Follow along on the journey
APRIL 3, 2019 | SALAAM OVERSEAS EDUCATORS | SPAIN & MOROCCO - SALAAM
Written By Vanesia
Salaam! Welcome back to our blog, we have Vanesia on the mic today representing the Salaam group. We started off our week relaxing at Chez Yahia in Aghbalou and watching American movies. We then headed out to Amizmiz where we started our three-day trekking experience, and if I could explain what the week looked like in alphabetical order this is how I would put it:
APRIL 1, 2019 | SHANTI OVERSEAS EDUCATORS | INDIA- SHANTI
Namaste!
We have just wrapped up our time in Rishikesh with a peaceful six day yoga retreat at the Phool Chatti Ashram which is located on the breathtaking banks of the Ganga river. Our week at the ashram was packed full of yoga asanas, nature walks, meditation, chanting, and delicious vegetarian meals. After we got used to the 5:30 am wake up time, the long days left us feeling refreshed and quite tranquil. Since we just passed the halfway mark on our time here in India, these six days were crucial to get the group fired up for the remainder of the trip. We also enjoyed a Holi celebration-an Indian holiday welcoming the arrival of spring with lots of colors.
MARCH 28, 2019 | SALAAM OVERSEAS EDUCATORS | SPAIN & MOROCCO - SALAAM
Picture this ten Americans arrive in small Moroccan village: As they settle in Geoff, Eliana, Clemente, and Brandis begin a game of gin. Kayla becomes best friends with the little kids. Vanesia finds a way to get more apricot jam at tea time. Tori takes in mountain views while savoring a Coke Zero. Kate becomes friends with local women and begins baking bread and Sheldon as always finds a way to be the most relaxed human being alive. But I am getting ahead of myself.
MARCH 27, 2019 | SABAI OVERSEAS EDUCATORS | SOUTHEAST ASIA- SABAI
Hello everyone! This past week we all went on a 4 day 3 night trek through the jungle outside Chiang Mai. We started off at a orchid farm/ butterfly garden, and then went to cool off at a waterfall. Afterwards we began our trek to the first Karen village where we stayed the night. Day two was a long day of trekking. We finished off the day swimming a little bit in the river when we arrived at the village. On the third day we trekked a little in the morning and then after lunch everyone got to feed and bathe elephants!
MARCH 27, 2019 | LEUM DTAA COHORT | SOUTHEAST ASIA - LEUM DTAA
Sawadee Kah (Hello) future students, friends, family and supporters.
This is Davineekaht blogging to ya’ll. After a 5 hour van ride, we arrived on the farm confused. Only saw dusty dirt roads and no houses. Everyone looks at each other looking tried and confused. All of sudden a rusty red Monza truck slowly coming down the dirt road and stoped where we are standing. It was Sandot and his son Jon Jon. We load our heavy bags onto the truck. Then we had to walk up the hill. We didn’t know how far we were walking but everyone started to walk up the hill. Soon we reached Sandot and Jon Jon at the top. Sandot showed us were we are staying. All we saw was a straw roof, a floor made out of bamboo and mats covered with mosquitos nets. No walls, no doors, we were out in the open. Besides the open huts we had a beautiful view. We saw beautiful green trees covered the hills and other people’s houses.
MARCH 22, 2019 | LEUM DTAA COHORT | SOUTHEAST ASIA - LEUM DTAA
As soon as we hopped off the sungtao at the Akha village, we were greeted with delicious freshly made food and fruit. After lunch, we were given a tour by Pi’ Cartoon, a guide from The Mirror Foundation and Yui an intern from The Mirror Foundation. She has a very bubbly and funny personality so we felt comfortable with her at first sight.
As we walked around the village, we saw Appi Attah (an elder of the village) and her daughter sewing beautiful patterns on tribal fabrics. Appi Attah’s daughter helped teach Davineekaht how to sew some of the beautiful patterns. As we were watching the beautiful sewing, Loida was playing with Appi Attah’s grandson who had beautiful plump cheeks and a tender smile. We then moved further down the village, Paw Klu, Elena and I helped a very kind lady cut banana trees stems which are used to feed pigs. We also saw how straw roofs were made and met a bunch of little cute kids on the way.
MARCH 21, 2019 | SABAI OVERSEAS EDUCATORS | SOUTHEAST ASIA- SABAI
Hey everyone! We’ve been working with the Mirror Foundation for the past five days to build a school for stateless children. It was hard manual work, our bodies hurt and our hands were full of blisters, but it was worth it. We made a lot of progress and had so much fun.
MARCH 18, 2019 | SHANTI OVERSEAS EDUCATORS | INDIA- SHANTI
Our first day in Agra, we got to visit one of the seven wonders of the world, the Taj Mahal! Behind this beautiful building made out of white marble and gem stones comes a very beautiful love story that everyone should know. Our wonderful guide Arif Ji believes that this love story is actually obsession and recommends that we should all return home and love better. This place is known as the Temple of Love. Though the love story is not the only cool thing about this place. The Taj Mahal has many optical illusions. Yes, I said optical illusions, it is one of the many reasons why this building is so famous.
MARCH 16, 2019 | LEUM DTAA COHORT | SOUTHEAST ASIA - LEUM DTAA
Finally and tragically our last day in Mae Rim, all our preparation was coming down to this night. First as usual we had our thai language class in the sala where we added the finishing touches to our speeches. Then we made some lanterns out of banana trees for a ceremony called Loi Kratong. We continued to set up and rehearse for this highlighted event in Mae Rim. We were finally able to finish an uno game that had lasted for hours. We then started to get ready. Ladies with long skirts, white shirts, red sash, a floral headpiece, and long gold fingernails. The gentlemen wore white shirts, burgundy pants, and had swords. It was time.
We are just finishing up our short but jam packed pit stop in Marrakech, which was filled with lots of good food, laughs and, of course, dancing. Our fearless captain for the week, Tori made sure that our days were chock-full of activities and had something for everyone.
Day one started with a stroll off the beaten path to one of Morocco’s oldest and best synagogues. Once there, our resident experts (Geoff and me) made sure to answer any questions to the best of our abilities and, of course, in a New York accent.
Up next we headed to a museum of historical photography tucked deep inside of the Medina. The winding alleyways of one of Morocco’s largest markets led to a lot of directional confusion. Not to fear, Kate was there! She gave us an impromptu map reading class, which we all greatly appreciated and helped Brandis get us to our destination. For dinner some of us decided to continue on our quest to find the best street tagine. Luckily for us Clemente (who, we already established, is confused to be a native Moroccan by locals) was able to weave through the shouting stall owners and find us the best spot to eat.
