May Term

May 13 2022

Today was a cool, very windy day. We started our day with lecture at 8:00am where we learned about trophic cascades. Trophic cascades can occur in the marine system when top predators are lost, often due to overfishing. The loss...

May 13 2022

Today was full of unique opportunities and experiences for our group studying in the Rio Grande Valley. We worked at La Posada for about half of the day today, splitting up into two groups one half of us continued to...

May 13 2022

We are so thankful for cooler temperatures up here at 7,000 feet, where the Hanifl Center lies.  The Hanifl Center is the environmental learning center associated with Woodstock International Boarding School here in Mussoorie, Utterakhand, India. On Wednesday, May 11,...

May 12 2022

My morning started off bright and early. By 5:00 a.m., two of us students were in the kitchen to help Connie, an MDS volunteer, prepare breakfast. During our time here, every student gets an opportunity to spend a day (or...

May 12 2022

Hoy fue nuestro primer día trabajando en la Posada en San Benito, Texas. Como dice en su sitio web, la Posada “es un refugio de emergencia para hombres, mujeres y familias que huyen a los Estados Unidos debido a la...

May 11 2022

Dos de las experiencias más memorables que he tenido hasta el momento en el valle del río Grande de Texas fueron tener la oportunidad de ayudar a la hermana Thérèse Cunningham con sus clases de ESL (Inglés como segunda lengua,...

May 11 2022

Two of the most memorable experiences I have had while living in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas were having the opportunity to assist Sister Thérèse Cunningham with ESL lessons at La Posada Providencia and learning from retired public defender...

May 11 2022

Today was another full day of learning and experiencing the amazing marine ecosystem. We woke up for an 8 am lecture on positive interactions in the marine system. These are important relationships where at least one organism in the relationship...

May 11 2022

There was beautiful 80 degree weather this Monday morning, and we started off the day with guidelines for creating a research project at 8am. Today was more of a work day, keeping busy with creating research questions and writing a...

May 10 2022

Today was our first day working at La Posada in San Benito, TX. As it states on their website, La Posada “is an emergency shelter for men, women, and families who flee to the United States due to political oppression,...

May 09 2022

¡Bienvenido a bordo! ¡Abróchense los cinturones y disfruten del viaje! Próxima parada: McAllen, Texas. Después de un ligero retraso en el aeropuerto de Dallas-Fort Worth, llegamos a McAllen, Texas. A nuestra llegada, el director del proyecto, Larry, junto con el...

May 09 2022

Welcome aboard! Fasten your seatbelts and enjoy the ride! Next stop–McAllen, Texas. After a slight delay in the Dallas-Fort Worth airport, we arrived in McAllen, Texas. At our arrival,Project Director Larry, along with Mennonite Disaster Service volunteer Roger, were waiting...

May 09 2022

Today we had a late morning, which was a very nice change from our 8 am’s, but the sun called us to be up at 7am to watch the sunrise anyway. At 10am we attended the Layton Baptist church and...

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 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...

Mar 03 2022

Today was the day I was dreading most on tour. The drive home or at least partly home. Another early morning saw us being back on the bus at 7 in the morning for what we all knew was going...

Mar 02 2022

Today on our fourth day of the choir tour, we got some well earned break time, with the day planned to be spent in the nation’s capital, Washington DC. The day started with Jonathan Weaver and I getting ready with...

Mar 01 2022

What a day. We knew it was going to be a big one, but little did we know just how much was in store for Vox. We began as usual. After having breakfast with our host family, my roommate and...

Feb 27 2022

Vox Profundi’s choir tour continued with our first day of performing. I awoke at 7:00am (which is technically considered sleeping in compared to yesterday) to my roommate having stolen all of the covers from me in the bed we shared....

Feb 26 2022

Vox Profundi’s choir tour got off to a great start at 5:45am this morning with zero positive Covid tests! We departed from the music center at 6:30am en route for Plains Mennonite Church in Pennsylvania. The bus was very quiet...

Feb 26 2022

It’s the night before the Vox Profundi choir tour commences, and I’m a bundle of nerves, excitement and sadness. I’m nervous for all the tour details, including performances, homestays, COVID logistics, travel issues, student health and much more.  But I’m...

Feb 22 2022

The Goshen College Vox Profundi choir will spend their spring break touring and performing in churches and schools in Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, and Ohio from Feb. 26 through March 4, with a home concert on Sunday, March 6 at 7:30…