To hike, or not to hike

Archive Central America- MAYA
Being in Xela has really showed us the importance of planning ahead. Since we´re all in homestays pretty much scattered around the city, the only way to make plans is to make them really early, or else we won´t be seeing each other the rest of the day. Our usual meeting areas are the school and parque central, which you can see pictures of in the last post. Last night,… Read More

The Taj To the Ganges

Archive India- SHIVA
  We made it to the Taj, the jewel of India. It was more brilliant than any postcard can really do justice, all shimmery, shiny, white marble, It was hard to believe we were really there. What a labour of love it was, built for the emperors wife when she died giving birth to her 14th child. After it was built he was imprisoned by his son eight years later… Read More

Nananu

Archive South Pacific- HONGI
Bula friends and family! Here’s an update on what we’ve been doing for the past few days; it involves some Kava ceremonies, super awesome volunteer work, cute kids, friendly families, waking up to animal sounds every morning and singing the Beatles, “Let it Be” in church-just to name a few. There’s been a heck of a lot of rain too. Also, it is hot, hot, hot! Sorry, we know you’re… Read More

Adios Otavalo

Archive South America- INTI
Today the group is packing up the bags from our brief stay in the market town of Otavalo. We took at 4 am bus from Baños on Sunday moring, which actually went quite smoothly. We arrived at Otavalo in the morning, and Jackie fearlessly lead us to our hostel. The day was spent shopping, easting, and relaxing in hammocks. I think almost everyone bought something here, one of the best… Read More

Pringles: The American Delicacy

Archive Central America- MAYA
Hola todos, Have you ever heard the expression “uphill both ways”? Sounds impossible, si? It’s not. We started our week in Pasac with, what was described as a flat, 10 minute walk. In reality, we spent 45 minutes walking straight uphill on uneven, “roads”. The end result made the trekk worth it, though. We reached an amazing waterfall with a spectacular view of the valley below. The next few days… Read More

Bonjour from Madison in Senegal

Archive Latitudes Year
Bonjour! I’m currently living in Saint Louis; a small town located in northern Senegal. I have been here for two weeks and already feel at home. I have fallen in love with my host family. I’m living with my mom, dad, brother and sister (who are both in there upper 20’s), two young cousins, and housekeeper. As I first arrived it was difficult to determine who was actually a part… Read More

In Otavalo

Archive South America- INTI
The group just arrived in Otavalo after staying in Banos for 6 days with homestay families. The stay in Banos was a wonderful experience because we got to enjoy the different aspects of the city. We enjoyed a bike ride throught the countryside and got to zipline across a huge valley with a waterfall. We also got to go fishing and enjoy some fresh trout! The group also participated in… Read More

Learning Swahili in Iringa!

Archive East Africa- KIFARU
Mambo friends and famiy! This week we traveled by bus from the hot and sunny Morogoro to the beautiful mountain city of Iringa. There we began our daily language classes at Rivervalley Campsite with our amazing teacher, Kiobiya. In just 5 days and 20 hours we all have a pretty decent working knowledge of Kiswahili and we have all been very excited to try out our new skills. During the… Read More

from Baños

Archive South America- INTI
Hi the carpe diem group has had a wonderful time in South America so far. There have been may challenges and exciting adventures. we hiked to the refugio of Cotapaxi, which is over 14,000 feet high. The altitude took a tool on the lungs. Huffing and puffing – finally each and every last one of us made it to the refugio. Then we finished up our orientation retreat and headed… Read More

Jaipur! India Shiva Spring Semester ’13 Kicks Off

Archive India- SHIVA , , ,
Namaste from India! The air is filled with dust particles, and sun streams in from a half open window. A little old woman with an Indian accent is smiling and informing us on what the next stretch is good for: “Goood (with long o sounds) for lower back, estomach, gooood for ladies. ” It’s only 7 am and already Jaipur is filled from sounds we can hear from the program… Read More

Week 1 Complete! (Cat & Lauren’s Blog)

Archive South Pacific- WALKABOUT
Bula venaka everyone! After our orientation at Mango Bay Resort, the Walkabout group ventured to Nadala Village, Fiji. Nadala is way up in the Fijian mountains near Mt. Victoria, the highest mountain in Fiji. Our group was split up into pairs to stay with a homestay family. When we first arrived we had “Sevu Sevu” – a ceremony where we were welcomed by the chief and elders of the village.… Read More

Gurra Nu from Ghana!

Archive Latitudes Year
So I’ve been here for a little over two weeks and wow, talk about a culture shock. It’s hard to see, but feels amazing to be able to help out here. I live 4 hours out of Accra, the capital of Ghana, in a village called Atorkor. Don’t bother looking it up on Google Maps because it isn’t there. My little village sits on the coast and I can literally… Read More

Kendall from Kenya

Archive Latitudes Year
Hey everyone! I am currently in Ngong, Kenya. Ngong is a small working class community, 30 minutes outside of the capital, Nairobi. It’s still hard to believe that I am actually in Africa. Six months ago, I made the extremely tough decision to take a gap year. Like all Carpe Diem students I had mixed emotions. I was super excited, nervous, and had no idea what to really expect. I… Read More