This past summer, many EMU students and faculty spent a portion of their vacations traveling all over the world on various intercultural and research experiences.
Guatemala, located in Central America, was one of the destinations some students had the opportunity to visit this summer. Through a partnership with SEMILLA Latin American Anabaptist Seminary, five EMU undergraduate students spent a total of six weeks in Guatemala exploring various aspects of what the country and its culture have to offer. The group took, as Junior Abigail Forrest puts it, many “mini-trips” during their afternoons. She describes the group’s first weekend there: “we traveled to San Juan located on Lake Atitlán. We stayed in an eco hotel, kayaked, visited a local weaving company, ate honey from Mayan bees, and drank chocolate milkshakes made from local cocoa plants. We visited one of the largest outdoor markets in Central America in Chichicastenango. On our way back to the city, we stopped at the Iximché Mayan Ruins.”
In between these various mini-trips, the students took four hour long Spanish classes every morning. They traveled to migration and immigration facilities, visited Antigua, and learned more about the genocide and human rights issues within the country through museum exploration.
Halfway through their time in Guatemala, three EMU graduate students joined the group for the last three weeks of the intercultural experience. The remainder of the trip focused on healthcare, specifically trying to understand how the healthcare system works in Guatemala. Students worked in clinics, expanded healthcare community outreach, and shadowed doctors and surgeons. Graduate Destiny Lyday was one of the graduate students who joined halfway through the trip. During her three weeks in Guatemala, she notes that the group did more than just focus on healthcare. “We hiked an active volcano, kayaked through La Laguna and climbed to the top of the hand of God. We were able to visit all the tourist areas and explore the ancient mayan cities. We also spent a week of our time staying with host families, which allowed us to truly experience the amazing culture.”
Across the Atlantic Ocean, Junior Ella Brubaker and Senior Thomas Erickson joined a group of students and professionals to work in an active archeological dig site located in Southern Transylvania, Romania. Working through a company called Archaeotek, the group spent their time in Romania excavating a Roman villa originally built around 200 CE. Brubaker and Erickson spent time working both out in the field and doing lab work. Outdoors, the group dug, sifted through dirt, and labeled artifacts. Brubaker describes this outdoor work as one of her favorite parts of the trip: “I also enjoyed the physical labor of excavating and working with others to uncover evidence of what life would have been like in a Roman villa. One of my favorite memories was when I found my first artifact and got to take pictures and document it.” In the lab, the group cleaned, analyzed, and photographed the found artifacts.
In sharing how this trip has impacted his life, Erickson acknowledges how intercultural experiences can impact your view of the future and how you see yourself. He shares, “This trip has been life changing in helping me figure out my direction post-undergrad and helping me reimagine who I am by being around complete strangers who have grown to be close friends. Obviously this trip is not for everyone, and I did not click with everyone on the trip, but it was still worthwhile.”
Romania was not the only European country visited this summer by EMU students. VACA Professor Jerry Holsopple and Adjunct Faculty member Fabiana Espian (‘16) led a group of students on a six-week photography-focused intercultural experience in Klaipeda, Lithuania. During their stay, the group lived in dorms and took classes at Lithuania Christian College, including one photography course and one social science course. These two courses supported students as they learned about and captured the history of Lithuania. According to Senior Megan Miller, “[The group] learned a lot about the history of Lithuania and the impact of the Holocaust and Soviet Occupation on that part of the world.” She goes on, “Through photography, we attempted to capture some of the feeling and emotions of the sights and cities that we visited. We had to take portraits of strangers, show the trauma of the Holocaust, and create a photo essay about a theme that we discovered during our time.”
In addition to their time in Klaipeda, the group spent nine days traveling through Kaunas and Vilnius, Lithuania; Riga, Latvia; and Tallinn, Estonia. During their travels through these countries, the group continued learning about the history of these places. Junior Daisy Buller states that some of her biggest takeaways from the intercultural experience came from this nine day excursion. “After seeing the evidence of what these people held as their historical tragedies, I was simultaneously impressed by the resilience of Lithuanians despite the pain their country as a whole had felt.”
The other six-week seminar held this summer immersed students in the “history, culture, religion, and politics of the Middle East,” according to the EMU Intercultural page. The group, led by Director of Center for Interfaith Engagement Tim Seidel and Christi Hoover Seidel, lived in a guest house near Bethlehem during their stay. Much of their time was spent learning about the conflict between Israel and Palestine through the personal stories told by local Palestinians, as well as visiting locations that display parts of the country’s history, such as the Ayalon-Canada Park. This park was land for Palestinian villages until the Israeli military forced residents out and destroyed their homes in 1967.
Junior Karla Hostetter shares her takeaways from the experience: “The biggest takeaways from this cross-cultural experience included a change in perspective and a respect for resilient and hospitable Palestinian people who fight to live a normal life each day within an overbearing and corrupted government. I no longer look at the world in the same way. I now prioritize hearing personal stories and hearing out each perspective. I also consciously attempt to put aside my own biases and cultural experiences so that way I don’t force them upon someone else’s different situation.”
Beyond the Indian Ocean, some EMU students and faculty spent part of their summer vacation in a different continent: Australia. Spending one week in Sydney before traveling North to Queensland, the group of students spent six weeks conducting field research under the guidance of Professors Jim Yoder and Matthew Siderhurst. Although the trip focused primarily on this hands-on research, the group experienced other parts of Australia as well. Junior Ally Welty Peachey “was able to snorkel at the Outer Great Barrier Reef,” which she thought was truly amazing.” She adds, “I feel so fortunate to have had the chance to see it,” noting that snorkeling in the Great Barrier Reef was a bucket list activity for her.
In addition to this adventure, the group also got a week of free travel in New Zealand, where they watched the United States Women’s National Soccer Team face off against the Netherlands.
Welty Peachey gives a few final remarks on her experience in Australia that other EMU students who experienced intercultural programs this summer expressed as well: “I think this summer was so challenging, but rewarding.” She continues, “I am so grateful for the exposure and experience to travel.”
Additional EMU intercultural experiences this summer included 3-week seminars in both Puerto Rico and Washington, D.C. and a summer-long experience at EMU’s Washington Community Scholars’ Center.According to the EMU website, “Intercultural study has been a part of EMU core curriculum for over 30 years.” Being a graduation requirement, every student who comes through EMU will get to experience a culture likely different from their own at some point in their academic studies. Information regarding future intercultural programs can be found at https://emu.edu/intercultural/future-programs.
