Sitting around the table in the cosy family atmosphere in one of the suburbs of town Cuenca in the highlands of Ecuador, the very heart of South America, at about 2,500 m above sea level, I was chatting about Leuven student life with my Ecuadorian colleagues. Mountain fresh air, homemade food on the table, the pleasant murmur of a big family after the dinner, and warm Latin American faces made me feel lucky and joyful at same time.

My friends, also studying at K.U.Leuven on master and PhD programs, were telling me about the situation in their home university and the very difficult conditions to have a scientific career. Their country is not issuing PhD degrees at all, in order to get PhD or any relevant scientific experience; they have to go abroad for years, leave families and work hard, adapting to different cultures. For them, this sacrifice even comes with built-in vows of poverty and obedience. They are trapped between contracts, small scholarships, unmerciful bureaucracy and hope as well as need, to bring home knowledge and skills that could help them to create the future, to develop their society and culture.

At one moment on that memorable evening, I wondered: how far is Leuven for them? I looked around, in the room there was a working desk in the corner, with lots of papers, scripts, a small blue KU Leuven notebook with calendar for 2010/2011 and on the computer, a browser with the familiar Toledo interface. Leuven looked close.

Two days later, after the demanding (high altitude) tours over the beautiful colonial city with 4 crystal rivers and national park El Cajas high in Andes, I was about to travel back to Europe, to Leuven.

The trip back started with hugging and saying goodbye to the whole family, jumping in the car with a big bag of sandwiches prepared by senora Norma, followed by a 5 hours drive over the Andes to the town of Guayaquil to the airport. The highest point we hit on the ride was 4000m, and then we slowly rolled down to the sea level through several layers of clouds, impressive mountains and vegetation, plantations of bananas, rice and cocoa.

A few hours in Guayaquil airport, the flight to Bogota, Colombia; several hours spend there, and next plane to catch was to Houston. On the way there, because of some bad storms, we landed in Panama. We were sitting ducks for a few hours in Panama national airport, and finally in the air again, on the way to Houston – arriving only five hours late. After lots of controls and queues waiting in empty Houston international zone, already 20 hours of traveling, I was looking to the distance through the thick glass window... thinking... "It's only half way...".

The flight from Houston to Frankfurt seemed endless, TV programs annoying and the stiff seats did not grant me with more than 1 or 2 hours sleep. Finally, we arrived at the chaotic and claustrophobic hallways of Frankfurt airport, the customs and crowds of travelers in a rush. Back in Europe! The drive to Leuven took about 4 hours, and then I was home, where I crashed into my bed.

After a 36 hour trip, from Cuenca in high Andes to Leuven in lowlands of central Europe, I realized how far Leuven is. It's so far that when I woke up next day, after 12 hours of sleep, Cuenca seemed like a dream, far-too-far-away. But one last little sandwich in my bag, prepared by senora Norma jogged my memory and brought a smile back on my face.

One week later, one of my colleagues from Ecuador arrived back to Leuven for the exam period. After the 39 hour trip, she dragged her heavy suitcase from train station to the International office to pick up her scholarship. The lady she had appointment with was on holidays, so she went to housing office but her room in the student dormitory was not even ready! She took the bus to the Camilo Torres dormitoryto try to find her Cuban friend and stay over; but she was not there. She then called me, desperate, tired and disappointed; and when I offered my couch she started to cry.

In the end, I want to address the question "How far is Leuven?" to all university officials, and ask them to keep in mind that for us, international students, Leuven is far-far-away. We have to travel cheaply and over a long period of time. We are leave our families and friends. We are always short of money. We are alone. We are here to learn. Your bureaucracy is very often strict and unmerciful but most of the time we just need to feel safe; we need to have a bed and a shower, and we need our scholarship in our account on time. |