Leon, Nicaragua

Archive Central America- MAYA
It is Semana Santa this week! We have all been settling into our host families here in Leon and are enrolled in our new school Dariana Santa for this week. There was a procession featuring Saint Benedict on Monday which most of us viewed from afar. Our days here consist of school in the morning until 12 and then free time to participate in activities such as museum time, spanish… Read More

Free Travel

Archive South America- INTI
Hello friends and family!  We’ve just returned to Cusco after our week of free travel. After weeks of discussing and some planning, we chose to take the 10 hour overnight bus to Arequipa, and have the city be our home base for the week. We spent the first couple days hanging around the city, going to museums, markets, and eating far too much gelato. Our second stop was the small… Read More

Lovin’ The Land Down Unda!

Archive South Pacific- WALKABOUT
After a few plane delays and travel complications we finally made it to Australia! Right away we went to our spiritualy retreat which was a wonderful break from the hectic free travel!  For a few of us we meditated for the first time, we spent a little over a day in silence, (which proved to be tough for a few of us) and had a lot of time to reflect… Read More
Archive South Pacific- HONGI
Hello from Adelaide! (I would say from Sydney, since that was when this was supposed to be posted, but alas here we are)   Our last week of New Zealand was a whirlwind of incredible sights and car rides along the southern coast of the South Island.  Due to bad weather we had to change our free travel plans last minute, but I think all of us agree that it… Read More

Parque Maderas

Archive Central America- MAYA
After a long and complicated day of travel (some of us flying through three different countries), we arrived in Managua, Nicaragua. From there, we traveled by land to Parque Maderas in San Juan del Sur. The family style meals at Tyler’s place has been nothing short of spectacular or, as Yuri describes it, “heaven.” Favorite dishes have included grilled chicken, chicken parm pasta and an amazing assortment of cooked veggies… Read More
Archive South Pacific- HONGI
Dear friends, family, and other people who have stumbled across our humble blog somehow, Sorry that this post is a little late.  It was meant to be posted after the farm and before Blue Mountain Adventure Center, but I was caught up in exploring the amazing cities we have been in and kept pushing it off.  Better late than never though, am I right or am I right? Im right.… Read More

SNEC

Archive East Africa- KIFARU
After a whirlwind few days in Rwanda we all made it over the Rwanda-Uganda border and added another stamp to our passports. We spent a night in Kabale, Uganda at a wonderful guest house run by the NGO Edirisa. Edirisa strives to promote Africa through creativity, culture and practical skills. They have started amazing projects in cultural tourism, education, fair trade crafts and multimedia. After spending a night in Kabale… Read More

Cecilia y Josie en el Omblingo del Mundo!

Archive Latitudes Year
Whats up Carpe Diem, family, friends and prospective students?! Cecilia and Josie here writing from The Meeting Place Cafe in Cuzco, Peru. Life has been really excellent so far. We’re both currently living in the healing house which is why we are writing this together. Literally, we are each using one hand to type this…. We do yoga everyday, en la manana, and then spend our afternoons chillin, talk to… Read More

Emily and Kai say HOLA

Archive South America- INTI
Hello from Cusco! Or Cuzco, depending on how you spell it. Today is our last day in the city before heading off to Arequipa and the beach for our week of free travel. Our week in Cusco has been incredible! On Monday we met our respective host families and began our Spanish classes at FairPlay language school. The school employs single mothers in an effort to break the cycle of… Read More

Free Travel Success!

Archive South Pacific- WALKABOUT
Greetings friends, family and loved ones! You will be glad to know we had an amazing week of free travel! The group spent the past few days road tripping up the west coast of the southern island, sea kayaking and hiking the Abel Tasman and checking out the Franz Joseph glacier! Oh, can’t forget our “puzzling” adventures and illusions at Puzzle World, New Zealand… We soon found out how challenging… Read More

Adios Guatemala!

Archive Central America- MAYA
It´s officially our last day in Guatemala- we´re off to Nicaragua tomorrow. Although we will all miss Nicaragua, we are also excited to explore a new culture. We definitely made the most of our last few days in Guatemala. On Thursday, we bought some paint and headed out to a rural community to help paint the basketball court at the local school. We worked alongside the students to paint the… Read More

UAACC

Archive East Africa- KIFARU
Driving through the gates, into the UAACC (United African Alliance Community Center) it quickly became apparent that we were in for an exciting few days. The outside walls were covered with beautiful graffiti created by some of the students of the community center. There were powerful messages about equality and peace. These are two things that Pete and Charlotte O’Neil bring into their everyday lives. Pete started the Kansas City… Read More

Rwanda

Archive East Africa- KIFARU
Rwanda is a beautiful hilly green country in the middle of Eastern Africa. It is a very small country and borders Tanzania, Uganda, Burundi, and The Democratic Republic of the Congo. The capital, Kigali, is a big city with a population of around 2 million people, very clean, organized, and developed in the western sense of the word. This is where we spent our short three nights in Rwanda. We… Read More

Blue Mountain Adventures!

Archive South Pacific- HONGI
After we left the Marae, we headed to National Park Village and stayed in a hostel there for the night. The next morning, we got picked up to go to Blue Mountain Adventure Center in Raurimu, the next stop on our journey. We started off the afternoon with a few team building activities, involving tires and planks of wood and wooden mushrooms, and then we did a high ropes course… Read More

A Week of Celebrations

Archive Central America- MAYA
We´ve really been enjoying our week in San Andres so far. There is a weeklong celebration going on in San Jose because sometime last week was the day of their patrón saint, so even 15 minutes away in San Andres we can hear music and ¨fiestas¨all day long! On Saturday night, we decided to join in the fun by attending the fair. We had a blast riding on the Ferris… Read More

Bolivia and Peru

Archive Latitudes Year
Hey Guys! Its Andy Piper here from Cusco Peru!! I am currently into my second placement in Latitudes and am loving it. But first a description of what exactly I have been doing. Villa Tunari, Bolivia From early January to early February I was in Bolivia, at Inti Wara Yassi a wildlife refuge center for monkeys, pumas, other jungle creatures. I worked from 700-1800 everyday. It was hard work but… Read More

Hola From Cuzco!

Archive South America- INTI
Another week has gone by and we have reached the half way point! After leaving Achupallas with a tearful goodbye, we arrived back in Otavalo for some hot showers and retail therapy! We were really successful, especially Kai who is now the proud owner of 2 hammocks and a hammock chair. The next day we took about a 2 hour bus ride and arrived in Quito to explore the city… Read More

San Andres

Archive Central America- MAYA
Hello all, we have offically started our second language schoolin the beautiful town of San Andres. The town is located on Lago Peten-Itza which is very clean and warm for swimming. The weather is very hot and humid here so the lake is ideal for cooling off after our morning classes. We are all staying in individual homestays and it seems that everyone is enjoying their families. We had our… Read More