We’re back from five breathtaking days in Guatemala’s Alta Verapaz, where we stayed with the organization Community Cloud Forest Conservation, led Rob and Tara Cahill, along with teachers and staff from the surrounding Q’eqchi’ communities. CCFC is working with the conservation of the rapidly diminishing cloud forest, as it intersects with the lives and well-being....
India: Kolkata, Varanasi and Bodhgaya
We were told that Kolkata was an 18 hour train ride from New Delhi. The train ended up being 5 hours late and taking 30 hours to reach our destination. One of the “four rules of India” is “anytime after sometime,” and we were truly experiencing this rule! I cannot, however, say this experience was....
Guatemala: Bucket List
Bucket List for Guatemala: âś“ -Watch a volcanic eruption from our classroom window -Hike a volcano and roast marshmallows at the top (this coming weekend!) -Take a moto (motorcycle) ride around the city âś“ -Barter down prices at the central market -Have a conversation with a stranger in Spanish âś“ -Attend Catholic Mass (one with....
Guatemala: Privelege and contrast
Last Tuesday after classes, everyone loaded into the CASAS minivans on an unusual tourist excursion. We were not headed to the national museum, nor to the presidential mansion, but to the cemetery: a resting place for some of Guatemala’s wealthiest elite that also happens to overlook the city dump. We arrived to elaborate cast iron....
Guatemala: Daily rhythms
Last Thursday, I woke up early and stepped outside into a gorgeous, sunny, Guatemala morning. It was our first day at CASAS. After a long day of airplane rides and a late night arrival, it was refreshing to finally begin the second part of our journey. The group was surprisingly animated for a short night’s....
Delhi Reflections
We landed in the capital city, Delhi, at around 1 a.m. local time on Monday morning. Half-awake and disoriented, we scrabbled to find our checked bags, hopped onto a bus, and arrived at a hostel just after 5 a.m. This put us at around 30 hours of traveling from when we left EMU at noon....
Guatemala & Cuba: Two sides of our wall
“This wall is not Trump’s wall. This is our wall. This is how we as a country choose to mark our border.” I know my words cannot do justice to the week we spent at the U.S./Mexico border, so I figured I might as well start with someone else’s. This was said by Mark Adams,....
Israel-Palestine: the Jesus Trail and alternate narratives in the West Bank
Walking the Jesus Trail –  Lindsay Acker I loved the Jesus Trail. It was really hard physically and at times I wanted nothing more than to fall over and stay down. When we sat down for lunch or at ruins, it was so hard to stand up. It was more physically draining than anything I’ve ever....
ISRAEL-PALESTINE: Three Weeks in Bethlehem
Let’s talk about car horns In the US, a honking horn almost always expresses anger—get out of my way, you cut me off—that sort of thing. Don’t get me wrong, that happens in Bethlehem as well, but a honk can mean so much more here: Warning, I’m behind you on a small street I want....
ISRAEL-PALESTINE: Desert life and reflections
Why aren’t more people using THESE alternative energy sources? Throughout our time at Kibbutz K’tura the group has listened to several lectures and participated in a variety of Kibbutz activities. Perhaps the most memorable for me was the visit to K’tura’s “Off the Grid” village. As an initiative stemming from the strong emphasis on environmentalism....