By Emma Wagner Hola from the cozy computer lab at PLQ (Proyecto Lingüistico Quetzal Educativo)! We have taken a break from the delicious cinnamon tea and bread we’ve grown to know and love over the past few days, to give you a glimpse into our lives in Xela—and hopefully, some pointers on Xela’s best offerings if you ever find yourself here with some time to kill. Some highlights of the… Read More

By Eliza Cash After our three-day orientation in the city of Xela—where we explored the tiny side streets, filled up on street food, celebrated Guatemala’s Independence Day, and worked out in the courtyard of our hostel—we piled into a tiny van and made our way up the mountains to begin our first week together. Our adventure began as we rumbled down the cobblestone street to La Escuela de la Montaña.… Read More

Greetings from Portland—Jonathan and Michelle here. We have been busy digging through our itinerary and planning our incredible semester! We are getting pumped to meet you all and fly to Guatemala next week! Here are some things to keep in mind during your last few days at home: -Pack light! Follow the list Carpe Diem gave you and you’ll be all set. You probably already have too many things in… Read More

Hi everyone, The sun is still shining brightly today in Roatan, but it feels so different without you here. No one is shouting our names from across the room, no one is asking us questions… we’re just regular ol’ people again. But don’t worry! We took our own advice. We wrapped you all up neatly in a little package, and we’re carrying you next to our hearts. And while our… Read More

Costa Rica- Pura vida! After a 4:30 am wake up and around 14 hours of traveling, we finally made it to Costa Rica! We were welcomed with a huge fiesta at one of the homestays, accompanied by a drastic difference in food; Ribs and BBQ chicken instead of just the usual rice and beans. We were given a quick intro to CIRENAS, the program that we worked with for the… Read More

We just finished up our week of student directed travel, and have now settled down in Costa Rica. Sunday morning we left the Mariposa Spanish school at 8 am and hitched a 1-hour van through the school to Granada, Nicaragua. We had been planning our student directed travel for several weeks, beginning deliberations in Ometepe and finalizing our itinerary in La Cancha. We were in charge of booking accommodations, reserving… Read More

Hey everyone! We just finished our last week of spanish school and have moved on to student directed travel, two things that most of us are very excited about. We left Bona Fide on Monday instead of Sunday due to Nicaragua´s elections, and made our way to Escuela Español Mariposa. There we were all introduced to our families for the next week. It was especially exciting because this was the… Read More

We started our second week at Bona Fide with the celebration of Halloween! After a morning of hard work, we participated in a scavenger hunt and made scarecrows with materials from the around the farm. Thanks to Brittany, one of the scarecrows was lucky enough to wear a nice shirt signed by Queen B herself. Later on in the evening, the group settled in the meeting room (the Aula) with… Read More

Arriving at 9:00 Am, Mategalpa tours took us in a van up to the cloud forest 40 minutes away. Our guide walked us through the lush forest full of insects, and birds we never saw but heard because of the thick canopy shading us from the world above. Every animal camouflaged in their own unique way, every organism coinciding with the habitat surrounding them. We then took some silent time… Read More

Hola amigos. After an amazing weekend of student directed travel in Antigua the group took a van to Guatemala City and arrived at the G22 complex. G22 is an organization that focuses on urban sustainability and renewable energy. They participate in numerous projects in Guatemala and other countries around the world helping reduce urban waste and promote conservation of natural resources. This was the first week the group spent living… Read More

Hola! The past week has been incredible, from the Mystical Yoga Farm to the city of Antigua. Lake Atitlan was absolutely beautiful. Every morning at 6 we woke up to the amazing view of three giant volcanoes towering over the bright blue waters of Atitlan. We then made our way to our meditation and yoga class. It was a great way to start the day! We think that the best… Read More

Hello from la Escuela de la Montaña, We’ve had a terrific week! On Sunday morning we moved out of our Xela home stays and caught a public bus that took us to The Mountain School! Immediately, we could tell this was going to be very different from PLQ. The bus dropped us off in the middle of the woods, right in the middle of the mountains we could see from… Read More

Hello everyone! Greetings from Portland—David and Rachel here. It is a sunny autumnal day and we are planning our incredible semester. We have been digging through our itinerary and we are getting pumped to meet you all and fly to Guatemala next week! Here are some things to keep in mind in your last few days at home: -Pack light! Follow the list Carpe Diem gave you and you’ll be… Read More

Dear Maya 2016… It is difficult to describe the mix of emotions we are feeling while we spend our first night and day without you in three months. The absence of belly laughs, “Rocky Top”, and the ever present call of “Guys!” leaves a conspicuous silence. We have been doing a lot of processing  together and some real gems have come out of it. One that sticks out above the… Read More

Hola amigos y familias! This is Saya writing my blog draft in a mango tree. After a long week of ups and downs and the longest travel day yet, we arrived at Isla de Ometepe. We are staying at Bona Fide, a farm that focuses on experiential learning on permaculture. We also have afternoon workshops on basket weaving, jam making and chocolating. We are surrounded by nature here with no… Read More

Hey guys and gals! This is Alison and Kelsey checking in from Travelers’ House in Portland. This week has been jam packed and we have had some exhausting days of work getting ready for the upcoming semester. In fact, we made a video of our workday today just to show y’all how committed we are to making this trip a smashing success. Here’s the link: It has been great to… Read More

Gratitude to all of the host mom’s who cooked for us, drivers that transported us, travelers who shared stories with us, and to each and every person in the group who made the experience truly wonderful! All of you are amazing young adults and we are proud of you for growing, learning, and transforming throughout the last three months! Don’t hesitate to reach out and keep us up to date… Read More

Saq’iriq (Buenos dias, or for the rest of you English speakers, good morning) from Pasac! This week started off with a much needed sleep-in day after a tough night hike up the volcano Santa Maria. Originally the plan was to hike from midnight straight through morning for a sunrise cup of hot chocolate on the summit. Unfortunately, not everything goes as planned and we put our group skills to the… Read More

!Hola from Maya’s first day at The Mountain School! We left Xela this morning and have checked off our first out of 12 weeks together and will be officially 2 weeks on Tuesday. These past 12 days have been awesome! We slid into the first week of orientation where we stayed together in a cozy hostel with an amazing view of the mountains and city (pics below) and get to… Read More

Hello Team Maya 2015! This is Kelsey and Angie checking in on this beautiful Friday afternoon. We are in the process of wrapping up our training here in Portland and preparing ourselves for the coming semester which promises to be legen… wait for it… dary. We wanted to take this time to begin one of the rituals that will be a part of our time together- writing the group blog.… Read More