By Patrick Harris Patrick here. I am writing this from Cuzco, where the first night of student-directed travel starts. I will be writing about the previous 11 days. Nov. 5 to the 14.
This tale starts in Ollantaytambo, here the only set in stone activity was Spanish classes for 3 hours a day during the week. That being said it is hard to call it class when half the time… Read More
By Ellen Zimmerman Hello everyone!
We just finished our week in the Amazon, where we stayed at the Arajuno Jungle Lodge. It was started by Tom, our contact, as a eco-tourism and conservation project inspired by his Peace Corps service. It is on the Arajuno River, a tributary of the Amazon. It is only accessible by a fifteen-minute boat ride from the nearest bridge. Our days were all structured similarly,… Read More
By Tatum Nadherny Allllrriiggghhty then we got a lot to cover, so get comfy folks (and excuse the excessive use of parenthesis, there were a lot of plot holes that needed more details).
And here. we. go.
After our week in the Amazon, we headed back to where it all started in the city of Quito….and promptly splurged on all available snacks and chocolate. It did not take long for… Read More
By Alexander Nemzek Greetings everyone,
Picking up from where Audrey left off last week, we had one last day of fun in Morochos before heading to Peguche. In our last day with Pete as our contact, we hiked a slightly grueling trail around the mountains that encircle Lake Cotacachi, but thankfully the beautiful views gave us motivation to keep going. Later that night, we had the opportunity to purchase 100%… Read More
By Audrey We have been very busy this week. For our final night in Banos, a bunch of us went to karaoke. However, we didn’t stay out too late because we had to catch our bus to Otavalo at 4am.
Otavalo is known for the huge market with lots of crafty goods including alpaca ponchos and sweaters (which most of the group took advantage of while using our bargaining skills).… Read More
By Eliza Sharland Hola!
After a week practicing our coffee picking skills at finca mono verde we hopped on our 8-hour bus ride to Banos. we were all sad to leave the hammocks and the constant healthy competition for them but when we got to Banos we were all peering out of the bus in awe. The landscape here is mountains covered in jungle that drops to rivers.
On arrival,… Read More
By Kaela Horton Hello friends, relatives, and everyone else who is along for the ride. It’s crazy to think that two weeks have gone by since I met the 13 strangers that I’ll be living and traveling with for the next three months. It’s also unbelievable that in that short period of time we’ve become the opposite of strangers and are building relationships and creating memories.
After a week of… Read More
Making chocolate at Las Delicias farm.Alex grinding fresh cacao.The Carpe Diem group with our hosts at Las Delicias right before departure—now on to the beach for the day!View from Las Delicias.Addy helping Clean up plastic used for banana production on Las Delicias.Down time at Las Delicias with Alejandro, a Spanish instructor, and Alex and Patrick.We celebrated Ellen’s birthday with a bonfire, singing our favorite … Read More
Selfie during our second to last stop on a food tour in Quito, Ecuador. See all those happy smiles? That’s because we just tried placenta soup, called guagua mama! Snapshot taken during a food tour in Quito- while this was picho, a simple snack of fried chicken, the group also tried placenta soup! Yum! Group shot while checking out Plaza Grande while on a food tour in Quito, Ecuador. Students… Read More
By Addy, Alex, and Audrey We found a very neat building. Unfortunately, the computer will not let us upload photos. We are incredibly excited to be here in Quito and very sad to be leaving tomorrow—yet, excited for Las Delicias! Everything is going well and we have been eating some very interesting cuisine ranging from cow placenta to sheep intestine. Very grateful to be here and excited for what is… Read More
By Brynlee, Eliza, and Daphne Hola familia y amigos! Though we’re mid scavenger hunt it’s like we’ve already won, pollitos for the win!!! Unsurprisingly no one understands, it’s an inside joke (we’re that close). It’s from a joke a guy told us on the street: ¿como se llama un pollito en uniforme? Un Pollitooooo!!! (Use google translate if you must). Anyway, we gotta get back to our upcoming victory, see… Read More
By Patrick, Ellen, and Sarah ¡Hello! My name is Patrick. I am in a group with Ellen and Sarah. We are on a scavenger hunt. I am writing this from an internet cafe next to Parque de Carolina. Just to get here was an adventure. It took us about an hour and three different buses to get here. We were lost at times but we made it safe and sound… Read More
By Program Director Heather Vaught The Inti group is all together and ready to begin a phenomenal semester in South America! One of our students is already rocking a pair of classic elephant pants.… Read More
By Overseas Educators Laura & Dan Hey y’all!
Dan and Laura here. We are finishing up final preparations here in Portland, and super stoked to meet the Carpe South America 2018 students!
We hope with these final days leading up to the trip, students are finishing up final packing preparations, resting, and getting even more excited for a semester filled with learning, community, and awe-filled experience.
We can’t wait to… Read More
By Alex Combs Hello friends and family, this week I have the wonderful opportunity to write the final blog for the Spring 2018 semester. For our final week in South America, we traveled to one of the Seven Wonders of the World: Machu Picchu. To start off the tale of our final journey we must start in Cusco, where we stayed in our lovely hostel Atawakama after our Yoga retreat… Read More
Namaste from the yoga retreat and our second-to-last week here on this incredible journey.
This week we journeyed back towards Ollantaytambo and deep into the Sacred Valley, where we pulled up to our gorgeous yoga spot and our home for the next five days. After getting off the bus and organizing into rooms, we had a vegetarian lunch and were given our schedule for the week. Next, we gathered outside… Read More
By Lauren This week we started in the small town of Patacancha located outside of Ollantaytambo. There we learned more about the organization Awamaki, which is a nonprofit that helps women in the area sell their textile work to a larger market. We got to work with the women and see the work that goes into making these crafts; starting from the dyeing of the wool to the finished product.… Read More
This week we are located in a small town tucked in the Andes called Patacancha. It has around 400 residents and the main source of income is selling textiles made of Alpaca and sheep wool. However, this is a story for somebody else to tell. My job is to inform you of what we did last week in a town that I still cannot pronounce.
We enjoyed our last week… Read More
