Hey y’all! It’s Eva, coming to you from Chiang Rai, Thailand. We spent the last 10 days at a Permaculture farm, learning about sustainability and the many different uses of bamboo. Personally, I learned a lot more than that. Seeing how our lovely host, Sandot and his family, lives their life was a one of a kind experience. I learned about myself and how to do the work that needs to be done, while taking things day by day, enjoying the small things and the special moments. It was stressful at first; we were in a very new environment. We slept in bug nets in the open outdoors, and our toilet was a hole in the floor. By the end we all learned Sandots way to “Very enjoy life”.

MARCH 11, 2019 | SHANTI OVERSEAS EDUCATORS | INDIA- SHANTI

I’m on the verge of entering a stage 3 food coma, and so is everyone else in the group. I welcome it whole heartedly, because what caused it was the best soup, salad, dumplings, rice, noodles, fish, moose, ice cream, and tea I have ever had at the only restaurant in Kolkata that has earned a Michelin star. No exaggeration. Everyone else in the group seems to agree when it comes to the majority of their dishes, although I do believe that Owen, who guided us to this heavenly food place, has had the opportunity to experience even grander journeys of flavor when he was invited to eat at one of the best restaurants in the world: Central, in Lima, Peru. More on our experience later, since I will now be guiding you all through our Kolkata experience, day by day. I hope my descriptions of our daily life in Kolkata is as immersive to you as it is reminiscent to me!

MARCH 10, 2019 | SALAAM OVERSEAS EDUCATORS | SPAIN & MOROCCO - SALAAM

Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No! It’s Carpe Diem Salaam dancing in a circle and singing the ESPN theme song! Why, you may ask?

Dancing in a circle and singing the ESPN theme song is not only deeply rooted in Moroccan culture…
Who am I kidding. It is our “passing the torch ceremony”, a peaceful transfer of power from one captain to the next, and is not a part of Moroccan culture, but is a part of our own.

Tetouan was our home for the last seven days, a city embedded in Andalusian and Moroccan history. Its name comes from the Amazigh word for “eyes”, derived from the city’s location only ten kilometers from the Mediterranean Sea, allowing for observation of ships traversing the Strait of Gibraltar. Tetouan was the capitol of the Spanish protectorate in Morocco from 1913 to 1956, and this Spanish influence is easily seen throughout the architecture and art in Tetouan, as well as the Ensanche (Spanish for extension), an intense urban expansion triggered by the beginning of the protectorate.

MARCH 4, 2019 | SHANTI OVERSEAS EDUCATORS | INDIA- SHANTI

Namaste to all!

I, Zevi, from Portland, Oregon and 18 years old, have received the job to share our Shanti groups’ wonderful experience in Varanasi, the spiritual capital of India! I know everyone says that there are countless unforgettable memories of when they travel places, but our experience in Varanasi truly was exactly that: filled with countless unforgettable memories, positive, powerful, and eye opening.

For starters, the 6pm-8am 14 hour expected train ride to Varanasi from Delhi took an extra 3 or so hours, due to who knows what. Maybe there was a cow on the tracks. Just kidding! (Not really, it is quite possible). Anyways, although the train was cramped, I had fun talking with Adam, Charlotte and Georgia, who were in the same section as me, about languages (mostly Hindi), religion and travel while getting to know each other a little better. In the morning, I played card games with a couple young Indian men, 20 and 23, who were very friendly and funny, helping to pass the time.

Hey everyone! Week 2 coming at you!

This week has been such a different experience compared to the last. We stayed in Rabat and had the opportunity to stay with host families! From what I heard, all our experiences in our homes were great! Definitely blew my expectations out of the water. We ate amazing home cooked meals, like couscous which is usually ate on every Friday, so : Friday became a highlight. We also ate a lot of tajine, which is also a very traditional and incredibly good meal shared in a big bowl with…

FEBRUARY 22, 2019 | SALAAM OVERSEAS EDUCATORS | SPAIN & MOROCCO - SALAAM

Salaam friends and family! Kayla here aka the cool one. Just kidding everyone here is the coolest. It’s honestly like we’ve all known each other for 3 months already!

I just have to put out there that our diet is superb. Bread and sweets (and I mean 4-sugar-cubes-in-a-cup-of-tea kind of sweet.)

Staying in the City of Fes for the beginning of the trip was amazing. The streets of the big Medina (market) we stayed in was so busy all the time and felt like walking through a big maze. But a colorful (kind of dirty) maze with fun shops and amazing food like Nacho Mama!

FEBRUARY 25, 2019 | SABAI OVERSEAS EDUCATORS | SOUTHEAST ASIA- SABAI

Swaadii Ka/ Khrap! Hello families, this is Charlie and Annie coming at you with the second blog of the semester! Here’s a quick recap of the homestays outside of Chiang Mai:

Monday the 18th, we got picked up at the hostel in Chiang Mai and drove about 40 mins to the Banrai Thai Gnarm Eco Lodge. When we got there, we unloaded our stuff and met our Thai teacher for the next few days, Ajam Petchara (ajam means teacher in Thai). If there was a real life version of Edna Mode from the Incredibles, Petchara would be her, but with a more friendly personality. We had our first lesson from 10 – Noon, and then ate lunch at the lodge. From 2 to 3:30, we had a Thai culture preparation session and a brief Thai dancing class. Afterward, everyone moved in with their families and spent the rest of evening with them.

FEBRUARY 21, 2019 | SHANTI OVERSEAS EDUCATORS | INDIA- SHANTI

Each day has been jam packed, and we are now just starting to have some breathing room to process what we have done, seen, tasted, smelled, and felt. Here is a quick summary of what we have done: visited a number of gardens in Delhi with ruins that are 500 or more years old; seen the markets of old Delhi and New Delhi; bought local clothes; travelled by metro and tuk tuk; met with a wonderful monk who taught us about Buddhism; travelled by overnight train to Varanasi; witnessed a 3000 year old living city; walked along the ghats (steps to the Ganges river); and started taking classes. And that is not even all of it!