Fall 2009 - University of Montevallo

Foreign Language Newsletter
University of Montevallo
Alexander Mechitov in Brazil
In June 2009 I had a chance
to visit Vicosa Federal University in Brazil as a part of U.S.Brazil Arts and Culture Initiative. That visit gave me a
chance to participate in III
International Workshop
“Perspectives on Education
and Economics in USA and
Russia” held in Vicosa University. During that workshop I
gave three two-hour lectures
on different topics from current
macroeconomic analysis to
applied economics and behavioral decision making. Brazil is
a large country, similar to the
U.S. by its territory size and
population. And Brazil is also
one of the main emerging
markets in the world economy
with many success stories in
science, industry, and agriculture. Young Brazilians are
ambitious and very much interested in advancing their
knowledge in economic theory
and business practices. It was
truly nice to exchange with
students and colleagues our
views on global economic
issues
a n d
Volume 3, Issue 1
Fall 09
Special points of interest:
 Business Professor at Vicosa Federak University
 FL Alumn Tia Johnson’s
Trip to Guuatemala
 Sigma Delta Pi’s Food
Drive
current business problems in
U.S.-Brazil relationships.
In addition, I use that trip to
enhance my knowledge on
educational system in Brazil.
Its structure and organization
is rather different from American education and more close
to European academic model.
With expanding student exchange programs between our
two countries, knowledge
about those differences be-
comes important and helpful.
Vicosa University is a very
interesting place for such
study, as it is the most
“American” style university in
Brazil and the only one with a
large beautiful campus.
I have to say that I liked pretty
much everything I saw and
encountered in Brazil – its rich
tropical nature with rugged
and uneven landscape, its
wonderful climate, its delicious
cuisine. But the most I was
impressed by Brazilians of all
ages, who are very enthusiastic, friendly, open-hearted, and
ready to discuss and watch
soccer 24-7. In Fall 2009 several students from Vicosa are
coming to Montevallo, and I
am sure they will nicely contribute to our campus life.
 Montevallo in Madrid
 Montevallo in Mérida
Inside this issue:
Tia Johnson in Guatemala
2
Sigma Delta Pi’s Food
Drive
2
Montevallo in Madrid
3
Montevallo in Mérida
4
Page 2
Volume 3, Issue 1
Tia Johnson in Guatemala
Hi, my name is Tia Johnson. I had the
privilege of traveling this summer to Guatemala for two weeks. I went with the
Church of Shelby Crossings for a mission
trip. We arrived May 18 in Guatemala
City. It is a huge city, but seems pretty
dirty. There were eight of us that went,
and we all stayed at a ministry house in
between Guatemala City and Antigua.
The pastor who was in charge of our trip
was named Tom. He was quite a funny
character!!! He met and married his wife
many years ago. She is Hispanic and he is
English and he said they could barely
communicate for the first few years of
their marriage!!! They have an adopted
daughter named CheryLeigh.
moving experience. It is really sad because so many of the people do drugs
down there that you could smell it very
strongly. They used some type of a substance that smelled like paint thinner.
One some of our first days there we got to
visit some Mayan Ruins, named Iximche.
We also helped to do a street ministry,
where they held a church service for the
street people and served them breakfast.
We prayed with the people, it was a very
At one of the clinics I had a really good
experience. I feel that God was watching
over me. I am diabetic, and we were out
in this remote village. I was playing soccer with some of the kids and my sandal
broke. It is dangerous for diabetics to go
We went one day to a village close by
where we did a medical clinic. I got to
help Tom because I can speak some
Spanish, so I would write prescriptions
out for the families while he attended to
them. We met a man named Italo, who
does ministry with Tom. Their ministry is
called Hearts for the Children. Italo is a
clown and performs for the children,
preaches to the street people, and plays
guitar, piano and sings.
barefoot, and so I was worried because
my shoe was broke and I didn’t have any
more. A little while later I was standing
there and this lady from the village comes
walking up to me with a plastic bag and
in it was a pair of gold sandals that were
my size!!! They fit and I was so proud of
them. The lady was truly kind and I felt
so thankful!
We also had Vacation Bible School for
the children, went one day to the beach on
the Pacific Ocean, visited the beautiful
city of Antigua, and had many more adventures! Our last night there, Tom set a
bunch of fireworks up for us, had us a
special dinner, and while we were eating,
a ten person or more Christian mariachi
band comes walking in and starts playing!! It was a wonderful trip and I hope
to return someday!
Sigma Delta Pi’s Food Drive
In August 2009, Epsilon Eta Chapter of
Sigma Delta Pi the Spanish Honor Society organized a Food Drive to help the
Hispanic community in the Birmingham
area. Donors of non-perishable food
items received in exchange of those items
TV video games.
The Multicultural Resource Center is a
branch of the Catholic Social Services
whose mission is to provide to lower income families. With the situation of our
economy, La Casita has seen an increase
of the community’s need for necessary
every day items, especially food. La Casita prepares food bags for families who
are not able to afford such staple food
items. La Casita is located in Hoover near
Lorna Road.
Donors Mrs. Williams and Leris Hambleton.
Leonor Vázquez (faculty Advisor of Sigma
Delta Pi), Brenda Bullock (Director of “La
Casita”, Leslie Hillhouse, and Tonja Battle
(Sigma Delta Pi members.)
Page 3
Volume 3, Issue 1
Montevallo in Madrid
During the months of May and June, nine
students of the University and Montevallo
traveled to Spain with Dr. Rosa Maria
Stoops, Assistant Professor of Spanish
and French, to complete their second year
of Spanish studies. The group traveled to
Madrid and stayed at San Lorenzo de El
Escorial, a small town on the slopes of the
Guadarrama Mountains, also home of the
famous Monastery of El Escorial, a national monument of Spain that has also
been declared Patrimony of Humanity.
During their four week stay in Spain, students participated in an intensive Spanish
course and made visits to the City of Madrid where they visited the Museo del
Prado, the Palacio Real, the Royal Armoury, visited an authentic flamenco
dance ‘tablao’, and had the opportunity
to shop and enjoy the wonderful gastronomy of Spain. The group also traveled to
the city of Segovia for visits to the famous Roman Aqueduct, the Cathedral,
and the Alcazar of Segovia, the historic
residence of the Catholic Monarchs of
Spain. In Toledo the group visited the
stunning Cathedral, the House of El
Greco, and had the opportunity to see the
magnificent collection of original portraits of the 12 apostles by El Greco
housed at the Cathedral of Toledo. The
rest of the time, students spent their days
at the Real Centro Universitario Maria
Cristina, a campus of the Universidad
Complutense de Madrid, where they met
Spanish students of the School of Law,
School of Business, and Chiropractic
School and had the opportunity to practice their Spanish skills. In this photo, the
Montevallo in Spain 2009 group with the
background of the Roman Aqueduct in
Segovia.
When you visit the Aqueduct of Segovia
you always wonder why there are dimples
in all the blocks of stone of the structure.
The story is marvelous. Legend has it that
Front row, kneeling: Joshua Brasher and Rachel Farlow.
Standing left to right: Sara Parker, Tiffany Brown, Rosa Maria
Stoops, Brittany Bivins, Bryan Daniel, Angelica Mojica, Jessica
Littlejohn, and Carla Smith.
a young, pious girl asked God to bring
more water to Segovia, but since the
Devil is always looking for trouble, before God could answer, he immediately
appeared to the young girl and offered her
to bring the water to Segovia in exchange
for her soul. The good girl accepted and
the Devil went to work. He built the acqueduct in one night. The dimples in the
stones are the marks of the Devil's fingers
as he put the pieces together. Later on, the
girl repented, God forgave her, and the
Devil was frustrated one more time. We
rejoiced in hearing stories like this
throughout our trip. In Spain everything is
history, legend, or poetry.
University of Montevallo
Department of English and Foreign Languages
Station 6410
Montevallo, AL 35115
Montevallo in Mérida
Phone: 205-665-6410
Fax: 205-665-6522
The 2009 Montevallo in Mérida program
ran between June 10 and July 11. Eight
students participated in the program,
which was led by Dr. Eric Vaccarella.
During the month, all students lived with
local families and attended Spanish
classes for four hours daily at the Instituto
del Estudio de la Comunicación de Yucatán in Mérida. As in previous years, the
students earned six academic credits.
Mérida is the capital of Yucatán state, and
has a population of approximately one
million. The group made numerous excursions to museums, historical and archaeological sites, and cities outside of
Mérida. These included a four-day journey to the southern state of Chiapas,
where we stayed in the beautiful colonial
town of San Cristóbal de Las Casas and
explored the ruins of the great Mayan
ceremonial complex of Palenque.
Among our most memorable excursions,
was our visit to the Mayan city of Mayapán. Mayapán is located about an hour
south of the Mérida. It is a later site, and
was still occupied when the Spanish first
arrived in Yucatán in the early sixteenth
century. Because it is smaller, more compact, and less well known than many
other Mayan sites, Mayapán was the most
easily accessible and least crowded site
we visited. On the morning we arrived,
we were the only visitors. We spent
about two hours exploring the ruins,
climbing some of the larger structures,
taking pictures, and contemplating the
history of this fascinating place. Our
guide, Gabriel Pérez, offered many interesting details about the site’s significance.
At the more visited sites such as Chichen
Itzá and Uxmal, visitors are not allowed
to climb the larger buildings. Climbing
the pyramid and other structures at Mayapán gave us all a greater appreciation
Kay Hodgin, Keely Vaughn, Stephen Beatty, Gabriel Pérez, Daphne Kennedy, Susan Howard, Eve Durcach, Jennica Stein, and Amanda McMahon.
for the grand scale of Mayan architecture. From the top of the central temple, we had a
wonderful view of the site and the surrounding countryside. The climb down was a
little treacherous, but once we were all safely on the ground, everyone had a real feeling of accomplishment. The pictures accompanying this article were taken at Mayapán. The first shows the group atop the main temple of the city. The second shows
several students making the climb down the temple’s steep staircase.
This year’s trip marked the fourth Montevallo program in Yucatán since 2005. Plans
are currently in the works for the 2010 trip.