By Dominique, Ashley, Jeremy, and Nitzny The first week of Southeast Asia is so amazing. Something that I completely adore about the city is the architecture. The vibrant colors just show so much of the countries culture and how they live. Every building that I look at is different and are significant in their own way. The temples are on every corner and being able to see a new temple… Read More
Dear families and friends of the Southeast Asia group,
I’ve just heard from group leaders Cari and Jon – the group has arrived safely to Chiang Mai, Thailand! They are gathering their bags and getting ready to head to their hostel. All is well so far, they had a safe and easy flight, but they are looking forward to getting some rest and then diving into their orientation. Stay tuned… Read More
Dear families and friends of the Spring Southeast Asia group,
Everyone has arrived safely to LAX. They are happy to be together as a group for the first time, and looking forward to the semester ahead. We wish them safe and easy travels to Thailand! We’ll post another blog here once we’ve received word that they’ve arrived safely.
-Carpe Diem HQ… Read More
Sawadee Kha/Krap Sabai crew!
This is Cari and Jonathan here, reaching out from Portland, Oregon. We hope you are all as stoked as we are for our upcoming adventures! We have been racking our brains to ensure the most epic experiences that will blow your mind! If you are feeling those pre-departure jitters, just know that it’s normal, and it means that you are about to have a truly meaningful… Read More
By Overseas Educators Rachel and Sheldon It’s such a strange feeling, an odd combination of elation and loss at the end of a journey like this. On the one hand, we did it! Made it through all the homesickness, doctor’s visits, long, hot, crowded bus rides, squat toilets, hard floors, and personal tiffs, and now we get to go home! On the other hand, we did it! But now what?… Read More
By Julia Gordon Heading to Ho Chi Minh city, a final bus ride I will never forget.
After leaving our guesthouse in Dalat, also home to a wonderful family, whose son serinated us with his lovely performance on the piano each night, playing America’s “greatest” pop hits, and mom who greeted us each time we came in the front door with such excitement and interest, just like my actual mom,… Read More
blog and photos from Kyla M Taking a turn from cultural constipation, our group members were plummeting (literally!) Thanks to my bad luck, I got the worst of an amoeba invasion (a bacterial infection caused by consuming dirty water). It has definitely been a nerve racking experience having to go to the hospital in a foreign country, but it has taught me how to be brave and to always look… Read More
By Eliza Patterson For about the past week, we have been exploring the cities of Siem Reap and Phnom Penh in Cambodia. These two cities have offered us two very different, but interesting, experiences.
Siem Reap is a city built for tourists. There were three different night markets within walking distance from our hostel and at least two fried ice cream roll stands on every corner. Chocolate croissants and even… Read More
By Grace Frances Nelson Do you find yourself questioning the monotony of the culture around you?
Have you never experienced what it feels like to be a minority?
Do you purposely choose to isolate yourself from the world beyond your precious city, state or country?
If you answered yes to any or all of these questions you may be suffering from a mild to severe case of what I call… Read More
By Emily Chambers The time we spent at Plum Village was my personal favorite so far. I feel like I learned so much from our sisters and brothers that I know I will be able to hold with me as I make my own path and venture my way through life.
To be more specific, we were taught the five mindfulness trainings. The first is the Reverence of Life. To… Read More
By Emma Willis For the last three days, our group has done our best to navigate Bangkok. We’ve made our way to the zoo, Lumphini Park, Khao San Road night market, Chinatown, an open-air market, and the Museum of Contemporary Art.
With all these activities comes the challenge of transportation. Because our guest house isn’t in the middle of the city, we’ve used taxis, buses, and tuk-tuks to get around.… Read More
By Iona Yates During this program, I have found myself writing down at least one fear I want to conquer weekly. Four weeks ago in Mae Rim, it was overcoming my fear of learning the Thai language. Last week in Pun Pun, my fear was overcoming feeding the cows and getting in the chicken coop. This week, though, my fear was getting dirty, which is a very hard fear when… Read More
By James StewartThere is a certain sense of emotional and spiritual fulfillment that can only be obtained by walking barefoot along a rural, mud-covered road. It lies in the softness of the sand and muck beneath your feet. It dances in the chorus of birdsong that mingles with the singing of crickets and the constant tittering of chickens. To you, it is new, it is exciting, and you breathe… Read More
By Katherine Lord We have just returned to Chiang Mai after an incredible three-day long trek through the Thai mountains and jungles. Though very physically demanding, it was an incredible experience. On the first day, we drove two and a half hours in the back of pickup trucks to a national park north of Chiang Mai, where we began the trek. That day, we walked nine miles through the mountains,… Read More
By Ajenai Hampton This week was an adventure, to say the least. It feels like we just all got together, and we’re already splitting up to stay in homes with Thai families. It’s only our tenth day in Thailand total, and yet we all feel so connected as a group that it was hard for us to split up (even though we still see each other daily). We’ve started taking… Read More
By Katherine, Taylor, and GraceThailand is absolutey amazing. We’ve already experienced and learned so much and we love it here. This is our third day here. We are staying in a hostel in Chiang Mai, which is in northern Thailand. It’s beautiful here. The city is surrounded by mountains. The city isn’t like any American city; all of the buildings look like temples—and there are real temples everywhere!
The… Read More
We’ve heard from the Sabai Crew and all is well in San Francisco. 11 of the 12 group members gathered smoothly (and the 12th will be flying from Dubai to meet the group in Thailand).
Thanks so much for all of your support in getting the students to this step. We can’t wait to hear about their adventures as they journey through Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam over the coming months.… Read More
Good Morning, Sabai!
Greetings from Portland where the air is as dry as our humor, and if our Boddhisatva instincts are correct, the ashes falling from the sky can only mean one thing: there’s a forest fire nearby. And that we should go soon.
Enough of this planning and packing, what we don’t have we don’t need. We’ll forge new friendships, build our own support system, and take deep dives… Read More
Anya and Chris here, taking back the blog reigns one last time before we close down this particular SE Asia Carpe semester.
We sit on a bus heading back to Hanoi with mixed emotions- something like a bowl of sadness mixed with a lump of gratitude, relief and excitement. After almost twelve full weeks of traveling, living, working, and learning together as a group, today we are heading off on… Read More
