Hola from Baños!
Last week we stayed at a plaintain farm (finca) on the coast of Ecuador. The finca is owned by Juan Carlos, a very nice man with a great personality, and his family. Our mornings were spent learning Spanish from the entire family, split into various groups to study at various places (mostly outside!) at the farm. In the afternoons we did various activities, including visiting a beautiful… Read More
Wandering around Quito today was a lot of fun. We got some delicious ice cream with blackberries and mystery fruit from the Andes. Afterwards, we journeyed up to Parque la Carolina and did some people watching at the skate park. We ate lunch at a sketchy underground restaurant, which was surprisingly decent. Some highights of the afternoon included seeing some adorbs stray puppies, dancing in the park, and stopping in… Read More
Hey friends and family! We are in Quito! Yesterday we began orientation, visited a beautiful park, and had a great lunch and dinner together. The hostel we are staying in is very nice. We will be heading to the coast in 2 days to begin our first homestays! today we are working on a scavenger hunt. Our group ate ceviche de chochos and had some great pizza. The juice and… Read More
This is Aden Brown writing to you, our adoring fans, from an internet cafe in Quito- along with Ashley Bruce and Logan Fry.  I am currently writing at a rate of  1 cent per minute so… we have some time.
Quito is an interesting city. Â There are very few apartment buildings- the streets are lined with small shops. Â Think CVS but smaller and with fewer product options. Â The housing complexes… Read More
Well we were given about 10 tasks as part of a scavenger hunt and they have been quite enjoyable. We have eaten some delicious seafood, obviously well cooked, and had a giant star fruit. All the people we have met are very helpful and good natured about our broken Spanish. It has been aswesome to get out into the city with the mountains as a beautiful backdrop to the bustling… Read More
Hello Friends and Family of the South America group,
I just wanted to let everyone know that I’ve heard from group leaders Kelsi and Edward that the group has arrived safely in Ecuador and are settling in to the hostel in Quito where they will be for the next few days. Â The group themselves will be posting updates from this point forward, so stay tuned for posts about their orientation.… Read More
Hello family and friends of the Fall 2013 South America group!
And they’re off!  The whole group met this morning at the TACA counter in LAX, and there was an excited energy, filled with hugs, handshakes, smiles, and laughter. All together for the first time, they proceeded through security to begin their journey to Quito.
We are sending lots of love and well wished to our South America crew and… Read More
Hey SAM group, friends, and family,
After a productive morning workshopping group dynamics and semester plans, we hopped on our bikes and hit the town for a Carpe Diem leader scavenger hunt. As 90 degree Portland sunshine blared down on us, we cycled across bridges and through parks, dodging traffic, sweating and smiling. We sampled some delicious street cart food from the Maurician Islands, browsed through the nation’s largest used… Read More
Dear families and friend of the Spring 2013 South America group,
This spring’s South America semester has come to an end!  We’ve heard from program leaders Ryan and Cheridyn that the students who are traveling home today were lovingly seen off to the airport, and the rest of the students are preparing for days, weeks or months of independent travel.
Carpe HQ wishes everyone safe travels home, whenever they make… Read More
shortly after arriving in Los Angeles Intl. Airport, i boarded an airplane with 11 strangers that i had just met. our destination was South America, a continent that had previously only existed in the depths of my brain. i had no idea what to expect and the great unknown was quite overwhelming. as i sat in the concaved seat of that 747 i began to ask myself what i had… Read More
If you had told me a year ago that on May 6th 2013 I would be sitting at a computer at a hostel in Cusco Peru preparing to return to the US for the first time in three months, I would have undoubtedly told you that you were insane. And yet here I am.
In three months I-ve learned more than I ever could have in a second semester at… Read More
Time truly flies. It seems like just yesterday we had all met in LA and embarked on our journey through South America. The last 3 months have been an incredible experience. I was a bit pessimistic at first about leaving my comfortable surroundings and being away from home for 3 months. After all this time though I can say that I am thankful for having participated in this trip. The… Read More
The climactic Machu Picchu has been hike, Spanish has been improved, friendships have been made and now it is time to go home. Today has been a mad dash for the few of us who are headind north to buy gifts, where as the others have been running around making plans for their travels after.
Everyone is excited to go home and retell stories and show pictures, but I think… Read More
Where did the time go? It seems like just yesterday it was Febuary 13th and we were all headed to LAX, into the unknown, to embark on a lifechanging experience with 11 other people we have never met before. Now here we are, 84 days later, our lives changed, personalities grown, and millions of new memories with those same 11 other people that we now will never forget. Although one… Read More
I had the wonderful opportunity to join the group for their trek to Machu Picchu. It was beautiful to spend time with all the students and the leaders, get to know the group, and trek though some amazing places! Just thought I’d share a photo of the group, taken shortly after our arrival to Machu Picchu. We are all now back in Cusco and the group is enjoying their last… Read More
Dear avid blog followers,
We’ve finally made it to our last day in Cuzco! The past few weeks have been incredible. From the jungle, to the Yoga retreat in Sacred Valley, to the Salkantay trek, and finally to Machu Picchu. During the 5 day trek, we hiked over 38 miles from 21,000 ft glaciers to bug ridden jungle and finally to Machu Picchu. Even though Machu Picchu was teeming with… Read More
I was far too sweaty for the time of day, and still a bit delirious from the 5am wake up. The machete in my hand no longer gave me the surge of barbaric enthusiasm as it had on the first day. I let the caffeine from the 2 cups of coffee I gulped down an hour previously do the hacking. Once you get past the lower back pain and the… Read More
