Saludos de Quito! Today marks our final full day in the hostel, until we leave for the coast to stay at Las Delicias Banana Farm. Our journey began with landing in the magnificent city of Quito after several hours of traveling, and we were happy to finally be on the ground. After a quick nap we spent the rest of the day getting to know one another through various group… Read More

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By Overseas Educators Avy and Alex… Read More

By Overseas Educators Kate and Julian To our beloved Inti family! 12 weeks. Wow. It feels impossible to believe that adventure could ever fly by so quickly. It seems like in just a blink of an eye we have found ourselves in December, but in that blink we have come so far together and grown immeasurably both as individuals and as a group. Through the many laughs, tears, shared meals,… Read More

By Cole and Will Yo what’s up Inti fam. Wilaureneomichrisjulianyosh Colairmate Bridanachris here to give you the fill for the past week. It was the long-awaited Salkantay trek week, which in layman’s terms meant that starting Wednesday, we had 42 daunting miles staring at us in our out-of- shape, lazy bodies. To give some more context, the night before, we had met our two guides for the trek: Antonio, a… Read More

By Matt Harmon Hola a mi Carpe Diem Familia! We started this week with WAVES (Water, Adventure, Voluntourism, Education & Sustainability) in Lobitos, and ended in Cusco with Eco Yoga Inbound. Our final two days with WAVES was full of magic and lifelong memories. On Monday, we woke up at 6:00 am to go out fishing with locals. This wasn’t just any ordinary fishing, we were one with the line,… Read More

By Naomi Garcia Monday morning in Junín. High energy breakfast. Why? Biscuits, jam, AND cream cheese! A simple sounding breakfast for us back in the States but such a delicacy for us here (some even snagged jam-filled bread rolls in their pockets for later… Shhhh). After fueling up our bodies, we went on a five-ish hour hike through the cloud forest. Surprisingly, the clouds were so dense, we got to… Read More

By Overseas Educator Kate Abraham Hand-catching fish to eat/transfer them to a new pond at the Arajuno Lodge in the Ecuadorian Amazon. The fish were strong and slippery!… Read More

By Claire Helloooooo from Claire! It’s week 6 and Team Inti is alive and well! We began this week with a simply-worded, yet fundamental question to ponder: “Why are some places in the world poor and others rich?” After arriving in the tiny community of Pucara Monday afternoon, we were met by Peter, an expat originally from Vermont, who has built a farm and integrated himself here in this community… Read More

By Lauren Shelfo The following is a poem written in Spanish class about what it means to be an Inti group member: Una persona de Carpe Diem Inti es una mezcla de muchos orígenes. Una persona Inti es única y está creciendo. Esta persona tiene ojos muy grandes para ver al mundo: todas las partes malas y buenas. Esta persona tiene orejas más grande para escuchar todas las opiniones e… Read More

By Anya Cocowitch Hello Inti blog readers! This week we spent our time in Peguche, a small, artisan town right outside the city of Otavalo. We took Spanish classes all week and did a variety of activities to better understand the culture. Peguche is known for its waterfall which has a spiritual significance to this town of only consists of 300 families. After a long travel day on Sunday, we… Read More

By Lauren Shelfo Hola from the AMAZON RAINFOREST! We arrived here at Arajuno Jungle Lodge on Sunday, October 8th after two bus rides and a five minute canoe ride down the Arajuno River to our home for the week. We were kindly greeted by the owner Tom Larson, and his wife, Charo, who provides delicious, natural, and healthy meals three times a day. This week consisted of four hours of… Read More

Photos courtesy of Overseas Educators Kate Abraham & Julian Hartmann-Russell Miki enjoys the swing atop the mountain at Casa del Árbol. Sunset at Casa del Árbol. The main square of town, featuring a beautiful church, a park, and Kate. Beginning of class activity with all the students and teachers, led by our main contact Lorena who runs the school. Karaoke night for Naomi’s birthday! Feliz Cumpleaños, Naomi! 18! Josh, Julian,… Read More

By Overseas Educators Kate Abraham & Julian Hartmann-Russell This week was our week in Baños de Agua Santa, a tourism-based town in the Sierra region of Ecuador. After a nine-hour bus ride, we arrived on Saturday night at Raíces Spanish School, where we would spend much of our time in the coming days. We were escorted to our temporary homes by our respective host families, in groups of two and… Read More

By Renee Noordzij Hello friends, family, and other random readers! This past week our Inti family has been lodging, learning, and volunteering at la Finca Mono Verde (The Green Monkey Farm), in the small coastal town of Tobuga. We arrived at the farm Saturday evening after an eventful day at the beach. After a tearful goodbye to Juan Carlos and his wife Chari, we settled into our new home. That… Read More

By Brian Simpson Our first major destination this semester is in Las Delicias, a banana farm owned and operated by Juan Carlos. Juan Carlos’s family welcomed us with open arms and warm hearts and took us into their home. They provided us with beds, food, and Spanish lessons for the entire week, which was an amazing experience. On the first day, Monday, we woke up to the sound of roosters… Read More

Hola, Amigos! Greetings from Carpe Diem Headquarters in Portland, Oregon. We are happily preparing for our upcoming semester together in South America. As we connect with our local contacts in the communities that we will be visiting, our enthusiasm for the upcoming semester only heightens. We will have the opportunity to become friends with amazing individuals while exploring vast geographic and cultural diversity. This being said, we are most excited… Read More

Dear our 12 incredible students, family and friends, It is Rebecca and Doug (otherwise known as Douglito y Rebequita). As we wrap up our final moments together here in South America, and prepare for our last emotional goodbyes, we wanted to write to say a heartfelt thank you to our amazing team Inti. Thank you for making this the most incredible 12 weeks, full of potatoes, mountain climbing, breathtaking views,… Read More

Hola Team Inti, family and friends!! It has been wonderful getting to chat with all of you over the past few weeks, our excitement for the upcoming semester is at an all-time high! From our brief conversations, it seems we have a really strong group, with all of you ready to bring your own passions and strengths to our new community. We are in the midst of staff training in… Read More