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9/3/2009 Rice student named correspondent for Glimpse
BY JESSICA STARK |
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Courtney Ng will chronicle her experiences abroad in Glimpse, an online publication supported by the National Geographic Society. One of Ng's adventures led her to Ollantaytambo, a fortress and ceremonial center where the emperor Manco Inca Yupanqui defeated Spanish conquistadors.
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While working to research the relationship between the ruins of Huaca Pucllana and the ever-expanding city of Lima, Ng will put down her shovel and school books and pick up a pen. She will chronicle her adventures as one of only 10 recently chosen correspondents for Glimpse, an online publication supported by the National Geographic Society. More than 400 students and professionals applied for the gig, which offers a stipend, support from a team of editors, career training, publication on Glimpse.org and the possibility of being featured on National Geographic's Web site.
"I've always been inspired by people and places and moments that make me question the things I've always believed in; the things that force me to rethink the way I live my life," said Ng, a Hanszen College junior who was born and raised in Brooklyn, N.Y. "For that reason, the best writing has always come out of my travels, and the experience of traveling is always enhanced by the time I take to sit down and think about what I've seen and done. For me, traveling without writing is almost pointless. It reminds me of the Virginia Woolf quote: 'Nothing has really happened until it has been recorded.'"
For Ng, the Glimpse opportunity is a chance to record and share those experiences with a wider audience of writers, photographers and travelers who share her curiosity. The idea of publication is a bit intimidating for Ng, an anthropology major, but she tries to steer away from the nerves and self-conscious thoughts that come when she starts thinking about who will read her work.
"In the end, this experience is really about expressing where I've been and how it has changed me," Ng said. "And if I focus on that, then it is guaranteed to be something I can reread someday with pride and say, 'That was so true.' I'm not sure what my pieces will end up looking like, but I want them to be honest and representative of what Peru means to me."
Defining Peru
So far Peru has meant horseback riding around the ruins of Saqsaywaman in Cusco, flying over the one of the world's biggest archaeological mysteries -- the Nazca Lines, admiring the great fortresses of the Inca empire, white water rafting and sandboarding. Ng's sampled the local cuisine too, eating everything from "cuy" (guinea pig) to "chifa" (Peruvian Chinese food).
"I really have to say, though, that at the end of the day, the moments I've enjoyed the most here have been the ones when I've been able to get to know Peruvians," Ng said. "They are some of the funniest, most affectionate and lighthearted people I've ever met."
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| Ng assists in an excavation with the Instituto Nacional de Cultura (INC). In the ruins, the group found ceramics and other Incan artifacts. |
"If there is one spirit that captures Peru most clearly for me, it is hers -- the combination of hard work, motivation and constant sympathy for others is incredibly Peruvian in my mind," Ng said.
Along with embodying that spirit in her own life, Ng hopes to perfect the art of rolling her r's while abroad. She's gotten used to hearing her first name with a rolled "r," but is still acclimating to hearing herself called "corny" and "carne," the Spanish word for meat.
Her last name too isn't without challenges. Consisting of only two letters, it gave her Quechua professor a hearty laugh. He jokingly told her to see him after class and explain how a two-letter name was possible. The entire class burst out laughing.
"This was the highlight of my first day at the university because I was proud that I could laugh at myself along with the Peruvians," Ng said.
Rice offers necessary skills, opportunities
She discovered that ability during her time at Rice, which she also credits with giving her the skills needed for international travel and the opportunities to spread her wings. At Rice she's been involved in the Community Involvement Center (CIC). From those leadership opportunities, she learned very important lessons: how to plan things, how to have a plan B and how to cope with stressful circumstances.
"Without the help of the CIC, I never would have made it to Peru," Ng said. She is especially grateful for the support of Mac Griswold and Christa Leimbach, director and assistant director, respectively, of CIC, for introducing her to the Loewenstern Fellowship and supporting her through the entire process of preparing to go abroad.
You'd never know it by talking with her and listening to her experiences, but this is Ng's first time living abroad. She got a good grasp on the culture and archaeology while still at Rice. She also got exposure to Rice faculty and staff members who have been most influential to her, particularly Roland Smith, associate provost and adjunct professor of sociology and of education certification; Gloria Bean, assistant to the associate provost; and her faculty mentor, Jeffrey Fleisher, assistant professor of anthropology.
"They all encouraged me to pursue archaeological research," Ng said. "Peru is such an incredible place to study archeology because of the existence of the Inca empire and the dozens of cultures that preceded it."
Ng will be in Peru for the remainder of the fall semester. You can check her latest experiences and adventures on her Glimpse page at http://glimpse.org/accounts/13533/profile/.
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