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Our first trip was to Mindo, a small parish about two hours Northeast from Quito, in the middle of the cloud forest. There, we meet with our enduring partner, Kléver Tello. He is the head of the parish and has...
Our day began as any good Amish morning, at the Rise‘n Roll Bakery which is – disappointingly – not owned by the Amish founders anymore. Curious folks entered the store and scoured through the endless aisles of Amish goods in...
After orientation, students met their host families and joined them in daily life. Through this key component of SST, students learn about cultural practices, social dynamics, and personal relations. A few days after orientation, we returned to Centro Histórico to...
by Mariela Esparza, a class of 2023 English major. Day 6: Mayan spirituality lecture – SEMILLA We received our guest speaker, Ronaldo, at 9 a.m. on Monday. Ronaldo told us that for the Mayans, everything spiritual was grounded in tangible…
We spent the rest of last week working hard on the two homes we’re helping rebuild for members of the Red Lake Nation. The students are learning quickly. They have all gained a wide variety of new skills, and everyone...
What a night we had at open mic night! The vibes in the room were everything from comedy, sorrow, grief, revenge and happiness. We traveled to Tower Hamlets, London to attend open mic night at RichMix. They welcome the communities...
Our first full day in Chicago was a whirlwind! Not only did we learn how to use the public transportation there, but also about various different neighborhoods through a workshop on CHicago’s maps and growth. During the afternoon, we focused...
Today we began our day by visiting the National Museum of Mexican Art in Harrison Park. Art from the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition and current Mexican artists living in Chicago was displayed. The history, personal stories, and finding identity in...
In Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing, the presence of romance or lack thereof is frequently tested in various forms from friend to friend, lover to lover, and friend to lover. For many of us, Beatrice was a stand-out character in...
Last week we took a day trip out to the city of Oxford to explore the city and the university, tour the Oxford University Press, and attend a lecture by Helen Oyeyemi, an author we had read in class. We...
Our class recently went to the National Gallery in London, home to over 2,300 paintings mostly from Europe, spanning from the 13th to the 19th centuries. We’ve seen art from other eras and cultures at some of London’s other museums,...
On the first of May we loaded up and headed north, bound for Red Lake, Minnesota, home of the Red Lake Band of Chippewa Indians. We went to volunteer with Mennonite Disaster Service (MDS), and to learn and build relationships...
We started off our day with class in the basement of our hotel. We introduced ourselves and dove right into our first book. We are reading Zadie Smith’s lovely novel White Teeth. After a productive discussion we headed to the...
This year's Chicago to Amish Country course has 21 students, and they are gearing up for their trip to Chicago, May 5 to 9. Destinations include: Chicago's Little India, Pilsen and the National Museum of Mexican Art, the Swedish American…
By Mackenzie M. During my life, I’ve attended protests and marches for various causes, all relating to human rights in some way. Because of this, I’ve come to appreciate and enjoy using my voice in this way to show support...
Cleaning overgrown senderos and planting trees in the rural towns surrounding Cotacachi has been the work that Naomi Klassen and I have started on service. Oftentimes at the beginning of a work day, we know very little of what the...
Today’s post was written by Carlos Lichty, who is doing his service at the Laboratory Middle School at Satya Wacana University in Salatiga. For my service assignment, I was placed at a local Christian Middle School named UKSW SMP here...
This is our first student produced blog post, which is a poem. In the next couple of days, we will be adding more students’ reflections and images. Falling: A Poem first stop tell me what you see before i tell...
Each Study Service Term culminates in six weeks of service engagement with local organizations throughout the host country (casually referred to as “Service”). After the initial six weeks of cultural and academic study, the shift in location and purpose opens...
Friends, I have never led SST before, so I do not know how unusual our experience in Yogyakarta was, but I have been astounded at every turn with the kindness and generosity of our host families, our teachers, the international...
Our sixth week came fast and, with it, time to wrap up our academic, cultural, and artistic activities, and to say goodbye to Quito. The time flew by, and while we had great times as a group exploring the city,...
We journeyed forth on our environmental field trip this past week. Our destination was a traditional village that is working to address environmental and economic issues by reforestation with productive trees (mango and avocado) and development of environmental tourism to...
This week, we visited a property on the outskirts of Quito where two families that sadly and abruptly fled their home countries have found a place to live. The location was generously lent by a member of the Mennonite Church...
SST students and faculty visited Dream Farm, a flower producing facility in Guayllabamba, a small town 45 minutes north from Quito. We learned that the business of flowers is a huge source of revenue for the area, specially before Valentine’s...
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