Hola all!
This week was a nice transition into our new home of Nicaragua for the next month or so. Traveling went as smooth as we hoped and arrived to the Mariposa School early Sunday morning. The first thing that we did was split into groups of 4 people to do 3 different types of service projects. Audrey, Ariana, Emily and Ottilia volunteered at a local primary school reading and… Read More
Hola, loved ones! After our brief return to civilization in San Juan Del Sur, we jumped off the grid again on the beautifully untouched coast of Costa Rica, where we spent a week at a sea turtle conservation and research center. When we arrived, we stood in silence as our jaws dropped at a nearly 360 degree view of untouched coastal wilderness. Palm trees sagging with coconuts scattered the beaches… Read More
Thursday October 22nd, 2015
4:15-5:30 AM.
We woke up at Ohana Amani. Early. So early. There was a fifteen minute interval of people rolling around, groaning, and kicking each other up. It was pitch black, the only sounds audible were ones of animals in the forest. It was cold, too. Maybe 60 degrees Fahrenheit. We got our bags packed up and made our way from the campsite to the lodge,… Read More
The sun has been shining for hours by the time you wake up. It’s 7:00 am. “Yadra Nana and Tata!” (good morning host mom and dad.) Tie up the mosquito net, grab some toilet paper and head outside to the bathroom. Check for frogs and other mellow creatures making shelter in the concrete cubicle before getting down to business. Afterwards wash your hands with antibacterial soap in a sink or… Read More
Bula Vinaka Family and Friends!
We have just completed our first week in Togalevu village on the western side of Viti Levu island, Fiji! Our week started with a traditional welcome from the villagers, which included a hearty serving of kava, the traditional root drink used in special ceremonies. Shortly after, we were introduced to our host families and brought to our new homes. The following days were spent building… Read More
Monday, October 19th:
The group arrived in the capital city of West Bengal (also known as the cultural capital of India), Calcutta or, more correctly, Kolkata, after another rather sticky night on a two-and-a-half-hour-delayed overnight train (a new record!). We taxied to the Sunflower Guest House, a nice tourist establishment with the front desk curiously located on the top floor. After making ourselves at home in our shared seven-person room,… Read More
The ocean.. what a treat she was to us. After making a trip on a ferry midst a thunderstorm from Ometepe to hopping on a bus to San Juan del Sur, Nica, the gentle waves of the Pacific were beaconing us. We arrived at Casa del Oro, a sweet set up of a hostal, Mitch (from Bona Fide) from Bona Fide manages. Settling in, our tummy growls navigated us to… Read More
Lightning crackled across a dark grey sky, temporarily illuminating the faces of the twelve intrepid travelers sitting around the table in the Pucara community center. However, just outside the doors a crime of magnificent proportion was underway. Blissfully unaware of the larceny taking place outside, our jolly wayfarers drowned out the following clap of thunder with a raucous bout of laughter and other expressions of mirth. Half an hour passed… Read More
Our time in Ecuador is drawing to an end. We depart tomorrow (Saturday October 24) for Arequipa, Peru where we will begin the second half of our adventure. We arrived yesterday in Quito after ten days in the Intag region. While we were there, we learned about sustainable, organic agriculture as well as the fight between the people of that region and ENAMI, the Ecuadorean national mining company trying to… Read More
Ten days ago we arrived in the small Andean town or Pucara and were greeted our local contact, Peter Shear, along with almost half of the local community. We were sat down to a welcoming ceramony involving a cultural dance performed by women in traditional attire. After the ceremony we were all introduced to our homestay families and given the rest of the afternoon and evening to settle in to… Read More
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After a few bus rides, a hostel stay, and a four hour ferry ride, we have arrived to our village, Nasolo! We rolled up driving through their grass and sat around in their community hall for the welcome ceremony all wearing our new fancy sulus. None of us were accustomed to any Fijian words or traditions yet but we all sat around fascinated of what I think was a… Read More
Sawadeeka!
The name of this post honestly describes the past month here at the Mirror Foundation, based outside of Chiang Rai, in Northern Thailand. During the work week, I typically don’t know what 99% of the food I eat is. The 1% is rice. White rice, fried rice, ginger rice… but on Friday’s we get pad thai and spring rolls!! All of us volunteers have learned pretty quickly never to… Read More
You may have heard of the term monk. Maybe you think they’re all punks. Turns out they’re real cool, following tons of rules, and they made us all look like chumps.
Last week, we stayed at the Plikwiwek Dhamma Center on the border of Burma, and learned all about the monk lifestyle. We were introduced and led around by an Australian bloke named Laurie. He liked to say “ah?” sort… Read More
By Hannah A.
Hello to our friends and family! We have spent the last week in the rolling hills of southwestern Rwanda at a picturesque project called L’esperance. L’esperance began as an orphanage in 1994 after a tragic genocide destroyed the country and functioned as such until 2014, when the Rwandan government outlawed orphanages, claiming that they had served their purpose. Later, the project served as a haven for women… Read More
We arrived at the Root Institute on Tuesday, the 13th of October. After our shortest train ride yet (about 5 hours) we arrived in Gaya. From the crowded train station we packed into three auto-rickshaws which took us all the way to Bodh Gaya, where we concluded that leg of our journey at the Root Institute: a Buddhist retreat center. It was well past 11pm, and the sleepy guard let… Read More
Bula! After diving into the crystal clear waters of Fiji, we are excited to embark on our next chapter in the village. The last three days were spent doing cultural exploration in Nadi and New Town. Here’s all the fun things we’ve done this past week: going to local mud and hot pools, watching a traditional Fijian fire dance, participating in that dance, and night swims in the ocean. We’re… Read More
Nestled between the papaya, banana, and coffee trees on the banks of Lake Atitlan lies a mystical yoga farm where we would spend the next 5 days. Between the sounds of the drum or the didgeridoo waking us up in the morning and the chanting and songs after dinner, our days at the Mystical Yoga Farm were filled with a lot of personal reflection and gratitude.
Each morning we were… Read More
At the end of Senior year, it seemed as if everyone was figuring out the next four to six years of their life, right off the bat, in a single semester of high school. Of course, being a teenager who had a an average gpa of 2.0 or lower, I found myself only seeing bland, mundane or worst of all, simple yearly lifestyles to come after high school. I was… Read More
