Follow along on the journey
Wow!
What a jam-packed first week it’s been.
After close to 40 hours of travel, we woke up early our first day and we were warmly welcomed by our host, Celia, to a delicious Kerala breakfast. We were lucky to start our days off like this, and every morning Celia would cook a new Kerala specialty for us. By the way, they cook with lots of coconuts in Kerala-as Kerala actually means the land of coconuts. So one morning we had coconut and rice flour pancakes with shredded coconut.
We spent our first days in the city becoming acquainted with the local customs, setting personal and group intentions, reviewing the itinerary for the next two months, and learning the ways to keep ourselves safe and healthy while traveling. After we had a few days to familiarize ourselves with our new surroundings (and to recover from jet-lag), the students were sent off in pairs and trios to explore the town on their own through a Scavenger Hunt.
Hello from the land of smiles!
We are excited to be reaching out for the first time together as one and hope this blog entry finds you well. We are wrapping up orientation in Chiang Mai and are about to depart for our initial homestay experience in Mae Rim. The crews (Team Free Boyfriend, Lost Wanderers, and Mango Vibes) just returned from their scavenger hunts filled with stories. Here are a few of the highlights.
Bathed in sunshine and surrounded by impressive volcanoes, Antigua, Guatemala has served as our introduction to Central America. Laughter, exploring the city, trying new foods, playing games, sharing life stories, and orienting ourselves to our three months in Central America…our first few days in have been jam-packed with activities. Although it’s only been a few days, our group has started to take shape and inside jokes have already started to emerge.
Written By Kayla
Hey everyone! It’s Kayla coming at you! I get to tell ya´ll all about our few short, exciting days in Granada!
Thursday night we went out to a Flamenco dancing show! Flamenco dancing is traditionally with a guitar player, and two women dressed in fun, wavey, colorful dresses. One of them sings, and the other dances the Flamenco style dancing. We watched the show in a small, crowded restaurant with a tiny stage. The guitarist was amazing, I had never seen a man pick a guitar like him! The songs were also so unique and the woman singing had a beautiful voice, and the dancer made the whole show complete with her incredible gown dancing shoes! Truly a great experience I would be lying if I said I didn’t shed a tear or two…
APRIL 30, 2019 | SABAI OVERSEAS EDUCATORS | SOUTHEAST ASIA- SABAI
Written By Annie
When you think of the word snorkeling what comes in mind? Well here is a brief explanation on what I’ve discovered about snorkeling. Snorkeling is the ability to float under water with a diving mask equipped with a breathing tool. I am not an expert in snorkeling, but being able to get out in the ocean was a shock to me because I am not an expert at swimming and I didn’t want to drown. I am proud that I went out and that I was supported by students in my group and the OE’s to get out of my comfort zone and try it out.
APRIL 29, 2019 | SALAAM OVERSEAS EDUCATORS | SPAIN & MOROCCO - SALAAM
Hola Amigos!
Brandis here.
Last time you heard from us it was during our big week of Student Directed Travel. This week we got to spend our time in the beautiful coastal city of Málaga, Spain, where we lived in homestays, had Spanish lessons, and participated in various cultural activities during the week-long celebration of Semana Santa.
We started off this week meeting our host families and getting ready for our first day of school. When we got there we were evaluated, and then sat in on our daily 5 hours of Spanish. Super fun. By the time we were done, we would run back home and devour lunch before meeting up again for our cultural activities. The first place we visited was Alcazaba, one of the most well preserved fortresses in Spain, right in the heart of Malaga.
APRIL 29, 2019 | SHANTI OVERSEAS EDUCATORS | INDIA- SHANTI
Hello everyone this is Charlotte from the Shanti group and I’m going to be walking you all through our last couple of weeks in India! As our journey has been getting closer to the end the group has been soaking up every last bit of India that we can. For starters we finally landed in the beautiful Himalayas and spent a week staying in Bhagsu in Himachal Pradesh. It’s been quite a change in weather, going from scorching hot Amritsar to the colder paradise of the mountains. We spent our student directed travel exploring the wonders of the Tibetan culture and hanging in our favorite cafe, Chilly Beans!
APRIL 22, 2019 | SABAI OVERSEAS EDUCATORS | SOUTHEAST ASIA- SABAI
Written By Peter
A 10 hour by-sleeper-bus journey later and we were in Vietnam, the red banner waving over our small group as we passed through the Cambodia-Vietnam Border. Within only a few minutes it really sank in that we were in a totally different country; the yellow star, hammer and sickle, and a myriad of brightly-colored propaganda posters no doubt boasting the strength of the Vietnamese military and proletariat lined the streets and roundabouts as we travelled by taxi toward the next hostel. The visage of Ho Chi Minh stared back at us as Cari and Brian handed out our Per Diem, and huge emblems of the post-revolutionary state soared above us on blocky, soviet-esque government buildings as we ventured out in search of lunch and an internet café the next morning. We’d only been in this country for about 24-hours and, at least for me, it was unlike anywhere I’d been before.
APRIL 19, 2019 | SHANTI OVERSEAS EDUCATORS | INDIA- SHANTI
Written By Georgia
The following day we visited the beautiful Golden Temple and volunteered in different areas. Some of us shucked chickpeas, while others helped wash dishes. We continued to volunteer doing various tasks at the temple over the next three days, except for Olivia, who was, unfortunately, feeling under the weather, but is now feeling much better. One night, Kari, Charlotte, and I helped wash dishes with ash. Ash has antibacterial properties and is great for cleaning. We all agreed that our time volunteering was fun and quite meditative.
