Written by Abby, Overseas Educator on the Central America semester, this farewell post recaps 10 unforgettable weeks across Guatemala and Costa Rica with the Spring 2023 group. Our semester has officially come to a close! You all are either back home or continuing your travels in Costa Rica. We said goodbye on Wednesday morning with tears in our eyes. Matt and I tried to set you free at the security… Read More

Written by Izzy and April, this Costa Rica scuba Drake Bay recap covers their final week on the Osa Peninsula, from open water certification and shark encounters to wildlife in Corcovado National Park. For our final week, we got to spend our time on the beautiful peninsula of Osa, in a small area called Drake Bay. We got to experience the once in a lifetime opportunity to get scuba certified.… Read More

Written by Addie and Dylan, this Costa Rica Mastatal volunteer update covers their first week at Villas Mastatal, from banana planting and trail clearing to a chocolate tour and waterfall swims. Our first week in Costa Rica!! After leaving our beloved Guatemala behind and heading to the airport, unexpected delays forced us to change flights and pass through El Salvador on our way to Costa Rica! A fun little surprise… Read More

Written by Justin and Léa, this Guatemala student directed travel recap covers Hobbitenango, a Pacaya Volcano hike, black sand beaches in Monterrico, and a sunrise mangrove tour on their final week in Guatemala. Student directed travel week, WOO WOO! Justin and Lea reporting to you live! We started off in Antigua, visited the magical Hobbitenango, a Hobbit themed attraction park. We got to practice our archery, axe-throwing, and mini golf… Read More

Written by Iris and Menna, this Guatemala Semana Santa San Juan update covers alfombra building, chuchito making, a cultural potluck, and Good Friday processions in San Juan La Laguna. This week was our second full week in San Juan, with preparations for Semana Santa in full swing! We started our second round of cultural classes, as well. On Thursday, we had a cultural potluck at our school, which meant we… Read More

Written by April and Ozzy, this San Juan Lake Atitlan homestay update covers cultural skill classes in weaving, music, and painting, plus Spanish lessons and a local fútbol game in San Juan La Laguna. This week we were presented with more of a mental challenge than a physical one. We traveled across the lake on a boat to San Juan, then went to our separate home stays and started Spanish… Read More

Written by Izzy and Dylan, this Lake Atitlan permaculture farm update covers a week of sustainable agriculture at Atitlan Organics, reforestation with Wellkind, and boat rides around the lake. Since coming back from the very long and tiring hike, we all stayed at a hostel in Tzununa called Granja Tz’kinin, where we met Neal, who gave us his perspective on how permaculture can shape the way you view the world.… Read More

Written by Justin and Addie, this Guatemala mountain trek Xela update covers host family life, karaoke nights, and a grueling three-day 20-mile hike from Xela through the Guatemalan mountains to Lake Atitlan. Second week in Xela! Moved in with our host families this week and got to immerse ourselves in the culture of Guatemala even further while practicing the Spanish skills we’ve been working on. Continuing our Spanish classes, we… Read More

Written by Caedin and Menna, this Xela Spanish school Guatemala update covers their first week at PLQ in Quetzaltenango, with individual Spanish lessons, a women’s rights talk, homestay arrivals, and a waterpark visit. This week, we arrived in the beautiful city of Quetzaltenango, aka Xela! After a 4 hour car ride, we finally arrived at our hostel Casa Seibel. We started off the week with Spanish classes at PLQ, a… Read More

Written by Léa and Iris, this Guatemala Long Way Home Comalapa update covers sustainable construction with cob and tires, traditional cooking, cultural night with live marimba, and a visit to the Mayan ruins of Iximche. We made our way to the town of Comalapa. Taking a walk around with Omar, our host at ‘Long Way Home’, we learned about the artistic presence of the town along with the strong Mayan… Read More

Written by Abby and Matt, Overseas Educators, this Guatemala gap year orientation Antigua update covers three nights at Earthlodge avocado farm, a Temascal, and the group’s first steps into Antigua before heading to Comalapa. We’ve spent the last 3 nights at a magical avocado farm outside the city of Antigua setting the tone for the rest of the semester through icebreakers, team building activities, deep journal prompts and a thorough… Read More

Written By OEs Mara & Matt And with our journals full of discoveries, our hearts full of memories, and our clothing full of new smells, we’ve found our ways back home. It’s amazing how quickly time has passed! It feels like we were just meeting each other in the Sonesta hotel and carrying a massive pizza box through security. Rides in the back of pick-up trucks and volcanic eruptions set… Read More

Written By Abby Wow. It seems like just yesterday we were all watching the volcano, Fuego, erupt during dinner at the famous EarthLodge above Antigua, Guatemala. Now we are counting the hours we have left here in Costa Rica, making the most of every moment. After our time at Villas Mastatal was up, we braved the stormy ocean by boat to make our way to Drake Bay. We waded off… Read More

Written By Gabriel, Abby & Lindsey First full week in Costa Rica! We spent the week in the town of Mastatal with a local family on their farm with many interesting characters: their hilarious son Andres, several bats flying overhead every night, and a stinky dog we named Kevin, even though she was a girl. The days consisted of farm work, painting murals, and visiting local businesses. Every morning the… Read More

Written By Helen, Ella, & Chance ¡Hola from the jungles of Rio Dulce! Boy, do we need to fill you in. Sit down, grab a snack, and listen to the adventure of a lifetime. Bang! We started off with a bang on Monday morning by competing in a series of group competitions. The group participated in two heated tournaments; ping pong and cannonballs. Mats roared as he devoured his competitors… Read More

Written By Mats & Wendy With this week our two week stay at San Juan and our time at the beautiful Lake Atitlan has ended. After getting to know our new host families, another week of school started on Monday. Some changed their teacher, but everybody sticked to improving their spanish skills in the magical school’s garden. With many games, dogs, and fun the hours of learning flew by, sometimes… Read More

  Written By Helen and Kate Another wonderful week in the books! After saying hasta la vista to the Bambú back in Tzununa, we boated across the lake to San Juan. The group got a glimpse of life in San Juan after the trek but now they get to experience it in its full form. Once arriving in San Juan, we walked to the Eco Language Spanish school to meet… Read More

Written By Gabriel & Michael When our overseas educator Matt told us we’d be working on a farm and that the place we’d be staying would have a compost toilet, many of us expected a typical farm setting and all that entails. However, when we arrived at The Bambu midday Sunday we were all blown away by the stunning views of lake Atitlan, the local homes and village, and a… Read More

Written By Lindsey & Ella On Saturday afternoon, at PLQ (the Spanish school), we split off into groups of two or three and met our host families. We all walked to our new homes carrying our heavy packs. Saturday evening we had the pleasure of cheering on the fútbol team, Xelaju, at their home stadium. Everyone had a blast singing and cheering on the team alongside their very passionate fans.… Read More

Written By Sofia & Sam Off to Xela! The group piled into the cars and started the 5 hour drive to the big city. After lots of twists and turns, we stopped at a beautiful lookout (where we were able to see Lake Atitlan!) and ate some much needed lunch. We arrived in Xela and got an introductory tour of the hostel and the city. The group later explored the… Read More