Blog

Photos from Cusco

A few photos from the past week in Cusco. La Catedral de Cusco The view of Ausangate peak covered in snow View of Cusco from the rooftop terrace at Mama Cusco hostel Cheridyn teaches the group how to make artisan chocolates. Salsa dance classes at the language school. Full moon over Cusco.… Read More

Special Needs Education Center, Kabale Uganda

Blog courtesy of Dayle W. Photos from Natalie B. Hello there! We are now back in the city of Kabale after an enriching week working with the Edirisa UK Special Needs Education Centre (SNEC)! Edirisa UK is a charity in the UK with a community based organization in Uganda. The four main areas they focus development in are education, clean water, health and sanitation, and sustainable development. They have many… Read More

Matagalpa or Guatalupa?

Hola friends and family! We’re ending our week here in Matagalpa, and what a crazy busy one it’s been. We started the week off with a bang, by pulling up to Colibri Spanish School in a super cool, private chicken bus (thanks to the wonderful Keelyn Szederkenyi). There we met Noelia, our contact from Colibri. She took us to a fantastic lunch, where we were given an orientation of sorts… Read More

Hi from Moyogalpa

Hola Long Lost Friends and Family! On behalf of the entire group, we are sorry we never remember to blog, and we will try harder, but no promises. The farm flew by! When we first got there, we were convinced we woudn’t last thirteen nights without a bathroom, walls, or anything more than a mosquito net to keep the gazillions of bugs out. Inevitably, we quickly became tatted with bug… Read More

G’day Mates!!

We’ve arrived in Sydney, Australia safe ‘n sound! This city is absolutely incredible as we got to explore it all day on our scavengar hunt. We visited the Memorial museum in Hyde Park and the Opera House, learning about the history each one and roamed around the Royal Botanical Gardens where the trees and plants are so strange and beautiful it’s as if they came straight out of a Dr.… Read More

So Long Fiji

In Fiji there is a saying called “Fiji time.” Roughly translated by many tourists and foreigners, it means unpredictable bus schedules and slow customer service; but to the people of Fiji, it means slowing down to savor the fleeting moments of life and caring more deeply about smiles, conversation, and compassion than finely-tuned time tables. As we depart the country we called home for a month and look back, it… Read More

Love, Life, and Border police

Sooooo, this is the first time I have actually been required to write a blog and it’s funny that now of all times I would rather remain silent. We have had quite the interesting last week or so. Bangkok flew by, Plum Village literally danced and sang its way in to the past and now here we are, Siem Reap. Bangkok, gave us the ability to act like we were… Read More

Updates from Finca Bona Fide

Hi parents and friends and friends of parents: We are outside of internet access at a sustainable farm, on the lovely little island of Ometepe, called Bona Fide. You can look us up on the internet! We’ll set the scene for you: We are directly above a lake, there are rolling hills around us, and (when it’s not raining) there are two stunning volcanos staring at us from across the… Read More

17 Pieces of Advice Before Your Fijian Homestay

Staying for two weeks in a small Fijian village is no easy task. It’s hot, it’s different, it’s remote. Despite the elements, living and working in Nananu alongside it’s beautiful people was truly a gift. It was a challenging experience, but a necessary one, and we have walked away more enlightened and self-aware as ever. Though we have no regrets, here are a few things we decided as a group… Read More

Bye bye Arequipa

One week into Peru and the differences between Ecuador and Peru became more obvious. Some differences were due to the fact that we were in a major city that was more modern with diverse people, styles and culture. Every day five roommates and I would ride a bus from our hole in the wall house to the heart of the gorgeous city. It took a while to acquire enough street… Read More

Reflections from Arequipa – One New Country, 14 New Sisters

“Como te llamas?!” Alejandra yelled up to my top bunk. My bunk was situated above Caleigh, also newly awakened by the sound of the little three-year-old´s high-pitched question. I looked up from my book to see her smiling up at us, and despite the early hour and the noise of 14 girs getting ready for school that had permeated the house since 5 AM, it was impossible to be mad… Read More

When You Say Goodbye, I Say Hello

Hello family and Friends! It has been an amazing week so far, filled with adventure. After sadly saying goodbye to one of our favorite cities, Varanasi, we headed to serene Bodhgaya. For those of you who don’t know, Bodhgaya is the place where the Buddha attained enlightenment. Even I, the not spiritual one, felt the presence of Buddha under the Bodi tree. The Bodi tree is the tree under which… Read More

Fiji Time!

  Hello friends and family of Carpe Diem Hongi group. Sad to say it but it’s time to leave the hot weather of Fiji and on to our next adventure, Australia! Nananu village really became our home away from home. Even though it was a sad goodbye to our nau’s and mongu’s (mom and dad in Fijian) and all of our siblings or all of the little kids we became… Read More

Addressing Concerns of Ebola in West Africa

The Ebola outbreak in West Africa is on all of our minds as it continues to permeate the media and tragically affect several West African countries. Our hearts and deepest sympathy are with those communities struggling with the outbreak. At this point in time, we will be continuing to run our East Africa program this spring. Due to the geographic location of our program, the limited air traffic between East… Read More

Bula Bula

Bula bula friends and family of the Carpe Diem Hongi group. This last week in Fiji has been a great one! As we got over our culture shock, we were back making an impact in the village after a much needed family day on Sunday. On Monday and Tuesday we split into two groups. Group one went to the local school to start a painting of the world map that… Read More

More updates from Arequipa!

As we are finishing up our second week in Arequipa its interesting to see how our experiences in our first city in Peru has been to the rest of the trip in Ecuador. Coming into the city it was clear that the basic weather and terrain was much different. Arequipa is a high desert it is very dry and about 700′ feet above sea level. It is also the most… Read More

Afroween and White Water Rafting!

The past week has been full of truly unique experiences. Since the gang was feeling a little homesick about missing Halloween, we decided to dress up when we got to our lodging outside of Jinja. Our group, we are a creative bunch! Everyone had a really good costume (as you can see in the pictures in past posts). Our costumes may not have been exactly culturally appropriate, but we had… Read More