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5*16=80 8*10=80 4*20=80 Now 40*2=80 && 80/2=40 In short, we one half, 1/2, 50% through the trip. South America. Bolivia, Pachamama. In so little yet so much time you have stolen my heart. So many emotions, long, action-packed days, longer......Read More
Written in 10/24 Dear Mom, Dad, and Will, The past two weeks have been magical, to say the least. I am writing to you from Tiquipaya (the land of flowers), a quaint yet lively rural outskirt of the larger Cochabamba (the valley between the......Read More
San Juan La Laguna is a truly beautiful place. While one could certainly intuit this from stories or photos, it’s quite another thing to live among its people and walk its cobblestone streets. From the natural beauty of El Rostro Maya and Lake......Read More
On the 16th and 17th of October, we had the absolute privilege of spending our entire days learning from the founding and contributing members of an organization called “Casa Carmelita” based in El Paso, Texas. No more than 20 yards away from a......Read More
Dakar has been a beautiful juxtaposition to our time in Diakhanore, filled with vibrance, lots of traffic, and the ebb and flow of urban life in Senegal. Some highlights have been going downtown to see modern art and history at the musée des civilisations noires, eating local food at a car park, seeing a concert and a modern dance show, having a celebratory meal at the Institut de Francais, diving into deep colonial and dark history at Goree island, getting close to the African Renaissance Monument, and spending time immersing ourselves in our home here: Yoff. Yoff has been an… Read More
Reflecting on my first week in San Juan, I am filled with gratitude and peace. I sit writing this on the roof (also the kitchen) of my house, looking out over the colorful clotheslines crisscrossing the roofs of neighboring houses and up at the......Read More
En Route to the Indigenous Nueva Vida Community. You are crammed in the back row seats of a bus, your body folded between Hoi, Chumby, and 3 day packs. Hoi has run out of mate (a traditional tea, and a staple drink of the trip) so your spirits are......Read More
Yesterday, in a group activity, each of us were asked to answer 4 prompts about our time in the city of Xela: Xela inspired me because; From Willy and Jay I learned; Martin showed me that food; My Spanish teacher inspired me because. This post is a......Read More
As we expand on our experiences here in South America, we also expand our community. At the beginning of the program, we spent the majority of our time together. However, since arriving to Urubamba, that “togetherness” has shifted to include our......Read More
This morning we hugged school children with tear-filled, smiling eyes and waved goodbye to new friends as we crossed a gentle, muddy river in hand-carved canoes. We had the opportunity to spend the past four days at Nueva Vida, a small boarding......Read More
“Live in the moment” is a phrase so commonly used it has become a cliché. Though we may believe we are living in the moment, there are often so many things battling for our attention. These past few weeks, our group has adjusted to a new......Read More
Throughout our first Trek in El Parque Nacional Amboró, our wonderful guides-Carlos, Hernán, and Junior-set out to give each one of us nicknames. I received two: first, La Llorona, which references the Bolivian folklore of a woman who, due to......Read More
Hi family and friends, On Monday, the 27th of September, we arrived in Urubamba. We ate lunch in a super delicious restaurant named Mashua (fun fact: the restaurant is owned by Emmanuel’s homestay family, so she is lucky with all the amazing......Read More
Yesterday we had the opportunity to take some horse carts out to a nature and wildlife reserve to try and see some hyenas as they are come out from the mangroves. On our way there we ran into a cow parade which held us up a bit but we finally made it we’re out enjoying the serene landscape while we waited. We waited a while without any action. Just as we were about to leave our guide noticed a lone hyena by the river and signaled for us to come see. The hyena was way bigger than we expected and… Read More
Today we took a stunning boat ride through the mangroves to the community of Mar Lodge, a historic Serer village filled with intricately woven trees, one of the larger churches in the Petit Cote region and lots of local honey, baobob and mango jam to sample. Here are a few favorite photos from the day! Greetings and warmth from the Senegal Instructor Team!
I write from a hostel in Buena Vista with steamy Amazon air. As I look forward to the trek ahead, I also look back on our time in Vallegrande. We met lovely hosts, navigated the vibrancy and chaos of el mercado, camped for the first time, and......Read More
