a_a_n

Structure:

class UserProfile < ActiveRecord::Base

  belongs_to :home_country, :class_name => 'Country'
  belongs_to :current_university, :class_name => 'University'

  acts_as_aan do
    association :current_university do
      [:name]
    end
    association :home_country do
      [:name, { :iso_3166_a2 => :country_code}]
    end
  end

  validates :home_country, :presence => true
  validates :current_university, :presence => true
end

Usage:

u = UserProfile.new
u.home_country_name = 'Netherlands'
u.current_university_name = 'University Of Amsterdam'
u.save # => true

u.home_country # => #<Country id: 12, name: "Netherlands"
u.home_country_name # => "Netherlands"