Traveling to Baños took a full six hours, it took a mile walk, two crowded trolley busses, and another bus to get to Baños. After we arrived, we headed to the hostel Alcanzar. I've never stayed in a hostel before, so that was quite surprising. Although it was only $6 a night, it had "erratic" water temperatures, a dead spider in the bed, just enough space for a bed, and an unavoidable (and unforgettable) stench.

However, that's where the bad stuff ends. After a night of getting my butt kicked at pool, eating their famous salchipapas for $2, buying helados outside a store at 12 AM and happily dancing to crazy Ecuadorian music that we knew none of the words to, we woke up early to start our tour of the cascadas, or waterfalls. We boarded onto this chiva, which is like an open bus, and cruised around for about 3 hours to view 7 waterfalls.

We took this short ferry ride to view the waterfall, and bought shrimp kabobs and bananas with cheese (surprisingly good). For the last waterfall, it was a legfest going back up- straight vertical for about 2 miles to get to the chiva. But when you made the descent, you saw this crashing waterfall that you can stand in front of to get absolutely drenched.

After our tour ended, we decided to check out the actual piscinas which Baños is famous for. They are a bunch of naturally hot pools right by this waterfall. When we got there, we found something resembling a public pool with hundreds of people in it and opted out. Didn't look like too much fun, or attractive whatsoever (especially for the common germophobe). My friend, Kathy decided to do a different type of baño: one in a box. They alternate steaming your body, scrubbing it, and dousing it with cold water. Apparently it's amazing for your skin. Also has a slight comical element because it looks like you're trapped in a guillotine.

We took a chiva in the nighttime to visit the nearby volcano; unfortunately, there was too much fog to view it. We watched this incredible fire-juggling show with about 300 other audience members.

Oh. I forgot to mention one TINY detail. I realized that if there was a time to bungee jump, it was now. Not only that, but I went first, I was up on a bridge overlooking a crashing river for only 10 seconds before I jumped, AND I put my arms out. I actually wish I fell for a longer amount of time. It was a short jump that came with a seemingly endless amount of adrenaline, emotion, and self-belief. As we put it oh so smartly, "Today I love everything because today is today". It's pretty funny looking back on it and realizing how high on life we were that day, and how nothing, not even freezing ourselves in pouring rain all day, could change that. My memories of this weekend trip to Baños will always bring a little confidence and a big smile.

This post is by Gizelle Pera, a junior at CMC who studied abroad in Quito, Ecuador for the Fall semester of her junior year. She is a Biology major and wants to become a dentist.

Neither of my Ribeirinho home stay parents could read nor write. My sister, who attended school 2 hours each day, only reads and writes on a basic level. However, these Amazonian communities are extremely skilled in sustainably harvesting crops, living off the land, building anything they need and what most impressed me; everyone could wield a "mean machete!" The difference in education between this community and the United States made me realize how blessed I am to have such a quality education and so many opportunities.

On a whole, this rural home stay and study abroad was the most rewarding and life-changing experience that I've had. I was completely outside my comfort zone the entire time, worked so hard, ate different foods and had to speak solely Portuguese. Since I was able to live this way and deeply understand another way of life I've reached an entirely new level of toughness and perseverance. Plus, I have a new outlook on my education. I must take advantage of every opportunity I have, work as hard as I can and learn as much as I can because I have been blessed with opportunities and resources that many people in the world might not ever have.

Once again, this year's World MUN conference proved to be the highlight of my semester. The conference brought to light what I have learned about in the classroom, allowing me to witness and partake in diplomacy and foreign policy mock initiatives. For one week, I was able to interact with intelligent students from around the globe, tackling real-world problems, and engaging in friendly discussion.

I was in the Special Political and Decolonization Committee. This year we confronted the topic of xenophobia and immigration in South Africa. This is an extremely pertinent issue because of the upcoming World Cup and the threat it poses to regional stability in Africa. This was also an extremely relevant issue for the country we were representing, Botswana. As one of the most successful countries in Africa, Botswana also has a large immigrant problem. Recently, Botswana has experienced an influx of illegal immigrants from Namibia and Zimbabwe, which has helped stir widespread xenophobic sentiment. Once lauded for its open immigration policy, Botswana has begun an aggressive strategy of deportation and border control.

In confronting the topic, I tried to re-center the debate towards the larger Africa region by looking at the root causes of immigration. Any resolution that dealt solely with security and repatriation would provide only a topical remedy to a deep-rooted problem. The inherent cause of immigration, lack of employment opportunities in the countries from which these immigrants hail, needed to be addressed. Thus, in creating a resolution, we looked to implement a comprehensive solution including repatriation policies, anti-corruption and security measures, and education and economic development initiatives, which would stem the tide of immigrants and diffuse xenophobia by educating local populaces.

This year's committee proved to be quite challenging because it was a very large double delegation committee. As a single delegation, it was difficult to partake in both the resolution writing and the more formal debate. As such, I had to leverage my time and power strategically. I forged a strong alliance with other African countries, and we consolidated our ideas into a resolution sponsored by the African block.

On a personal level, the conference also had a profound impact on me. I was extremely impressed by all the delegates from other countries who were able to debate and speak at such high levels in a non-native tongue. I was also inspired by the level of compromise and team-work I saw throughout the conference. All in all, the conference reaffirmed my belief in the value and potential of diplomacy in decision-making.

The best part of World MUN is always the amazing people you get to meet from around the world. It helps renew the sense that you are a citizen of the world and that a strong commonality exists among us all, despite our origins.

The World Model UN conference is truly an amazing opportunity, which provides personal growth and shapes future leaders in the international realm.

After months of planning and fundraising, six CMCers, who are members of the Claremont Colleges Rotaract Club, finally saw their plans for an international service trip to Peru come to fruition this past winter break, and I had the amazing opportunity of participating in this trip.  My first time in the developing world was an incredibly positive experience.  We volunteered for a non-profit called Association Promoting Education and Conservation in Amazonia (APECA).  Our service trip revolved around the implementation of two projects – a reforestation project and a health outpost renovation project – in a small village along the Amazon River called Nueva Esperanza, a village of about 100 people.  As an International Relations major with a strong interest in developing countries, I was fascinated by the dynamics of social, political, cultural, and economic factors in Peruvian development.