By Grace Cain-Kellman Hola from a new country!!!! Picking up from the last post midway through our stay in El Paredón, our group squeezed in as much as we could during our last days on the ocean. Each time we were sent off for free time, someone grabbed a surfboard, a boogie board or just a towel to get tossed around by the Guatemalan sea, inevitably swallowing some to take… Read More

By Juliette Clem Hola friends + family of Maya! Greetings from El Paredon, Guatemala. This past week has been packed full of so many fun and interesting activities that I thought the best way to share them would be through a collection of photos. I hope you enjoy! We started our week in Antigua, where we had our first student-directed travel time so we got to choose our activities, which… Read More

By Angelo Accus Our journey to Lake Atítlan began with Talia being a team player and using her Level: 100 finesse skills to talk down our boat driver from 500 quetzales to 280 quetzales. Talia truly raised the bar for the Transporte position. We then glided across the sparkly blue-green Lake Atítlan, which smelled much cleaner than we had anticipated. Many of the Maya group members took photos as the… Read More

By Paige Harris Buenos dias from Xela! We’ve had a very busy week learning Spanish and continuing to immerse ourselves in Guatemalan culture. Prior to our departure from La Escuela de la Montaña, we had the unique opportunity to tour La Florida, a cooperatively owned, self-sustaining permaculture farm. Our guide led us around the plots of land owned by various local families, pointing out bananas, macadamia nuts, cacao, and the… Read More

By Hanna McKee ¡Hola Tod@s! This week kicked off the official start of our three-month journey in Central America! After spending our first few nights in a beautiful hostel in Quetzaltenango (Xela), Guatemala, getting to know each other and the itinerary, we loaded ourselves into a minibus, said goodbye to our brief home-away-from-home, and made the trek to our first destination. The car ride was filled with nervous hearts, a… Read More

By Overseas Educators Hannah and Julian ¡Hola desde Portland! We’ve spent the last week in the Oregon woods collaborating and preparing for the semester of a lifetime with our colleagues. We could not be more excited to meet you all in just a few short days! Soon enough, we’ll be comfortably nestled into a Guatemalan bus, sweating and drinking in the humid air as we wind our way through the… Read More

By Hannah and Alex To our monos – Wow! We cannot believe the semester has come to a close. What an incredible journey we have completed and will without a doubt remember for the rest of our lives. As we take a moment to reflect, we are awe-struck and inspired by how much you all have grown and transformed. We feel honored and grateful to have shared the past three… Read More

By Caroline Kessler Alas! We made it to Roatan, Honduras for the final week of our trip. A celebration was definitely in order as we reflected on the past three months. To top it all off, we earned our Lifetime SCUBA Certification, allowing us to explore greater depths all around the world. In many ways, scuba diving embodied our Carpe Diem Adventure. It was something many of us had been… Read More

By Tate Scarpaci After our last week of homestays, we began our week of Student Directed Travel (SDT). Everyone was stoked for some more adventure. An eventful ride in a microbus led us to the city of Leon, our first stop of the week. It is a large, slightly touristy city, but a quick bus ride will get you out of the hustle and bustle to a nice little beach… Read More

By Jake Marcus… Read More

By Caroline Kessler Riddle this! At what point does the Carpe Diem group decide to head home? Halfway through… This week marked the halfway point of our trip! In a month and a half, we’ve traveled through two countries, lived in eight locations, stayed with three host families, and eaten about ten pounds of Gallo pinto. Yum! An update since the last post: We were in the rural mountain town… Read More

By Emmy Huefner ¡Adiós, Guatemala! On Sunday, we flew from Guatemala City to Managua, Nicaragua, and we are now in the town of Matagalpa, where the electricity is spotty and where they don’t pronounce their “S’s” at the end of a word. In some ways, Nicaragua feels very similar to Guatemala: toilet paper still must go in the trash can, there’s no shortage of crazy drivers on motos, and natives… Read More

Getting strong in the airport on the way to Nicaragua! Beautiful coastal sunset. A few of our local guides on the mangroves tour. A local surfer catching a wave in el Paredon. Discussing issues regarding sustainable development.… Read More

By Quincy Hirt Lexie Drew “Welcome to El Paredon” These four words, spoken in a kind British accent, greeted us as we stepped off the bus. It was immediately clear that this place was unlike our recent destinations as the salty, humid, and hot air washed over us. Alex (kind British voice) and Lexi (a volunteer at Surf Camp, our hostel) greeted us warmly as we settled into our palm… Read More

By Tavish and Eli The week began in Xela, and with Spanish classes complete, we are all eager to explore the city of Xela. Some students decided to climb the famous Santa Maria volcano, one of Guatemala’s tallest and most formidable climbs. Others decided to hang back and spend the day in Xela. With a volcano conquered and Xela thoroughly explored, the group decided to attend a superchivas soccer game… Read More

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