Guatemala: Threads of Connection
9 February 2024 As part of our intercultural experience, we are taking Spanish classes for about four hours every morning through CASAS, or Central America Study and Service cultural immersion program. We are in small groups and paired up with a teacher. So far, we have learned through cooking, singing Guatemalan songs, acting out skits,....
Guatemala: Everyone Is Affected by Migration
5 February 2024 Last Saturday through Wednesday, our group had the opportunity to visit Huehuetenango and Jacaltenango, both located in the Western highlands of Guatemala. The five to six-hour drive to Huehuetenango was rough for those who get carsick easily, but beautiful as we observed tree-laden mountains and stunning volcanoes along the way. In Huehuetenango,....
Guatemala: City of Contrasts
21 January 2024 La Terminal On Wednesday, January 19 our Guatemala-Cuba Intercultural group had the opportunity to visit a place called “La Terminal,” a market in Guatemala City. There sim ply are not words to describe the poverty we saw there. I have seen and interacted with poverty in the US in both rural and....
Europe: Service projects
10/30/2023 Service Projects in Vienna During our stay in Vienna, we were each assigned a service project to go to. This took place about every other week for a couple of hours at a time. I was assigned a position at an elementary school along with three of my peers. On each visit we were....
Europe: Disneyland Paris
6 Dec. 2023 In Paris, we squeezed in a bunch of museums and sights, but my favorite thing was a trip to Disneyland. As we could only spend a day there, a careful plan was crafted to make the most of it. We hit all the major rides and enjoyed lunch at Captain Jack’s, a....
Europe: Terezín
Terezín During our stay in Prague, the group visited Terezín, which was a fortress turned extermination camp during the Nazi Regime. We started off by seeing the museums on the property that had things like artwork from the children, music and poetry that had been written, and other products of having the Jewish people be....
Europe: Exploring Vienna
9/20/2023 Week one in Vienna felt like a whirlwind. From the three-hour drive from Salzburg to meeting host families, there were very few moments that weren’t filled with exciting things. Whether it be the first opera of the trip, Daphne, or seeing Leopoldstadt, or even just finding out which stand in the Naschmarkt has the....
Europe 2023: Salzburg
The first week of the EMU Europe Intercultural was spent in Salzburg, Austria. The group spent the time getting adjusted, learning the culture, and exploring the new area. For me, it was full of emotions. Excitement and Sadness are the most present. I was super excited to have this new adventure, but leaving behind my....
Lithuania: Closing Thoughts
After 6 weeks in Lithuania, all 17 of us EMU students have gone our separate ways for the rest of the summer. It’s been strange to go from seeing each other every day to not at all. One of the phrases that Jerry Holsopple, our leader, repeated throughout the trip was “History is complicated.” We....
Puerto Rico 2023
Old San Juan On the second day of the trip, we toured Old San Juan. We were able to explore a lot of different historical sites and learn more about the origins of the architecture and wildlife of Puerto Rico. The streets of Puerto Rico are filled with vibrant colors and heavily decorated. This is....