We´ve had an incredibly laid-back week. We took the weekend to recuperate from Agüizotes and explore the city of Masaya, finding our favorite smoothie shop in town, the Frutería, and going through multiple punch cards during the week. On Monday we started our classes during the afternoons, having the mornings and evenings to do as we please. This was the first time that we´ve had Spanish classes in groups, in… Read More
Hola from Kaitlin, this week’s Bilbo Bloggins. I am currently in Masaya, Nicaragua, where we are all in one piece after a glorious week of STUDENT DIRECTED TRAVEL. For the past 7 days we have been reponsible for figuring out transportation, accomadationss, and activities for ourselves, guided only by an overall budget and our heart’s desires. And, of course, the Sacred Six.
Our fearless student directed travel leaders Byron, Lucie,… Read More
We’ve made it to Costa Rica or in the Spanish translation, the rich coast! Our initial impressions upon our arrival was that this was a tourist-central country. We were witnessing a more western scene than we were used to back in Guatemala. But aside from that we also noticed the plentiful vegetation, the long-extending, coffee coloured beaches and the constant roar of the waves clashing against one another. If I… Read More
This has been our last week here in Guatemala and it has surely been an eventful one! To kick start this week we endured a rugged 25 mile hike through the thick of the the Guatemalan jungle. We would hike a portion of the distance every day while staying at local villages along the way each night. We faced many daring exploits through the entire expedition such as psuedo-vertical climbs,… Read More
After some last minute bakery runs we all jumped into vans and drove to Xela. And well, here we are again, back in Xela. We have all had a fantastic week studying spanish at Casa Xelaju. It was a little nerve racking at first because minutes after we arrived at Casa Xelaju on the first day we were off to meet the families we would be living with for the… Read More
It was a very eventful week for Carpe Diem Quetzal. After a beautiful drive through the Guatemalan countryside, the group arrived at scenic Escuela de la Montaña, excited and eager to improve our broken español. Candice, the owner and operator of the school was extremely kind, hospitable, and made us feel right at home. Shortly after a quick orientation of the school, we dove right into our cultural immersion and… Read More
The group arrived Wednesday at our beautiful hostel in the center of the city for orientation. After a few days we are feeling very prepared and excited for the rest of our journey!
Today we took a much needed trip outside to hike to a local park overlooking the city. We took some photos of the scenery and played some capture the flag between the trees. Some local children noticed… Read More
Both Maya and Quetzal groups have landed safely in country and are settled into their orientation sites. We are so excited for them to begin their adventures! Stay tuned as the group will begin to post blogs about their experience soon. Much gratitude to all of the friends and family who have helped the students arrive at this moment.… Read More
The Central America Quetzal group has arrived in San Francisco and are excited and ready to begin their journey!
Be sure to stay tuned to the blog as we will post again when the group arrives safely in country!
We wish you all the best team Quetzal!… Read More
It’s trip prep time here at Carpe Diem!
After a few days spent camping and bonding outside the city, nestled among the trees enjoying the crisp Autumn air, we are back in the glorious city of Portland!
Today we got the chance to have some urban adventures together and continue to get to know each other and learn how totally cool we each are. Ashley grew up in the suburbs… Read More
As requested, here are the prompts for our guided meditation on our incredible journey!! After leading you through the relaxation we asked you to steady your mind, your heart, your breath and remember the…
First moment you heard one of our voices on the phone talking to you about the adventure ahead
New faces in San Francisco
First massage circle on the floor and the dance party in the dark… Read More
Hola friends and family of our Itza family! We had an incredible last day in Roatan, which included a day trip to West Bay, where we lounged and swam in one of the most beautiful beaches that we have ever seen. About half the group even got to go on a final dive the last day, swimming in underwater galaxies with many little fishes, eels and turtles by our sides.… Read More
Student Directed Travel begins at our new hostel called El Retiro. With a lovely bar restaurant right on the river, we go tubing, hot tub, sauna and have lots of good food. Including our Thanksgiving feast! We go on the most amazing candle lit cave dive filled with beautiful rock formations, waterfalls and cannonballs 🙂 Some of us go off this giant river swing into the water, followed by tubing… Read More
Hey ITZA friends and family! After a beautiful drive to Lanquin (which included a hilarious game of sharing embarrassing stories and the most breathtaking, glorious, bright, bold full rainbow that any of us have ever seen), we arrived safe and sound at El Retiro hostel in Lanquin, a little town right outside of Semuc Champey. We had a scrumptious buffet dinner, a delightful breakfast with dishes ranging from chocolate heaven… Read More
Hello family, friends, and concerned parents and grandparents, we have had a great time during our second half of being in Xela. All of us continued with our one on one spanish lessons in the morning and cultural activites in the afternoon. We worked closely with Christian, one of the men who works at the school, who helped organize all of our activities. He facilitated a cooking class one day… Read More
Being in Pasac during Dia de los Muertos was an incredibly enriching experience. We were lead by locals to the cemetary about ten minutes away, along a narrow rocky path in between dilapitated houses and yards. The cemetary was filled with families; women in traditional Mayan clothing, crowds of young teens dressed in all black with their hair slicked to the side, old men in traditional kilt-like clothing and red… Read More
Fiesta in Matagalpa Outlined in a halo of light from the fireworks whistling into the air, me and my host siblings pass thorugh the couples and other families to the inner circle where the children of the town strain to see what is happening. As we approach, my younger brother perches on the highest part of his tipy toes. I turn to my host sister to tell her to help… Read More
Weary, sore and cramped after five hours stuffed in a mini bus, the beating sun created a sardined sauna as we bumped along endless Guatemalan roads. We finally peeled off the highway, winding through small villages, staring hopefully out the window at families walking down the street dressed in traditional Mayan regalia, beautiful full length skirts pleated in every color of a bold painter´s palate, sturdy intricate embroiderty exhibiting extraordinary… Read More
Hi world! We are in Guatemala! It´s really quite exciting to have yet another new country to explore. (: We said goodbye to Camaronal, Costa Rica and our precious sea turtle hatchery. We took a nice bus about 5 hours to Alajuela (just outside of San Jose and the airport) and stayed in a backpackers hostel for the night. We found our new European style home exceeding our expectations. Rustic… Read More
