Questions, beauty and hope in occupied Beit Sahour
Today is our last day in Beit Sahour, Palestine. We’ve been exploring the differences between “cold-culture” America and “hot-culture” Palestine, with a few mistakes and a lot of learning. Palestinians are an ideal model of how community should be lived out. We are all a little sad to say goodbye to our host families, but....
Marhaba from Palestine!
January 31, 2013 Marhaba from Palestine! We arrived in Beit Sahour, Palestine about a week and a half ago after a lovely stay in Jordan. After a long time waiting to cross the Jordan-Israel border, we came into town late at night to be greeted by the Alternative Tourism Group and gracious host families that....
Vulnerability and suprises
The culture shock described in our readings this week was presented in a very real way, but I can鈥檛 identify with it. I feel comfortable with the customs and ways of the people and seem to be able to relate and find common ground with them. What is the hardest for me is the shallowness....
Exploring Jordan from the desert Wadi Rum to the Red Sea
Eight hours ahead of our home in Harrisonburg VA, we are all together on a Sunday night after enjoying a worship service together as a group.聽 This is not an easy task to summarize what we鈥檝e done so far.聽 In the past week, we have been all over the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan and experienced....
Polarities and connections in Guatemala
The following is a response to studying the history of Guatemala and Central America, particularly regarding Spain and the Catholic Church鈥檚 efforts to convert and assimilate the natives to Spanish culture.聽 Through studying the history of Guatemala we are working toward a deeper understanding of the Guatemala of today and how it came to be.....
Turning towards home
December 5, 2012 As our semester draws to a close, our group has returned to the place we started: Motu Moana Boy Scout camp.聽 I believe it was Eric King who referred to the cyclic nature of our trip as poetic, so I decided to write haiku (mostly as a joke) to describe the last....
South Africa 360掳
This trip has been a trip of extremes. When entering Soweto, we met families who were extremely poor, yet had joy that overwhelmed us as we became a part of their families. We lived with the electricity-free families of Lesotho that showed us the joy of a simple life and the problems that come from....
Free travel on the South African coast
November 5, 2012 After having been in mountainous Lesotho for almost a month, I was ready for the next adventure. Although I have many cherished memories and moments I will take with me from the village, my toes were aching to sink in sand, my skin was craving the warmth of the sun and tingling....
Service learning: stoats, tree planting, ranching
Stoat Trapping With Andrew Shepard Our journey through the South Island high country has yielded some truly amazing scenery. The snowcapped mountains and tussock covered valleys of the Southern Alps offer the iconic landscapes of New Zealand. The small town of Makarora is no exception to this rule and was the setting for my two-day....
Bethulie, another perspective
Our short time in Bethulie was definitely a time of transition as we adjust from village life in Lesotho to things we are more familiar with, like electricity, toilets, and food that is not pap or meroho. Bethulie is a small farming town, and in the first few days we visited a lot of different....