As I sat in the taxi on the day I arrived in Seville, I was admiring the scenery; the bushes were well groomed, the buildings came in all shapes and sizes, and on every corner I spotted a Spaniard walking their dogs. The tantalizing aroma of oranges hit me as I exited the taxi and walked towards my final destination, which would be my home for the next three months. Andalucía is the southern coast of Spain that is home to many cities such as Seville, Córdoba, Granada, Málaga, Cádiz and Ronda, just to name a handful. Cataluña and the Levante region is along the east coast of Spain and home to Barcelona, Valencia, Murica, Girona, Lleida and Tarrangona.…
I spent six of my summers growing up at an all girls camp called Wavus. Wavus is a wilderness tripping camp in Maine based out of my hometown, Jefferson. Living in Jefferson, I did not obtain a great deal of exposure to other people from the country, let alone other parts of the world. When I went to Wavus I was put in a cabin with girls from all over the United States and even one from Belgium. Having to live with these girls for a month each summer enabled me to become close friends with them and learn about their lives.…
My parents are both Colombian and they came over to the United States 18 years ago which is almost my age. My parent's Colombian culture was deeply rooted in them as I grew up because they had just migrated from over there. It has influenced the way I am because living in Miami everyone’s Hispanic roots stay with them in a way because mostly everyone is Hispanic.…
I woke up on the cushioned beach chair, gazing across the seemingly endless magical, blue aura of the ocean. As far as I could see, glistening sand stretched across the water, as the magnificent, jagged rock structures that watched over the Pacific Ocean like birds over their prey. Just two hours outside of San Jose, the capital of Costa Rica, golf courses, resorts and beaches lined the entire peninsula. The luxurious resorts boasted private beaches and exclusive accommodations along the picturesque coastline of Peninsula Papagayo. Any accommodations you could possibly imagine would be provided immediately by the professionally trained wait staff.…
It is 2014, I am 14 and it’s 5:00 am on a Saturday morning, I am just waking up to go to NEIBA (Northeast Iowa Band Association). 9 other band members will be going too. We have all been selected to participate in the 8th grade honor band. This is not the first time that I have gone to one of these associations.…
Next, being in Costa Rica gave me the opportunity to experience things that I wouldn’t have been able to do at home. At nights, I liked to sit outside of my room and enjoy the…
All my life I have wanted to go on a mission trip to help mentor those in need. So when the opportunity came to go to Jicamarca, Peru I was extremely excited to be a part of the team being shipped off. Before going to Peru we were put through a “special” type of training. During this training we were taught what we were going to be speaking about, a skit, and a ballet dance. So when we went to Peru we would be ready for anything, at least that’s what I thought.…
Andrew Just last year, Dylan and I traveled to Haiti on a missions trip. As you may know, it's one of the poorest countries in the world. When we were beginning our descent on the airplane, I thought about how little roads and how poor the housing was. We drove through chaotic roads and rubble filled alleys, until we reached the orphanage. New Life Children’s Home is a safe haven for kids who lived in the mountains a couple miles north.…
Exposition When I was ten years my mom and my siblings live in Grand Rapids Michigan. My mom was born in the Dominican republic and come to America to raise her kids. She always talk about how life was there and what sacrifices she did to be here. Her mom was the one that made her go and find a better life for her and her kids to be here. I always wanted to see how it was like for myself and visit my other half of my family that’s so far away.…
Going to Haiti last summer was something I didn’t really expect. The summer prior, I had worked at Tall Timbers, a summer camp, and fell in love; it was the best summer of my life. After working there, I was dead set on working there for every summer as long as I could. But even shortly after moving out and going home at the end of that summer, I remember lying in bed one night and having the thought, what if I had to give this up? What if I never get to work at Tall Timbers again?…
This happened a year ago when I was with my mom at home watching TV, talking, and having a good time together until we received a call from Venezuela telling us that one of my aunts was seriously ill. That was awful for me, it was traumatic because two days before I talked to my aunt and she was in excellent condition. My mom would not stop crying because she thought my aunt would die. We started praying every night for her to get better, but it was not like that.…
In the summer of 2011 when I was the age of thirteen, I was going to reach the biggest milestone in my life at that time; which was going to Nicaragua all by myself. I could remember the day when my dad booked the flight and thinking how my siblings and I were going to experience where my parents grew up and how things worked in their hometown. It was not until a few days later when my dad walked into my room; seriously but not furiously and said, “Son at your age you should feel so lucky that you guys have a better life than your mother and I had. The ticket that I bought, was for you and only for you; you are the only one going on this trip so then you know what your mother and I went through to be here to give you guys the life that we wanted as a kid.” At that time, I did not…
“You can start whenever you’re ready” The boy looked down at his pale, shaking hands, then up at the ceiling. Anywhere except for the man with the clipboard in front of him. They had told him that if he came here, they would leave him alone. He took that to mean no more blinding lights being shown in his face, no more fake smiles, no more lies. “My mom made me some sandwiches.…
Summer of 2016, my family and I made a trip to Puerto Peñasco, Mexico. The city of Puerto Peñasco, also known as Rocky Point is located on the Gulf of California. It's known for its beautiful scenery and dune-backed sandy beach. Tons of people around the world come to Rocky Point every year to unwind and have a good time. There are several reasons why Puerto Peñasco was such a memorable trip.…
Sighing deeply I locked my gaze on the sizable red dirt hill before me. A gust of dry heat hit me with a cloud of dust that burned my eyes, I cleared my throat with a small cough. Now my head fully fixated on the ground as I trekked up the hill. To trip on the rocky unbalanced road would not only be dangerous, but also thoroughly embarrassing if seen by my eighteen mission trip team members who followed behind me. This trip to Haiti was my third, I had walked this road many times before, but this year my destination was different.…