Written By Jade and Bridget Maori Cultural Immersion
Kia Ora
Ko Catskills ngā maunga
Ko Hudson te awa
Nō Ironi nō Italia me New York ahau
Ko Jade Marsigliano ahau
Tīhei Mauri Ora!!
Kia Ora
Ko Shenandoah ngā maunga
Ko Potomac te awa
Nō Oui Oui me D.C. ahua
Ko Bridget Scully ahua
Tīhei Mauri Ora Oct. 17 After a long day of travel to Auckland, we finally make our… Read More
Written By Peyton Hello everyone! This is Peyton writing to you from the beautiful Island of Koh Tao!
We started off our week here at Koh Tao after a long travel day from Surat Thani. October 21st was a half travel day and coincidentally Trev’s birthday! (Fun fact: this is Trev’s first birthday that consists of traveling on four forms of transportation: a plane, songtaos, a double-decker bus, and a… 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 Valerie & Isaac Our week began in Naples, our last destination in Italy. Staying in the residential part of the city, the group enjoyed a night filled with Italy’s authentic seafood and one last gelato stop.
We arose the next morning bright and early to catch our flights to Athens and Crete. Following our smooth connecting flights, we were picked up at Crete’s airport and got to enjoy… Read More
Written By Raj I wake up to the sound of the air conditioning unit. It makes a sound- tick, tick, tick, tick. I am aware of the sound, yet also not. It fades in, and out, and in, like a tide. But today is the start of another day, and that is what matters most at the current moment. Not an air conditioning unit. No, in fact, today was extra… 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 Kate & Nella “Why” is a good word we would use to sum up the 3 days at the Wat Pa Tam Wua forest monastery. The night before our departure to the monastery, we had gone over what our days would look like living as monk. Several concerns were raised due to the new circumstances, which will be explained later. Due to those concerns none of us were… Read More
Written By Gabrielle Bags in tow we piled into the songthaews leaving Chiang Mai, the city that will forever have a place in our hearts. Despite the only headrest being a friendly shoulder and the cramped leg space, at some point we all dozed off in military posture. Retrospectively, this was not enough meditation prep for the Buddhist feminist retreat as many of us admitted to catching ourselves as we… Read More
Written By Ukiah This week was a busy one, full of work, learning, and personal growth.
Monday, the group woke up (a bit colder than some liked) to our new views of fruit trees in the food forest at Pono Grown. After stretch circle and breakfast, we met up with Evan to learn more about the farm. We took a tour through the gardens, and familiarized ourselves with Evan’s vision… Read More
Quotes from the week:
– “Tiaki mai i ahau, maku ano koe e tiaki…” (If you look after me, then I will look after you…) – Tangaroa, Māori god of the ocean
– “Hard plastic remnants”
– “It’s not enough to clean beaches, there has to be an effort to turn the nob off at the source of the plastic pipeline”
– “Imagine being megamind” Data from the week: Total… Read More
Written By by Anne and Mateo The Carpe Terra group has had a lovely and eventful week! After a quick stop in Sorrento for some much needed rest and relaxation, we ventured on to Matera where we began our time at La Fiorita. We got to see how the volunteers and staff at Fiorita ran their farm sustainably, and even participated in various jobs and activities around the farm! We… Read More
Written By Issy This packed week started with our first taste of Hana, a hike to the Twin Falls. This was a short and sweet hike with a break to swim as the water was falling on top of us. That ended with what Forrest would say to be the best coconut ice cream he has ever had. After the hike the group leaders, Alexa and I, went on the… Read More
Written By Claire & Dan So. Chiang Mai. What a crazy three days. On the first day, we pulled up to our hostel at around 11am, and threw our bags in the storage room so we could go out and explore before our check in time at 2. Our plan was to bathe ourselves in luxury, and that we diddd. Let’s just say Lila Massage got a lot of business… Read More
Written By Sarah & Gillie We awoke on our first morning at Paladini farm to the smell of pancakes cooking – with a twist. Chestnut pancakes, made from chestnut flour harvested and milled by our host Colm and the volunteers. On our first day, Colm explained to us how important the chestnuts are to the success of the farm – beyond having an endless supply of roasted chestnuts to eat,… 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 Trevor Thursday October sixth: Time to set the scene. The fifteen of us tumbled out of the van, slung our backpacks over our shoulders and said a tearful goodbye to Krit and Nada. We were then introduced to our host, Nikom, who took us on a tour of our new home, the Chiang Dao Youth Camp! We got our first looks at the enormous Chiang Dao Mountain on… Read More
Written By John and Ellie On Saturday, the group packed up early and ventured toward the birthplace of the renaissance, Firenze (Florence). After setting up at our new hostel, we spent our free time further exploring and appreciating the beautiful architecture around us.
On Sunday, we were sent on a scavenger hunt, and through our wanderings got to know the heart of Florence. Our final destination of the scavenger hunt… Read More
Written by Ishtar & Ellie Hello friends, family, and staff! We hiked the Via Francigena starting in beautiful Tuscany — specifically, a little town known as Gambassi Terme! We reunited with our lovely guide, Lauren who took us from town to town to learn about historic Italy.
Our agenda:
San Gimignano
Poggibonsi
Colle di Val d’Elsa
Monterigionni
Siena!
The trail we’re hiking “Via Francigena” means the road that comes from… 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 Rivermonday, september 26, 2022platypus sighting: after many early mornings of going down to various creeks and ponds in search of a platypus, the long wait was finally over. a small group of four went down to the water’s edge with claire, sitting in motionless silence, transfixed by the water. at last, 10 minutes before all hope was given up, a small brown creature surfaced, ripples echoing… Read More
