We started our second week at Bona Fide with the celebration of Halloween! After a morning of hard work, we participated in a scavenger hunt and made scarecrows with materials from the around the farm. Thanks to Brittany, one of the scarecrows was lucky enough to wear a nice shirt signed by Queen B herself. Later on in the evening, the group settled in the meeting room (the Aula) with… Read More
The group woke up at 5 in Lobitos and took a bus to Piura to catch our flight to Cuzco. At the aiport, the group had a little trouble with security. The guards at the bag check individually searched our bags for drugs, good thing we had time to spare.
After a smooth flight, the group arrived at our hostel in Cuzco at 4 and Paxton, who is “cribs” for… Read More
Week six of our journey began with an early morning and a flight out of Auckland, New Zealand. The flight went by quickly, as did the day. We made our way to our downtown hotel in Nadi, Fiji. There the group had an opportunity to walk around for a bit and take in some of the new culture we will be around for the next two and a half weeks.… Read More
Since we last touched base in Guatemala City, the Quetzal group has traveled to two more Spanish schools and we’re currently stationed in the beautiful (and rather chilly) city of Xela. Before arriving here we studied in a sister school located in a charming city in the mountains where we shared meals with host families and got a closer look into rural Guatemalan livelihoods. There we had many opportunities to… Read More
“Swoosh” ; the sound of the waves crashing against the shore of Lobitos as the Inti group awakened for the first time in Peru. This week the group worked with Waves, a local organization that supports Lobitos by bringing in volunteers to help the economy through tourism and education. Lobitos is a small town on the northern coast of Peru famous for surfing and fishing. The first work day, half… Read More
Blog from Sergio Calcutta!!!! So first we flew from Leh to Dehli, then Dehli to Calcutta. We spent the whole day in airplanes and wandering, arrived here at around 10pm to find such a different environment compared to our last one that we would be exposed to for the upcoming week. After a lot of calmness, silence, fresh air, and cold, we were welcomed that night in Calcutta with loud… Read More
Bula Vinaka!
We are very sad to be leaving the beautiful village of Nakuku tomorrow. Our group came to this small Fijian village with the goal of building a footpath, but we have learned and accomplished much more. Our first day we were welcomed into the village by means of a formal ceremony, and then were split up into groups of two to meet our host families. After settling in,… Read More
Today. we had an amazing day exploring a breathtaking beach with our family and friends at the village. We played countless games of vollyball, swam like fish for hours, played some beach soccer and ate some tasty sandwiches for lunch. We then headed back to the village for preperation of a bountiful dinner as usual. The next day was spent with our home stay families, talking, laughing and exchanging life… Read More
Hey friends and family! Dani here, just giving you all a quick update on our time so far in Mcleod Ganj.
Once we left the Sustainable Living Institute we hopped in a taxi which took us to our hotel in Bhagsu, right outside of Mcleod. It was a little after our halfway point of the trip, so we decided to throw a pizza party to celebrate! It was a welcome… Read More
Blog from Jo and Audrey As kids, the majority of us were enthralled with Disney movies. We loved them (well, most of us did.) They made up such a large portion of our lives and many of us even went so far as to center huge parts of our lives around them. One favorite Disney movie among some members of the group is a little old film called Lilo and… Read More
Blog from Grace. Photos from Jon & Anya Finishing our week at SECMOL was bittersweet. The school itself was so interesting how it taught students from various villages not only school, but how to sustainably live off the land in an eco-friendly way.
The cultural exchange between the students our age was fascinating to experience. During conversation class, which was a 15 minute talk between a student and volunteer, about… Read More
Blog from Rachael J. As I’m on my bed that is closer to the floor than I expected at SECMOL (The “Student’s Educational and Cultural Movement of Ladakh”) where I’m trying to string together the many similes so the reader can actually feel what I am talking about. I try to think of an onomatopoeia that distinctly describes the many noises or the lack of noises that I hear while… Read More
Oh hey! The Shanti family has just spent the last week as members of the Dharmalaya Institute for Compassionate Living, in the state of Himachal Pradesh. Alessandra here writing to you from an internet cafe in McLeod Ganj; what Dharmalaya lacked in internet, it more than made up for in spectacular mountain views. Under the wisdom of our new friend, Mark Ji, we learned about the incredible institute he founded… Read More
Blog from Reed & Max. Photos from the Overseas Educators. Greetings from the town of Njombe in South Western Tanzania- It has been an adventure filled week since we last touched base so we have a lot to share and will do our best to keep it nice and short although there are no guaranties.
When we last touched base we were part-way through our Kiswahili school and homestays up… Read More
¡Adios Ecuador!
After a great stay in Pucará, getting to know the local community & natural environment, and planting enough trees to offset the carbon footprint of our carbon footprint of our Carpe Diem trip, we departed for Junín. We all boarded onto the back of Don Fausto’s open top truck for the final time and we were taken to a trailhead.
Our suitcases were shuttled away as we headed… Read More
This week was a very eventful and exciting week. We began on Monday by traveling from Matagalpa, Nicaragua to the island of Ometepe. We left nice and early at 8 AM and took private transport to the beach town of San Jorge. During the four hour van ride, we slept, listened to music, talked and eagerly awaited our arrival in San Jorge. When we got to San Jorge, we ate… Read More
Yes, it’s time for the weekly team Chango update. After a wild week of going with the punches for independent student travel, I think all of us were a bit relieved to have a set schedule again in the heart of a beautiful farming town.
And although the churros here are ten times the price of the churros in Santiago, I still can’t complain because there is something so sweet… Read More
