New Zealand 1

On Sunday (May 9) we went to the Te Puea Marae, a common meeting area for the native Maori people in urban Auckland. We were welcomed through one of their formal ceremonies which included singing, dancing and speeches from some of the … Continue Reading ››

Spain/Morocco 1

We all signed up with different expectations, thoughts and intentions. Our journey was set off right with the blessing and “see-you-laters” distributed between family and friends. The plane ride was 6 hours but preoccupied us by unexpected and fascinating technology. Spain, our first taste … Continue Reading ››

Final reports from Mexico II

Family The part of cross-cultural that I was most nervous about was being so far away from family without any real contact with them. I should’ve known that my fear was silly. Early in our time in Guatemala Sara asked a missionary couple we were … Continue Reading ››

Final reports from Mexico I

This week has been full of lots of different activities as well as end of year wrap-up activities. Each of us has been working very hard on writing a paper on a cultural theme about Mexico. Although the paper is not a huge stretch many of … Continue Reading ››

Mexico City

It is hard to describe in full what we did on our weekend in the Federal District, which is more commonly known as Mexico City, but I will try briefly to describe to you some of the places we visited. For many of us, who … Continue Reading ››

Free time reports from the Middle East

For the week of free travel, four of us (Drew, Nathan, Lucas, and I) chose a low-cost, high-endurance option: borrowing a tent and sleeping bags from JUC, writing down the names and numbers of "trail angels," buying some dried fruit, peanut butter, and cereal in Jerusalem's Old City, and hiking a roughly 120 km portion … Continue Reading ››

Free Time Reports from Guatemala

Las Gringas Perdidas We went to Antigua, where we spent loads of money on gifts (feel loved). We dined on cheesecake and cappuccino slushies. A random shoeshine boy offered Sara some weed. (Don’t worry. She declined.) We raced around in tuk-tuks, and Amy lap-hopped around … Continue Reading ››

“Been there, done that”

Before I left on the trip I decided to make a map on Google to show where all we are going. I've gradually updated bits and pieces while here, but as of the last two weeks, it will take me many hours … Continue Reading ››

Scripture comes alive in Israel

We are at the end of our time here at JUC (Jerusalem University College). Over the past two weeks we have found ourselves in a different sort of adventure each day, whether looking out at the battlefield of David and Goliath, … Continue Reading ››

Exploration in Guatemala

We left for Tikal, Peten, at five in the morning. Most of us were dead on our feet until we received our brown bag breakfasts consisting of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and yogurt. As of lately, peanut butter has become a hot commodity … Continue Reading ››

EMU Intercultural Learning