Hey East African explorers,
We’re here at Carpe Diem headquarters in Portland this week getting ready for our fast-approaching semester. Been doing some great street surfing today! Looking forward to meeting all of you soon and adventuring to new places with open hearts and open minds. Amazing experiences await and we can’t wait to share them with you.
Marisa and Oren
… Read More
Queridos estudiantes, padres, amigos, y publico en general,
Cheridyn and Ryan here – just 6 days remain until we embark on our South American adventure. We’re up in Portland, Oregon at the Carpe HQ “clarifying our vision” for the semester. We are “looking” forward to “seeing” all you wonderful students so very soon!
We’ll be “watching” for you all at 9:30pm at the LACSA check-in counter on Tuesday Feb. 12th… Read More
The first 7 of our cohort of 25 Latitudes students have already begun their placements in the far off corners of the earth! So far we have students in Ecuador, Bolivia, Peru, Nicaragua, Kenya, Mexico, and Uganda….doing different projects ranging from farming to yoga to working with kids in the slums of Kenya. Pretty amazing opportunities that these students have taken on.
And though the skies here in Portland are… Read More
Strange to be thinking about Scuba diving in Roatan, while sitting in Tucson sipping on coffee as my husband continues to purge our stuff (already four bags to Goodwill). I flip through my pictures on the computer and am warmed by the swimsuits, sun and smiles we were sharing that last week of our semester. Scuba is such a magical sensation that opens up a whole new world underwater. We… Read More
The sun begins its descent as saguaro cactus line the horizon. Ocatilla cactus extend their arms towards the sky while barrel cactus cradle the earth. Thorns will be your companions in this arid landscape and as the moon rises coyotes awaken, permeating the air with their howls.
This portion of our semester in late November was a time of reflection and contemplation. We were to separate, walk through the desert,… Read More
It’s now 82 days into the Fall semester of the South East Asia 2012 trip and literally we have been busy almost every moment of the past few days. Even the last few weeks have been jam packed with a multitude of awesomeness. Sounds like I’m over exaggerating, but I’m not. We started free travel heading out from Ho Chi Mihn city down the Mekong Delta on a tour that… Read More
Buenas noches de Cuzco!
We all knew this was coming…December 11th…the end of our South American adventure. It`s after midnight, and in less than 3 hours we will roll out of our beds, stumble into taxis with packs now doubled in weight and size, and depart for the US of A. Well…most of us. Robbie, Michelle, Julia, and Daniel are staying behind to pursue further travels and adventures and/or take… Read More
Tigers to end it all:
Ellen and I (Alice) were in charge of the final leg of our student-directed travel: the visit to Ranthambhore National Park in Sawai Madhopur or to many, the best chance in India of seeing a tiger. Armed with our sharpest elbows, Ellen and I woke up at 3 am that morning to get tickets for the safaris, and experienced first hand the corruption that is… Read More
In the final week of Uganda the Group went canoe trekking. Although with a name like that you would expect to be in a CANOE. The canoe trek was 3 days and w traveled approximately 40 Kilometers with probably 2 kilometers of canoeing. The trekking part took us up the beautiful Ugandan hillsides and down into there valleys. We saw some pretty volcanoes and although the trek was rigourous and… Read More
My parents have told me of the invisible thread that holds all of India together. Unseen, unrepresented, but absolutely present. India is a country that I believe to have the most different extremes. Massive and minute, every kind of terrain and climate, extreme poverty and wealth, it’s all here. Some of the dirtiest things and people living with some of the cleanest. Areas of overcrowding neighbor lands uninhabited. All religions… Read More
So our semester is coming to a close and it has been a crazy and amazing experience. I have learned tons about Buddhism and Hinduism and even some Jainism. I have been blessed with the most magical group and couldn’t have gotten luckier. We have all shared our ups and downs and everything in between. It is a crazy thought that for my next shower I will be at home.… Read More
As I reflect on these past three months as a whole experience, it is difficult for me to come up with one cohesive piece of writing to sum it up.
It is easiest to talk about the more concrete internal and external changes that have taken place. The reasons why those changes have taken place here and now will have to wait.
Family:
We have built a family together. We… Read More
Free travel started off in Rishikesh, a beautiful, mountainous region near the Ganges filled with yoga-loving backpackers, and ended with an epic camel trek in the deserts of majestic Jaisalmer. Rishikesh was fun and relaxing for the Carpe Shiva group. We got in a fair amount of down time filled with good food (Oasis hummus being a fave of mine) and shopping (Lil and I got Punjab suits custom made!)… Read More
The writing of this post came at a time when I was (and still am) struggling to figure out how I would possibly describe and explain my experience here to family, friends, and even casual enquirers once back at home. For you Carpe students about to embark on your own journeys here in India, though, there is no point in trying to explain it… each of us will have had… Read More
A warm hello to everyone reading back at home! The group just re-entered civilization after an awesome 5 day outback experience with WayOutback tours. Our guide, Tamara, took great care of us while we all got acclimated to the 40+ degree desert lifestyle. We left Alice Springs on December 1st bright and early in the morning so that we could get to camp in time to hike around the famous… Read More
This week has been full of amazing experiences.
Let’s look at a normal day in the life of a Turtle conservation volunteer:
7pm: shift #1 starts
11pm: shift #1 ends – shift #2 begins
4am: shift #2 ends
7-8am: breakfast (optional, lots of people slept through it.)
12-1pm: Lunch (the more popular first meal of the day, depending on your shift the previous night)
1-6pm: hang out, read, sleep, rest,… Read More
Our adventure from Ometepe began with the very rocky boat ride back to main land Nicaragua. Cheridyn, Elise and I had a pretty normal boat ride, excluding the very bad dog horror movie that was playing for the duration of the boat ride. And then it hit us, a huge wave came through the window onto us and our bags just as we were turning into the dock! We weren’t… Read More
After leaving Tyler’s home in Playa Maderas, we began our free travel by spending Thanksgiving Day in nearby San Juan del Sur, where people could call their families at an Internet Cafe while others were able to secure transport and reserve a few nights at a hostel to our first destination. After a number of discussions, our group decided to all go to Isla de Ometepe, an island formed by… Read More
