After logging a week of homestays and enjoying typical Peruvian food alongside our newfound Arequipeñan family members, ten perpetually hungry teenage boys were released into the small world of meat, sweets, and live music at the Food Festival in Arequipa, Perú. The festival was located in a small town square overlooking a large part of the city. In the backdrop you could see the massive snow-capped mountains forever overseeing everyday… Read More
Hamjambo Friends and Family!
We have done so much recently! After saying goodbye to our friends at L’Esperance, we finished our time in the rolling hills of Rwanda. Our flights seemed to bounce around as we touched down in Kenya and finally in Tanzania. Dar Es Salaam has a very different feel than Kigali, Rwanda. Some of us hiked up six flights of stairs at our hotel the first night… Read More
Shanti arrived in Rishikesh on the 25th of October from Calcutta by Plane, Train, and an auto which took us to what seemed like nowhere near our hotel. We gathered our packs and wits to navigate our way through a refreshing change of scenery. A few minutes into the walk our crew was compressed onto, and stretched out over, what seemed like a one-way bridge: we soon remembered there are… Read More
Exerpts from my journal while in the village!
“You know how you never actually use all the ink in a pen. You either lose, replace, or break it before hand. Well, I have succeeded in finishing the ink in, not 1, not 2, but 4 pens. I only brought 4 pens with me. Thank goodness I still have the pen that Cheridynn gave out as a scavenger hunt prize back… Read More
Bula Vinaka from Togalevu, Viti Levu, Fiji!
Over the past two weeks, the Hongi group has been lucky enough to live amongst the amazing people of Togalevu. During our time here, we have been welcomed to experience what it is like to live and work in a Fijian village. Although our time here is coming to an end, we will carry the things that we have learned and the relationships… Read More
After 4 hard days work at Mirror Foundation we started our Trek to the Akah village which is a hill hill tribe in northern Thailand. The trek started out with a drive to our guides village where he showed us the Hill Tribe village museum which was an eye opening experience to see how these villages work and the tradition that the Thai government is trying to make disappear, which… Read More
Namaste everyone,
Arriving in Kolkata at 3:30am, with no idea of where we’d be sleeping, put many of the Carpe kids on edge. Another contributing factor being that many of us had a stomach bug, which was causing some not so pleasant trips to the bathroom. Aside from all these factors, the Shiva group knew we’d soon be heading to The Mother Teresa House, to start some very rewarding volunteer… Read More
( Adapted from personal blog – http://www.jackdubreuil.blogspot.com )
The Ecuadorian villiage of Pucará is a solid candidate for the title of World’s Most Unassuming Place. It’s a humble little town, small in every sense, with modest buildings dwarfed even further by the Andean monoliths that pierce the horizon in every direction. The center square, complete with a small church, two stores, and a volleyball court, branches out into a few… Read More
Hola y Buenas Dias!
This week we moved in with our homestays in Matagalpa. This is the most progressive and feminist city we have visited yet. We are all a little relieved to be finishing our last week of Spanish classes and we have been involved in several different cultural activities. From cooking, to history, to dancing, we finished our last activity this week with a testimony from a LGBT… Read More
Previous to my arrival in the city of Varanasi I had never seen a dead body in person. My first encounter with a corpse was so blatantly casual, I had to stop and register what had just occurred. It happened quite quickly; as my group struggled up the crowded street, under the flickering lights of the Diwali festival, I saw a group of 4 men, hurriedly carrying (what I thought)… Read More
Today marks the halfway point of our journey together. We have grown a lot since those first days at Diva 3 in Chiang Mai, both independently and as a group. We now crave the sweet sweet release that all white rice meals (aka all meals) leaves us with. Our thigh muscles are rock hard and our aim has increased ten fold from all the post white rice squat toilet visits.… Read More
The Kifaru crew got to visit Sustainable Harvest Coffee, a project that works with local women farmers to sustainably increase income and sell fair-trade coffee. Here are a few photos of the excursion, courtesy of Alison and Simon. Enjoy!… Read More
Namaste and tashi delek, dear Carpe family!
I’ve been in northern India for over a month now, and words can’t describe how wonderful it is to be here. I was breath-taken upon my initial arrival and seeing my new home in the mountains for the first time, and I don’t think I’ve taken a full inhale yet – although, that could also potentially be attributed to the altitude here.
For… Read More
Hola all!
This week was a nice transition into our new home of Nicaragua for the next month or so. Traveling went as smooth as we hoped and arrived to the Mariposa School early Sunday morning. The first thing that we did was split into groups of 4 people to do 3 different types of service projects. Audrey, Ariana, Emily and Ottilia volunteered at a local primary school reading and… Read More
Hola, loved ones! After our brief return to civilization in San Juan Del Sur, we jumped off the grid again on the beautifully untouched coast of Costa Rica, where we spent a week at a sea turtle conservation and research center. When we arrived, we stood in silence as our jaws dropped at a nearly 360 degree view of untouched coastal wilderness. Palm trees sagging with coconuts scattered the beaches… Read More
Thursday October 22nd, 2015
4:15-5:30 AM.
We woke up at Ohana Amani. Early. So early. There was a fifteen minute interval of people rolling around, groaning, and kicking each other up. It was pitch black, the only sounds audible were ones of animals in the forest. It was cold, too. Maybe 60 degrees Fahrenheit. We got our bags packed up and made our way from the campsite to the lodge,… Read More
The sun has been shining for hours by the time you wake up. It’s 7:00 am. “Yadra Nana and Tata!” (good morning host mom and dad.) Tie up the mosquito net, grab some toilet paper and head outside to the bathroom. Check for frogs and other mellow creatures making shelter in the concrete cubicle before getting down to business. Afterwards wash your hands with antibacterial soap in a sink or… Read More
Bula Vinaka Family and Friends!
We have just completed our first week in Togalevu village on the western side of Viti Levu island, Fiji! Our week started with a traditional welcome from the villagers, which included a hearty serving of kava, the traditional root drink used in special ceremonies. Shortly after, we were introduced to our host families and brought to our new homes. The following days were spent building… Read More
Monday, October 19th:
The group arrived in the capital city of West Bengal (also known as the cultural capital of India), Calcutta or, more correctly, Kolkata, after another rather sticky night on a two-and-a-half-hour-delayed overnight train (a new record!). We taxied to the Sunflower Guest House, a nice tourist establishment with the front desk curiously located on the top floor. After making ourselves at home in our shared seven-person room,… Read More
The ocean.. what a treat she was to us. After making a trip on a ferry midst a thunderstorm from Ometepe to hopping on a bus to San Juan del Sur, Nica, the gentle waves of the Pacific were beaconing us. We arrived at Casa del Oro, a sweet set up of a hostal, Mitch (from Bona Fide) from Bona Fide manages. Settling in, our tummy growls navigated us to… Read More
