By Emily Chambers The time we spent at Plum Village was my personal favorite so far. I feel like I learned so much from our sisters and brothers that I know I will be able to hold with me as I make my own path and venture my way through life.
To be more specific, we were taught the five mindfulness trainings. The first is the Reverence of Life. To… Read More
By Anna, Bradley, Doug, and AnyaAnya babysitting on a bus.Bradley in his happy place.Cate and Jimmy birdwatching.Cocos!Costa Rica cooking class.Costa Rican sunset.Quetzal dance class!Dylan and Jillian.Ellie, Maggie, and Cate.Cate, Maggie, Anna, Anya, Ellie, Katie, and Jimmy enjoying la playa.Gallina wranglin’.Jake and Cate.Jimmy getting in on the fun.Juan milking a cow!Cate and PJ.Katie and Anna … Read More
By Bradley Sabbar and Jimmy Toole After five days at Cirenas, we said goodbye to our gracious hosts and embarked on a two-hour trek up the beach to arrive at our next homestays. The route was treacherous, with many obstacles such as rivers and jagged rocks. Alas, we finally arrived at the homestay pick-up point. The group then split up into four separate homestays.
All of the boys (minus Jake)… Read More
By Claire Helloooooo from Claire! It’s week 6 and Team Inti is alive and well!
We began this week with a simply-worded, yet fundamental question to ponder: “Why are some places in the world poor and others rich?”
After arriving in the tiny community of Pucara Monday afternoon, we were met by Peter, an expat originally from Vermont, who has built a farm and integrated himself here in this community… Read More
By Garrett Walker Hello parents and potential fans reading our Carpe Diem Shanti blog. My name is Garrett and I want to do the blog a little differently this week. Instead of the usual linear summary of our past week, I want to give you a summary, but through short little bursts of reflections I’ve had. Hopefully, Avy is a fan of this (Hi Avy!) and it gets posted and… Read More
By Daisy Shepherd Namaste!
To begin with a disclaimer: we spent much of this week at Phool Chatti Ashram in silence, so you’ll have to forgive the heavy use of the first person.
Let’s just get the most important fact of the week out of the way by noting that the food here is AMAZING. It’s thali plates for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, with something new every day. If anyone… Read More
By Overseas Educator Peter BenassiAt the Root Institute in Bodhgaya.Registering to work at the Mother Theresa Home in Kolkata.Picking ginger at Dev Bala Farm in Gharoh.Relaxing at the Root Institute in Bodhgaya.Selfies with Harrison in Kolkata.A baby goat in Jhadol, Rajisthan!… Read More
By Finn Witt Hi everyone!
Our past week began with a grueling 10-hour bus ride through the foothills of southwest Tanzania. While the scenery and wildlife sightings were spectacular, the cramped conditions and rarely-paved roads made for a less-than-pleasurable day. Arriving in Njombe late that night, we were treated to some well-deserved pizza, the best since leaving in September!
The following day, we left for Ohana Amani, a holistic organic… Read More
By Greg Hart, Owner of The Family FarmThe crew checking out the hut in the native forest on the farm.Mulching fruit trees in our “fields of food.”Checking out the Carpe Diem trees planted this winter which are off to a great start.… Read More
By Anna Barrett Habari!
For Nkula, the week began with nearly 48 long hours of travel as the group made the journey from Kigali, Rwanda, to Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, and finally arriving at the location of our first homestay, Junior Lutheran Seminary and Language School outside Morogoro.
After some accidental exploration resulting from a desire to find the nearest functioning ATM, the group returned to the campus in time… Read More
By Caroline Kessler Riddle this!
At what point does the Carpe Diem group decide to head home?
Halfway through…
This week marked the halfway point of our trip! In a month and a half, we’ve traveled through two countries, lived in eight locations, stayed with three host families, and eaten about ten pounds of Gallo pinto. Yum!
An update since the last post: We were in the rural mountain town… Read More
By Jake Hansen Last week we stayed in Bhodgaya in a Buddhist Monastery called The Root Institute for Wisdom Culture. The first few days were spent on a pilgrimage to some of the most iconic spots along the path walked by the Buddha on his way to attaining enlightenment. We went to the cave where he meditated for six years, eating only five-to-seven grains of rice per day trying to… Read More
By Cate and Katie Finally, after a week of no internet/procrastination, coming at ya: it’s your two PNW chicas, Kate squared! (Cate and Katie)
Two Sundays ago, our group went to Laguna de Apollo and had a blast! We had a group talent show, a delicious lunch, great music, and lots of swimming/kayaking. Monday and Tuesday we had our last Spanish classes and some heart-wrenching goodbyes to our amazing host… Read More
By Darby and Cami We arrived in Iringa on the 17th to the craziness of the bus park where our attention was immediately pulled in all different directions. A few kilos to the Alizeti (meaning “sunflower”) Hostel we walked and promptly dropped our bags, enjoying the company of the resident kittens before a group dinner at the BBQ Hut.
Iringa is a “mountain town” as described to us by a… Read More
By Lauren Shelfo The following is a poem written in Spanish class about what it means to be an Inti group member:
Una persona de Carpe Diem Inti es una mezcla de muchos orígenes. Una persona Inti es única y está creciendo. Esta persona tiene ojos muy grandes para ver al mundo: todas las partes malas y buenas. Esta persona tiene orejas más grande para escuchar todas las opiniones e… Read More
By Emma Willis For the last three days, our group has done our best to navigate Bangkok. We’ve made our way to the zoo, Lumphini Park, Khao San Road night market, Chinatown, an open-air market, and the Museum of Contemporary Art.
With all these activities comes the challenge of transportation. Because our guest house isn’t in the middle of the city, we’ve used taxis, buses, and tuk-tuks to get around.… Read More
By Anya Cocowitch Hello Inti blog readers!
This week we spent our time in Peguche, a small, artisan town right outside the city of Otavalo. We took Spanish classes all week and did a variety of activities to better understand the culture. Peguche is known for its waterfall which has a spiritual significance to this town of only consists of 300 families.
After a long travel day on Sunday, we… Read More
