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Areli Guzman shares her thoughts on Navajo clans and her family’s heritage: Yá’ át’ ééh (Hello) Shi éi Areli yinishyé (I am called Areli) Ákót’ éego Naakai dine’ é asdzáán nishłí (In this way, I am a Mexican woman) Here...
My service has challenged me in a wide variety of ways. I have struggled to develop a routine and find my role within my service organization. Whenever I would take the initiative and ask what our purpose here was, our...
Teresa Ross Richer reflects on a key concept in Navajo culture: Balance: a condition in which different elements are equal or in the correct proportions. In my culture, we do not seem to take to heart the concept of balance...
Virginia Jimenez shares her reflections on an inspiring presentation by a photography student at Diné College: At Diné College we met various Navajo people who shared their culture with us — one of them was a photography student, Candace Harrison,...
At this stage of the service portion of SST, a distinct highlight for me has been continuing to experience the abundance of natural beauty that Ecuador has to offer. In the study portion of SST, we were able to experience...
As is often the case on SST, I found myself one afternoon on a bus with essentially no knowledge of where I was going. My mom quickly explained that we were headed to a funeral, and I became concerned. “Did...
One of the first things you learn when you come to Ecuador is their love of choclo, which is essentially their variety of sweet corn. On one of our trips to different parts of Ecuador, we even drove past a...
Teaching two hours of English daily is no joke, especially when you have no teaching experience and are creating your own curriculum. Teachers and students alike get tired and worn out by the constant focus it takes to learn a...
I thought the initial bus ride from my study to service placement a few weeks ago was simultaneously the longest and shortest bus ride of my life. After finally getting comfortable with a schedule, host family, and fellow SSTers in...
The first words I heard used to describe my service town were hot and buggy. Upon hearing this I was a little apprehensive about what service would have in store for me and how my body would respond to the...
Most of SST is not glamorous. There are times of incredible joy and sadness, comedic moments, and discomfort certainly, but the majority of the time is very normal. For example: doing laundry. My host family doesn’t have a washing machine,...
Hello again Summer 2023 Ecuador SST blog readers. It’s been a couple of weeks since we checked in with you and my has it been busy. There is a myth that circulates about SST leadership regarding a time of relaxation...
Ana Yoder makes connections with a favorite childhood memory: A Diné College student named Travis Mammedaty shared some Kiowa songs with us. A song that stood out to me in particular was a children’s song called the “Prairie Dog Song”...
Fae Sommers reflects on an unforgettable road trip: You can learn a lot about someone in 300 miles. Lukas, Jonathan, Micah and I stayed with our host father, pastor Daniel Smiley of Black Mountain Mennonite Church. On our second day...
Micah reflects on our visit to Cliff Palace, an Ancestral Pueblo archaeological site in Mesa Verde National Park: The story I would like to reflect on today took place at Cliff Palace, a cliff dwelling of the Pueblo people who...
What happens when thirteen eager Goshen College students step off an Amtrak train in Albuquerque, New Mexico to begin experiencing Indigenous cultures in the Desert Southwest? We’ll let the students themselves tell you their stories… Reflections...
As you may have noticed if you have been following along with this blog or if you have had the opportunity to experience SST firsthand yourself, you know that it is simultaneously exhilarating and exhausting, fulfilling and draining, beautiful and...
Welcome to the 2023 Hopi Navajo Study Service Term! This summer’s group from Goshen College begins their adventure aboard an Amtrak train headed west. The students start in the lush green farmland of the Midwest and travel across the country...
In the first of two multi-region treks, this week we headed up through a freezing cold mountain pass at nearly 14,000 feet east of Quito and descended quickly down the eastern flank of the Andes mountains into the beginning of…
Whew…….what a week in Ecuador. Typically, our more eventful moments together are interspersed with travel around the country during the study portion of SST. However, this week, although our activities were mostly in and around Quito, it was a time...
One of the many unique elements of Ecuador is the unusually diverse and high proportion of the population that is fully indigenous to this region. With as many as 16 distinct people groups and another 18 subsets of those groups,...
We ended the second full week of SST on an eventful note, spending a few days in the beautiful Ecuadorian cloud forest. The transition from the high-altitude valley in Quito, through a short stretch of dry dusty mountainsides, followed by...
As the first full week of classes wrapped up this past Friday, students headed home to spend the weekend with their families. They had the unique opportunity to celebrate Mother’s Day with their new host mothers, and the chance to...
A new group of students has landed in Ecuador, just south of the Equator. Students often debate amongst themselves just what it means to “go on SST”. In the lore of SST, there are stories of physical hardship, living far...
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