Life and Times Staff | Echo
Although the dorms may have been empty over J-term, Taylor students sure had a significant presence in countries around the world. While some students served on Lighthouse trips, others put lectures into practice on educational adventures. Their experiences range from unforgettable to life-altering.
Thailand, Computer Science
Scott King, Senior
Q: What was the best experience or funniest story of the trip?
A: We went and visited a missionary family that was staying near where we were. We were staying in Chiang Mai, which is on the Northern side of Thailand. We got to meet them and see how they interact with the locals, and see how they're learning the language and how they're developing an alphabet.
Q: What was the weirdest food that you ate?
A: When we went to that family that had us over, we had-I'm not sure how you say it-but it was . . . like fried frog. They were really skinny frogs. I didn't try it because I'm a really picky eater, and I was not having it. But other people had it and they said it was like a really crispy piece of meat.
Q: What's one thing that you learned while you were there?
A: We just got a really good picture at what it looks like to live as a missionary and as a technology missionary and how our skills, our abilities, can be used overseas. Honestly, probably almost more than needing more pastors and more disciple-makers, they need technology-skills people. And that's what we got to learn and see firsthand.
Ecuador, Public Health
Zack Taylor, Junior
Q: What was the best experience or funniest story of the trip?
A: The weirdest thing that I observed was a traditional healing ritual that involved guinea pigs. One of our team members was sick. The practitioner began by rubbing a live guinea pig all over the patient. Afterward, the patient blew on the guinea pig's face three times. This, they believe, allows some of the illness to be transferred to the guinea pig. We waited for five minutes to allow the guinea pig to manifest the illness. Once the five minutes were up, the woman skinned and dissected the guinea pig alive, with her bare hands! In the culture, they believe that this is a way that illness can be diagnosed and treated.
Q: What was the weirdest food that you ate?
A: We ate a lot of strange foods! We ate grubs (which tasted like salty bacon fat), guinea pig and chicha. Chicha is a drink made by women in Amazonian villages by chewing yuca (cassava) root, spitting the juice back into a bowl and allowing it to ferment.
Q: What's one thing that you learned while you were there?
A: Perhaps one of the most uncomfortable things I learned is how easy it is to "other" or even dehumanize people who don't speak English. I was very frustrated by the communication barrier. I am not able to speak Spanish well and I have a very hard time understanding it, so it was a challenge.
Turkey, Historic Christian Belief
Sarah White, Junior
Q: What was the best experience or funniest story of the trip?
A: One of my favorite experiences would be going on a hot air balloon ride in Cappadocia. The landscape was so beautiful with tons of natural caves, which was so incredible to see. The landing was also pretty epic; our basket crash landed and it was great.
Q: What was your funniest memory?
A: Cam Glass.
Q: What's one thing that you learned while you were there?
A: The most impactful part was being able to experience a Muslim country. We constantly heard the call to prayer and it reminded us of how lost this nation really is-99% of the country is not Christian. So like almost every person we walked past either didn't know who Jesus was or their view of him was skewed, which impacted me personally.
Great Britain, British Literature
Sarah Lyons, Senior
Q: What was the best experience or funniest story of the trip?
A: One of the more unusual things I did was sneak into a lecture at Oxford University. We weren't technically allowed inside even though we were on an academic trip, but we just tried to act British and no one questioned us. Some of the real students had to sit on the floor because we took their seats though.
Q: What was the weirdest food that you ate?
A: English food is traditionally pretty simple, so while I did try some unique dishes, I didn't have any really strange ones. But a friend of mine did have haggis (lamb stomach and intestine).
Q: What's one thing that you learned while you were there?
A: Probably I was most affected by the beautiful abbeys and cathedrals we visited. It's really incredible to see how delicate some of the architecture is even though it's stone; also, to see the bombed remains of these churches sitting right in the middle of sleek glass office buildings and malls.
Greece and Italy, Bib Lit
Chelsea Sweet, Sophomore
Q: What was the best experience or funniest story of the trip?
A: My favorite experience was the three-island tour. It was Greece; you think Greece and you see white buildings, crystal clear blue water, old men sitting around playing games while drinking their coffee. The water and the sky met. It was so beautiful. Also, climbing Mt. Olympus was a memory that will last a lifetime!
Q: What was the weirdest food that you ate?
A: The wildest thing I ate was a lamb head, but it was with the skull intact, teeth and all. So I ate the brain, tongue and meat on the skull . . . while looking at the full head of the lamb. It was surprisingly good.
Q: What's one thing that you learned while you were there?
A:I learned that the historical context of the text (the Bible) is extremely important. To be able to see the places that Paul was, to put the text to the archeological sights and be immersed in the culture made Scripture come to life. 
Israel, Bib Lit
Alex Burt, Sophomore
Q: What was the best experience or funniest story of the trip?
A: The funny story is pretty succinct: when we were on a field study in Southern Israel, we stopped at
Mahktesh Ramon, the largest crater in the world. At the site were a lot of ibex (they kinda look like goats), a few of which we fed trash and one of which decided to get on our bus.
Q: What was the weirdest food that you ate?
A: I would have to say it was this candy that seemed to combine a chocolate bar and Pop Rocks.
Q: What's one thing that you learned while you were there?
A: From the countless hours of lectures and time spent taking in Israel, my biggest takeaway is a new perspective of the Bible; it's truly living and active, and it's such an enormous privilege to read it and clearly envision the land its describing, as well as have a better grasp on the context of the time. 
South Africa, Econ
Camila Chiang, Junior
Q: What was the best experience or funniest story of the trip?
A: At one of the places we visited, the people we were working with, wanted us to kill the chickens that we were going to eat for dinner. So the process of killing the chicken involved one person holding the chicken down while the other sawed the head off with a knife as quickly as possible to ease the pain for the chicken. One of the girls on our team started cutting the head, but she soon realized that she had started cutting with the dull side!
Q: What was the weirdest food that you ate?
A: Well we had to eat the chickens . . . every part of them. The head, feet, heart, intestines.
Q: What's one thing that you learned while you were there?
One of the most impactful experiences of the trip was visiting a maximum security prison in Cape Town. We got to meet some of the Christian inmates and actually got to participate in their worship service which was incredible. One of the inmates that I had a conversation with told me his story and shared how Christ had changed his life.
Nepal, Lighthouse Trip
Rachel Cook, Junior
Q: What was the best experience or funniest story of the trip?
I was walking near the back of our pack, we passed by the usual street vendors and random groups of men leaning up against the wall. As I passed one man in particular, a large spray of spit hit me from point-blank range on my face. Stunned, I just kept walking. In moments such as these I decided-no matter how mortified I was-to laugh and quickly move on . . . I still love Nepal!
Q: What was the weirdest food that you ate?
Ostrich.
Q: What's one thing that you learned while you were there?
On this trip I did not only learn about injustices, Hinduism and the Global Church at work in Asia, but also I experienced the blessing of fellowship within the body of Christ. As we walked about the city and saw how devout the Nepali people are to their beliefs and practices, I couldn't help but wonder why God chose to reveal himself to me. 
Ethiopia, Lighthouse Trip
Rachel Williams, Junior
Q: What was the best experience or funniest story of the trip?
My favorite experience was probably when our team organized a devotional time with the orphans that lived at Project Mercy, called the "House Kids". It was touching and powerful to share with those kids the things that the Lord had laid on our hearts and in those moments I knew that God had a plan for their lives to bless and prosper them.
Q: What was the weirdest food that you ate?
The weirdest food I ate was this stuff called injera. It's a sour, cold, spongy type of bread made from the grain teff. Although it was strange at first, eating injera at every meal quickly became the norm for us.
Q: What is something you learned?
During the trip the Lord really reminded me of his constant and faithful presence and a reassurance that my prayers are always heard. The Scripture that was illuminated to me throughout the course of the trip was a passage from 1 John 5:14-15, which says, "This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us-whatever we ask-we know that we have what we asked of him."
South East Asia, Lighthouse Trip
Faith Carter, Junior
Q: What was the best experience or funniest story of the trip?
My favorite experience was getting to know the host family on the first island. Their love and hospitality was amazing and inspiring. Seeing God in their life and love.
Q: What was the weirdest food that you ate?
The best and strangest food was sting ray!
Q: What is something you learned?
I learned a lot about the Islamic faith and the way religion and culture so easily intertwine. 
Guatemala,
Kasey Leander, Senior
Q: What was the best experience or funniest story of the trip?
"Don Olivia (host parent) knew one word (of English), and it was beans."
Q:What were your host parents like?
They were about four foot ten. Don Carlos was a really amiable old guy. He drove a bus with all the little niños to school everyday. That was his job. Doña Olivia was just this tiny little amazing hostess who cooked us food and would call down from the kitchen. We could smell it too. It was so good.
Q: What's one thing that you learned while you were there?
The experience of learning a language was fantastic because all of a sudden, communication with hundreds of people and worldwide millions of people that I would've never been able to truly see what their lives are like and understand them . . . and now I can for the first time. So that was a really cool experience. 
Paraguay, Lighthouse Trip
Lizzie Wilson, Junior
Q: What was the best experience or funniest story of the trip?
One of my personal favorite experiences was the conversations I had with the missionary's wife, Mariana-talking to her and hearing all about her life and testimony. She is the most joyful person I have ever met and lives a life of incredible humility and dependence on God. She taught me so much through those conversations, and I know I will never forget her.
Q: What was the weirdest food that you ate?
The coolest/weirdest thing we ate was probably goat. A group of three of us also had to cut the raw goat meat off the bone and into little pieces to help prepare it for dinner. That was pleasant.
Q: What's one thing that you learned while you were there?
I learned so much about humility and vulnerability, what it looks like to truly love people well and create a space for them to be broken but beloved. God doesn't need us. He chooses us and loves us and invites us to be a part of His ongoing work. 
Peru, Lighthouse Trip
Maddie Gold, Junior
Q: What was the best experience of the trip?
I really enjoyed working at the farm, because it was really hard work and I don't do manual labor very much. Any of the work was way harder than it would be here because of the elevation.
Q: What was the funniest experience?
We got called ugly gringos multiple times. They weren't expecting weird-looking Americans. We're not movie stars they're used to seeing.
Q: What was your favorite part of the culture?
Something I loved about the Peruvian culture is that everyone reaches out to everyone else. People are willing to help others at no expense.
China, Honors Program
Molly McNamara, Freshman
Q: What was the best experience or funniest story of the trip?
We went to the Great Wall which was breathtaking and awesome on its own, but then we got to ride toboggans down it, which was strange and cool.
Q: Weirdest thing you ate?
I ate a dog which was weird, but it was seasoned real nice, so that was rad
Q: What's something that you learned while you were there?
The most impactful moment was visiting an orphanage in Beijing for disabled children. It was sad but also encouraging seeing all the employees who were willing to go to work each day just to love those kids and help them have a chance at a better life.
