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Hi everyone! My name is Eli (he/him) and I will be one of your instructors on the Indonesia semester! Before we meet in person, I wanted to introduce myself. I grew up in West Hartford, Connecticut, which wasn’t so exciting, but I was fortunate to......Read More
Our Trip My plane arrived And I first felt the heat And I carried my luggage To the place we would meet Just under a hotel And a mile above the sea We waited for Luke And gave away our phones Then hoped in the van And got rick rolled Windy River......Read More
We kayaked (some of) the Johnstone Strait! A big 16km day with seals, eagles, and the misty Pacific Ocean. It’s deceivingly deep, over 500m in the middle of the straight, making it a regular haunt of humpbacks and orcas, salmon, and kayakers!
I was able to witness and be part of different opportunities where there were so many acts of love expressed by different ways of communication during this trip. In that sense, I have been thinking a lot about the different languages we have to......Read More
This Yak is (regrettably) overdue simply due to the spotty reception one tends to experience when one is in a rainforest with no radio towers to be seen within a ten-mile radius of oneself (although this is only speculation). The previous night had......Read More
Dear all of the people who have welcomed me into your communities and homes, I want to start off by saying thank you. I’ve never experienced such hospitality and warmth from complete strangers in my life. From spending hours teaching me how to......Read More
Day 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 hold on! This past month has gone by like lightning. One moment we were stepping out of the airport doors in Cusco, being greeted by the joyous cheers of our instructors. And next, we were stepping back into that very same airport......Read More
Time here is different. Time here is not measured by minutes day or hours. Not by the schedule or the morning alarms. Time here is determined by how long the tortillas need to cook – which my home stay mother knows by heart. Its measured by......Read More
It would have been easier to stay home. I could have avoided hearing heartbreaking stories about the past and the present state of the world. I could have avoided having my personal ideas and way of life challenged. Truly understanding that people......Read More
As we drove out of Quillabamba at 4 am, our tired eyes viewed the foliage of the jungle getting thicker and thicker the deeper we got. By the time the sun was up the roads had become skinny dirt trails barely wide enough for our Megantoni van. 6......Read More
The Journey The Journey is neither near nor far, It does not have some profound meaning or special end, It is not traveling to far away places completely unknown, It is not even waking up to the sun rising across the Himalayas. It is in the moment.......Read More
Hi all, We are back to Gunnison for a day of post trek showers and laundry! We had quite an amazing 5 days in the West Elk wilderness and are grateful for our bodies and the perfect weather we had while hiking. Students will be posting yaks over the next few days sharing their experience and reflecting on our time so far in Colorado. Today we are heading to Paonia to begin mid-course activities and then on to farm stays for 3 days!
Shabbat Shalom! On Friday, July 8th, our group moved out of the lodge located along the Salish Sea near the Fairy Creek watershed and drove further into the wilderness, to the unprotected sector of the Walbran Valley. It was a chaotic and hectic transition day; however, the new views surrounding the campsite were astounding. We also ended the day sitting around our warming campfire on beautiful, curved benches made of red cedar that were chain sawed by our good friend Will only a few hours prior. Alongside this fire, we also celebrated an important Jewish holiday called Shabbat, as there… Read More
On my first day in Nuevo Horizonte, I was laying in a hammock, when an older man approached me. Not saying anything, he led me around two huts and through another cluster of hammocks until we stopped under a beehive. The man put his finger to his......Read More
I was in 4th grade the first time I heard the word “caste.” My family is Indian on my dad’s side, and American on my mom’s, and since I have lived in the U.S. all my life, the vernacular associated with my Indian side is pretty much......Read More
