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This is a study in contrasts:  A high school student from tropical Ghana sent to the freezing plains of southern Minnesota, the adjustment from a small village school to a giant U.S. high school, and the surreal scene of being a Muslim sent to live with pig farmers (during Ramadan no less).  Our hero not only survived, he thrived.

How better to document local environmental changes than by handing out cameras to local coffee farmers in Uganda?  Photographer Tim McDonnell ended up not only getting interesting results, he received back a collection worthy of a gallery show.

Lithuanian Rūta Beinoriūtė threw herself into her expat experience in the United States, both professionally and socially, leaving a positive mark on those whose paths she crossed.  A dream come true, you say?  For sure--at least in the case of one bizarre recurring dream she's had since childhood...

When Stephen Guice took a teaching assignment and moved his large young family to communist Romania he was sure that it would be difficult—especially for the kids—to go without so many of comforts and products they were used to.  What he didn’t anticipate was that, by learning to do more with much less, they would have the time of their lives.

This classically-trained opera soprano is used to performing on the world’s largest stages. But as she travels the world sharing her music as an Arts Envoy, she finds the joy shared between diverse people and cultures is more powerful than standing ovations, and that the place she must sing from is not her diaphragm, but her heart.

Listen to these entertaining food stories from Ukraine, Bulgaria, Jordan, Kenya, Nigeria, India, South Africa, and the United States.

As an orphan raised by her grandfather in rural South Africa, but pushed by her brilliant older brother, Lindiwe Matlali beat the odds and went to the best university in Africa. Now, as the leader of Teen Geeks, she is teaching the next generation to become tech-literate coders, simply by using knitting needles.

A special bonus episode for Father’s Day.  15-year-old Meenu Bhooshanan describes her life-changing experience, learning Arabic in Jordan, halfway across the world from her native Alabama—while her father, Sri, talks about how her journey ended up being life-changing for him as well.

Meeting across a table to share a meal brings people together like nothing else.  In this episode, an American traces his family’s history on a historical food tour through Syria, and in the process discovers a lot about humanity.

We asked high school exchange students from around the world only one question: “Tell us about a time when you said to yourself, ‘I wish my friends or family back could see me now.’”  Their answers will astound you.  (Listen to this one with a box of tissues nearby.)

A blind soccer player and snow skier talks about living life without limits.

Coming from different musical traditions, playing instruments unknown to each other, this American music trio and audiences in Cambodia and Singapore came together over the love of the sounds created by strings.  And once the common language was unlocked, the connections came quick and ran deep.  This episode features the music of Harpeth Rising, including two exclusive “little nook” performances.

Our monthly food episode will have you laughing and drooling.

Sometimes opportunities present themselves in mysterious ways.  When many expats evacuated during a time of political turmoil in Indonesia, this Fulbright professor not only stayed, she found herself in the middle of a group of journalists that would help lead the country into the future and, during the course of those intense days, change the trajectory of her life.

Looking up from the foot of a rainforest is overwhelming.  Imagine what the world looks like from way up there.  Our storyteller today doesn’t have to.  He spends his time in the rainforest canopy, researching and communing with creatures whose entire lives are spent without touching the ground. 

Too cute to eat? Plus, the relationships created and the ethical issues that arise during an excavation at an ancient historical site in Peru.

This U.S. filmmaker wasn't sure how her topical documentaries--one about unconscious bias, another about the gender gap in the tech industry--would play to foreign audiences in dramatically different cultures, but found an even more elemental thread bound them even closer.

What’s it like for Americans living abroad during Ramadan, or international exchange participants in the U.S. during Ramadan? Listen to ECA exchange alumni share their experiences in this bonus episode.

From the deserts of Jordan to the pine forests of Washington State, everything in America should have seemed radically different to this one high school international exchange student. But with his enthusiasm and willingness to try new things, the experience turned out to be a perfect match, right down to playing American football and vying to be Prom king!