Blog
Springs and Things (Free Travel)
I woke up the morning of the third excited for two things: it was the first day of free travel and my eighteenth birthday. While other teenagers may wake up on their eighteenth birthday in a dorm room or resting at home, I got to wake up to the beautiful mountains in Jemez Springs. The cottonwoods were changing colors to a patchwork of gold and red. It was a very… Read More
Chinese soup and more!
This week, our eyes were opened to the majestic ancient world of Ayutthaya. Ayutthaya being the capitol of the Ayutthaya Kingdom that spanned from 351 to 1767. There were many ruins that included many Pegotas and stupas. The first day we arrived from an overnight bus and promptly rented bikes and were guided By blake to several ancient ruin’s including the famous reclining Buddha and three identical stupa’s that… Read More
Dark chocolate and cemetaries and braaains!
Querida familias y amigos,
After a full 24 hours of travel, we triumphantly arrived in Cusco, Peru on Saturday afternoon. Our hostel is run by the one-and-only Mamma Cusco. She wasted no time with pleasantries and wrapped each of us up with a big hug and a smile, calling us “mi amor,” and ushuring us to come sit down and eat. It must be exhausting to pour so much maternal… Read More
Bodhgaya and Kolkata
Our time in Bodhgaya was delightful and a much needed rest stop for our group. During our three day stay, we visited the Bodhi Tree, the 80-foot statue of Lord Buddha, rode bikes throughout town, and spent a couple hours wandering around and looking at different Buddhist monasteries from around the world. It is an incredibly peaceful place and allowed us to re-group after a very busy week in Varanasi.… Read More
A Week in the Ashram Life
OM Shanti, Shanti, Shanti,
We are back in Rishikesh after a week of yoga, meditation, calm, and quiet. Before entering the ashram we spent a night in Rishikesh and celebrated Diwali the festival of lights, which is the most important holiday in Hinduism and also an important celebration for Jains, Buddhists, and Sikhs. In Hinduism Diwai is associated with several events: Krishna defeating the demon Narakasura, the return of Rama… Read More
We didn’t shower for four days and still looked great!! (good/average)
This is the view from the Tibetan monastery we visited in Gangtok. I’m not sure who those people are, but their silhouettes are so lovely. The temple itself was also beautiful.
At the monastery we got to watch a bunch of monks get ready for dinner, which involved chanting and playing instruments. They didn’t offer us any food, but we were kind of eavesdropping so I guess that’s only fair,… Read More
Free Travelin’
Kia ora, everyone! Shelby speaking.
We’re here in one of Christchurch’s finest jails–the historic Addington Jailhouse-turned-hostel, that is– saying our farewells to New Zealand and recovering from a week of nonstop kiwi adventuring. After hours of planning, booking, bargaining, and a little creative budgeting, we finally arrived at one of the most highly anticipated weeks of the trip– free travel!
We began our student directed travels in the coastal city… Read More
Leisure Time to Sit Awhile – New Zealand Wrap Up
A traditional Irish song, “The Parting Glass” seems appropriate this week, as we’re preparing to leave beautiful New Zealand and all the lessons we’ve learned along the way! I’ve been charged with writing a farewell post, and while there have been many great writings about our time here, I’ll fill in some spots with what I know.
Our first few days in Auckland left us amazed – a huge city… Read More
El Dia de los Muertos
Being in Pasac during Dia de los Muertos was an incredibly enriching experience. We were lead by locals to the cemetary about ten minutes away, along a narrow rocky path in between dilapitated houses and yards. The cemetary was filled with families; women in traditional Mayan clothing, crowds of young teens dressed in all black with their hair slicked to the side, old men in traditional kilt-like clothing and red… Read More
BMAC Pictures
Becks here! Sorry I couldn’t post pictures before! Here are some now for your enjoyment, though I see Peter has been doing a great job keeping the visuals up to date! In order we have Tia climbing Mount Doom; Patrick, Tia, and Caitlin also on Mount Doom; Gabrielle abseiling with Dan’s help; the group on the Tongariro Alpine Crossing; the group chilling for lunch… Read More
Welcome to Uganda!
Welcome to Uganda! We arrived on the 30th of October, and the next day we found ourselves at the home of Edirisa. Our first volunteer program was based at a place called SNEC (the Special Needs Education Centre), located just outside of Kabale Town. Here, the group mixed cement and built a side walk for kids who have physical disabilities to get to and from class everyday. The work was… Read More
Free time in Kampala
Hello friends and family,
Just wanted to give you all a quick update on the past couple days here in Kampala. Kampala is definitely the busiest city we have been to thus far on our journey. To me this is a little stressful, especially trying to cross the street, but some people really seem to enjoy city life. Yesterday we had the opportunity to visit one of the eight Baha’I… Read More
Creative Thoughts for the Peeps Back Home
Fiesta in Matagalpa
Outlined in a halo of light from the fireworks whistling into the air, me and my host siblings pass thorugh the couples and other families to the inner circle where the children of the town strain to see what is happening. As we approach, my younger brother perches on the highest part of his tipy toes. I turn to my host sister to tell her to help… Read More
Arriving in the Mayan Village of Pasac
Weary, sore and cramped after five hours stuffed in a mini bus, the beating sun created a sardined sauna as we bumped along endless Guatemalan roads. We finally peeled off the highway, winding through small villages, staring hopefully out the window at families walking down the street dressed in traditional Mayan regalia, beautiful full length skirts pleated in every color of a bold painter´s palate, sturdy intricate embroiderty exhibiting extraordinary… Read More
before the Dharma center….
When we arrived at the Dream Weaving for Peace foundation, we were greeted by several enthused youngins. Upon arriving, we were given the grand tour; what an amazing place. Almost all the plants on the property are used as food, they have large ponds for catfish, and they have frogs for food as well. They also have turtles, but they are just pets. We were all assigned by our leaders… Read More
Seasia Warriors! (photos coming soon)
This past week we headed north for a Buddhist retreat at the Pleekwiwek Dhamma center. We had no idea what a treat this would be! It was a week packed with activities, most of which involved hanging out with the novice monks. At the center, there were about 15 novice monks aged 11 to 18; they were some of the best kids we’ve worked with. Every morning we tried our… Read More
Singing With the Maori
Kia Ora! Or, for English speakers, Hello and good health! Those words were what was said to me immediately by our Maori contact when she picked us up. I was confused, clearly I am not a fluent speaker, and I was so used to Bula! that hearing a language other than Fijian or English was a bit mystifying. But I soon got used to it, as we arrived in the… Read More
Time to get our hands dirty!
Hey there all friends and family of the Maya group, Ricky and Lizza here blogging this week on our time at Bona Fide farm on the island of Ometepe, Nicaragua! We´ve been very busy here lending helping hands to the volunteers when needed. Some of our tasks have included, constructing paths out of rocks, gravel, and bricks (all hauled uphill by hand), weeding by hand and with machetes, tending to… Read More
Captain’s Log, Earthdate 20131106
Just in case any of you are interested, here’s the link to the google album I post all of my photos from the trip. Uploading is sporadic, and I still don’t have everything from the beggining up (as internet speeds are very slow here) but there are a fair amount up for your viewing pleasure.
https://plus.google.com/photos/104932745759355222923/albums/5933659783766729089?banner=pwa&authkey=CM6IjIa-gNqPyAE… Read More