Written By OEs, Soumya & Ryan
Hola from Antigua! Soumya and Ryan here, sharing about our first few days as a group. We landed in Guatemala in the wee hours of the morning and made our way to the outskirts of the beautiful city of Antigua. At the peaceful Earthlodge retreat, we dove into getting to know each other through games, lessons about safety and cultural norms, nighttime gatherings in… Read More
Dear Families and Friends of the Spring 2022 Carpe Diem Aloha Group:
Team Aloha has made it safely to Maui and has gathered at Camp Olowalu! They’ll enjoy a few days of orientation activities, day hikes to waterfalls, the sight of breaching humpback whales, and epic sunsets. We are grateful to everyone who helped to make this journey possible!
We wish the Aloha group all the best as they… Read More
Dear families and friends of the Spring ’22 TERRA group,
After a full day of travel, the TERRA group has made it to Crete. They look forward to settling in, getting some sleep, and then to waking up and diving in to their orientation. They’ll spend the next few days focused on getting to know each other, the program, and getting an introduction to Crete! They’ll post an update about… Read More
Dear family and friends of the Spring ’22 MAYA group,
The MAYA group has arrived safely in Guatemala! They are on their way to Earthlodge, where they’ll be spending the next few days for their orientation. They are ready to have a rest, some breakfast, and then dive into getting to know each other, the program and Guatemala. We look forward t their updates – they will post an update… Read More
Dear family and friends of the Spring’22 MAYA group,
We’re happy to report that all the MAYA students have arrived safely to LAX and are ready to head to Guatemala! They’re happy to finally be together as a group and are looking forward to all the adventures the next few months will bring. And we’re looking forward to following along on their journey! We’ll post another blog here tomorrow morning… Read More
Hello family and friends of the Spring ’22 TERRA group,
We’re happy to report that all TERRA students have arrived safely to JFK and connected with Adam and Rachael. They are all together as a group for the first time and are already enjoying starting to get to know one another. They are looking forward to their adventures together – and we are all looking forward to following along. We’ll… Read More
Written By OEs Soumya & Ryan
Hola Grupo Maya! Soumya and Ryan here, your Overseas Educators for the next three months of adventure in Central America! Here in Portland, we are getting into the Carpe Diem headspace, preparing for our semester together with training days full of logistics, games and movement, and lots of good food. As we get ready for our trip, we have been enjoying getting to know… Read More
Written By OEs, Adam & Rachael
Yasus Terra Crew and family and friends who will be following us on this journey! This is Adam and Rachael your OE’s writing from training in Portland, Oregon. On this blog from here on out you will be hearing directly from students about our adventures and their experiences!
This week we have been enjoying seeing old Carpe friends, getting out and about in chilly… Read More
Written By Overseas Educators: Mara & Cahill
Aloha!
Mara and Cahill here, coming in from Portland, Oregon. Although the students will be the usual voice on the majority of the blogs throughout our adventure, you will be hearing from us periodically too.
We have been preparing for the semester ahead with some great conversations, an in-depth look at our logistics, and enjoying the Portland culinary scene.
Our minds have been… Read More
Something most returnees struggle with is feeling like nobody wants to hear about their amazing experiences abroad.
Have you felt that way?
Here’s a solution: talk to those who want to hear ALL about your experiences — future gap year students!
The best way to connect with future gap year students is to write a review of your Carpe Diem program on Go Overseas, GoAbroad, TeenLife, and/or… Read More
Written By Soumya & Matt
Your OE Soumya here [Matt providing the emotional support], surrounded by lush green plants and a distinct lack of eight Carpe students, writing this from breezy San Jose, Costa Rica. As we celebrate the end of the end, we look back to the beginning of the beginning…
We hopped off the plane at LAX with our dreams and – 60 liter monster backpacks. We learned… Read More
Written By Rachael & Ryan
Hello friends and families! We are Rachael and Ryan, the Quetzal OE’s writing a final blog. First we want to extend big gratitude to you all for supporting your kids in joining us for this adventure. The support and love from home has been felt and relied on during this trip, it is clear the solid, loving connections these people are coming from that has… Read More
Written By Sheldon & Lauren
A funny thing happened after a north to south traverse of Italy (with a brief detour to Venice, almost), from “La Dotta, La Grassa, La Rossa” on the Emilia Romagna plains to the chestnut covered slopes of Tuscany, from the David to the Sassi, the overnight voyage with Greek and Albanian truckers across the wine dark sea, to Hellas, and Athens, and Kriti, and finally… Read More
Written By Adam & Mara
Wow! We cannot believe the end of the semester has already arrived. It feels like we were all just meeting in the Newark airport and trying to awkwardly learn names behind masks. Seemingly overnight in Crete, the group formed deep friendships and became a family. Their connection and care for each other created an incredible foundation throughout the semester. Despite long travel days, rainy hikes,… Read More
Written By Ethan & Claire
Hello from Ethan and Claire! We’re thrilled to tell you about our past week of learning & adventure.
After a fun filled day at the water park, we packed up from the hostel and took a short drive to Pachaj for our home stays! Arriving to our partner organization, Chico Mendes, we met with Armando for an orientation and then separated to eat lunch with… Read More
Poem by Overseas Educator Rachel Lightner
68 days later, we have arrived.
It has been quite the wild ride.
Remember the awkward small talk in the airport, trying to figure out who was a Carpe Diem kid? The ones with the massive backpacks, lost look, that one has my bid.
The quiet car ride back to Olowalu and a sleepless night,
4am wake up call from roosters and cat fights.… Read More
Written By Sebastian
Waking up early and being on time for transition days has not been our group’s strong suit and our transport day to Crete was no different. We rushed to the subway station near our Athens hostel 15 minutes late and crammed into the train just as it pulled out. We took a very small plane to Crete and met our local contact Xeno. We spent the afternoon… Read More
Written By David & Kai
Buongiorno from Matera! This is David and Kai, this week’s leaders. On Wednesday, we finished up our stint in Abruzzo with a 7-hour hike that brought us up to 2,000 meters above sea level. At first, our views were obscured by omnipresent mist and fog; however, upon reaching the summit, we were awed by the majestic mountain view that appeared as the wind serendipitously cleared… Read More
Written By Amanda & Calvin
Gather ‘round, gather your young and old and prepare your ears to listen to Carpe Aloha’s spinsters of tales, Amanda and Calvin!
Not too long ago, on Wednesday the 10th of November, the children trekked through highways and side roads to the magical lands of Auntie He (”hay”). There, they crouched low to the fragrant soil and ridded the ground of its petulant invaders. That… Read More
