Written By Tania, Will, Jahmeil, and Grace

It is with sadness and hope in our hearts that we write this final blog. We feel no need to pull punches: we are nothing short of devastated to be saying goodbye so quickly and abruptly to our new, bright, nomadic little family.

Just a few short days ago we were alerted to the true panic of the worldwide Corona Virus (gotta remember that we didn’t have a constant source of news!) and alerted to the possibility to the program ending early. Mimicking the shocking pace of events that is occurring around the globe, the short span between a possible ending, and being already on a plane bound for the USA was truly jarring. Though a somber, somewhat scary notion, the reality was understandable: it was time to return home to our families, to the safety of the US, and a certain extent: to the uncertainty that awaits us all in these weeks and months to come.

Swatdeekaaaaah,

Greetings from an airport cafe in Taipei, Taiwan. This past week has been a kerfuffle of events. We began the week in Chiang Rai, refueling after a long stay with the Hill Tribes full of games, learning bamboo skills, chickens, and amazing foods. City life was popping. Our hostel was mega bougie. There was a pool table and a real life pool. It hosted our spa nights as well as well as our Shrek movie nights.

Our journey continued on the Sahainan permaculture farm on the most windy road we had ever been on. A couple hours of hairpin turns and many Dramamines later our group lunched on some noodle dishes and arrived ready to get our hands dirty. Sandot and Shen, our hosts, welcomed us with open arms and tasty vegan food. Highlights from the farm included Whitney climbing a banana tree and whacking down banana flowers with machetes (much harder than it looks) and Daniela and Fields learning the art of an inexact banana cake recipe (sparking a debate over the differences between a ‘palmful’ and a ‘handful’ of baking powder). As always our journey included a companion animal. This time it was a white and orange cat named Crispy, after crispy bacon (a common threat to the cat while it died to eat from the communal table). As we were settling into the slow steady pace of farm life, life outside began to go nuts.

Written By Liona & Ben

We started this week off with a spectacular welcome into the grand city of Xela. We met our host families for this week. We are no longer doing one on one classes however we are definitely getting our Spanish practice in by talking to our host families and our teachers. We have explored many places in Xela and visited many restaurants.

Written By Rosalba

Hola todos! Oops wrong country

This is Rosalba, writing the blog in an A/C hostel room while everyone else is out getting Thai massages. If you think I had to stay behind to write this, you thought wrong. Thai massages are way too painful for me to endure again, so I’m happily typing away!

For the past few days, things have been going all sorts of ways; up, down, sideways, you name it. If you don’t quite understand what I’m saying, don’t worry, I will explain more in detail.

When we finished decorating the well, Ban Apa gave us a farewell party! The whole village was present enjoying the feast and there was plenty of food to go around. Once we finished, we were put in beautiful Akha traditional dresses by our homestay moms and then walked towards the center of the village where a bonfire was waiting for us. We spent some time dancing around the bonfire, or at least trying to keep up with the tempo.

Written By Emma & Jahmeil

When we were told we were going to Sadhana forest, we had no idea where that was, and much less what it would be like. Naturally, our open-minded, optimistic group was so excited to be in an area for a full week (enough time to do laundry and actually get settled!) and we were looking forward to this majestic place which our OEs were describing. However, nothing could’ve prepared us for how we lived for the next week, and the lessons we would learn from it.

Sadhana Forest is a reforestation project as well as a fully sustainable community, practicing a zero-waste lifestyle, a fully vegan diet, and unschooling. The electricity is limited to the main hut and two bathroom stalls at night from solar panels. The whole community only uses biodegradable products, meaning all shampoos, body products, and even toothpaste, seeing as all of the water goes back into the forest to water the trees that they have planted.

Written By Ish & Dish

Saludos desde la escuela de la montaña! We’re now in the welcoming town of Nuevo San Jose where we’re back to enjoying more rice, beans, and tortillas with local families with whom we’ve been having our daily meals. We’re also back to learning more Spanish in one-on-one classes dividing us up between morning and afternoon batches.

While we were hoping for a bit of a laid back week, it ended up being jam packed with exciting and informative daily activities such as charlas (presentations) focusing on the history of Guatemala, current political affairs, and health within the community.