International Experience | John Brown University Student Life Blog

Second Breakfast

Jun 26 2018

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Posting from the Abila Archaeological Project. “Break!” Dr. Susan announces. Excavators drop their picks and scurry up ladders. Wheelbarrows screech to a stop. Empty guffas tumble over stone walls. Binders full of top plans snap shut. We all know what Dr. Susan’s words mean: it’s food time. Members of the Abila crew unzip backpacks and pull out sack lunches packed by the camp chef—flat bread, a hardboiled egg, an orange, a tomato and a triangle slab of cheese wrapped in foil. Jordanian team members trail toward their resting spot—the shaded gap between the wall of a Byzantine church and what we[…]

Jun 24 2018

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Posting from the Abila Archaeological Project. My favorite room at camp is the registry. In layman’s terms, it’s where cool stuff gets sorted and documented. During field school, dozens of JBU students crammed into the registry for a training session. They clustered around desks covered with Munsell soil charts, rulers, pail tags and microscopes. Peter, our resident priest and registrar, explained that archaeology is destruction, purposeful demolition for the sake of learning. Because the sediment and artifacts we uncover can never be returned to their original state, documenting our work with great care is critical to honoring history. After providing[…]

Jun 20 2018

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I’m sitting with two of my best friends by a window in the cafeteria. The sunlight is streaming in… it’s a beautiful Monday, a great start to the week. As I look around at everyone entering, sitting, leaving, I see four different friends getting their own food and then sitting down at individual tables. Less than three months ago we ate all of our meals together. This is a thought that makes me pause. Can it be? My semester studying abroad in Ireland feels so long ago. It’s like it was a different lifetime, and I’m a time-traveler, jumping between[…]

Jun 12 2018

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This summer 40+ volunteers, staff members, JBU students and alumni will spend four weeks in Northern Jordan at the Abila Archaeological Project. The team will be excavating, conserving, restoring and publishing the archaeological site of Abila of the Decapolis. Several team members will be sharing their journey here on the blog. By Gabrielle Marcy ’17 (Graphic Design) In 2016, I studied abroad in Jordan. That summer changed me as I uncovered history, developed cross-cultural friendships, experienced deep hospitality and wrestled with complex questions. This summer, I’m thrilled to return for another dig season. In preparation for the trip, I reached out[…]

Sep 26 2017

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As a missionary kid, I’m proud of my Guatemalan history. I love tamales, frijoles negros, freshly made corn tortillas (flour tortillas are a sad replacement), and the fireworks we light on Christmas Eve. I love going home and walking up the tile stairs to my room, walking through the patches of warm sunlight, being in the same house I spent the majority of my childhood in. The cracks in the wall are familiar to me, and being in that house is so comfortable. Even the smells are like old friends, unlike the foreign smells of the United States and JBU.[…]

Mar 29 2017

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I blame Billy for this whole fiasco. If he hadn’t mentioned a previous student biking to the sea, Erin and I never would have gotten the idea in the first place. As it was, Billy shared with our small group some of the benefits of studying abroad in Ireland and told us about all the adventures we could have on the weekends. BAM! Erin and I got bit by the adventure bug. It was decided. We were going to bike to the sea. Step One: Rely On Sense Of Direction (Even If You Don’t Have One) Did we research where[…]

Feb 20 2017

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I’m a missionary kid (MK) from Guatemala, Central America. I grew up there and didn’t spend a whole lot of time in the United States before moving to John Brown University. I was so excited, but also terrified. I wasn’t just moving out of my parents’ home, but also changing countries and cultures—all with no family or connections within a ten-hour drive. I flew up from Guatemala alone. Walking away from my parents before entering security was one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do. I knew my life was changing forever but wasn’t entirely sure what future I[…]

Feb 08 2017

It was surreal, driving onto JBU’s campus for the first time since last May. Seven months doesn’t sound like a long time, but so much had happened in my life that it felt like a lifetime. I’d spent the summer working in Iowa, and then had flown to Northern Ireland to study for three months and explore the culture and country. There were 20 of us who lived together, grew together and formed our own tiny little family. I lived in Belfast, Northern Ireland this past fall semester, learned philosophy, theology and literature from Irish professors, got to know and love a[…]

Category - International Experience

Second Breakfast

Field School: Registry

What if Seasons Never Actually Ended?

Anticipating Abila

I’m Dreaming of a Green Christmas

A Step-By-Step Guide for an Adventure You Won’t Forget

Transitioning is Hard

How I Returned From Cloud Nine