Hola parents. We are yet again finishing up another week in beautiful Ecuador. Sadly our group of nine was split in two this last week. One group consisting of Amanda, Andrew, Jordan, Jordi, Hannah and Alejandro, visited the cloud forest outside of Otavalo. They spent their time teaching at two different rural schools. The little ninos were absolutely adorable. We taught them as much English as possible, as well as… Read More
Cloudy, Maybe the Cloudiest.
Dear mothers, lovers, fathers, brothers, sisters, friends, neighbors and beloved pets,
Greetings from Coban! We are staying in a Hostal tonight and taking a lengthy bus ride to Xela tomorrow morning, but, lets not get too ahead of ourselves here. You must know about last week first!
We left San Andres for Coban last Sunday. We stayed in the same Hostal we are staying in now, it is very clean… Read More
Kolkata aka Calcutta aka sweatbox
Hey everybody!
For the past week we have been sweating it out in Kolkata, getting to know each other a lot better as we all shared a HUGE dorm room at an inexpensive yet awesome guest house in the heart of the city. Our week has included a lot of metropolitan overload. Think New York City only WAY louder and more crowded and no rules. A quiet cafe with awesome… Read More
Sarnath and Bodhgaya
Hello family and friends. We are now just about three weeks into the trip and time is starting to fly by. We are currently taking in the sites of Calcutta, however, I will be talking about our last day in Varanasi and our brief stint in Bodghgaya. On our last day in Varanasi, the group decided to venture about an hour north to a place called Sarnath. Sarnath is holy… Read More
Old, maybe the Oldest.
Hola everyone! We just finished our first week of spanish school and we all learned a lot! Most of us had our own teacher, and all of them were great. We spent 4 hrs each morning at the school and spent the afternoons swimming in the lake, or doing various activities. We took a boat trip into Flores to shop on thurs. and stopped at a small museum on the… Read More
¡Language School in Cuenca!
We are wrapping up another week of this bacancisimo trip and figured it was about time for another blog! Today was our last day of Espanol classes and its been SAMtastic. Each person has been learning and improving at their own pace. We´ve have been spending our mornings from 8 to 12 in class or going on creative field trips to markets, museums, or parques and then later enjoying the… Read More
Varanasi
Namaste. Our dearest family and friends!We have been in India only a week and a half, but the thick air and yellow sun has already colored our skin. The vivid smells and sights of the streets have absorbed us, leaving our clean bodies and clear minds feeling like a distant recollection. We are now in Varanasi a city on the banks of the great and holy Ganges River. Varanasi is… Read More
Calor, maybe the Caloriest.
Grettings from San Andres, Guatemala.
We arrived in the very hot town of San Andres yesterday after a week full of Guatemalan traditions, holidays, parades, pageants, and costume contests. The week started with carnivale where we were all covered in flour and confetti thrown on us by the local children. The next day was a mardi gras parade where we were once again attacked by the children. On friday it… Read More
Rio Muchacho and on to Language School in Cuenca
¡Hola familia y amigos! Its been a great past week spent in Rio Muchacho- an organic farm in the transition region of Ecuador. Not only have we spent the past week farming and adjusting to creating zero waste but we have also been learning about the different aspects of organic farming such as composting, the lunar calendar, and problems with most US farms. We have been able to meet incredible… Read More
¡HAY USTEDES!
Hello everyone,
We have had a very eventful last few days here in beautiful Guatemala. On saturday we took a 2 hour hike into the hills, mountains, jungles, and every other imaginable terrian and arrived at a cave. On the hike to the cave we were attacked by a chacha bird and it felt like it was a scene straight out of Jurassic Park and the chacha was a Velociraptor.… Read More
Blogtastic
Our first three days in Ecuador have been incredible! We arrived at our hostel, Hostel Saiananda, in Bahia, Ecuador Thursday after many hours of travel by plane and bus. We arrived early Friday morning, got a couple hours of sleep and awoke to a delicious breakfast of local fruit, eggs, and homemade bread. After some bonding activities, we set out on our first adventure, a scavenger hunt through Bahia. Our… Read More
Family, friends we would like to take this time to personally notify all of you in the United States who care about us that we find ourselves safely in the middle of the great city of New Delhi. To provide a description of the city is difficult, but I will try my best. Sensory overload is probably the best way. The streets are loaded with people, cars, rickshaw, livestock, and… Read More
Scavenger Hunt in Poptun
Hi everyone!Its Emily, Lauren, and Hannah. We are in the village of poptun in guatemala doing a scavenger hunt (like the others below said) It took us a while to get to here but we made it! Even though were all sweaty and not very clean were excited to be here. We´ll post again as soon as we canhasta luego… Read More
So thats a Basura!?
Hello everyone this is Brian, Lexi and Kelly. We are on a scavenger hunt in Poptun, Guatemala. The place where we are staying is amazing and wonderful. We are all looking forward to a lovely lagoon swim later after a very long trek today. In case you did not know a basura is not just a garbage it is also a landfill…we were able to find this in the mountains… Read More
NUMERO UNO!
Hola amigos y familia!Lauren F, Brooke, and Griffin here! we are currently on a scavenger hunt in a local town. we have had a wonderful time sofar at finca ixobel, relaxing, bonding, and preparing for our trip. the walk here was supposed to be 40 minutes but due to directional difficulties we went on quite the adventure through the town basura, aka the dump- the elephant graveyard… well not elephants… Read More
The Seattle company are united!
I just wanted to let you know that I’ve heard from Nick and Stacey that the final students coming through Seattle and Amsterdam have arrived! They’re safe, albeit sleepy! – Ethan… Read More
Arrival in Finca Ixobel
I just received an email from Heather and Adam that the group’s officially touched ground at Finca Ixobel, the site of their orientation and also the group’s first real solid ground since taking off in SF! In Heather’s words the leaders are typing from “the Flinstone’s original computer” so don’t expect any contact from the students until tomorrow at the earliest 🙂 Yours,
Ethan… Read More
Safe in Delhi!
Nannette here on behalf of India group who wishes to let you know that the Cathay Pacific crew has arrived into Delhi safe-n-sound, are at their hostel, and are working toward a few hours of shut-eye before Mother India awakens outside their doors….
More from them themselves later, and the final 3 members of the group will be met by Nick or Stacey in about 19 hours!… Read More
Bienvenido a Ecuador!
Nannette here-blogging on behalf of the SAM group:
I’ve just gotten off the phone with Amanda & Drew-everyone was waiting for a bus in Guayaquil to take them to their orientation site. They are all safe, happy, and incredibly excited to begin their adventure, although they are feeling Zoe’s absence…. Alas, only a few more days until the group is truly complete…
Look for further blogs from the group themselves… Read More
Dear Zoe:
This video was made by the SAM group who is desperately missing their final student: Zoe Coleman. Zoe… you’ve been so wonderful through all this weather and your attitude has been very appreciated! The group, likewise, is eager to have you with them and send this out with great love and excitement at your joining them in a few short days. Video 24Video Length 1:55 Click here to watch… Read More