope this message finds you well and in good health. Some of you have been inquiring on how we are doing here in Arles in the current Covid-19 crisis and we very much appreciate your concern. It is indeed important to look out for one another in these hard times. You all have big, caring hearts – we know that from being with you here during our warm, sunny, colorful, and lively summers. I can reassure you: we are fine.
Arles is quiet but so beautiful, we are lucky to have very few Covid-19 cases. Strange to see an empty Place du Forum and a deserted Rue de la République in the middle of spring...but better times will come, and we are looking forward to seeing you here again for a petit café au soleil, une bonne glace artisanale ou une balade le long du quai de Rhône..."
"I am happy to report that as of today none of the members of our community here have been tested positive, although some faculty exhibited symptoms, they were not tested and they have since recovered. The general situation in Barcelona as a result of the COVID-19 crisis is being felt. As of today there have been nearly 43,000 cases of the virus diagnosed in Catalonia, and there have been around 4,500 fatalities as a result. In the latest days the number of contagions have decreased to around 650 per day. The population has now been confined for 36 days.
After on-site classes were suspended on March 12th, some students elected to go back home, and the the on-site program was suspended on March 21st, and most of our student community had left before that date. Since March 12th, our professors have transitioned their courses to an online delivery, and they are current heading towards the very last stretch: finals week..."
"Whether you studied abroad as recently as last year or many years ago, we hope your time with us continues to yield fond memories. Many alumni have reached out to inquire about the well-being of the Berlin team. Thank you for thinking of us during this crisis; we are likewise thinking of you!
The IES Abroad Berlin team—faculty and staff—remain well and in good health. The impact of this pandemic on Berlin, as I’m sure on your own community, is historic and continues to evolve. Berlin, as other federal states, instituted federal guidelines to reduce person-to-person transmissions of this virus. As a consequence, dining at restaurants, working out at fitness studios, visiting museums, and attending other large gatherings were prohibited over the past weeks. At the same time, we’ve enjoyed tremendously sunny spring weather over this period, motivating us to stroll..."
"We hope you are well and enduring this trying time. For us at the Buenos Aires Center it has been a shock to say an early goodbye to this (boreal) Spring 2020 cohort of students, many of whom had arrived in BA less than a month before! On the bright side, we have just renovated the Center and can't wait to get back there (we are all currently in quarantine at our homes). While this is tough, we believe the government has acted prudently and is (so far) flattening the curve in Argentina. We hope that, once this crisis subsides and people can get back to traveling again, you will return to visit BA, we will be there and happy to greet and help in any way..."
"Herzliche Grüße from Freiburg, which gallantly lives up to its reputation as being Germany’s sunniest city. Weatherwise, most of spring so far would have been almost a glorious summer, were it not for a little virus with great and grave consequences. The good news first: all faculty and staff are well, and we were blessed that no student in spring contracted Covid-19 whilst they were with us in Freiburg.
Now, the students have been gone for more than a month, and life and IES Abroad Freiburg have not been the same ever since. The coronavirus reached us early in the crisis, but the city and the federal state reacted quickly and competently. Freiburg was featured a couple of times in the national news for early measures in bringing and keeping the infection rate under control. The lockdown in Freiburg was comparatively flexible, though theatres, cinemas, concert halls, restaurants and cafés have been closed for quite some time now..."
"Several of you have reached out to IES Abroad wondering about the well-being of the Granada team, and I want to thank you for thinking of us in such unsettling times. I can happily report that everyone in the IES Abroad Granada team is fine and in good health. The impact that the pandemic has had on our (your!) city is relatively minor in terms of cases and pressure on our hospitals, but the economic impact will be very significant. Welcoming visitors is the #1 activity in Granada, so the extensive lockdown and the mobility restrictions and reservations that loom ahead will impact the city gravely.
Of course, nature is thriving, and places that would otherwise be packed are now quiet and serene. Geese flock to the river across from the IES Abroad building, and wild boars roam around the Sacromonte. I walked up to San Nicolás last night, and there were just about 10 of us watching the most beautiful sunset on earth..."
"London is not unfamiliar with plagues, although the lessons of the past don’t make it any less surprising and strange to suddenly feel a part of a global historical moment today. Here at IES Abroad’s London Centre we are thinking of all our students past and present and hope that wherever you are in the world, you are safe and getting used to life in quarantine. We also think of our Health Practice and Policy alumni and whether you are currently serving your community on the frontline in healthcare services. Life is strangely the same and different. In March and April, classes continued… but online, students contacted us about final projects, insurance claims, arranging a flight home… but by email and not in person. The lovely old eighteenth century building in Bloomsbury is closed, as the staff and faculty retreat to their London homes, or move back in with their families outside the city. We don’t know yet when we will return, when students will return..."
"Whether you studied abroad as recently as last semester or many years ago, it probably feels like a lifetime ago. For those of us who love to travel and explore, being confined to our homes for an indefinite amount of time can be very hard to accept. Many of you have reached out to inquire about the well-being of the Madrid team, and I wanted to thank you personally for thinking of us during this difficult time, especially now that the rest of the world seems to be in the same boat that we have been in for several weeks. I am very happy to report that all the IES Abroad Madrid team are luckily fine and in good health.
Madrid is very silent these days, with restaurants and bars closed and no nightlife. The good news is that pollution is at an all-time low and nature is thriving, but the daily reports about huge numbers of lost lives, and the economic damage caused by such prolonged inactivity will take years to recover..."
"Saluti da Milano! Whether you studied abroad as recently as last semester or many years ago, it probably feels like a lifetime ago. For those of us who love to travel and explore, being confined to our homes for an indefinite amount of time can be very hard to accept. Many of you have reached out to inquire about the well being of the Milano team, and I wanted to thank you personally for thinking of us during this difficult time, especially now that the rest of the world seems to be in the same boat that we have been in for two months.
I am very happy to report that all the IES Abroad Milano team—from the faculty to the administrative staff to the Community Assistants—are luckily all fine and in good health. The impact that this virus has had on our city—your city—can really only be understood when you see the ghost town that Milan has become, in its current, unreal silence, punctuated merely by trams, ambulances… and birds..."
"Whether you studied in Nantes in the last semester of Spring 2020 or many years ago since 1965, you all have excellent memories of this founding experience during which you were totally immersed in French and French life. It is certain that for you, as for us, lockdown is a difficult time especially for people who enjoy discovering other people and other places. But it is also an opportunity to discover new things about others and about ourselves by exchanging in a different way.
In Nantes and in France, the strict lockdown started on Tuesday March 17th, when we were supposed to welcome a Program Assessment Committee from the USA. It has been cancelled, as well as the big party we were preparing on June 11, 12 and 13 to celebrate the 55th anniversary of the IES Abroad Nantes program. All this will take place later..."
"I hope this message from Nice finds you all well, safe and sound.
This is to give you a little update of your former study abroad location Nice. All of the faculty and staff in Nice are luckily healthy and well. Thank you to all who thought about and have reached out to us asking after our well-being.
As you can imagine, Nice gave a strange impression during the period of strict lockdown from March 17th to May 11th with very limited reasons for allowance to leave the house and even then, only while carrying an attest stating these reasons. Nice was completely deserted."
"Whether you studied abroad as recently as last semester, or many years ago, I am sure that the Covid-19 pandemic makes it feel like it was a long time ago. Like everyone, the IES Abroad Paris French Studies community has been managing, supporting each other, and above all, staying safe by staying home and employing the gestes barrières necessary to contain the virus. As you probably know, the Paris region has been hit hard by Covid-19. Thankfully, all French Studies faculty and staff are doing well.
Our Spring 2020 students didn’t quite have the semester they hoped for. We suspended our program and the students left just about exactly at the halfway point in the semester. Transitioning to a completely online program was rather complicated for everyone. But we did it, and we did it well, thanks to the dedication of our professors, students, and staff. The learning continued and our students were able to get a lot out of the experience..."
"I know it feels like a lifetime ago and only yesterday at the same time that you were walking along the banks of the Seine taking in the views of Paris on your way to the Center for class or just relaxing with your friends.
We miss all of you here in Paris and hope you remember it fondly. I'm sure you've seen strange pictures online of an empty Place de l’Étoile and thought that Paris looked unfamiliar. Believe me, it is strange for us as well. Everybody on the Paris BIA team sends their regards and well wishes. We have all been confined to our homes for about two months, but everyone is doing well and is healthy.
Your care and support means the world to us and we thank you from the bottom of our hearts. Wishing you all the best from Paris and hoping all of your friends and family are doing well and are in bonne santé!"
"Who would have imagined that this miniscule virus would impact us all so much! Here we are all working from home, it has already been five weeks! I went to the center the other day and it was empty and silent, and it felt very strange!!! We miss you!
Santiago still has a curfew from 10:00 pm until 5:00 am every day. And there are still areas that are completely quarantined and people cannot go out. You should see the city is empty! The good thing is that there is hardly any smog! There were even two pumas walking around neighborhoods, for it is so silent and clean..."
"I hope this message finds you well and you are safe at home with your family.
The Siena team is doing well and we are all in good health but it is hard not to see each other every day and for sure we miss not having our students with us. We are missing the small talk in front of the coffee machine, the “what did you do during the weekend?” in the student lounge on Monday mornings, the conversations about Italian movies that we recommended. We miss our daily life with you and the Siena host families are missing their IES Abroad kids.
Siena as well is not the same, so empty and quiet, as I have never seen in recent years, even if Sienese people find the way to be in touch and feel again a community The square is slowly becoming green again..."
"I hope all of our fabulous alumni are safe and sound at this hard time. We here at IES Abroad Sydney are helping Australia to flatten the curve and are staying safe in our homes.
The fabulous beaches you learnt to surf at remain closed (except if you are an ocean swimmer or a surfer) and we can only get Flat Whites in takeaway cups on the run. We look forward to being able to have brunch in the sun in the future but know and accept that it will take a long time.
However, Aussies have been rediscovering the wonders of home. Many a house has their Vegemite on fresh bread in the morning, eating homemade meat pies for lunch, and washing down their roast dinner with homebrew beer. While we are missing seeing our Rugby League and Netball stars play, we are hoping that professional sport will be up and running before September..."
"Here in Tokyo, Covid-19 has been a slow burn and people are only now beginning to realize the impact on society here. With such a burgeoning population of elderly people there is plenty of room for concern. And yet there is a strange air of complacency and concern as many people are still not fully cognizant of the impact that this crisis will have on their lives.
Thankfully, Tokyo staff and their families are all okay so far, but without any students here this spring and summer, and a state of emergency and general shutdown in place, it is hard to believe that we haven't all woken up in the middle of a dystopian fiction novel mashed up with Groundhog Day..."
"The time passes so quickly and it has been one month and few days that Ecuador has been in quarantine.
We have many cases of COVID-19 in Ecuador as of now. More than 30,000 test have been conducted and from those, more than one-third of cases tested positive, but we also a similar amount of cases testing negative. However, the curve has started to level since last week and the situation is more under control thanks to a lot of state and local governmental measures such as curfew, mobilization control, social distances, and many other rules known around the world. All malls, shops, cinemas and others are closed and at the moment we only have supermarkets and pharmacy’s open on a special schedule. The Galápagos Islands have been on lockdown since a month ago. Airports and interisland transportation are stopped..."
"These are exceptional times and cause for much thought about the state of our world. If nothing else, COVID-19 has taught us that we are all vulnerable and that humanity has much to gain from working together.
That, of course, is a message fundamental to our mission at IES Abroad, an ideal that we thrive on every day as we see our students through the process of expanding their sense of self in a foreign setting. That was all cut short in a devastating manner this semester. After we announced the suspension of onsite programming on March 15, 200 of our students had to leave within days only to resume their courses online from home the following week. I feel so sorry for their unavoidable loss of opportunity..."
