Few words have but one definition. To wrap up our week in Matagalpa, talent reared its many heads in our desolibri Spanish School. To start us off, Easten and Ryan demonstrated the power of teamwork by being the respective arms of Amelia and Damian. Essentially making a really terrific, talented mess. Next up was Nattie, who resourcefully glued cordabas to the bottom of some toms to perform some tap dancing… Read More
Here in Thailand, I am thoroughly exhausted, sunburned, and smiling. Truthfully, I have never been happier. When I first touched down in Chiang Mai, after many requests to stay home while the political unrest blew over but coming anyways, I was delighted and exhausted. Here I was, alone in a country. No friends, no acquaintances, just a name and an organization that would be my home for the next four… Read More
Hey everybody its Karenna!
I’m writing to ya’ll from home base in Chiang Mai as we spend our final rest days in this now familiar city. THe past week has been filled with daily meditation and morning and evening chanting, as we enjoyed the company of the novice and full monks at the Pleek Wiwek Dharma Center located just a few minuets from the Burmese boarder. While there our days… Read More
We went for a hike with Richard (a member of Ngati Whatua tribe we were staying with) who led us up Mt. Atuanui. The weather was far from ideal: rain, serious winds, and cold temperatures were all tough for most of us. Richard led us up a ridge where the wind and rain nearly knocked us us off our feet! After a short walk we entered the rainforest and were… Read More
Sadly we had to leave one of our group members in Nadi. Jess, after a lot of thought, decided to return home for family reasons. Our hearts are with him and his family at this time and we hope he’s doing okay stateside!
We arrived in Auckland after some difficult moments. As if our daily activities didn’t throw us enough curve balls in Nananu (we love the curve balls), we… Read More
Saturday morning we woke up super early to catch a 4am bus to Baños. We arrived around 9:30am and met up with Lorena, our coordinator in Baños. Lorena introduced us to our host families and we all went back to our respective houses where we had lunch. We then had the rest of the day for free time so we could explore Baños and catch up with people from home. … Read More
Hello from Sri Lanka! I want to start by saying how amazing it is to read about everyone’s adventures. It is crazy to think about how we all met just a few months ago in Portland, and now everyone is spread out all over the world!
I can’t believe it has already been a month since I arrived at Millennium Elephant Foundation here in Sri Lanka. I remember it like… Read More
Today we arrived in Rwanda, and I bet you’d like to hear all about this beautiful country. Well today’s not your lucky day because I’m not here to tell you what you want to hear, I’m here to keep it real.
Honestly if I were to tell you about Rwanda after being here only a short 3 hours I’d be doing you a disservice. With that said I’ll keep it… Read More
Hey to whomever may be following this awesome trip!
Arriving in New Zealand was a breath of fresh air. Perfect weather conditions being not too hot and not too cold right after stepping out of the airport. While Fiji was amazing, it was time to start our next chapter of our trip. We stayed at a hostel in Auckland that was right in the center of town, right next to… Read More
When I first started by FVP I was not happy, in fact, I was miserable. When I landed in Cusco, Peru I was frustrated, disorientated, and confused. I had not slept in 24 hours and had insomnia, I had not eaten in about 14 hours but my stomach was so upset I could not force anything down, the altitude was making me sick, it was cold, I was alone, and… Read More
Our group recently left the Ziwa rhino sanctuary. Obviously during our week long stay we spent a decent amount of time observing rhinos and other wild game. I remember the first animal we saw was a bush back antelope, but for the longest time everyone was calling it a bush bark.
Anyhow, as the days progressed the group grew closer. This tends to happen when you have amazing people around… Read More
I am loving my time at Kariega Game Reserve. Everyday something new and exciting happens. Since I started on February 17th I have already ran into the elephant herd 5 times and with every encounter they walk so close to our open air truck, I can reach out and touch them if I wished (but that would be insane so I prefer not to). Our group here keeps running into… Read More
From the crazy city of Kampala, to the quaint small town of Kabale, it’s safe to say we are getting the best of Uganda. A long bus ride from Kampala to Kabale of course didn’t go uneventful, Colin got puked on from the person in front of him, bad choice on that window seat…
We settled in the dorms of the Edirisa Hostile and met other travelers from all around… Read More
The steps of a traveler creates a beat that matches one´s heart. The nomadic noises of a traveler´s footsteps amoung a whole new world outside of the original comfort zone brings a sense of belonging in a new place. a traveler is like music, and continually encounters the music and dance with each new city.
After spending the last 4 weeks in Nicaragua, the students and I have found a… Read More
I have been in the incredible city of Bilbao for about a month now and it has been a great experience so far. Bilbao is a city located in Northern Spain in a region referred to as “Basque Country”. Basque Country is an especially unique part of Spain; it has it’s own language, in addition to spanish, called Euskara. This language is unlike any other in the world and it… Read More
Greetings wonderful latitudes blog followers!
Megan here, writing from Ollantaytambo, Peru. Ollantaytambo, better known to locals as Ollanta, is a quaint Andean village located about two hours outside of Cusco. The village is surrounded by towering hills, Inca ruins, and when the clouds part, I can see snow capped mountains. I arrived in Ollanta three weeks ago and have been working at an NGO called Awamaki. Awamaki works with five… Read More
This morning the mountains shine through a haze of mist. Later they may burn golden in the sun or vanish behind a veil of clouds, but for now they appear as a soft milky white strip against the pale blue sky. They are a study in gentle shadow and soft light, matched by their blurred reflection in the lake below. But that is just this morning, for everyday a different… Read More
