Follow the Journey

Written by Cleo Miller, a student on the Carpe Diem gap year Costa Rica chocolate program at Villas Mastatal with Javier’s family New Adventures in Mastatal Landed in Costa Rica! This week we traveled to a small and remote, but extremely beautiful, town called Mastatal in biodiverse Costa Rica! We stayed with Javier and his family in Villas Mastatal, and remained unplugged for the week, which was amazing to connect… Read More

Written by Jess Solit and Danny Evans, students on the Carpe Diem gap year Guatemala Acatenango volcano hike during student directed travel This week was student-directed travel (SDT)! Our group embarked on the intimidating yet exciting task of planning and budgeting all of our housing, activities, transportation, and food for the week, while also leading our expeditions. We started our week on the west coast of Guatemala in El Paredon,… Read More

Written by Arianna Cochrane, a student on the Carpe Diem gap year Guatemala coffee weaving program graduating Spanish school in San Juan What’s new? We were in San Juan staying in homestays for our second and final week! Which also means our final week of Spanish school! We are all glad we got to improve our Spanish so much, but definitely happy we made it through it all. Our group… Read More

Written by Central America Student, Henry Probolus What’s new? We arrived in San Juan and started our week of Spanish classes. We started on cultural art projects like painting and weaving. We enjoyed the cultural events of Semana Santa like the procession and creating alfombras out of flowers and colored sawdust. We visited nearby towns like San Pedro and went to Panajachel to see butterflies and other animals at the… Read More

Written by Jess Solit and Cleo Miller, students on the Carpe Diem gap year Guatemala Tzununa farm program learning permaculture at Granja Tz’ikin What’s new? ⦿ Our group headed over to Tzununa to learn about permaculture from Neil and Jeremy at the Granja Tz’ikin – The Farm. ⦿ Swam and walked around San Marcos, learned about the 12 values of permaculture, harvested veggies, and turned over garden beds. ⦿ We… Read More

Written by Central America Students, Henry Probolus and Arianna Cochrane This was our last week in Xela! At the start of the week, we left our hostel and moved in with our host families! It has been such an amazing time experiencing the culture and tasting the amazing food inside our families’ houses! We met and became friends with so many people through the school PLQ, and we have improved… Read More

Written by Central America Students, Danny Evans & Cleo Miller This week we’re located in Xela! We are starting one-on-one Spanish classes with the beautiful teachers at PLQ. We attended the many events put on by PLQ including a student soccer game and a trip to the hot springs. We stayed in Casa Siebel and made many trips to the Central Park. We also had a blast at the local… Read More

Written by Central America Students, Ari Cochrane & Jess Solit Greetings from our team’s latest adventure! We ventured to Comalapa to collaborate with Long Way Home (LWH), an organization dedicated to sustainable living and community development. Here’s a glimpse of what we’ve been up to: Learned about sustainable living practices Worked on a retaining wall made out of tires Helped build houses out of cob (dirt, sand, water, pine needles)… Read More

Written by Jasmin and Malcolm, Overseas Educators on the Carpe Diem gap year Guatemala scavenger hunt orientation in Antigua before Long Way Home Hola a nuestras familias y amigos! We’ve had a great few days in Antigua, one of the larger cities here in Guatemala. Our groups flew into Guatemala City and we made our way to Hostel Hopa, our home for the next few days. Our group was finally… Read More

Written by Jasmin and Malcolm, Overseas Educators on the Carpe Diem gap year Central America semester sharing packing tips before departure Hola chiques! We hope everyone is getting as excited for the semester as we are! We’re here in Portland, Oregon at Carpe Diem Headquarters reviewing our program itinerary, policies, curriculum, and more to fully prepare for our time together. This being the first time we’ll lead a trip together,… Read More

Written by Malcolm and Jane, Overseas Educators on the Carpe Diem gap year Guatemala Costa Rica journey through Lake Atitlan and Drake Bay Happy end of program to our wonderful students, and to all of their parents and family and friends waiting to greet them at home! This semester simultaneously feels like it flew by, and it feels like we’ve been together and known each other for so much longer… Read More

Written by Central America Student, Sophie N.  This was our last full week as a group, we spent it in Drake Bay mostly scuba diving. We met great directors that guided us along the way and met our needs while diving. On Thursday, since we wouldn’t be spending Thanksgiving with our families, we decided to plan a Friendsgiving in which everyone was split into pairs and asked to make a… Read More

Written by Lily and Matilda, students on the Carpe Diem gap year Costa Rica permaculture farm program at Mastatal Ranch This last week we rode, climbed and scrambled up the steep Permacultures farm sides of Maztatal Ranch! From herbal tours to chocolate adventures, night walks, and even cooking with our host family, it really feels like we did it all! But that’s so broad, so what did we get yo… Read More

Written by Lily and Anantya, students on the Carpe Diem gap year Guatemala Dia de los Santos celebration program in San Juan We continued our second week in San Juan, a small town on Lake Atitlán. We continued our Spanish classes at Eco Spanish school, and also enjoyed several new events and cultural activities. We ended the month of October with a very personal archaeology tour. On the tour, we… Read More

Written by Central America Students, Matilda & Leila  This week we pushed off the shores of San Marcos and landed ourselves on the opposite side of the lake in a small welcoming town with the name of San Juan. Here, we began our Spanish lessons at a local Eco School where we grow our skills in one on one classes in the mornings followed by alternating days of art classes,… Read More

Written by Central America Students, Ashlyn & Jonah We made it out of Xela! This week, we got to spend at Lake Atitlan learning about permaculture, hiking through the forest and farming. Our Top 3 Highlights of the Week: 🥗 Great fresh food straight from the farm! 💦 A beautiful hike to the a waterfall that we were able to go in. 🏡 Lovely accommodations in the bamboo house. What’s… Read More

Written by Central America Students, Sophie & Anna  This week we got to stay with local families in home stays, while still going to school at PLQ (Proyecto Lingüístico Quetzalteco)! We moved into our new homes on Sunday, and have been living with them for the past week! We’ve been able to enjoy tasty meals, practicing our Spanish with our families and exploring the city of Xela (Quetzaltenago) even more!… Read More

Written by Central America Students, Shloimy G. & Leila B. Since our last update, we’ve traversed the Guatemalan Highlands, and have made it to Xela/Quetzaltenango (in separate transports of course due to our unfortunate little itty bitty Covid outbreak). We’re staying in a hostel right near Parque Central, both the center of town and the center of the recent protests. We learned about the reasons behind these demonstrations during our… Read More

Written by Central America Students, Nate K. and Kora B. Hey everyone, this is Nate and Kora talking and we can’t wait to share our recap from this past week! Upon our arrival in Comalapa on the 24th, we started our adventures with a welcoming introduction from our amazing host, Omar. Having given us a tour of the unique sustainable practices used throughout the community, we gained a greater appreciation… Read More

Written by Central America Overseas Educators, Jane & Malcolm Hola desde Guatemala! We have had a fun whirlwind of a few days since arriving in Guatemala City early the morning of the 22nd. We drove from the airport in Guatemala City to Earthlodge, an eco hotel and wellness center just outside of Antigua. We were immediately struck by the stunning vista of the valley below and the volcanoes dominating the… Read More