Our stay at the Dharma Center was eye-opening. Our guide, Laurie was a very nice, funny, wise, old man from Australia. It was our first time with an English translator at a temple so it was inspiring to learn the history and true methods of Buddhism.
The first day we traveled to the border of Burma and learned about the history of conflict between the different villages. We saw… Read More
So this blog post is a little late. but we spent a week at the Sam Fan Orphanage with some orphans from Thailand. They were all great kids and have very bright futures. they are getting valuable life skills from living there. We helped the kids every morning doing their chores, making compost and playing with them. One day we went on a hike up a creek to a place… Read More
Hey there Itza friends and family! Tom here, just wanted to give a little insight on what our time on Lago Atitlan entailed.
After much deliberation and last minute planning, we had to cancel our 3 day trek. However, we were still able to do a 2 hour hike down the Indians Head mountain which had constant photo ops and a beautiful look over lago Atitlan. The view alone… Read More
Greetings from Kampala!
After a few unforeseen events, the group decided to spend some extra nights in Kigali, Rwanda. This extended stay, however uexpected, allowed us more time to explore the city. We were pleasantly surprised by Kigali’s immense cleanliness and modernity, which made us feel quite safe and welcome. We treated ourselves to coffee, Rwanda’s specialty, and even checked out the local arts scene.
Now, after a long bus… Read More
October 28-November3 We kicked off our week twisting through reservation roads fraught with potholes and washboard, our destination the Johnson’s Ranch in Cornfields. Elizabeth and Justin Johnson met us with much hospitality and welcome. They told us about the history of their Ranch going back to their parents, the work of their local chapter and its impact on the community (Local form or Navajo government), and the struggles and… Read More
Yah T’eh Friends, Family, and Loved Ones!
On October 20th we embarked on our hike into Canyon del Muerto (one portion of Canyon de Chelly) near Chinle, Navajo. We went with a wonderful and informative guide named Colleen, who recounted history, personal stories, and various information about plants, animals, traditions, and more. As we walked along, we were amazed at the fresh beauty of the canyon as the cottonwood leaves… Read More
Friends and Family,
It has been quiet an adventure over the last few days trying to get to Uganda! A few setbacks have required the group to temporarily return to Kigali, but they will be back on the road first thing tomorrow morning on a bus for Kampala.
Because of the unanticipated circumstances, the itinerary over the next couple weeks will be adapted to meet the changing needs of the… Read More
I apologize for the tardiness of this blog post. We arrived last night in Granada, Nicaragua and are staying for two days and three nights before we head to our next set of homestays in Playa Gigante. The city is beautiful and very historic – every street is lined with gorgeous Spanish architecture and vibrant colors. More to the point, I shall now reflect on the past week and our… Read More
Kia Ora (Hello) everyone!
Tara (T. Banks) Cherwony, here to tell you all about our amazing stay with the Maori! October 28th was the day we started our stay at the Rongomaraeroa Marae, but our fisrt stop was the Porangahau festival. We spent the afternoon relaxing with the locals, trying new foods, and checking out local art creations. We met Ahuriri who organzined our stay at the Marae (communal sleeping… Read More
Last Sunday we got up nice and early (3:30am) to catch our plane to Lima, Peru and then on to Cuzco, where we were greeted with a nice, welcoming Spanish exam. Having been placed in pairs according to our level of fluency, we started classes the next morning at FairServices Spanish school. Our classes consist of 2 hours of grammar in the class room and 2 hours of practice. Practice… Read More
Alice’s turn to blog!
Leaving Bodhgaya with 2 shaved heads and, for the most part, healthy people, Shanti group headed to Varanasi, where we became students again. The first night we all stayed in a long-term hostel for students, which was almost like a dorm room. The next day, it was immediately time for us to begin our Hindi study and then visit all the different options for internships. Those… Read More
Here in Kolkatta the Shiva crew is celebrating both Halloween and the half-way day of our semester. It is hard to believe that we are half-way through – I am so proud of what our crew has accomplished as a group already, and looking forward to seeing even more self-growth, adventures, and hilarity in the remaining half! I wanted to give a shout-out to all of the family and friends… Read More
Namaste friends and family!
Our Shiva family is in Calcutta now, doing some volunteer work at the Mother Theresa Home. Before Calcutta, we spent a lovely couple of days in Bodh Gaya.
Bodh Gaya was a breath of fresh air. Literally. After crowded, polluted, over-powering Varanasi, it was nice to take a couple days to decompress in such a beautiful, calm, and spiritual place.
We stayed at the Root… Read More
We are broken up into four groups every day; Daily Chores, Kitchen Crew, Gardening Crew and Farming Crew.
The Daily group is the only group who’s job is the same everyday; milking the cows! Your day begins at 6 am when you walk to the milking house and milk 55 cows whose milk is used to feed the baby calves. Then its off to feed the chickens before breakfast. The… Read More
Hello to the Itza group’s family and friends from Carpe Diem HQ,
We hope you all are well and have been enjoying the blog and following along on Itza’s adventures. We wanted to let you all know about a small change we’ve made to Itza’s itinerary. As some of you may have heard, there has been a stomach bug going around the Itza group, and while everyone has been treated… Read More
