Namaste to all back home! Greetings from India! I was excited when I was asked to write this week because I knew exactly what I wanted to share with everyone back home. I wanted to share about getting to hang out with some kids from the slums of Delhi. We met with the leaders of....
Report from Guatemala
This past week has been a nice chance to settle into the routine of our lives here in Guatemala for the next while. Returning to the houses of our host families every night finally feels a little bit more like home, using the camionetas (public buses) is not as daunting a task as a week....
Visit to Lebanon
Marhaba! We’re back from Lebanon safely, and I’m in the dormitories at St. Elias Monastery again in Syria. It’s good to be ‘home.’ That’s right; our place in Damascus, Syria now feels somewhat like home. Damascus is familiar to us, with more or less some semblance of routine: wake up, eat breakfast, then hop on a....
CASAS and homestays in Guatemala
As we were ending our stay in Mexico, we had some time to reflect on our experiences, and lots more on our ride back to Tucson. The time in Douglas/Agua Prieta really put things into perspective for all of us. Seeing all that was going on was both eye-opening and grounding for us. From meeting....
Damascus
I never thought that I could love a big city; that was before we came to Damascus. I feel as if I can’t explain the wonders of this culture without showing someone in person. I looked through all of the pictures we took, and I don’t think a single one of them does the city....
The Rickshaw Adventure
We three white youths were a sight for sore eyes as we trounced around the overcrowded streets of Old Delhi in search of a Rickshaw that would carry us (for a decent price) to the familiarity of our hotel on the other side of town. This is Day Two of our India adventure and we....
Report on border issues from Mexico
We are spending the weekend in Tuscon before we head to Guatemala for the bulk of our cross-cultural. This past week we were living in Agua Prieta, Mexico studying more about the border under the direction of Frontera de Cristo. Events to highlight are: walking immigrant trails in the Sonoran Desert, speaking first hand with....
First impressions from Syria
It is hard to believe that only four days ago our cross-cultural group was still in the United States. We have already experienced so much; it feels like we have been gone a lot longer. Last Friday our plane took off at 5:45 p.m. and by 3:00 Saturday afternoon we had landed in Jordan and....
Arizona, Immigration, and the Sonora Desert Museum
I think I speak for everyone in the group when I say that the past few days have just been a whirlwind of stories, facts, beauty, hard truths, and more. The main events have been making our way through air travel, touring a US Department of Homeland Security Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center (in....
India Photo 2011
India Cross-cultural students, Spring 2011. Photos by Eric Brodersen and Katherine Landis