Anxious first years must learn to cope with the moldy showers of Old Dorms and upperclassmen endure the walk to Grounds from distant residences like Gooch or Bice. But there are some University students relishing the joys of coed floors, home-cooked meals and the intermingling of language, community and culture.
Just ask the residents of the University's language houses.
Accommodating just under 70 total students this year, La Casa Bolivar, La Maison Francaise, the German House and the Russian House provide a unique educational and cultural outlet for students who are searching for added depth and sense of community in their living experiences. Many residents are bilingual, international or native of countries like France, Germany or Taiwan. Still, there are plenty of students from the United States who are living in a language house simply because they have a voracious appetite for language and culture.
"It's the sense of community you get from living with people that share common interests that you don't get from living in other dorms," fourth-year College student Andy Price said, who lives in La Casa Bolivar.
Whether it is dancing the salsa meringue and watching Spanish movies at La Casa Bolivar or enjoying tea and conversation hour at the Russian House, all language house residents are taking the traditional dorm experience to a whole new level.
Mi casa es su casa
Tucked behind massive edifices of construction and almost inconspicuous when driving along with the hustle and bustle of Jefferson Park Avenue, the University's Spanish House, La Casa Bolivar, appears to be just an average red-brick building.
But a plaque outside the main entrance tells the true story of the house and hints at its colorful history. In 1997, the Spanish house was dedicated to Fernando Simon Bolivar, an accomplished student who attended the University in 1827. The plaque does not mention, however, that the Spanish house bounced around Charlottesville for more than 15 years before finally settling on Jefferson Park Avenue.
When students sought the aid of esteemed Spanish Prof. David Gies in 1979, he was passionate about helping them create a Spanish house, which finally opened its doors at its current location in 1997.
"I think the students are extraordinary," Gies said. "They are the ones who came to me and wanted this to happen. Students today like the cultural atmosphere that they get from the house. They want to learn more about Spanish culture and the Spanish House is an incredible way to do this."
Today, La Casa Bolivar houses 23 students.
In accordance with Spanish culture, in which sharing a meal is both intimate and communicative, La Casa Bolivar residents convene to eat dinner and converse en espanol.
"I think that dinner is the place where you actually have the most interaction, and you get to know people much better," said second-year College student Mariandrea Chamorro. "In Newcomb or O-Hill you sit with people each day and never really connect with them. Here, it's like a little family."
In addition to sharing their lives together, the residents of the house share in the pursuit of common ambitions. Many residents hope that living in the house will help prepare them for endeavors abroad or reinforce what they learned while studying abroad in past semesters.
"I really want to improve my language skills, especially since I'll be living with a family in Valencia next semester," said second-year College student Sara Acton, who lives in La Casa Bolivar. "I think living in the house will really help, especially in this setting of eating dinner with a family."
After living in La Casa Bolivar for two years, Price agrees that the house can be an integral part of not only learning language skills but also sustaining them.
"I was abroad my whole second year, so I thought the Spanish House would be a great place to come back to the University and continue what I had learned," he said.
An important aspect of residing in a language house is the experience students later bring to other spheres of University life.
"I know a lot of our residents are involved with ESL [English as a Second Language] tutoring in the community," House director Arantxa Ascunce said. "We all have the talent of being bilingual and being able to speak a language that is needed more and more each day in Charlottesville. It is important to us that the house be more than just a place to live."
Bienvenue
It's no Rotunda, but La Maison Francaise certainly is a breathtaking sight. Pedestrians and bikers rushing to and from class cannot help but stop and stare at the massive Victorian mansion, from the immaculately manicured landscape to the giant wraparound porch with wrought-iron rocking chairs and an oak porch swing.
The French House, the first language house designed by the University, was a brainchild of Thomas Jefferson. In 1817 Jefferson wrote of his desire to institute a residence catering to students, "wherein it is proposed that the boarders shall be permitted to speak French only, with a view to their becoming familiarized to conversation in that language."
The first class of French-speaking University students moved into the French House in the fall of 1985, 89 years after the Queen Anne mansion was built.
Because of its capacity, La Maison Francaise is not just a home to 27 students. It also serves as a classroom for French students and a meeting place for French department faculty members and a venue for guest speakers.
Much like La Casa Bolivar, its neighbor on Jefferson Park Avenue, La Maison Francaise is a residence where interactive learning meets French culture and colloquia. In the neighboring parlor, students can sit around the piano, read quietly in the quaint library or play Monopoly in the meeting room.
Faculty Director Christine Zunz, who has overseen the French house's development for the last 17 years, believes the students continue to diversify La Maison Francaise with their various outside experiences.
"Most of the students who are living in the French house have very, very interesting backgrounds, whether they are international, bilingual or have traveled abroad," Zunz said.
Zunz and French house manager David Trumbo, a fourth-year College student, strive to create a swinging door between their house and the Charlottesville community, building on the fact that their dining room was once a cafe open to the public.
"We have several house activities like the Cine Club, which is a viewing of French movies every week," Trumbo said. "And both the Cine Club and events featuring French speakers are open to the public."
Do Maison residents feel lucky to be living in a Victorian mansion instead of traditional University housing?
"I lived in Gooch for two years and after a while I decided that was enough," said fourth-year College student Petronella Lugemwa, a Maison resident. "I was looking for a place where I could meet more people and feel more like a family. I knew as soon as I came here and looked around that this was where I wanted to be."
After a typical day at the language house, your average dorm-dwelling University student may never want to trek to O-Hill again. But do the language house students feel like they're missing out?
Ascunce, director of La Casa Bolivar, may have spoken for many language house residents when she said, "I feel like other people are missing out"
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