The Educated Traveler

Study Abroad Doesn’t Stop With Adulthood

By Ann H Waigand

I discovered Transitions Abroad 25 years ago, just as I headed out to graduate study in Germany. Within two years I completed a graduate degree, married, settled down with my first job, and assumed the door to study abroad was now closed. On the contrary. Over the past 25 years—as part of the expanding interest in lifelong learning—the number of adults participating in study abroad or attending short-term classes overseas has exploded. The current issue of Transitions Abroad brings you an extensive selection of these offerings. I preface this annual listing with a few favorites among the short courses I’ve uncovered over the years.

Tango Anyone?

When I first went looking for tango lessons in Argentina the man who answered the phone at Bridge to the Tango was remarkably enthusiastic. “Daniel Trenner [founder of Bridge to the Tango] is probably the best tango dancer in the world,” said the eager receptionist, who turned out to be Trenner’s dad. Before starting his now booming business—which includes a catalog full of books, videos, and music—Trenner toured Europe as a professional dancer. He has taught and performed on four continents over a 20-year career and was honored by Stanford Univ. as the individual who has done the most to promote the tango in the U.S. In addition to beginner and advanced tango workshops in Buenos Aires, in 2002 he will also teach tango in Havana as part of a U.S. Treasury Department-approved cultural exchange. Contact: Bridge to the Tango, P.O. Box 560127, West Medford, MA 02156, 888-DTango7; www.bridgetothetango.com. For a list of other “approved” programs in Cuba contact the Cuban Study Center at 212-242-0559.

Bellydancing Abroad

The professional teachers at the Middle Eastern Dance Camp/Workshop focus on Egyptian, Persian, and classical bellydancing. Joan Kafri, the workshop organizer and an accomplished bellydancer, says those who have never moved in such a way need not fear. Participants in the 10-day seminar stay on a kibbutz in the Jordan Valley, 15 minutes from Tiberias, and are “adopted” by kibbutz members who act as host families. The 22 hours of classes include a zar ritual workshop and attendance at a gala show. Excursions to Jerusalem and Tel Aviv round out the itinerary. Contact: Joan Kafri, 1707 Callejon Veronica, Santa Fe, NM 87501; 505-983-7725.

L’Ecole des Chefs

After working in the famous kitchens of Paris with master chefs, Annie Jacquet Bentley returned to the U.S. “highly inspired” to create L’Ecole des Chefs as “a completely cultural, as well as a culinary, experience.” Together with Yann Jacquot, she has developed a series of programs in which one to two interns spend a working week in some of the finest restaurants in Paris and the surrounding countryside. (Currently, there are 45 prestigious Michelin stars among the 18 French chefs participating in the L’Ecole des Chefs program.) Interns literally “learn the life of the kitchen” as they wake early to go to market with the chefs and eat with the restaurant staff. L’Ecole des Chefs will customize internships to fit your culinary preference. Contact: L’Ecole des Chefs, P.O. Box 183, Birchrunville, PA 19421; 610-469-2500; www.leschefs.com.

Sculpting at the Source

If my sister hadn’t been born with all the art talent allotted to our family, I would have long ago headed straight to Pietrasanta, Italy to take one of the 3-week marble workshops offered each summer by American sculptor, Lynne Streeter. Pietrasanta (“sacred stone”) faces the sea at the foot of the Apuan Alps. Streeter’s participants select the stone they will work in nearby Carrara, Michelangelo’s own source. With the assistance of master sculptors, students craft sculptures to completion. Lynne also offers an alabaster sculpting workshop in Can Serrat, an artists’ cooperative northwest of Barcelona, Spain. Contact: Lynne Streeter, Marble & Art Workshops, P.O. Box 7371, Oakland, CA 94601; 510-533-8893; www.action2000.com/newpg/marble&art.workshops.html.

Soft Furnishing Workshops

Travelers to Britain can receive expert instruction in crafting “soft furnishings” in workshops offered in the Lake District or Cambridge. Maureen Whitemore has converted a coach house into studio space where students spend a day or two learning how to make valances, cushions, swags, and tails. Contact her at Maureen Whitemore Furnishings, Foxton House, Lowther Street, Penrith, Cumbria CA11 7UW, England; 011-44-1768-863895; www.maureenwhitemore.co.uk. An ideal spot to stay nearby is the Old Church Hotel on the shores of Lake Ullswater where Wordsworth saw the daffodils (Old Church Hotel, Watermillock, Penrith, Cumbria CA11 0JN, England; 011-44-17684-86204; www.oldchurch.co.uk). Cambridge Fine Furnishings (Pelham House, 36 Grantchester Rd., Newnham, Cambridge CB3 9ED, England; 011-44-1223-357-456; www.cambridgefinefurnishings.co.uk) teaches everything from making curtains and tassles to silk lampshades.

Canoe Building in Quebec

David Gidmark, probably the world’s foremost expert in building birchbark canoes, will offer this year’s workshop in Quebec following a week-long course on kayak building. Gidmark and his wife, Ernestine, of Spanish River Ojibway descent (her grandfather was also a birchbark canoe builder), anticipate returning to the island next year to offer classes in Tahitian language and cooking. Contact: David and Ernestine Gidmark, Box 26, Maniwaki, Quebec J9E 3B3, Canada; 819-438-2382.

ANN WAIGAND, a consultant and writer in special-interest travel, was the founder and editor of The Educated Traveler newsletter.