Written by South Pacific Students, Talia M. & Madeleine N. Over the past week we had our final stretch outside of Raglan with the Māori. We spent time with knowledgeable Māori community members, Tiaki and Madisyn. We also spent two days at the home Rob and Rangi Marie who combine many Native American and Māori beliefs and customs.
What have been the three highlights of the week?
🏄🏽♀️ Our group… Read More
Written by Italy & Greece Students, Elizabeth R. & Liam S. We arrived on Crete! Over the past ten days, we spent time in a small village on Eastern Crete! We started off the week with Greek language and culture lessons from our teacher Manolis. We learned the essentials of the language as well as Greek history and Greek dancing, which we all enjoyed! Then Carly taught us all… Read More
Written by Central America Students, Lily & Anantya We continued our second week in San Juan, a small town on Lake Atitlán. We continued our Spanish classes at Eco Spanish school, and also enjoyed several new events and cultural activities. We ended the month of October with a very personal archaeology tour. On the tour, we were able to meet a very honorable woman from the community. She graciously welcomed… Read More
Written by South Pacific Students, Stella K. and Asa P. Post Hart Farm, we got back on the road and headed to Tangariro National Park for a waterfall hike, mini golf, and a wide view of Mount Doom. Next up: Raglan! We found our way to the maraes to learn about the Maori culture and immerse ourselves in a new lifestyle, making new friends along the way all the while.… Read More
Written by Italy & Greece Students, Kate T. and Lillian A. Since the last update, the Terra group has completed our time in Matera and travelled to Greece! In a farm outside of Matera we were tasked with designing and painting recycled fridges to turn them into “book fridges” as a sort of lending library for a nearby town, Altamura. With the help of local contacts, at the end… Read More
Written by Central America Students, Matilda & Leila This week we pushed off the shores of San Marcos and landed ourselves on the opposite side of the lake in a small welcoming town with the name of San Juan.
Here, we began our Spanish lessons at a local Eco School where we grow our skills in one on one classes in the mornings followed by alternating days of art classes,… Read More
Written by Italy & Greece Students, Rob & Josie Roads knotted and paths forked, the rebellious stature of hundred-year-old cypress trees, and the subtle sound of bushes on our path whispering out the name of the wind. This is the picture we would like to paint of our few days spent tracing the cobbled steps of history on the Via Francigena. Along they way, we took took a trip… Read More
Written by Italy & Greece Students, Zane & Justin We arrived in Rome after a four-hour FlixBus ride from Siena and split off into two groups after sending our bags to the monastery we’re staying at by taxi. One group walked an hour to the monastery and got Chinese food, and the other took the metro and got some Italian food. The next day we had lunch at a… Read More
Written by Italy & Greece Students, Marielle M. & Katie M. After our time in Florence, our group travelled to Paladini to spend the week camping. This provided us the opportunity to spend time in nature within a community that focuses on living sustainably and is open to host many volunteers. In the mornings we would help with a variety of projects such as paving, chopping firewood, collecting chestnuts and… Read More
Written by South Pacific Students, Andy & Kyla We arrived at the Hart family farm in New Zealand. This is where we met Greg and Rachel, the amazing hosts that run the cattle farm we worked on. Every morning, part of the group would go with Greg and do the animal related chores such as weighing and herding cattle, feeding pigs and chickens, and driving around on the yute with… Read More
Written by Central America Students, Ashlyn & Jonah We made it out of Xela! This week, we got to spend at Lake Atitlan learning about permaculture, hiking through the forest and farming.
Our Top 3 Highlights of the Week:
🥗 Great fresh food straight from the farm!
💦 A beautiful hike to the a waterfall that we were able to go in.
🏡 Lovely accommodations in the bamboo house.
What’s… Read More
Written by South Pacific Students, Josie G. and Nolan S. We continued our journey at ClimateForce, immersing ourselves in the magic that is the Daintree rainforest. We’ve been mixing our time with physical work for ClimateForce (weeding, fence making, beach cleanups and tending to their tree nursery), learning about environmental careers and the research that ClimateForce does (workshops with plant and seed identification, conversations with ClimateForce employees, and being able… Read More
Written by Italy & Greece Students, Lillybeth & Amery Since the last blog post we have done and seen a LOT. It was the week of our trek so we started in Gambassi Terme where we met Luca, who showed us around his family’s bakery and taught us to make a delicious little bread snack! We stayed the night at a monastery and started our trek in the morning. Lauren,… Read More
Written by Italy & Greece Students, Conrad I., Mason E. This week, we left Greece and travelled to Florence, Italy. We did a walking tour of the city, seeing the statue of David and other famous monuments across the city. We also visited the Uffizi gallery as a group, seeing many famous renaissance art pieces. We also visited Orti Dipinti, a community garden in the heart of Florence, which is… Read More
Written by Central America Students, Sophie & Anna This week we got to stay with local families in home stays, while still going to school at PLQ (Proyecto Lingüístico Quetzalteco)! We moved into our new homes on Sunday, and have been living with them for the past week! We’ve been able to enjoy tasty meals, practicing our Spanish with our families and exploring the city of Xela (Quetzaltenago) even more!… Read More
Written by Italy & Greece Students, Macey T. & Grace N. For the last week, we’ve been at a farm called Paladini in the mountains of Garfagnana. It’s a beautiful place and it was so nice to get back to nature after a busy week in Florence. There were other volunteers there from programs like Workaway, as well as the owner Colm and his family. There were different chores we… Read More
Written by South Pacific Students, Treavor O. & Tasha B. With our instructors, Martin and Chad, we were able to get certified in scuba diving. We spent one day learning in a pool and two days scuba diving in the magical great barrier reef. After our tiring, but rewarding, three days, we come up to the Daintree. We met the CEO of ClimateForce, Barney and his team. We planted trees,… Read More
Written by Italy & Greece Students, Malee G. & Josie B. We ended our stay in Athens and drove up to a sustainable living community near Larissa called CobGreece. During our stay, we learned about mud-building, foraging, and the process of pickling (so we left Cob with a doghouse that we helped to mud-build and pickled zucchinis!). Sleeping in tents, relying on solar power, and using compostable toilets were new… Read More
Written by Central America Students, Shloimy G. & Leila B. Since our last update, we’ve traversed the Guatemalan Highlands, and have made it to Xela/Quetzaltenango (in separate transports of course due to our unfortunate little itty bitty Covid outbreak).
We’re staying in a hostel right near Parque Central, both the center of town and the center of the recent protests. We learned about the reasons behind these demonstrations during our… Read More
Written by Italy & Greece Students, Sydney & Liam We’ve been in Florence this week. Traveling into the city was a nice change of pace after being at Panta Rei for a week and a half. We volunteered twice an urban garden called Orti di Pinti. There we met Giacomo, who told us about the ways that urban gardens are trying to innovate the methods of growing plants in a… Read More
