This summer, after all the studying and essays, students may be looking forward to taking a break from school, and possibly taking in some new surroundings. For some students, getting out of the classroom will be enough of a change in scenery, but others might want to get out of the state or even the country. But whether looking for an escape from the daily grind or seeking out discovery, students might want to hear from some of the more seasoned vacationers at Sinclair Community College while brainstorming locations for their own summer vacation.
Mohsen Khani
Mohsen Khani, Geography professor at Sinclair, traveled to Costa Rica and Peru for three weeks in November and December 2011.
Khani spent his first two weeks balancing work and play in Costa Rica with Sinclair and Wright State University colleagues during a collaborative Spanish and Literature course, and later with additional colleagues, helping to develop modules for peace and conflict resolution.
During the third week of the trip, he met up with friends, traveled across Peru and visited Machu Picchu.
Khani said he spent some time zip lining in the rainforest and visiting a volcano, but his experience in Peru, at Machu Picchu, was “absolutely phenomenal.”
He guessed that he has traveled to approximately 35 countries, including China, India, Egypt, Turkey, Greece and Australia. He said as a geographer, he wants to travel and experience as much of the world as possible and wouldn’t visit the same place twice until he had done so, but admits that he would return to Peru and Machu Picchu.
“No amount of reading comes even close to the real experience of visiting a place and experiencing the local culture first hand,” Khani said. “I encourage everyone to travel, and see as much of the world as possible.”
David Haase
Flight Lab/Aviation Technician David Haase piloted a Cessna 172 to St. Petersburg, Fla. late last April to surprise his long-distance girlfriend, who studies at Eckerd College, with an impromptu weekend visit.
“It was a complete surprise,” Haase said. “I just showed up at her dorm. Complete surprise — knocked her socks off.”
Haase said it had been a couple months since he had been able to see her last.
“That was nice, just to be able to take her on a date and hang out with her,” he said.
At that weekend’s close on the way back to Ohio, Haase was forced to land in Athens, Ga. due to unfavorable weather. He described the next day’s flight as being “spooky” and “a very rough trip” due to increasing thunderstorms.
“I was flying in the weather the whole time,” he said. “It was really windy, really bumpy, a lot of turbulence and I’m in a tiny, little airplane. So it was very draining, but a very good experience, educationally — and that’ll definitely make you grow some hair on your chest.”
Haase said he thought to himself upon landing, “thank God I’m home,” but added that “it wasn’t too hateful and I really enjoyed my time.”
Haase said he looks forward to returning soon to see his girlfriend and to revisit Anna Maria Island, which he described as having a beautiful setting with great restaurants and a really nice hotel, right on the beach.
Rex Mt. Castle
Rex Mt. Castle, web developer and adjunct faculty member at Sinclair, spent a week at Walt Disney World, outside Orlando, Fla. in 2009 with his family.
But what stood out most to him on this trip wasn’t the spectacle of the resort itself, but the kindness of a single stranger.
While walking through Hollywood Studios, Mt. Castle’s 9-year-old son dropped his popsicle, and an employee, presumable a custodian, immediately stopped his cleaning duties and fetched Mt. Castle’s son a brand new popsicle, free of charge.
“No request; just ‘we’re on it,’” Mt. Castle said. “We didn’t even know who he was.”
Although losing a popsicle might not be considered a travesty to most adults, Mt. Castle said the incident had the potential to put a hamper on his young son’s fun-filled day.
Mt. Castle said, as Disney Vacation Club members, his family tends to go to Disney World every year, but this act of out-of-the-blue customer service was “just amazing.”
For Mt. Castle, the concept of making others feel welcome was making the big takeaway
“You need to be able to take risks and step out of your bounds, if you’re not extraverted, by helping other people that you don’t know,” he said.
Samuel Sawaya
Although Samuel Sawaya, assistant professor of History at Sinclair, has visited 26 countries in his lifetime, he considers his three-month stay in Lebanon when he was 19 years old to be his most memorable holiday.
On June 1, 1968, Sawaya set off on his first adult trip to Lebanon and stayed with his family in two different locations, his grandfather’s home in a Christian-Muslim mixed neighborhood of Beirut, and in a house in the Lebanon Mountains.
Sawaya said the greatest takeaways from his experiences in Lebanon were the historic and cultural connections he made with his family.
“I’m very much a family-oriented person, and I learned on that trip that sometimes friends are family too,” he said. “I didn’t see the ugly Middle East; I saw the beautiful Middle East — what I wish most people would be able to experience. The anger and the hostility I’m sure was there, I was probably too slow to pick it up, but I saw too many good things.”
He watched the Stuttgart Ballet perform in the Roman ruins of Baalbek, saw first-hand examples of his family’s stone cutting construction trade, learned to enjoy Arabic coffee, toured a monastery that kept a chandelier donated by Napoleon, slept in the mountains, frequented local marketplaces and encountered wild Mercedes-driving cabbies.
His fondest memory is the day he and his family spent in the Grove of the Cedars in North Lebanon, having a picnic and learning about the history of Lebanon and his family.
“That was probably my favorite day in Lebanon, because that’s when I realized I was home,” he said.
Sawaya developed relationships with family members and friends that continue today.
“You can imagine: I’m sitting there and watching the cousin, who I was best man at his wedding, play tennis and someone yells out, ‘Hey, Sam Sawaya!’ and five of us answer – that, to me, was cool,” he said.
Sawaya also had the opportunity to become accustomed to the distinct pace of daily life and social rituals, as well as the experiences and exposure that enriched his appreciation of world history.
“The worst part of Lebanon was leaving,” he said. “I never left Lebanon happy. I was always unhappy that I was leaving because of the family, and the attachment to the people, the culture and the land.”
Hopefully these testimonies give you a better idea for your next vacation. If you have, or are thinking about taking a vacation to a place worth sharing, email us at clarion@sinclair.edu.