All students on the group flight with Zack have landed safely in LA and are headed onward home this evening or tomorrow. With thanks again to all involved! – Jody...Read More

Dear Families & Friends, It is hard to believe that almost six weeks have passed since your student embarked on this incredible adventure! It won’t be long until students will be boarding their planes back home. We are sure you are anxiously......Read More

After about 12 hours in a bus we have finally arrived in Bishkek where we will be wrapping up our course with something we call Transference. Transference is a time to reflect back on the past 6 weeks and prepare for transitioning to life back home.......Read More

Staying in Kyrgyzstan is a starkly different experience from the oppressive heat and government of Xinjiang. The air seems lighter. The people, naturally, seem happier. Driving across the border and into the mountains over a week ago, I commented to......Read More

Time has always eluded me. It is simply a construct used to mark moments passing by, yet people are fascinated by it, myself included; every birthday is a celebration of another year of life. Some are obsessed with mortality, the longevity of life.......Read More

The train ride from Turfan to Kashgar is fifteen hours long. I sat down in the crowded car and threw up my lunch within two hours, so needless to say, I was not having the time of my life. However, I am grateful that the people on the train with......Read More

The other day I was sitting by the river here in Kyrgyz Ata looking at a bed of rocks. I began thinking how each rock is unique. No two rocks have the same texture, shape, color, or size. Each rock has its own history and marks that tell the story......Read More

“The root of cruelty lies not in the ability to dehumanize a person but the very opposite–to see someone as human.” – The Root of All Cruelty?, The New Yorker Foreword: This article mostly draws from the atrocities of the Holocaust......Read More

Our students are having a great time here on the outskirts of Osh in their second  homestay. Here’s a link to a video of our first, rural homestay....Read More

“If they won’t assimilate, chew it harder, and then you can swallow.” – Noam Xinjiang is definitely a hard pill to swallow. I had heard murmurs about how the Chinese government oppresses the Uyghurs, but to what extent, I wasn’t sure, nor......Read More