Blog

Flocks of Love

Archive India- SHANTI
On a train from Bodhgaya to Calcutta, somwhere between consiousness and dream-state, one of the eight students writes: Fall asleep now And get your shit Stolen. Succumb to gravity + eyelid And the small brown man who is sitting on his flip flops next to you pretending to sleep will steal yourshit so ifiwereyou i’d stay eyewide staring, as you are at the dirty blue wall P.S. Guess who! Love,   … Read More

WE LOVE WOOFING!

Archive South Pacific- HONGI
Everyone has adjusted to farm life amazingly quickly.  Everyone has a different job everyday: Milkers are out of the house by 5am and heading down to heard the cows in and then begin the process of milking 300 cows before breakfast.  The cows walk onto a giant rotating circular platform and the “Cups On” milker uses suction to attach 4 cups to the cow which milk her as she rotates… Read More

WWOOFING in Takarau

Archive South Pacific- WALKABOUT
Ozzy and Mike reporting from the farm in Takapau, down towards the eastern shore of the North Island. We headed to the farm between 8 and 9:30 AM on Thursday morning, and most of the group did not even arrive at the farm until 7 PM that night. Luckily, our bus rides down to the farm consisted of amazing scenery, knitting, good sushi for some, and an incredible waterfall in… Read More

Otavalo!

Archive South America- INTI
Saturday morning shopping started early! Banana pancakes and french toast to begin the day well. By 8 the market was booming. Rows of vendors stretch as far as you can see down the busy streets. It ranged from pure silver jewelry to alpaca sweaters and striped pants. The art was beautiful and everything was colorful. As the day went on it got warmer and busier. The whole SAM group bought… Read More

thailand trivia!

Archive Southeast Asia- SABAI
fun trivia about thailand ! 1.   the biggest exports of thailand are:                            1. Rice  2. Shrimp  3. tin  4. Diamonds 2. Bangkok is the hottest capital city in the world 3.   Fathers/Mothers day is celebrated on the king and queens birthday… Read More

The last from Fiji

Archive South Pacific- WALKABOUT
Oops! This was meant to be posted before the last update being an account of Fiji… We made it! One country down, two to go.  Yesterday we landed here in Auckland, NZ, and were reintroduced to warm water! Fiji was amazing, especially Nananu, the village where we stayed for two of the three weeks in country. they were some of the most welcoming, giving people any of us have ever,… Read More

Namaste from Bir!

Archive India- SHIVA
Hello All! Let me start off by saying, the trek truly was incredible! This is what happened……….. The first day we left in the early afternoon to meet up with our guide Anil and his team of 5  or so men. With our backpacks full of supplies and lots of water, we made our way up to Triund (2,975 meters. about 9,818 feet), a beautiful place, with a few mountain… Read More

QUE VIVE PUCARA!

Archive South America- INTI
Amigos y Familia!! I miss you all so much, it has been two weeks since we were able to acess the internet so I have a lot to fill you in on! We just spent the last two weeks in the Western Andes Intag Region of the Cloud Forest in a tiny town of less than 200 people called Pucara. We spent our time there in homestays living with local… Read More

GREETINGS FROM NEW ZEALAND!

Archive South Pacific- HONGI
AUCKLAND IS AWESOME. Many of us are already planning an extended period of stay in the future, looking at what apartments we’d living in, etc. It was as if we got off the plane and entered into a different world from the one we had been living in for the past three weeks in Fiji. As we drove to our hotel we were all in awe looking at these surroundings… Read More

Leaving home….again

Archive Southeast Asia- SABAI
Hello family and friends! We left our homestay families yesterday morning. The night before we had a celebration that was heartwarming and very sanook (fun in Thai). Activities included but were not limited to: A performance of “Take me out to the Ball Game” About a quarter of Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin’ ” with coreography Making flower boats with insence and a candle that we sent out with our families… Read More

WE ARE SAFE

Archive India- SHANTI
Varanasi, for a lot of us has been a pretty independent time for all of us. So no matter how hard I try I will probably not be able to capture everyone’s emotions and feelings on our time in Kashi, a city full of roaming cows and the dung they leave behind. October 1st… Was no different from any other day in the luminous city, we started the morning off… Read More

Kashi: The Luminous One

Archive India- SHANTI
Today, this day was a brimming cup, today, this day was the immense wave, today, it was all the earth. Today the stormy sea lifted us in a kiss so high that we trembled in a lightningflash and, tied, we went down to sink without untwining. Today our bodies became vast, they grew to the edge of the world and rolled melting into a single drop of wax or meteor.… Read More

A day in the life: Auckland

Archive South Pacific- WALKABOUT
Day in Auckland with Sadie and Rita: Today we explored all of Auckland learned our way around following the fan trail to Eden Park.  On our way we were greeted by many friendly locals that helped us find our way around town.  We also, stopped at some of the many shops on the way that caught our eyes. HAHAHA!! Loving everything about New Zealand so far also, when we arrived… Read More

Adventures of las Ardillas!

Archive Central America- MAYA
At long last pictures are here! Special thanks to Kristen for being the photographer. Jacob, Turner and Bjorn in their tradional clothing. The group before we ventured up Volcano St. Thomas The group in Pasac before we danced the night away! The mines at San Mcguel, post mountain top removal Abbie, Kristen, Amanada with the lovely nurses who dignosed us. The mob Kristin encountered after the futball game. GO XELA!… Read More

Rabulu Village

Archive South Pacific- HONGI
Bula! Looking back at our time in Rabulu Village I see the beauty of the simplicity in Village life. A small community of 72 houses full of people who welcomed us not only into their way of life but into their homes as part of their families. We not only became part of families but also party of a community; the time there was peaceful, the village safe everyone so… Read More

Update: Beginning Himalayan Trek!!

Archive India- SHIVA
Tashi Delek from McLeod Ganj!  We’re packed and ready for our trek into the Himalayas!  We hope to reach Triund Hill and enjoy a beautiful view of the neighboring mountain peaks without too much rain and harsh weather–we’ll post pictures when we get the chance, but for now, there are some breathtaking previews if you do a quick google search.  We’ll be back after a 4 day adventure so stay… Read More

Jaipur/”The Pink City”

Archive India- SHANTI
Cobie here reporting from the land of camels, turbans and prosthetic feet…for Shanti group land of air conditioned bus rides, home stays, and fine dining. Jaipur! Sept 19th, we took a bus from Delhi to Jaipur. Upon arrival we were whisked off by Reshi Ji (our tour guide/program director) to the home of lovely Reika (co-director/artist/retired professor). After a short orientation and some hot Chai we were sent to meet… Read More

Tashi delek!

Archive India- SHIVA
Tashi delek from McLeod Ganj! We may still be in India but it practically feels like another country because the culture, food, and even language here is so different! In fact, Indians are actually the minority here in McLeod Ganj as it is home to thousands of Tibetans in exile who wished to escape the human rights abuses inflicted by the Chinese government. McLeod Ganj is SO COOL and different… Read More

Getting the hang of it

Archive Southeast Asia- SABAI
For the last week or so we’ve been immersed in our home stays. The major changes from here and Chiang Mai, is that rather the awkward timid use of our Thai, and having to awkwardly decline the vendors at street markets after they have informed us not only of their difficult financial situation, but also their several kids which they must feed (I’m not so sure they were always telling… Read More