The beginnings of an international correspondent

In tradition of being a writer, I find comfort in those that share my passion. I enjoy writing about a variety of things because they bring challenge to my job, and educate me about things I didn't know before. But the biggest challenge for me would be to take away the language I know so much about (most of the time), and have an assignment to write about a completely different one.
Vanessa Veiock, a senior at the University of Iowa, was a student in Spanish and journalism when she combined the two in a semester in Spain. "Lost in translation" is a literal description of what happened to Vanessa in her study abroad experience.

Vanessa wrote for CafeAbroad.com, a social networking site for study abroad students, in the fall of 2006, and continues to write and edit for their new print additions. Knowing Spanish, and majoring in it, Vanessa said was still not able to completely prepare her for this internship. CafeAbroad.com has postings on the restaurants, dance clubs, festivals and other local specialties written by students in the area for other or future students. She wrote about an article per week, and some reviews of local bars and bands. For this, Vanessa said she would have to interview patrons and business owners, which was not the same as she would when she wrote the The Daily Iowan.
"Email is not as popular," she said. "There it could take up to five weeks for someone to get back to you."
She also struggled with the words themselves, having to translate as she wrote. Vanessa studied in San Sebastian, a region in northern Spain called Basque where local dialect is more similar to Italian, she said.
Without the fallback of email, which many journalists and laypeople alike take for granted, Vanessa began to enjoy face time with her sources. She would develop relationships with them, "instead of relying on a machine."
She interviewed the owner of a cider house, which was owned by the same family for generations. By talking in the best Basque she could, she saw for herself the tradition involved in a cider mill.

As Vanessa and I are talking, she describes her rings, of which she has eight, coming from different places and people. She gives off a graceful air, which we both agree to atribute to her travel experience. Traveling gives you a sort of confidence, she said, especially to a country with a foreign language. Trying new things, like local foods, requires an adventurous spirit. Unpleasantries aside, which are going to be common in unfamilar places, developing as a stronger person, and in Vanessa's case, a stronger writer, follows you your whole life.

Vanessa definitely still has her travel bug inside of her - while abroad the first time she also traveled to Scotland, Portugal, Italy, and even a spontaneous individual trip to Dublin. She will also be traveling to India over winter break for more hands-on experience, this time learning business planning for non-profits.