By Overseas Educators Pete and Rachel
Jambo!
Rachel and Pete here at the Carpe Diem HQ in Portland! In just a few short days, we will be hopping on a plane to San Francisco (2 hours), then to Dubai (16 hours!), and finally to Entebbe (5 more hours!). We’ve been scheming and planning away here for the past week, and we are eager to meet you all and begin our… Read More
Sawadee Kha/Krap Sabai crew!
This is Cari and Jonathan here, reaching out from Portland, Oregon. We hope you are all as stoked as we are for our upcoming adventures! We have been racking our brains to ensure the most epic experiences that will blow your mind! If you are feeling those pre-departure jitters, just know that it’s normal, and it means that you are about to have a truly meaningful… Read More
By Anya and Doug
Hola Jimmy, Katie, Bradley, Jillian, Jake, Toe, PJ, Cate, Juancho, Anna, Dylan, Ellie and Maggie!!
Well, here we are, lying in hammocks overlooking Taganga bay in Colombia thinking back on our wildly successful three-month adventure. We are overwhelmed with feelings of love and gratitude as we think about our group and all of the fun times we shared this semester. You all each brought so much… Read More
By Overseas Educators Bria and Peter
As the two of us sit on the airport-express metro train headed back into the heart of Delhi, having just said farewell to all ten students outside the airport, we are filled with an overwhelming sensation of gratitude. The list of things we are grateful for is longer than an Indian train, but here’s a few: we are grateful for all of the teachers… Read More
By Scott P and Cammie
Close your eyes, take a deep breath, and imagine: red desert sands stretching as far as the eye can see; thousand foot tall rock formations older than time itself; brilliant sunsets bathing the horizon in a fiery orange glow; and starry nights—magnificent clusters of constellations that remind you of the vastness of the universe and the endless possibilities that await. This was Walkabout 2017’s Outback… Read More
By Overseas Educators Mike and Ellen
After a cancelled flight and a special bonus night in a posh hotel (courtesy of KLM airlines), the mighty Kifaru group has finally dispersed to their respective homes. It’s been a fantastic semester and you’ve been a wonderful group. We wish you all joyful reunions with your loved ones at home. We miss you already.
Remember Swahili school.
Remember Tula.
Remember Mkati and the… Read More
By Overseas Educators Paff and Cari
The other night we said farewell to nine misty eyed students (and let’s be honest here, two similarly fogged up OE’s) at the Delhi airport. And though it’s difficult to believe or feel that our three month journey has come to an end, as we all now know, everything is impermanent (see: Truth, Noble #2). Change is abounding indeed, and for us it was… Read More
By Bear and Wolf
Bear & Wolf were friends. Bear preferred blueberries, Wolf had a proclivity for meats and they both liked falafel.* Bear was powerfully strong and Wolf was built for speed. Although Wolf roamed the Northeast and Bear denned in the South, both found themselves in a coffee shop in Portland late one summer afternoon in August.
Both agreed that Portland was most peculiar.
To wit: they observed… Read More
By Overseas Educators Matt and Michelle
The dala dala bounced down the sandy dirt road heading from Matemwe to Stonetown. We were crammed and complete; facing one another on the modified truckbed, small mountains of gear between us. Our journey was in Its final stages and scanning the sun soaked faces around us, happiness and appreciation welled within. It was a sense of contentment born from challenge.
The words of… Read More
By Overseas Educators Rachel and Sheldon
It’s such a strange feeling, an odd combination of elation and loss at the end of a journey like this. On the one hand, we did it! Made it through all the homesickness, doctor’s visits, long, hot, crowded bus rides, squat toilets, hard floors, and personal tiffs, and now we get to go home! On the other hand, we did it! But now what?… Read More
Photos and Story by Elle Nicholson
82 days at sea (well it felt like we were at sea). All trapped together on the boat of adventure going over every large or small wave.
These past three months have been nothing less then full of love, laughter, and the occasional hatred of all being crammed up sleeping in the same room. We have crawled around Lake Bunyonyi, drowned in sweat at… Read More
By Emily Rosberg
We left Stone Town bright and early on December 1st to make it to Matemwe to start scubaing! We split our group in half; some of us did the logistical training while the rest of us spent eight-ish hours learning scuba skills in the pool. On the second day, we switched and our excitement built to actually get into the ocean to dive!
We had two scuba… Read More
By Lia and Cami
After taking a ferry from Dar Es Salaam, we arrived in Stone Town, Zanzibar. The blue beaches, white sand, and labyrinth alleyways immediately drew us in. We had a Sunday to explore the town, getting ice cream and buying more souvenirs at the local shops. We also took a boat to Prison Island where we got to snorkel and see tortoise up to 147 years old!… Read More
By Overseas Educators Eric and Lolly
It’s difficult to imagine that all our students we have shared rooms, car seats, and experiences with for the past three months are now spread all over the world from Boston to Portland, Tucson to Long Island, and Adelaide to Sydney. We have been reflecting over the past few days of how hard leaving each other was on that courtyard of the Village Glebe… Read More
By Overseas Educators Kate and Julian
To our beloved Inti family!
12 weeks. Wow. It feels impossible to believe that adventure could ever fly by so quickly. It seems like in just a blink of an eye we have found ourselves in December, but in that blink we have come so far together and grown immeasurably both as individuals and as a group. Through the many laughs, tears, shared meals,… Read More
By Isadora Smith
After an action-packed week of camping, rafting, and rock climbing in the mountains of Rishikesh for student directed travel, the dreaded last day of the trip has come. Cue the scary music! We plop down our tattered bags full of souvenirs, memories, and accumulated dirt from every place we’ve visited throughout India in the lobby of Stops Hostel. I look around the room and see 11 of… Read More
By Hannah and Alex
To our monos –
Wow! We cannot believe the semester has come to a close. What an incredible journey we have completed and will without a doubt remember for the rest of our lives. As we take a moment to reflect, we are awe-struck and inspired by how much you all have grown and transformed. We feel honored and grateful to have shared the past three… Read More
By Nico and Ricky
Dearest friends and family of Carpe Diem students, Nico and Ricky are here to deliver the final blog of the 2017 South Pacific Hongi Group trip.
While our weathered faces, tan skin, and nauseatingly-smelling clothes reflect the three months that have come and gone, our reminiscent memories of New Zealand, Fiji, and Australia remind us of how relative time is. It is difficult to comprehend how… Read More
By Julia Gordon
Heading to Ho Chi Minh city, a final bus ride I will never forget.
After leaving our guesthouse in Dalat, also home to a wonderful family, whose son serinated us with his lovely performance on the piano each night, playing America’s “greatest” pop hits, and mom who greeted us each time we came in the front door with such excitement and interest, just like my actual mom,… Read More
