Editor’s note: This is part two in a series chronicling the journey of international student Georgina De Moya. Read about Georgina’s first few weeks at MSU here.
Georgina De Moya isn’t sure what she’ll be for her first official Halloween in America.
Cultural connections
International student enjoys new experiences, misses home comforts
Electrical engineering sophomore Luis Kalaff and environmental studies and agriscience freshman Georgina De Moya teach salsa dancing on Oct. 2 at McDonel Hall to others on their floor. Julia Nagy/The State News
Maybe a Pocahontas-type character.
Halloween isn’t a big thing in the Dominican Republic, where the environmental studies and agriscience freshman is from. De Moya is one of 23 sponsored students attending MSU from the Dominican Republic, and her first few weeks have been challenging, but rewarding, she said.
“Everything is different,” De Moya said. “We don’t have big lecture classes. … Moving into the dorms is different.”
Some of the classes are hard. Walking around and figuring out campus without a map took some time. Making new friends has been fun.
Experiencing tailgating was … interesting, she said. But no matter the challenges, De Moya said she still loves being at MSU.
What’s missed
De Moya misses the little things. Salsa music, home and Mangu, a traditional plantain dish.
“In the Dominican Republic, (once) you step out of the airplane, you start hearing music — the merengue or salsa,” De Moya said. “It’s always there, and if it’s not, then it feels weird. … Here, you barely hear music.”
The lunch and dinner times are different here. In the Dominican Republic, dinner time is at 8 p.m.
“If you go after 8 (p.m.) here, it’s late dinner,” De Moya said. “For us, it doesn’t make sense.”
Life in the residence halls is completely foreign because in the Dominican Republic and other parts of the Caribbean and Latin America, it doesn’t really exist, according to Robert Blake, director of MSU’s Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies.
Most universities in the area do not have on-campus living, and many students choose to live at home.
“A college campus is like a town (in) itself and has its own infrastructure and social order,” Blake said. “There isn’t the same on-campus camaraderie or unity.”
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Even the social greetings are different for De Moya. In the Dominican Republic, most people say “hi” with a kiss on the cheek or a hug.
“We give a lot of love,” De Moya said. “Here it’s like, ‘Hey,’ (and a) wave.”
Blake said the social cues can be difficult for Latin American students to navigate because they are so different.
“We’re much colder and distant, and Latin America is much more up close and personal,” Blake said. “To be challenged in courses in another environment where the culture signals aren’t what they are — it’s a very daunting experience.”
As the semester goes on, De Moya said she feels like she’s losing a bit of her culture.
“Even with the other Dominicans, we don’t (greet each other traditionally) anymore (because) we’re becoming too used to not having as much physical contact,” De Moya said.
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What’s gained
As the campus became a sea of green and white for the Boise State University game on Aug. 31, De Moya prepared for her first tailgate.
“The first time I heard the word tailgating, I was like, ‘What are you talking about?’” De Moya said.
As she walked with her friends over to the tennis courts by Wilson Hall, she saw a man decked out in green body paint riding around on his bike and hollering “Go Green, Go White.”
She had no idea it was Johnny Spirit, a campus icon seen around Spartan football games for years.
“It’s crazy (on campus),” De Moya said. “People just go crazy. They do crazy dances and scream at each other. … You can see the joy on campus.”
De Moya said she’s enjoyed dorm life and the opportunities she’s gotten in McDonel Hall to not only live with Americans, but with other international students.
There are people from South Korea, Ecuador and Norway on her floor, and her roommate is from Germany.
Director of the Office for International Students and Scholars Peter Briggs said he believes interactions among international students are beneficial.
“That, to me, makes you a global citizen and is one of the coolest parts of MSU,” he said.
General management freshman Maria Pichardo, a Dominican student who lives on De Moya’s floor, said she’s enjoyed being able to hang out with the other Dominican students.
“I like it a lot because I feel like I’m at home, especially since they are on my floor,” Pichardo said.
De Moya is sharing her knowledge of salsa dancing with them by hosting salsa dancing lessons in the lobby of the floor.
The start of the semester has brought mixed feelings — homesickness, but also excitement.
“Sometimes, I feel like I don’t like (MSU) when I get homesick,” De Moya said. “But the more I get used to it, the more I like it.”
See a video of Georgina De Moya teaching her floor how to salsa dance.
