Group Scavenger Hunt: Part 2

FEBRUARY 16, 2018 | South America-INTI

Greetings from Quito! We are currently on the first leg of our scavenger hunt and have just found an internet cafe! It took a bit of searching with our Spanish skills, but for the most part, we are getting where we need to be. We are all safe and are having a good time. The food so far has been AMAZING and the hospitality of the hostel is great, too. The city is beautiful and its a shame we are only in the Quito for a short time, cause there are just so many cool things to do. We still have a lot of other things to check off our list, like doing a random act of kindness to a stranger, and ask around to learn more about the culture and history of the city. We have yet to have lunch and that is our next priority plus buying some candy and offering it to some kids, which we think they´ll like.

We’ve stopped by some shops and tried on some cool sunglasses and walked through a bakery which we might stop by later for dessert, and maybe bring some back for the rest of the group.

Our next stop is finding a place to have lunch, and then maybe look at some cool architecture and points of interest. This scavenger hunt is also a competition, so wish us luck!

Group Scavenger Hunt: Part 1

FEBRUARY 16, 2018 | South America- INTI

This is Alex Maya, and Audrey coming to you from an internet cafe. Took about an hour and a half to find an internet cafe but we made it alive. On a scavenger hunt today, we were very lucky to see the sites including a couple of art museums some beautiful churches around the area as well as community centers Thinking a ton about our families but also about our stomachs, maybe another round of rice and chicken Looking forward to many more excursions.

Çhao.

Nkula Arrival to Entebbe

FEBRUARY 16, 2018 | East Africa-NKULA

Greetings, Families and Friends of the Spring 2018 Nkula group:

The Nkula group had a night in Dubai, had a successful rendezvous with Tosca, and are now safe and sound in Entebbe, Uganda. They will now start Orientation, getting to know each other, setting intentions, and learning about safe and mindful travel.

Nkula: everyone at home wishes you the very best! We hope that your journey is amazing and full of laughter; that you lean into the challenges; and that you treat each other, and those around you, with respect, gratitude, open minds, and open hearts.

Onward!!

MAY 10, 2017 | South America - INTI 

“We embark on trips to discover and remember what we hold most dear, the experiences and people we cherish and love. And then – our greatest challenge – we return home seeking to enact the wisdom as best we can in our daily lives.”

-William Cronan

We, as leaders, feel proud and fortunate to sit in the afterglow of a superb semester together. Now as you return home to your friends and family, we remind you to continue playing big with courage and compassion.

And, as always, keep your eyebrows on fleek.

Love,
Raquel & Mate

On Going Home..

MAY 10, 2017 | Central America - MAYA

On going home…
“It is not a garment I cast off this day, but a skin that I tear with my own hands.

Nor is it a thought I leave behind me, but a heart made sweet with hunger and with thirst.

Yet I cannot tarry longer.

The sea that calls all things unto her calls me, and I must embark.

For, to stay, though the hours burn in the night, is to freeze and crystallize and be bound in a mould.

Fain would I take with me all that is here. But how shall I?

A voice cannot carry the tongue and the lips that gave it wings. Alone must it seek the ether.”
Kahlil Gibran, The Prophet

We made it friends! Through 4 countries, a month of Spanish lessons, 4 homestays, countless friendly dogs, beautiful sunsets, challenges, and lots of laughs. From both Michelle and Jonathan, thank you.

Now comes the challenging part.

Now you return to your homes and move on to new stages in life. Now you have the privilege of carrying this bundle of experience through the door to your home country and figuring out what to do with it, and what it all means. For each one of you, that will be something different. We know each of you will make the correct decision for yourselves, but as we spoke about, we hope you will not just toss it in a corner to gather dust.

You are all part of a larger circle now. We have been to, we have connected with, and maybe we have integrated into ourselves, the people we have met and the experiences we have had along the way. We have seen each of you already begin to internalize what this trip meant to you, and none of you are exactly the same person who met us in the airport 3 months ago. Thank you for being open to the process friends, even though it is not always pleasant.

We wish you all good things as you return and move forward in life. Thank you all for the good times, and thank you even more for the challenging times, as they always provide all of us with opportunities to grow and to widen our awareness of each other. We will miss you all, and hope you will keep in touch! We will do the same.

Until we meet again amigos (which is very possible, the world is a small place sometimes as you well know), we wish you a safe journey home and amazing time spent with friends and family.

Thank you for sharing the journey. This is Maya Spring 2017, signing off.

Love,
Michelle and Jonathan

Goodbye SE Asia!!

MAY 10, 2017 | Southeast Asia

We sit on a bus heading back to Hanoi with mixed emotions- something like a bowl of sadness mixed with a lump of gratitude, relief and excitement. After almost twelve full weeks of traveling, living, working, and learning together as a group, today we are heading off on our separate paths once again. Luke will be headed back to Bethesda, Maryland. Nitnoi (Taylor Little) will be headed to California and beyond for some more adventure and discovery. Malit (Taylor Schutt) will meet her mother and aunt in Thailand and act as their expert guide through the country. Martin and Brenden will return to their homes in Portland, and Cooper will be continuing his journeys onward to the South Pacific.

And although we will be returning to familiar places and people, we might arrive with unfamiliar feelings. Three months traveling in foreign lands, speaking different languages, eating different foods, smelling unfamiliar smells, meeting all sorts of curious souls, and opening ourselves up to new ways of living, to different stories being enacted in the world – of how to relate to our neighbors or the land on which we live – has impacted us on some level. We do not return home the same people. We each now carry these new stories with us. Learning how to incorporate them into the old identities that people hold of us and we had held ourselves will be the challenging next step.

We bring with us the joys and triumphs of living in an intimate group for 3 months- the sense of community, care and closeness- along with the growth and learning from the challenges and discomfort that comes with being required to share such close space with new family members you did not choose. Even with all of the life-changing experiences of traveling in SE Asia for 3 months, our time together in these experiences have been some of the most impactful.

It is a time of transition for us all, but an especially big transition for you all, our beloved students. You have asked big questions of yourselves and the world over the past three months – Who am I really? What is my own definition of success? What do I want out of life? Where is the world going? The answers to these questions, as much as you’ve been able to reason and feel them out over the past months, will no doubt guides your next steps. We hope that this time together has in some way given you the wisdom and courage to make those next steps with a new sense of independence and confidence in yourself, new perspectives, and with much hope for the future.

We leave you all with warmth and love in our hearts, and an immense sense of gratitude for each of you in joining us in our journey together and bringing your light, wisdom, curiosity and silliness to this group.

Inti Is Homeward Bound!!

MAY 9, 2017 | South America: Inti

A huge congrats to Spring '17 Inti Crew for a beautiful semester, and much gratitude to all for the support. Keep an eye out for one final blog from the leaders in these coming days, and in the meantime we’re wishing all of the students safe journeys and joyful reunions!

Lasting Impressions

MAY 9, 2017 | India: Shanti 

We’ve just received word that the Mighty Shanti is off! Two students are staying on to explore India; one is heading back to Australia; and the rest are currently boarding their flight back to San Francisco. Much gratitude to all for the support over these last months, and please enjoy this final reflection from our extraordinary Overseas Educators

Twelve weeks ago, we were sitting in a circle in Raj Ghat park sharing our first impressions of India. It was crowded, loud and colorful. It was full of contradictions and we were experiencing sensory overload.

What had drawn us all to come to India? What motivated each of us to be apart from our friends, families, and the conveniences of home for three months? Do I even like these people I’m with, can I trust them?

We took out our shuttlecock to kick around the park and we were scolded by the Indian officer. “No games,” he warned us.

Then, a stranger invited us to check out a D.I.Y. Shiva temple on the other side of the park. We slipped off our shoes and lit incense and experienced a sliver of what we would continue to experience for the rest of the trip: with an open mind, a community to share experiences with, and a patient and compassionate attitude, everyday can be rewarding in its own way.

Time passed. We gained new family members in Jaipur and lucked into a private rooftop Sitar and Tabla concert as the sun set over the city. We experienced the Taj and Red Fort in Agra, and the Burning Ghats in Varanasi. Camel ride and leaf plates and lassis (so many lassis). We meditated and chanted at holy Buddhist sites, and slid across crocodile and tiger swamps in the Sunderbans.

In Rishikesh, we really stretched. 5:30 am meditations and 108 “om treyambakam”s. We laughed and sang, sometimes because we felt like it and other times because we were forced to during laughing yoga.

The trek with the Colonel was a highlight. We began with 11 members and a few guides and somehow managed to finish with 6 new four-legged friends with names like Dosa, Kulfi, and Aloo. We learned more about one another by sharing life stories and realized that even though we came from different backgrounds, the passions and morals we share make us all similar.

Although we’ve all returned to different places in this world, we’re always going to share a common bond. Each one of you approached this trip with an open mind, and we were impressed with your commitment to learn the tangible lessons like Hindi and the more obscure art of closing your eyes, sticking fingers in your ears and making the sounds like a bee.

Thank you all for putting your hearts into this experience. It was your enthusiasm, initiative and curiosity that made this journey as fantastic as it was.

Don’t forget to move and e- stretch when you’re back home. Shout Main Hoon every so often, even if it really doesn’t mean anything. Take time to roll out chapati. And treat everyone you meet with compassion. Live life the way you approached our time in India: same practice, ‘nother side.

And remember…
We thank you thank you thank you, we thank you thank you thank you, we thank you thank you thank you from our hearts,

We miss you miss you miss you, we miss you miss you miss you, we miss you miss you miss you from our hearts,

We love you love you love you, we love you love you love you, we love you love you love you from our hearts.

Kifaru is Homeward Bound!

MAY 8, 2017 | East Africa: Kifaru

We’ve just received word that the Kifaru crew is all checked into airport security and, after 3 wonderful months together, are parting ways. A huge asante sana (thank you!) to everyone who has supported the journey along the way, from our incredible contacts and hosts in East Africa to friends and families back home. An especially big thank you to our rockstar Overseas Educators, Kelsi and Chris, and to all of the Kifaru students for all of the heart and energy they’ve put into this semester!

Happiness

MAY 8, 2017 | India: Shanti

I think the main thing that I learned from my time in India is what being happy really means.

Before going on this trip I felt lost and not sure what I wanted to do with my life. Although I didn’t find a dream career or a job I know I want to do for the rest of my life while traveling in India, I now have a direction.Through going to places like the Buddhist retreat center in Bodhgaya, the ashram in Rishikesh, and an institute for compassionate living called Dharmalaya, I learned that happiness is not always what society tells us it is. I learned that I don’t have to get a job that will make tons of money to be happy. The people that I met in these places had nothing when it comes to a capitalist society. The monks and nuns at the Root Institute had no income. The people from Dharmalaya were living in a secluded community in the Himalayas in a mud house. But what these people did have was happiness. The Buddhists were the most caring and compassionate people I’ve ever met. They were always so happy knowing that they were being this compassionate. Dharmalaya was combating climate change trying to create a zero waste community. The founder, Mark, was filled with so much joy with his hope for a cleaner tomorrow.

The most beautiful thing about this trip is that I can see and feel myself growing to be more like these mentors and as I do this I grow more happy and compassionate.