By Matt Harmon Hola a mi Carpe Diem Familia!
We started this week with WAVES (Water, Adventure, Voluntourism, Education & Sustainability) in Lobitos, and ended in Cusco with Eco Yoga Inbound. Our final two days with WAVES was full of magic and lifelong memories.
On Monday, we woke up at 6:00 am to go out fishing with locals. This wasn’t just any ordinary fishing, we were one with the line,… Read More
By Naomi Garcia Monday morning in Junín. High energy breakfast. Why? Biscuits, jam, AND cream cheese! A simple sounding breakfast for us back in the States but such a delicacy for us here (some even snagged jam-filled bread rolls in their pockets for later… Shhhh). After fueling up our bodies, we went on a five-ish hour hike through the cloud forest. Surprisingly, the clouds were so dense, we got to… Read More
By Overseas Educator Kate AbrahamHand-catching fish to eat/transfer them to a new pond at the Arajuno Lodge in the Ecuadorian Amazon. The fish were strong and slippery!… 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 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 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
By Lauren Shelfo Hola from the AMAZON RAINFOREST! We arrived here at Arajuno Jungle Lodge on Sunday, October 8th after two bus rides and a five minute canoe ride down the Arajuno River to our home for the week. We were kindly greeted by the owner Tom Larson, and his wife, Charo, who provides delicious, natural, and healthy meals three times a day.
This week consisted of four hours of… Read More
Photos courtesy of Overseas Educators Kate Abraham & Julian Hartmann-Russell Miki enjoys the swing atop the mountain at Casa del Árbol. Sunset at Casa del Árbol. The main square of town, featuring a beautiful church, a park, and Kate. Beginning of class activity with all the students and teachers, led by our main contact Lorena who runs the school. Karaoke night for Naomi’s birthday! Feliz Cumpleaños, Naomi! 18! Josh, Julian,… Read More
By Overseas Educators Kate Abraham & Julian Hartmann-Russell This week was our week in Baños de Agua Santa, a tourism-based town in the Sierra region of Ecuador. After a nine-hour bus ride, we arrived on Saturday night at Raíces Spanish School, where we would spend much of our time in the coming days. We were escorted to our temporary homes by our respective host families, in groups of two and… Read More
By Renee Noordzij Hello friends, family, and other random readers! This past week our Inti family has been lodging, learning, and volunteering at la Finca Mono Verde (The Green Monkey Farm), in the small coastal town of Tobuga.
We arrived at the farm Saturday evening after an eventful day at the beach. After a tearful goodbye to Juan Carlos and his wife Chari, we settled into our new home. That… Read More
By Brian Simpson Our first major destination this semester is in Las Delicias, a banana farm owned and operated by Juan Carlos. Juan Carlos’s family welcomed us with open arms and warm hearts and took us into their home. They provided us with beds, food, and Spanish lessons for the entire week, which was an amazing experience.
On the first day, Monday, we woke up to the sound of roosters… Read More
Hola this is Will, Josh, Dana, and Lauren checking in from the vast and beautiful city of Quito. Today on our scavenger hunt we traversed the narrow streets to the local laundromat where we completed our first
task of obtaining toilet paper. We then pushed on deeper into the heart of the city to our next destination the Parque de Carolina. Next we went to the church of San Fransisco,… Read More
The South America group has arrived safely in Quito. They gathered their bags, have been picked up from the airport and are en route to their hostel. Once they arrive they’ll settle in and head out for their first Ecuadorian meal together. They’ve been enjoying getting to know one another and are looking forward to the semester ahead! Stay tuned here for updates from the students in the coming days,… Read More
The SAM group is all together for the first time! They’ve all arrived safely to LAX, checked in for their flight to Ecuador and are getting ready to head through security. They are enjoying getting to know one another and are looking forward to the semester ahead. We wish them safe and easy travels tonight and will post another blog here once we receive word that they have arrived in… Read More
Saludos, Team Inti and loved ones!
Greetings from Portland, Oregon, where the entire Carpe Diem Education Headquarters is buzzing with excitement in preparation for our adventurous fall semester in Ecuador and Peru! In a short week from now we will be settling in to our new home in the land of Inti, the Incan Sun God. Soon enough we will all be caring for banana trees on the Ecuadorian coast,… Read More
Blog from Matt and Rachel “We embark on trips to discover and remember what we hold most dear, the experiences and people we cherish and love. And then – our greatest challenge – we return home seeking to enact the wisdom as best we can in our daily lives.”
-William Cronan
We, as leaders, feel proud and fortunate to sit in the afterglow of a superb semester together. Now as… Read More
We’ve just received word from Rachel and Matt that the Spring ’17 Inti Crew is through airport security and about to board their flights. A huge congrats to them for a beautiful semester, and much gratitude to all for the support. Keep an eye out for one final blog from the leaders in these coming days, and in the meantime we’re wishing all of the students safe journeys and joyful… Read More
Incredibly, this is the last day of the Inti Crew’s Semester! While we hope you all are anticipating wonderful reunions soon, here are some incredible photos sent by Matt and Rachel to tide you over.… Read More
Blog from Jennifer Owens We ended our week at Lobitos with a goodbye dinner and campfire singalong, and loaded up a van at 3 a.m. to begin our travel day to Ollantaytambo, a town of 3,000 near Cusco, Peru. In contrast to the hot sun, desert-like climate, and ocean air of Peru´s northern coast, the mountains of the Sacred Valley are cool and green, where wildflowers grow among the chacras,… Read More
