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
Written By Ian & Eli Hola from Camaronal National Wildlife refuge! Ian and Eli reporting from the scenic Pacific coast of Costa Rica.
We wrapped up our second week in Turrialba after 4 more Spanish classes. The group got their chef on as we had another cooking competition. On Sunday we planned meals and traded leftover foods between groups before going to the supermarket to get fresh ingredients. Ana and… Read More
Wednesday: Orti Dipinti and Treedom VisitThursday: Vineyard Tour and Exploring FlorenceFriday: Our Last Day at Orti Dipinti and Uffizi GallerySaturday: Traveling to Abruzzo MONDAY: Day HikeTuesday: Transfer from Pescasseroli to Civitella Alfedena and Visit to the Wolf Museum“Why are they playing on that? This is for children” – AndreaWednesday: Day Hike to Viewpoint of Civitella Alfedena… Read More
Written By Jill & Maya Hi everyone! As the cobble stone streets woke us up from our car ride naps, we entered the City of Quetzaltenango, otherwise known as Xela. We then settled into our hostel and took our first shot at wandering the slightly confusing city. We quickly found delicious hot chocolate, a Central Park, and the sweet smells drifting from Panaderias.
The next morning, we walked to the… Read More
Written by Maya S. When I first heard that the ferry from Italy to Greece was supposed to take 17 hours, I thought I was being pranked. But as it turns out, I was not. Now I’m not gonna lie, I was asleep for roughly 14 of those 17 hours, but I’m sure everyone had a great time. And the long boat turned out to be worth it because we… Read More
Written By Katharine & Gus Wassup from Katharine, and Gus.
Thursday morning was very relaxed. Katharine, Katie, Belle, and Cooper went with Rachel to fill up our water jugs while the rest of the group hung out at the campsite. On the water trip, they also stopped at the grocery store and made sure to get Vanessa her yerbs. In the afternoon, we headed down to the park and balled… Read More
Written By Rosa & Maddi Hola! Rosa and Maddi here.
We kicked off our second week at Long Way Home in festive style with spooky Halloween Murder Mystery Party. Each member of the group impersonated and dressed up as another member of the group as we played out a script written by Ryan, with Ethan’s character (actually Ryan) and Spencer’s character (actually Rosa) getting murdered! Many suspected Rachael (actually Maddi)… Read More
Written By Ana & Flannery Hello Everyone! Ana and Flannery here to share some stories. This week started off with an early rise and dark car ride to Guatemala City. With our last street lit hours in Guatemala we celebrated Halloween by switching clothing with a partner. This consisted of colorful pants, iconic sweaters, many laughs and countless double takes.
Eventually arriving in Turrialba Costa Rica we started to explore… Read More
Written by Mallory & Anna Terra group made their grand debut in Matera under cover of darkness. We first met our Matera liaisons Andrea and Birgit at 9 at night in a murky bus stop somewhere in Matera. They shepherded us to the farm, or Masseria, that would become our humble abode for the next seven days. We all piled into Andrea’s van that would also become our home away… Read More
Written By Ava & Alesh Hola chicas! It’s your student leaders, Ava and Alesh updating you about our epic student directed travel week! Leaving the beautiful town of Tzununa at Lago Atitlan, our adventure began with a 4 hour bus ride to the riverside docks of the Acome river. As we stepped out the bus onto the banks of the mangrove forest lined river, we were instantly hit by a… Read More
