Global Engagement

May 09 2022

Welcome to Quito! We are so pleased and honored to welcome 21 new students to this beautiful country of Ecuador. And welcome to you, who may be following along and supporting our journey from afar. After picking up students from...

May 09 2022

We had a slow but productive morning after Friday’s excitement; we started off by learning about sponges and mangroves and their unique places in the marine ecosystem. There are three species of mangrove in our area, and the red mangrove...

May 09 2022

We had many adventures on Friday! In the morning we discussed the marine creatures found in the epipelagic, the surface waters of the open ocean. Microscopic phytoplankton and zooplankton are found in the epipelagic, in addition to easily visible creatures...

May 09 2022

It was a balmy and beautiful Thursday. Before we left for class, Annalise spotted a large cowrie about 6 inches long. Other organisms we’ve observed at our resort are nurse sharks (Ginglymostoma cirratum), spiny lobsters (Panulirus argus), and hermit crabs...

May 09 2022

We kicked off the day at 8:30am by having our usual class meeting in the basement of the St. Athans Hotel, discussing the ending of our novel White Teeth by Zadie Smith. We also read through the first couple pages...

May 08 2022

Sorry for the delay!  Wi-Fi access and time to dedicate to blogging haven’t quite matched up.  Nevertheless, we have had a great start to our time here in India. Over the first 30+ hours, our 27 students trickled in on...

May 08 2022

I think we all surprise ourselves at how awake we are for our first full day in London! Most of us powered through the exhaustion the day before and took the chance to explore the city and orient ourselves while...

May 07 2022

Eleven students arrived on Tuesday after a long day of travel. We left Miami airport at 7pm and arrived in Layton at the Fiesta Key RV resort at 9pm. We will stay at this resort while exciting renovations are completed...

May 06 2022

All twenty London students arrived safe and sound (if a bit sleepy) yesterday morning around 8:30am British Summer Time. I (Peter) met them at the airport, and we took a bus into city center. Our lodgings are at St Athans,...

May 04 2022

Augusta Nafziger is a junior writing and music double major from Weyers Cave, Virginia. Our second day in Guatemala began with a delicious breakfast (thank you Reyna and Ingrid!), followed by a guest speaker lecture by Israel Ortiz, a professor at...

May 03 2022

We’re here! Yesterday’s one-stop flight to Guatemala was uneventful — almost easy — and we arrived at 9pm hora de Guate (11pm Eastern) although it was closer to 1pm Eastern by the time we made it to CASAS and took this...

Apr 13 2022

We wrapped up our semester with a weekend full of reflections, discussions, relaxing and fun at El Refugio where we had the decompression and processing time we needed to close out our time together here in Ecuador. Thanks to those...

Apr 13 2022

There are only a few kaki lima, or street food stands, near the campus of Universitas Nusa Cendana (UNDANA) where I am located for my service assignment, and outside my neighborhood along the busy coastal road the little mobile stalls...

Apr 13 2022

These photos are from a short adventure I had about a week and a half ago with one of the friends I have made here, Titan, and one of the teachers at the university that has been helping me navigate...

Apr 13 2022

During my placement at Interfide, I was given the opportunity to visit some highschools and help with the “The Power of Goodness” program. The power of goodness is a workshop that Interfide does that teaches people how to love your...

Apr 13 2022

It’s difficult to pick one experience that sums up my time here in Indonesia. I think the difference between here and the U.S. is the pace of life here in Indonesia. The morning after I was dropped off at STT...

Apr 13 2022

At this point you are likely wondering “what on earth is a ‘kebun’ “? Well luckily I am here to enlighten you: “kebun” is the Bahasa Indonesia word for farm, plantation, garden, gardener, and many others. It is one of...

Apr 08 2022

During the service portion of SST, I have been volunteering at a foundation called Su Cambio Por El Cambio (SCXC) in a little town called San Simon. SCXC’s primary missions are to provide a safe after school environment for local...

Apr 05 2022

While our SST group was in Philadelphia, we were all assigned Indonesian language buddies to help us practice our bahasa Indonesia. Me and Antoinette were assigned Yaya. We talked to her quite a bit in Philadelphia, and made plans to...

Apr 05 2022

When I was living with my Indonesian host mother in Philly, Bu Wendy, she mentioned that Indonesian parents are generally more strict about their children’s whereabouts. During one conversation in particular I noted that it seemed like Indonesian kids and...

Apr 05 2022

On Wednesday of this past week during my service placement in Timor I got to visit a seaweed farm. This was an interesting visit and I was able to discuss and learn quite a bit throughout the day. I could...

Mar 30 2022

In January, I took a 3-day trip with my host family in Quito, Paola (host-mom) and Sammy (host-sister). It took 2.5 hours to get to Santo Domingo de los Tsachilas. We took the Cordillera de Los Andes road. This very...

Mar 30 2022

These pictures are from my 1st day of teaching English class in Indonesia. I have 2 classes, one lower and one higher level course. I have found as I have begun to teach here that I actually enjoy teaching. It’s...

Mar 30 2022

My first day waking up at my SST placement began at 5 in the morning with the sound of a guitar outside my door. It was somber and I threw on a shirt for morning worship and devotions. Though I…