Pun Pun Farm: a center for self reliance, my destination for the Latitudes semester of the journey and my current home. Life here is better than I could have imagined and is everything and more that I have been searching for. To my humble understanding and from my developing place in the community, Pun Pun is a place to grow and learn together through experiences that come from an organic,… Read More
Though I can´t speak for everyone, I think I can safely say that the group´s experience in Baños has been a potent combination of exhaustion, exploration, and chocolate.
Exhaustion because of our daily four hours of Spanish class, one on one with an instructor at Raices, Lorena´s spanish school. For those of you who don´t know, Lorena is our Ecuador contact/instructor/cook/homestay mom/all around superhero. As someone who came into this… Read More
Namaste Nepal! I will have successfully completed my third week in Kathmandu as of tomorrow. I have to admit, this isn't quiet what I expected but I can't be more pleased with my placement here with ELI. I am currently living in a volunteer house with five other volunteers with two others just having left this morning.
The first couple of days all of us spent our time on tours… Read More
We are getting ready to say goodbye to the people who have kindly cared for us in the past 9 days. It seems as though we have been here for much more time. Personally, I have had a great time getting to meet my host family & learning from them. The first few days were somewhat of a struggle, but after a few Thai language classes, we have begun to… Read More
The group huddled around an altar at Abaj Ta'Kalik, a Mayan ruin from the Olmeca era (around 900-300 BCE).
Lilly's birthday celebration
Hammock time!
Teaching the local kiddos how to slack line … Read More
On Sunday, we arrived at the Blue Mountain Adventure Center; also known as BMAC. We took a day to settle in and hang out, but the next 5 days were fully packed with shenanigans. We started our first activities at 8:30 the following morning with group problem solving and teamwork games out on the lawn. That afternoon, we went caving about a 10 minute drive away.
We split into two… Read More
Kia Ora!
We made it from Christchurch to Rapaki, where we've been staying at the Marae! We started our very first day with the Profity ceremony, where we exchanged songs with the Maori people and had a delicious welcome meal. With no time to waste, we got straight to work! We started off working at a local stream conservation where we sickled and weeded out all the dead plants.… Read More
It's hard to believe its already been a month here at C.R.O.W. in Durban, South Africa. With days spent feeding, rescuing, and releasing animals the time has really flown by. A little background information on C.R.O.W. First, The Center for Rehabilitation of Wildlife's main function is to create an environment in which sick and injured animals can be rehabilitated to the point of release. With everything from warthogs to baboons… Read More
Today feels bittersweet, or as Winston (our German representative) says, "with one bright eye and one crying eye."
By the time of this posting, we will have said farewell to our host families and be well on our way for an equally novel experience in Agra.
But right now, I sit writing, enjoying the sunshine and cool breeze coming from the patio of my host family's living room.
Papa Gee… Read More
After spending a week at the Escuela de la Montaña with minimal Internet access, we are back in Xela in homestays. It's nice to be back in a familiar city, but I personally miss how incredibly green everything was. At the Escuela, we slept at the school and had our meals with host families. That week was one for bonding–sometimes I thought we bonded too much. At least we haven't… Read More
Where to begin? The group is in agreement that we have experienced more in these two weeks than seems possible. If this determines the rest of our weeks of adventure, we are in store for many life changing experiences and possibly the fullest three months any of us have ever lived.
In Quito we were able to ease into the new group dynamic staying in a comfortable hostel. A young… Read More
Hello family friends and fellow blog readers!
This is Monica blogging from a tiny internet cafe in Kampala. We've been in Uganda for about 2 weeks now and it has been the craziest and most eventful weeks of my life. I'm just sitting here now in awe of what I have just done. We started off our week in a rhino sanctuary where rhinos would hang out right outside our… Read More
I am currently in Baños. I just spent a whole week at the banana farm in Santo Domingo. That went by really fast. I was so happy there because I felt so free. I felt like I was at peace with nature and the animals around me. I was afraid to see really huge spiders at the banana farm before this trip. Only to find out I only saw one huge spider, which… Read More
Gooday guys and gals, it's been one month tomorrow since I've been living in Bunbury, Western Australia and so far so good. I love it here Bunbury is a quiet little town bordered on two sides by the magnificent Indian ocean which has crystal clear and warm water the one catch is It's loaded with sharks! While I'm down here I have the pleausre of working at the Dolphin Discovery… Read More
Happy Saturday! Today we arrived at the Nile River Camp right outside Jinja, Uganda! Our last week was spent at the Ziwa Rhino sanctuary and we made some insane memories. With the rangers and guides, we closely followed grazing rhinos, caught some friendly frogs, and watched some the immense beautiful birdlife. We've seen birds of every color of the rainbow – even turquoise! We learned so much about the gorgeous… Read More
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Hello from tomorrow family and friends! We’ve all been loving our time in New Zealand so far! We arrived in Christchurch a bit groggy and confused to have skipped a date on the calendar altogether, but after a good night’s sleep we were excited to get started exploring a new city. It’s certainly an interesting time to be in Christchurch, since the earthquakes in 2011 leveled almost all of… Read More
Wrapping up the final week of the 2014 Photo Contest, we celebrate the passion and the expression of the individual with our #FREEFORALL category. This grab bag category has brought forth a range of wonderful photos, memories, and expriences from across the globle.
As we conclude this season's photo contest, we want to thank everyone who has shared their photos with our community. May you continue to capture inspiring moments… Read More
Hola mundo!
My first time here in South America and let's just say it was not what I was expecting! I am in Cusco City, Peru and it's cold! So don't think I am here soaking up the rays. I'm high up in the mountains actually 11,200 ft above sea level, just a tad bit higher than Chicago (595 ft)! I've been here almost a month and I am so… Read More
