Dearest Friendies,
I’ve been walking around the streets of Dharmsala, still expecting to see your faces pop out of a cafe or wandering back to visit your homestay family. Instead, I see people that we all know and we spend a moment talking about how great you are and wondering how you are readjusting to home.
At times it all feels like a dream, then I recall all of the… Read More
Dearest Shiva Crew,
We’re writing you here in Kolkutta at Raj’s Cafe, sipping iced mango juice and coffee (no surprise there…) and looking at the Carpe Diem Shiva tag on the wall along with the hundreds of other notes and drawings from travelers over the years. It’s strange to be here without you, and we’ve been thinking back fondly to those last times all 10 of us were together and… Read More
It seems like just yesterday we were arriving in Chiang Mai wide eyed and anticipating all of the adventures to come. A band featuring Thai Elvis serenaded us as we indulged in our first dinner before heading to sing karaoke. We began to immerse ourselves in a new culture, a new language and we learned the fine art of the shuttlecock. And now it is hard to express what has… Read More
How can we begin to describe this journey? Challenging, wonderful, hard, beautiful, it is a weighty task to try and put the past three months into words that can possibly convey its different shapes and forms. Our group has changed and shifted throughout these three months, and every single student has created their path and growth in many different ways. As we hugged our dear friends Carly and Anna goodbye,… Read More
Dear Maya 2016…
It is difficult to describe the mix of emotions we are feeling while we spend our first night and day without you in three months. The absence of belly laughs, “Rocky Top”, and the ever present call of “Guys!” leaves a conspicuous silence. We have been doing a lot of processing together and some real gems have come out of it. One that sticks out above the… Read More
We have received word that the mighty Sabai group has successfully checked in for their return flight to America from New Hanoi. We wish them traveling mercies on the long flight home and joyful reunions with their loved ones.… Read More
The plane ride to Hanoi took a toll on me. I felt home sick after getting on a plane for the first time after two and a half months and not heading home. We’ve been having so much fun I almost forgot about home. Taking a plane ride to Hanoi instead of heading home was hard but Hanoi is extravagant. The vibrant city offers amazing food, night life and a… Read More
Well friends, we’ve done it. We’ve traversed the primary forests of the Ecuadorian Amazon, trekked the Salkantay pass at 15,200 feet, and visited the ancient city of Machu Picchu. We’ve witnessed community activism in Junin, and experienced the daily life of Ecuadorians while staying with local families in Pucara. We don’t even have to talk about our week working with the monkeys… The most important thing is that we all… Read More
After a wonderful week in Roatan (and a great semester!), the MAYA group has boarded their flight home! We wish them safe travels and a happy reunion with friends and family.… Read More
We have received word that the mighty Shanti group has successfully checked in for their return flight to America from New Delhi. We wish them traveling mercies on the long flight home and joyful reunions with their loved ones.… Read More
We have received word that the mighty Shiva group has successfully checked in for their return flight to America from New Delhi. We wish them traveling mercies on the long flight home and joyful reunions with their loved ones.… Read More
Hey everyone, this is your captain Travon Braswell speaking using Haley’s account again because I still can’t get in mine unfortunately but I am here to bring this story book to a closing so sit back and enjoy the last of our adventures. So i’ll start with the for some, long dreaded Himalayas trek and what was for others something long anticipated. It was absolutely beautiful getting out of towns… Read More
The past week has been full of exotic jungle and inspiration. We also bid farewell to Junior, as he had to jet off to meet the Pope in Rome. Despite our dwindling numbers-there are now only two students- we were kept in good spirits by the incredible people we encountered. Our week in the Daintree began with meeting John Rumney, a major contributing force in protecting the Great Barrier Reef,… Read More
Scuba diving in the Great Barrier Reef: it’s on everyone’s bucket list, and something we were lucky enough to do this week. Five days ago we met our scuba instructor, Louis, at Cairns Dive Center., and began our training. We spent two days alternating from the pool and the classroom, learning cool hand signals and blowing bubbles. We tested our skills in the shallow and deep end of the pool… Read More
Hello from India! once again this is Kenya, i have been given the bittersweet honor of writing the last blog post from the India Shanti 2016 crew.i was so fortunate to have traveled around northern India with a group of 9 phenomenal people who i can proudly call a part of my family. This last week we found ourselves back in McLeod ganj, a beautiful city in Dharamsala home to… Read More
Hello to all our dearly loved ones!
We have finished up our time at the absolutely beautiful organic farm ran by, the equally beautiful, Rana family. For five days we worked in the farm and learned farming techniques and the ways of living pure and completely organic. We were welcomed and embraced to their home, philosophy and glorious kitchen table. It was the perfect place for our group to relax,… Read More
Hot, humid, and happy. These are the words that I would use to describe our experience at the turtle project in Costa Rica. We stayed on an intimidating hill off of Playa Honda, Playa Real and near Playa de Nombre de Jesus. This would be where we spent the rest of the week volunteering with Kuemar, a local organization whose mission is to increase the population of the decreasing sea… Read More
“IN THE LIFE OF CARPE DIEM”
(UGANDA BLOG #10, WEEK 12)
Six months later and the mind is still eager to discover and learn more…
If you want to live a short life, live quickly. But, if you want to live a long life, live slowly.” —Señor Rony de Guatemala
“Timshel— thou mayest.” —John Steinbeck
“It’s all about perspective, and it is only you that has the power to either… Read More
Red rocks towered over our heads as we swam through a canyon in the center of the desert. It was our fourth day in the outback, and our guide, Mark, had taken us to a special spot that few tourists had visited called Redbank Gorge. We made our way through rocks tinged with purples and oranges, only seeing the sky through the cracks between the two sides.
On the first… Read More
