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....
Middle East: Gratitude
As this is our last week here, I’m feeling a lot of mixed feelings. Especially this week, we’ve been focusing on the theme of gratitude. As I write this, we’re getting ready to have our final celebration tonight. It’ll be a great opportunity to celebrate everyone who helped make this trip possible and have a....
Lithuania: Baltic states tour
From May 27 to June 4 we took a trip through Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia. We started by spending one night in Kaunas, Lithuania before going to Vilnius, Lithuania for about 3 days. Then, we traveled to Riga where we spent 2 nights before making our way to Tallinn, Estonia for 2 nights. Some students....
Middle East: Explore
Free Travel Reflections This week was our free travel week- our big group split into several smaller ones, traveling to various different places. I was a part of a group of five that went to Greece! We left very early Monday morning, drove to the airport and were in Athens by Monday morning. We had....
Middle East: Engage
On Saturday we were able to visit the Ayalon-Canada Park in what is, under international law, legally the West Bank, but is annexed by Israel. As we traveled to the park, we passed through the Bethlehem checkpoint where an Israeli soldier boarded our bus, checked our passports, and let us pass. That moment was one....
Middle East: Sumud and hope
We’ve officially made it to the halfway point of our trip! Our week started off with our 4 days of classes (Arabic and seminar). Although I do enjoy both of those classes, I was definitely more entertained with our travels this week. The first place we went to was Aida Refugee Camp in Bethlehem. Dr.....
Lithuania: Adjusting to a New Culture
Traveling to a new place can always be overwhelming. You are thrown into a new culture with hardly any background and have to adjust to new food, a different language, a new setting, and new people. One of the beautiful things about an intercultural experience is that everyone is experiencing the same things and therefore....