Hello all, Through Carpe Diem is the first time I have been out of the United States, and it has substantially been the fastest I have seen my life go by. In a good way… I now reside in Merida, Mexico, the capital of Yucatan, which is a beautiful Peninsula filled with much history and rich culture. If many of you don't know where Merida is, Google it.. Or it's… Read More
Hola from the sweet city of Cusco! I can't believe that I've already been at the Healing House, a holistic living center, for almost one month. Time really does fly. 5 months ago I was at orientation feeling jittery with anticipation for my group semester and contemplating various options for my FVP. Now, my group semester is over (still kind of in denial) and I'm almost one month into my… Read More
What's up friends and family?! It's so crazy how I've already been here in South Africa for a month. Time has gone by unbelievably fast. This is probably due to how busy I've been down here! I jumped right into work right as I arrived here at C.R.O.W. (Center for Rehabilitation Of Wildlife). I met up with Gus Swanson, the other Carpe student here and we have become good friends:D… Read More
Pun Pun Farm: a center for self reliance, my destination for the Latitudes semester of the journey and my current home. Life here is better than I could have imagined and is everything and more that I have been searching for. To my humble understanding and from my developing place in the community, Pun Pun is a place to grow and learn together through experiences that come from an organic,… Read More
Namaste Nepal! I will have successfully completed my third week in Kathmandu as of tomorrow. I have to admit, this isn't quiet what I expected but I can't be more pleased with my placement here with ELI. I am currently living in a volunteer house with five other volunteers with two others just having left this morning. The first couple of days all of us spent our time on tours… Read More
It's hard to believe its already been a month here at C.R.O.W. in Durban, South Africa. With days spent feeding, rescuing, and releasing animals the time has really flown by. A little background information on C.R.O.W. First, The Center for Rehabilitation of Wildlife's main function is to create an environment in which sick and injured animals can be rehabilitated to the point of release. With everything from warthogs to baboons… Read More
Gooday guys and gals, it's been one month tomorrow since I've been living in Bunbury, Western Australia and so far so good. I love it here Bunbury is a quiet little town bordered on two sides by the magnificent Indian ocean which has crystal clear and warm water the one catch is It's loaded with sharks! While I'm down here I have the pleausre of working at the Dolphin Discovery… Read More
Hola mundo! My first time here in South America and let's just say it was not what I was expecting! I am in Cusco City, Peru and it's cold! So don't think I am here soaking up the rays. I'm high up in the mountains actually 11,200 ft above sea level, just a tad bit higher than Chicago (595 ft)! I've been here almost a month and I am so… Read More
We can’t believe it’s already time for our incredible cohort of 2014 Latitudes Students to take off!
The past two days have been jam packed and we’d love to thank all of our students for being so attentive, helpful, engaged, and hilarious.
We’d also like to thank all of the guest speakers who came to help us out and inspired us along the way. We hosted an alumni panel in… Read More
The Latitudes Team is so thrilled to announce that our Fall Orientation has kicked off!
We are gathered in a beautiful forested retreat center just outside of Portland. With just one flight delay all day long, everyone has safely arrived at the orientation center. We’ve explored the camp, dipped our toes in the river, played some get-to-know-you games, and had a fantastic introduction from Carpe Diem’s Executive Director Drew Edwards.… Read More
Reflecting back on this whole experience I still cannot believe it actually happened. Leaving the country for my first time ever in September I was scared and clueless about the world that stood in front of me. I was however, eager to learn and ready to get out of my little town in Pennsylvania. Now I’m in beautiful Peru making my mark. In February when I arrived in Lima, the… Read More
I’ve now spent 6 weeks here at KSTR bonding with the workers and becoming an important part of the team. I believe I previously mentioned that Sam and Barb are the backbones of the clinic. Well Barb has decided to retire from working at the clinic full time. She’s worked wry hard for quite some time so it’s not much of a shock to any of us. However this means… Read More
…..where even though it’s winter the sun is shining, the birds are chirping, and the animals are still very active. For the last month and a half I have been volunteering with Wildlife Act, an organization that monitors key animals on various reserves in the KwaZulu-Natal province. These animals are either endangered, threatened, or are highly vulnerable to poaching. Amongst these animals you have lion, rhino, elephant, leopard, and wild… Read More
Ive been here at KSTR for a month now, and I’ve loved every day. The workers here have become like a second family. The days are getting longer as I am given more and more responsibilities, but I do what I can to help. We recently released one of the owls I was in charge of so that was awesome. We also released a titi monkey who had been electrocuted,… Read More
Impoverished, destitute, hopeless. All words I have heard used to describe the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. The only information that most people have about life on reservations (nevertheless Pine Ridge, who’s reputation for poverty is known globally) is extremely limited and negative, having primarily come from a tiny bit of representation in the media. And I’ll be the first to admit that before educating myself, I too was one of… Read More
I have been volunteering at Parque Ambue Ari for the last three months and it has been an unbelievable experience in so many ways. The park is located 6 hours outside Santa Cruz, and sits on a 800 hectares of jungle. I live with no electricity, no hot water, and all the mosquitoes you could ever want, but I love it here. I wake up every morning at 6:45 and… Read More
My first two weeks at Kids Saving The Rainforest in Quepos, Costa Rica have been amazing. First off, it’s beautiful here as most people would imagine costa rica to be. It does get pretty hot and humid but you get used to it pretty quick. KSTR is a wildlife refuge organization, connected to a bed and breakfast called the Blue Banyan Inn. A day in the life of volunteer goes… Read More
So I’ve been in the DR for a little over a month now and it has been amazing. Ive been able to do so much in my short time here. Ive tutored students, coached basketball, surfed, snorkled, danced(in the loosest definition of the word), had conversations in spanish, and even took a short slightly illegal trip to Cuba(lets all just agree not to say anything,ok?). This has… Read More
Hello one and all, greetings from Honduras Child Alliance of El Porvenir, sandwiched between the beautiful Caribbean and rolling mountain ranges. I live beachfront on the last stretch of main road, the only paved piece in Honduras.There are many different sections of El Porvenir that expand from there, and HCA trys to reach into these different parts of the community with multiple programs, and teaching locations. I’ve been here just… Read More
I have only been at the Mystical Yoga Farm for a month now but I can already say with some confidence that I will remember my time here as one of the the formative experiences of my young life. I came here with the intention of seeing and experiencing my life in a new way and I have already done that more than I ever expected. There is so much… Read More
