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 elders and a few of our members as well. The whole ceremony was....
Spain/Morocco 1
We all signed up with different expectations, thoughts and intentions. Our journey was set off right with the blessing and 鈥渟ee-you-laters鈥� distributed between family and friends. The plane ride was 6 hours but preoccupied us by unexpected and fascinating technology. Spain, our first taste test was a challenge for some and a delight for others.....
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鈥檝e known that my fear was silly. Early in our time in Guatemala Sara asked a missionary couple we were visiting, how they can be away from their family for....
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 us have been nervous about the presentation over our....
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 are not city people by any means, the idea of....
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....
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鈥檛 worry. She declined.) We raced around in tuk-tuks, and Amy lap-hopped around a chicken bus. When we left, we hopped the wrong....
“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.聽 I’ve gradually updated bits and pieces while here, but as of the last two weeks, it will take me many hours to make any progress. We’ve been studying at Jerusalem University College.聽 We’re told....
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, sitting on the side of Mount Carmel, or floating in the Dead Sea. Scripture....
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 in our group. You could bribe someone with just a jar....