Before signing up to travel to Zanzibar, Zoey Blechschmidt knew a few things about the East African country. But most importantly, she had a foundation in Swahili, the language commonly spoken there, and cultural knowledge of the geographic area, thanks to her coursework in the College of Arts and Sciences.

Blechschmidt, a CAS and Clark Honors College student graduating winter term of 2025, was interested in Swahili as a first-year student. The interest blossomed into a double major in linguistics and anthropology. 

“I’ve always really liked language and looking at how different people talk, so linguistics was a perfect major for me,” Blechschmidt said. She added an anthropology major after she took HC 241: Primate Ecology as a freshman.

Blechschmidt traveled to Zanzibar during the summer 2024 term, and her main goal for the trip was to improve her Swahili skills through daily immersion. At the UO, her Swahili courses focused more on Kenya, as her instructor was from there, so Zanzibar was an opportunity to immerse herself in a new culture. “In Zanzibar, I was hoping to improve my Swahili and was excited to be around the language and speakers all day,” she said.

While in Zanzibar, Blechschmidt found people in the country welcoming—particularly impactful for someone studying Swahili. “The way people all knew each other and would go out of their way to chat and point you in the right direction or walk you over to someone else who they knew could address what you were looking for was amazing,” she said.

The local food was a highlight of her experience. With meals filled with natural food, including rice, vegetables and freshly caught fish, she never thought twice about US food. What she recalled eating were dishes unique to Tanzania, such as ndizi ya chemsha, boiled bananas used as a potato-like base, as well as savory stews that feature fried or a whole small fish. “I loved the food so much and truly haven’t thought twice about US food,” she said.

Adjusting to life in Zanzibar required Blechschmidt to step out of her comfort zone. Her host family didn’t have Wi-Fi and electricity was unreliable. “I unplugged and had to be purposeful about using my phone on the trip,” Blechschmidt said. “I ended up really liking this because it meant I read and hung out and talked to people more.” 

At the State University of Zanzibar (SUZA), Blechschmidt attended Swahili classes alongside graduate students from around the world. This experience gave her a deeper understanding of Zanzibar's academic importance and the ethical challenges of research. “It’s interesting to be somewhere that is so studied by outside people,” she said. 

Blechschmidt encourages other students to seize the opportunity to study abroad. “Studying abroad is an amazing opportunity to experience a new culture and place and have a lot of support and education while you do it,” she said. "Zanzibar has everything you want out of a study abroad. It’s a beautiful location, right on the beach with amazing weather, so we went swimming in the Indian Ocean every day and ate fresh fruit with every meal. The other students and I would joke that it felt like we were living in a screensaver.”

With her graduation from the UO around the corner, Blechschmidt said she plans to pursue a career in event programming or volunteer management for nonprofits, museums, or higher education. She credits her majors and study abroad experience for equipping her with valuable skills in communication, cultural understanding, and language.

But she'll look back to her experience in Zanzibar as a once-in-a-lifetime experience that changed how she sees work, sustainability and the world. 

—By Harper Wells, College of Arts and Sciences