Every other year we offer students the chance to immerse themselves in the culture of Nicaragua, led by ViviendasLeón, whose motto is “Not just travel … Transformation.” Traveling to the indigenous region of Sutiaba near León, students stay in residents' homes in the rural community, where Spanish is the only language spoken. They work in rural areas on sustainable development projects—like developing gardens, creating arts and crafts for sale--that help the community become more self-reliant. Professors come to one of the homestay homes to give a lecture and lead a discussion with students about politics, culture, and history. The group also visits art history museums in León to better understand the context in which they find themselves.

Through a variety of hands-on activities, students had a chance to practice the Chinese language, learn about local life, and participate in community service projects. Among other experiences, during the trip, the students:

• Picked jade in the stream and polished it themselves
• Visited the Taipei zoo and Taroko gorge, the largest marble gorge in the world
• Explored the local life by river tracing
• Went to a tea plantation and made their own teabags
• Participated in community service
• Saw cultural sites, like the Shiqian Museum, the Palace Museum and Taipei 101, the second tallest building in the world
• Went scuba diving and explored a squid nest in a nursery house