What an incredible thing for two leaders to see: our entire group rallying together and completely planning out four wonderful student directed travel days! After only knowing each other for a week, each student stepped fully into their chosen leadership roles; booking accommodation, transportation, planning and cooking meals, and facilitating group meetings. Our adventure began in the remote Waipatiki beach. We welcomed our newest member, Taylor, and celebrated with delicious… Read More
The fourteen of us sat in a circle on top of a grassy hill overlooking the city of Quetzaltenango, nicknamed Xela. With the cluster of city buildings spread out below us we discussed our thoughts and hopes for the rest of the program. After we wrapped up our orientation, we jumped into the meat of the Carpe Diem trip. Introductions to homestays and preparations were made for our first week… Read More
Truth be told, over the course of my Group Semester I had doubts about my future in volunteering. I struggled with what being a volunteer meant to me, and what kind of imprint I wanted to leave in the minds of others.
I spent last semester in East Africa, specifically Tanzania, Rwanda and Uganda, and unfortunately, I found myself uncomfortable with my position as a foreigner in Africa. I grew… Read More
Stepping on the bus to head to La Delicias was a bittersweet feeling. We were sad to be leaving the luxurious life in the hostel in beautiful Quito and all the wonderful people we met. But at the same time we were thrilled to start another page in our adventure. The drive was a long three hours but but the view from outside the window of the bus was breath… Read More
We left Quito and its bustling streets and various tourist traps for the promise of a remote rural banana farm. We took three buses that first took us out of Quito, down the Ecuadorian mountains, and finally through the city of Santo Domingo to the town of Las Delicias through a winding back road to the banana farm.
Upon arriving at the banana farm, we ate a delicious lunch of… Read More
I flew in to Cali, Colombia, and was greeted by the 96 degree embrace of the Equatorial city. A taxi took me through the city, past the numerous monuments to revolutionaries and salsa musicians. We ascended a mountain crowned by a colossal statue of Jesus called Cristo Rey and soon arrived to the site of my volunteer placement: Yogendra EcoAshram.
Yogendra is a yoga studio with extensive living accommodations for… Read More
Habari,
I can’t believe it’s been a month since I stepped off the plane into Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania. It felt so much different than four months prior when I landed in Delhi, but the anxiety and nerves were still present. After a fairly quick line, I had my second visa stuck into my passport, which would allow me 90 days of tourism in Tanzania. After spending the night in… Read More
Stepping off the plane into South Africa, I did not know what this country had to offer. I walked out of customs to find the other Latitudes student Olivia awaiting me, we would be driving to Marine Dynamics in Gansbaai our home for the next 10 weeks together. It was a 2 hour drive filled with amazing scenery, it was if we were in New Zealand one minute, the Tanzanian… Read More
Just finished up with a hard, but satisfying week on the farm. Shout out to the Hart family for their beautiful place and warm hospitality. Most of our days were spent in the woods, chopping up bush and creating paths for the Harts and whomever else. We’re proud of what we accomplished this past week, which includes a long and beautiful mountain bike trail that we made from scratch.
In… Read More
We have been in a small town outside of Mae Rim for a week now and all of us are having wonderful cultural experiences, in many of our cases they are like nothing that we have experienced before. Last night was a prime example of the intense cultural immersion: we went to a Thai festival held at a temple. The primary reason for us going to this festival was so… Read More
everyone is enjoying their time at their home stays. yesterday we went to the blue pottery, a textiles and pottery shop where we learned how to do printing on very soft cotton with ink and beautifully hand crafted stamps. we also made elephant prints that we were able to take, Alex and James got them printed on their shirts. after lunch we were lectured on Indian policy, parliamentary democracy and… Read More
Hi friends. So while most everyone is out in what seems like the middle of nowhere, I am over here chilling and living the city life in Buenos Aires, Argentina. I am constantly surrounded by beautiful architecture, so many people who are constantly stopping to window shop, and the sound of cars rushing down the streets. Let’s just say that the city life has been a major transition from the… Read More
Hello everybody 🙂 It has been an awesome past week since arriving. Safe to say no one has been disappointed with New Zealand. And wow, what a squad that has been assembled for this journey. It’s hard to believe that this is actually happening. Everything has been going great so far and there is so much more to come.
On our first day in New Zealand, we were let loose… Read More
I got word from the group that they are doing GREAT! After an amazing 3 days of orientation in a small beach town outside of Wellington, they headed to the Family Farm to begin their week WWOOFing. They are diving into all things farm-life now and will be sending a more detailed blog soon (they had some troubles getting the blog to upload). For now I’ll leave you with these… Read More
Kenya and Paulo here! Namaste from India!
we have been staying at the Wongdhen house and loving every minute of it. Today is the last day of orientation and we (the shanti group) have been getting to know each other better over various meals at delicious restaurants and a very intense , sass filled game of late night UNO. We have consumed copious amounts of morning chai, because chai is… Read More
Straight from New Delhi, India, here’s the report. After an exhausting airplane ride and an exciting first few days in India, I’m happy to say we’re all doing fine and enjoying each other’s company. Lots of strange new foods have been eaten and lots of stories are yet to be made. Hope everything is going well in America!
-Alex… Read More
Our first days in Dehli have been soundaryayukt (beautiful). We are enjoying the views from our peaceful guest house in the hectic city where we see birds of prey, stray dogs, and water-buffalo wander the streets. We have already been touched by the magic of India on our trip yesterday to the temple of Kali, the goddess of death. The food is already beyond our high expectations and we cant… Read More
INDIA!!! DELHI!!!!!
Hello from Georgia and James!
Currently we are finishing up our scavenger hunt (obviously we are going to win). Today we traveled by Rickshaw and, bravely, the Metro, to a Bazaar on Chandi Chowk in Old Delhi. We ate some spicy Aloo (potatoes) and bread with a married couple and an interesting silent man. After, we walked through a park and a guy called James out as a… Read More
Our first few days in Delhi have been glorious, overwhelming and over all awesome! We are all Packed up and ready for our first train ride to the gorgeous and spiritual city of Varanasi!! I am beyond eager to arrive and see this bustling holy city for myself!… Read More
Hello friends, family, or whomever may be reading this blog:
This is our second day here in Delhi, India and so far we are having a fantastic time. We have spent numerous hours getting to know each other and going over group orientation, but have still been able to go out and about through the chaotic streets of Delhi. Honestly it has been totally overwhelming but we are starting to… Read More
