Blog

First Post for Shanti Fall 2011!

Archive India- SHANTI
Namaste, from your very enthusiastic leaders, Simone and Ole!! This blog is a place for you to post photos, tell stories and share your experiences with friends and family back home. Send your loved ones this link so they can see and read about the places that your adventurous spirit is taking you. Throughout our semester, each of you will have the opportunity to post to this blog, documenting our… Read More
Archive South Pacific- HONGI
Hello FANZ Hongi, Meet your travel crew… Matt, Andrea, Krysten, Caroline, Alistair, Ruby, Francesca, Casey, Trent, Avery, Katherine, Dan and Greta. We may be strangers in cyber space right now, but in a week we’ll all be living as a community, bouncing around the South Pacific.  We are excited to leave the office behind, meet all of you, and get on the plane to Fiji. Remember: LAX, Air Pacific Counter, … Read More

La Invitación…

Archive Central America- MAYA
Hola Aimig@s, Amandita and Benjamin here at the Carpe Diem office in Portland, OR, sending salutations and good thoughts to you all.  The more we prepare for this trip the more excited we become to meet you all and begin exploring Central America together. It is only a few days that we will introduce ourselves at the SFO airport face to face, forming our own unique band of travelers.  Shortly… Read More

Southeast Asia here we come…

Archive Southeast Asia- SABAI
Hello from Portland!  Here at Carpe HQ we are enthusiastically preparing for the upcoming semester in Southeast Asia.  Not too much longer and we’ll be on our way to Thailand!  We will calling you all in a few weeks to touch base before we head out, but until then you are welcome to call or email with any questions that come up.  Looking forward to meeting you all next month!… Read More

On our final encounters

Archive Central America- QUETZAL
We sat in a circle on a square wooden platform built on the powder white sand beach in front of our hotel, a collection of aging bungalows arranged on a secluded beach like driftwood scattered amongst sea grape and mangrove trees. The platform by day functions as an area to bronze or burn and, for most visitors, drink beer or brightly colored cocktails while watching the sunlight change the color… Read More

The Journey Onward

Archive South Pacific- WALKABOUT
Greetings and Goodbye, my friends. We find ourselves now back in the old familiar places – those places that seemed so comfortable and cozy when we were preparing for a whirlwind trip with twelve strangers. Now we’re a family that’s been strewn back across the states – physically distant but with new bonds that can’t be broken by space and time. Think of all of us often, and reach out… Read More

We’re Baaack!

Archive South America- INTI
And missing all of you. It was a long few flights back home with Jefe and Sarita and then we said our goodbyes, and then there were 2. We are back in Portland now going through photos and budget (it never ennnnnddds…) and can’t believe that its all over. So many good memories, laughs, long meetings, card championships, oreos, band practice, rice, headstands, bread, and looooove. Thank you all for… Read More

Sprindia Nahi Bahar Hai

Archive India- SHIVA
Coming home is as much a part of the journey as leaving. It does not make it easier when you not only have to say goodbye to an amazing country like India but also to a group of wonderful friends. Friends whom you have spent the last three months with, friends who were there when you were ecstatically happy, when you were feeling tired, friends who made you laugh, friends… Read More
Archive South Pacific- WALKABOUT
And here is Hannah’s… Memory:  Originally, I’d say something like horseback riding or scuba diving were my favorite memories. but now, upon returning home, looking back with an outside perspective my favorite memories are the ones when we were together as a family. when we had a hostel room together in Nadi. when we all made it to the top of mt. doom, together. when all snuggled at the Marae.… Read More
Archive South Pacific- WALKABOUT
Well I feel like a complete arse I totally forgot about Christine’s and Cliff’s quotes…please forgive me I haven’t slept in 2 days. Christine-   Memory:  It is so hard to sum up these past three months and pick one memory but if I must it has to be our time on the Routeburn.  It was filled with fun. adventures and family.                   What’s Next-  I have had a blast over… Read More
Archive South Pacific- WALKABOUT
Hello Everybody, David here, writing the final blog of our journey.  I am writing from my home in Evanston, IL.  It is 4:30 in the morning on Sunday the 8th of May and I haven’t been able to sleep because I can’t stop thinking about the amazing journey that we have just completed.  I am thinking about the bumpy car rides in Nananu when we would sit in the back… Read More

Some Final Remarks

Archive East Africa- KIFARU
Our trip to Africa was filled with all kinds of adventures and countless stories.  It was filled with challenges and accomplishments, not to mention lots of laughs.  Allison and I truly appreciate this past three months and know that the lessons we have learned have only just begun to surface.  We will miss our Africa crew and wish you all the very best in your future endeavors.  May your journeys… Read More

Week 12: The Last Hoorah of Sam I Am

Archive South America- INTI
Hey everyone, It's a little weird for me to write this blog now, considering that I'm now securely back in Colorado, EEUU. This is my first chance to catch up on blogging since our final, busy week ended! I have been totally overwhelmed in the last day by the abundance of cereal varieties in my family's pantry and the large quantities of free toilet paper. What is this strange foreign… Read More

Bittersweet

Archive Central America- QUETZAL
@font-face { font-family: "Cambria"; }p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal { margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman"; }div.Section1 { page: Section1; } Leaving the turtle project and arriving in San Jose was bittersweet. We were glad to be on normal sleep schedules again, but also felt the impending end of our trip. Though San Jose was different for everyone, we all enjoyed a few days of relaxation and the… Read More

ZANZIBAR!!!!!!!!!!!

Archive East Africa- KIFARU
We have spent our last week in Africa in paradise, or otherwise called Zanzibar. We strolled through the streets which smelled of different spices like clove and cinnamon,  indulged in the delicious Swahili dishes, and achieved our open water SCUBA certification. We had four days filled with classes. The first day we sat in a class room where we watched PADI informational videos, so we would know what to do… Read More

Thank you Mama India.

Archive India- SHIVA
I don’t think any of us can believe that we will all be going our separate ways in less than 24 hours. In some ways these 3 months have gone by so quickly, but then I think of all the things done like…. Going to the Baha’i temple, Eating 72 momos in one sitting, Increasing our spice tolerance to be able to handle any crazy Indian dish put in front… Read More

Amazing Blog Job By Gordon Peterson

Archive South Pacific- WALKABOUT
Oh hey, what’s up?   Let me first start off by introducing myself…  Hi, I’m Gordon.  Alright cool.    Where did the past three months go?  It feels like no matter how full our days are the weeks keep getting shorter and shorter.  This last week was spent at the Satyananda Mangrove Retreat Center, a few kilometres outside of Gosford.  Before I say anything, let me just say this, it… Read More

Manali

Archive India- SHIVA
At first when we saw the jagged white peaks all around, elaborately carved wooden buildings, green rolling hills, and sunshine sparkling off of waterfalls, we thought we were in Switzerland in India. But then we attended a night-time wedding anniversary-huge horns that sounded terrible, loud drumming, colorful scarves and money, matching outfits with cute hats. This region has it’s own Tribal religion we’d never heard of! The town of Manali… Read More

Travel Travel and more Travel!

Archive East Africa- KIFARU
Almost everyday for the last week we have spent traveling. We made our way back through Uganda and a have returned to Tanzania by land, water, and air. From our week of pure traveling we have plenty of funny stories to share with you when we return home. After Sipi Falls we made our way down to Kampala where we spent the night. The following morning we hoped on a… Read More