Pictures!!!
Auckland skyline from Kelly Tarlton's.… Read More
Blog
Bugga.
Well, as you can see from the below blog post, there are no pictures. I have failed you! But i have not yet given up. It's pushing 2 am now, but I refuse to leave you – our family and friends – without a single picture! I will try to make sure that before we leave today at 515 am that you will have at least one solid picture!… Read More
The Last Night At Highfield Farm
Well hello there! The days have flown by since my last posting. I'm not sure if it's the work schedule or the regular hikes through the hills, but time here has certainly taken an agressive pace.
It seems like it was just earlier today when we were getting the stuff out of our bags but now, as I write even, we are all working on cleaning and packing our bags… Read More
Goodbye Kolkata and Hello Mountains!
Namaste!
We just finished up our week at Mother Teresa house, and have an 11pm train to gangtok tonight. We’re all excited for the mountain air!volunteering at Mother Teresa has been challenging, but reallyrewarding and I think we’ve all taken a lot away from it. We said ourgoodbyes to people we’ve been helping and other volunteers, and weeven got sung a song that goes like this “We thank you thank… Read More
Relaxation on the Shores of Lake Atitlan!
Hi all!
Well, here we are, almost done with a relaxing week in San Marcos, Guatemala. It is incredibly beautiful here! It really is like a relaxed, tropical paradise. It was so amazing to arrive here, especially after our crazy 3 day trek. All in all, our trek was a total of 48k, with some pretty ridiculous mountain climbing the whole way. We crossed rivers on tiny log bridges, walked… Read More
Organic Farm Week
Hello friends and family!
I'm writing you from a very pleasant cow farm a few hours drive north of Auckland, New Zealand. In fact, I'm writing this blog with the soothing voice of Willem in the background, reading off the prologue to Star Wars II (We are all jazzed about the plasma screen that this nice house is sporting).
We arrived just a few short days ago and have spent… Read More
Second week in Cuenca
Dear readers of SAM blog,
We started our second week in Cuenca off with an amazing hike through a national park in Cajas. We continued our Spanish classes, which took place in our classrooms and out in the city, where we visited markets, museums, a zoo, etc. After searching for the past week or so we were finally able to acquire a frisbee, which got a lot of use in… Read More
Bodhgaya & Beyond
The Bodhi Tempel where Buddha became enlightened in Bodh Gaya
Luke and Noah doing the famous Indian “pinky hold”
Luke’s birthday cake (that later got completely smooshed and was creatively put back together by Phoebe and Jess)
Lydia on our boat ride on the Ganga to celebrate our last night in Varanasi and the fact that we had traveled so successfully for the last 2.5 weeks.
hi readers!
we just… Read More
Hi from Rwanda
Jambo from the beautiful Kigali, Rwanda. We arrived here Saturday evening after a much longer than anticipated plane ride from the Kilimanjaro International airport. We spent the previous week at the United African Alliance community center. Upon arriving we were greeted warmly by Pete (The Panther) O’Neil, and his twenty-one adopted children. We then settled into our comfortable sleeping quarters. It is safe to say that everyone was enthused to… Read More
Hello from Auckland!
Our group has spent the past three days in Auckland New Zealand which has been pretty sweet. It is a drastic change from the village life we are used to but everyone is adjusting and having loads of fun.
There are so many things to do in Auckland and as a group we took advantage of this.
On Friday a group of us (Me, Lucy, Kelsey, Hannah,… Read More
Sho Long Xela!
One week in Antigua, another week in Pasac, and now 2 in Xela! I can’t imagine living in a homestay for two weeks in a this big city.. especially after getting used to stone toilets and very, very ‘refreshing’ showers. I wonder what its going to be like?? I can’t wait to experience Chichi. I wonder if my family..WHOAAA there goes our two weeks in Xela! Yes, Xela came and… Read More
Thoughts on Xela
Hola Carpe lovers!
After oh-so-stylishly ¨chacha-ing¨ off the stage and out of Pasac we arrived in Xela city, with the group anxiously waiting to meet each homestay family and our 1:1 Spanish teachers for the upcoming two weeks.I found myself in a state of culture shock moving from the small village of Pasac to a huge city with all the modern conveniences of America.The group is beginning to feel more… Read More
Bula!!!
Our last week in Nananu was AWESOME we had so many fun activities and time with the villagers and our new families.
On Tuesday of last week we took a group hike to a natural water spring where Nananu gets their water supply. Following the Fijians we found the beautiful spring with waterfalls and all went swimming and most of us even climbed it at one point. On the… Read More
¡Hola from Cuenca!
Well, here we are in cuenca, Ecuador! After travelling from Canoa on an overnight bus on Saturday, we were all rushed away from the bus station by our respective host families on Sunday morning. I have my own family due to the odd number of poeple in our group, but most are living with partners. We´ve all been having a really good experience with it so far. My host dad,… Read More
Tommorrow we leave Varanasi by train for Bodhgaya, the place that the Buddah is said to have reached enlightenment. The city now offers many temples to visit or meditate at, as well as a descendant of the very same bodhi tree the Buddah sat under thousands of years ago. But before we leave Varanasi we will enjoy an evening boat ride up the Ganges to eat dinner and watch hundreds… Read More
A Brief Summary of Events So Far
Mambo from the United African Alliance Community Center! We arrived here yesterday afternoon fresh (although somewhat smelly) off our three day Safari to the Serengeti, Ngorongoro Crater, and Lake Manyara National Park. We witnessed the laziness of lions, the zen of elephants, the staggering numbers of the zebra and wildebeest herds, as well as many of other creatures of the Serengeti such as: a leopard, a cheetah, a family of… Read More
PHOTOS!
Enjoying a lecture about Ajeet’s work with Guria to eradicate child’s prostitution in Varanasi and beyond.
Bollywood dance poses at an Indian wedding in Varanasi after taking over the dance floor for at least one whole hour.
All the girls so pretty in silk saris!
Becca loving the children (as always) at a artist colony just outside of Jaipur, Rajasthan Dancing at the artist colony
Noah literally jumping in and… Read More
Varanasi and the Ganga
We have been in Varanasi, one of the worlds most ancient cities, for a week now. Varanasi has traditionally been known as a place for intense study, and nowadays this reputation continues with a more modern flair. Our time has been packed full with classes of all kinds: Hindi language lessons, tabla, fire dancing, painting, stone carving, Ayurdedic medicine, etc, as well as several lectures from local activist and educators.… Read More