Web site helps long-distance relationships

Ever wonder what an Ecuadorian Amazon witch doctor looks like?

Or have you pondered the image of an elephant caravan winding its way through the jungles of Thailand?

These days, Penn students don't have to look far for them - or travel beyond their computer.

The junior class board, leaders of the class whose students often go abroad one semester, has created a new feature on the class' Web site that allows students overseas to post pictures of their latest escapades.

"The idea [of the photo page] emerged as the semester was starting," College junior and class president Brett Perlmutter said. "We realized that a vast part of our constituency was abroad."

The photos are part of the junior class board's larger efforts to maintain connections between students studying abroad and students staying at Penn.

Perlmutter said that this is the first time the junior class has created such a project, and that it has been well received.

Students have posted around 70 photos so far, ranging from a picture of students performing "Crank That (Soulja Boy)" in front of a Chinese temple to a photo of a girl kissing a baby kangaroo.

College junior Katie Cowling, who is studying in Seville, Spain, this semester, said that though she has both an American and Spanish cell phone, the cost of international calls causes her to rely on other methods of communication.

"Spain is amazing, and I'm busy traveling most weekends or studying during the week," Cowling wrote in an e-mail. "But my friends on campus and their lives are also extremely important to me."

Cowling posts pictures of her adventures on Facebook and chats with friends on AOL Instant Messenger. She also keeps a travel Web log.

"I feel like a blog is easy for me to update [and] easy for others to read whenever they have time," Cowling wrote, noting that she enjoys reading her friends' blogs as well.

The Class of 2009 Web site is a small part of many networking opportunities available to students studying abroad that were not possible before the age of blogs and Facebook.

As for those juniors who remain on Penn's campus, the class board is trying to maintain their cohesion.

Earlier in the semester, the class board held an event called "Abroad in Philadelphia" that Perlmutter described as a "celebration of Philadelphia culture."

"Life's pretty much the same" on Penn's campus, said College junior John O'Connor, who did not go abroad. "Just not as many of my friends are here."

Pictures submitted by juniors studying abroad can be viewed on the Class of 2009 Web site, Penn09.com/abroad.php.

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