Hey what's been going on you guys? I know we joked around about still blogging so I was thinking why not?
I'm sure I speak for everyone when I say that it is so weird to be back at home and in this other reality, but life is good. Kaise my brotha I don't know cold it is there but it don't have nothing on argon. I don't remember oregon getting this cold and this early in the season.

I miss you guys; family. I'm reminded by how lucky we are and smart of a decision it was to join carpe diem, by my friends. I love them but a thing has changed here. I miss realness the true, you know what I mean. Erday I think of "yall."

When you refer to me, I am now coach burgdorfer. Make that understood. : )
I hope all is good for everyone and would like to hear from each one of you. I love you guys.

Alex B

Goodbyes, but not forever!!

Our super special adventure comes to a close, as we spend our last day together here in Roatan. Today the group got certified in there open water diving, and Bobby and Karen received there advanced scuba diving certification. As were all spending the day doing some last dives, and writing our goodbye letters to each, our I AM poems or flows, evaluations were all a little sad to be leaving each other this soon. Over the past three months, we have been through challenges, hysterical laughs, and a lot of growth together. We've become one camtastic family. As we write this final blog, Karen, Max, Andy, and Bobby are out kayaking on the Caribbean, enjoying their final sunset together in Central America. Tonight we will have our final dinner out, and go over how much fun we have had traveling through the Americas.
I love you all, each one of you are super special to me.
Keep in touch!!

lots of love,
celia

Scuuuba time!

After getting up at nearly 230am to catch our flights, we are finally here in the island of Roatan. An island only about 40 miles long, and mostly English speaking. A little bit different for us, seeming we have been traveling in central America where the most common language is Spanish. so walking in the grocery store, and speaking Spanish with an English reply is a little different for us. Starting yesterday we met our Diver masters, Tony and Reno and watched a series of videos on the parts to scuba diving. Lucky ducks Karen and Bobby are already certified divers, and are just hanging out doing some review while the rest of us learn new stuff. Today, a more eventful day brought us to a trip out in the water, swimming in the ocean to the buoy, snorkeling seeing the coral reef in the Caribbean for the first time, and later going out for the first dive. Also today Karen and Bobby went out for there first dive 130 ft deep and saw two mantarays, and a huge crab. How neat are the wonders of the underwater world!
Well thats are for now friends and family,

With love,
Celia L.

If You Had a Tail, What Kind of Tail Would You Have?

If you were born with a tail, what kind of tail would it be? This question was tossed around amongest our group at the breakfast table this morning. In years past I had considered this question and decided I would like to have a big, bushy, red, fox tail. I feel it would be very suiting on me. It was decided that Alex would have the tail of a lion, Celia would have that of a unicorn, which by the way is different then that of an ordinary horses tail because it glitters like a disco ball in the sun and sounds like wind chimes when whisping in the breeze. Karen started out with a bunny tail but after some persuasion decided that it was not functional enough and settled with a kangaroo tail, obviously. So we have Andy, Kaise and Dan who all chose monkey tails. My immediate reaction to this choice was a positive one, for I felt all of the above ¨deserved¨, for lack of a better word, such a tail. However, when suggested that the appropriate tail for Dan was, of course a fluffy, little, bear tail I was instantly converted, to Dans dismay. Kaise and Andy remain our friends with monkey tails, a very practicle choice, for it has many uses and must be quite nimble and easy to manuver. Leave it to Max to pick the tail of a scorpion, prime for defending himself against dangerouse enemies. Lastly but most definetly not leastly, Bobby chose a longated shark tail, perfect for living a life of evolution in our underwater future.
So I highly suggest you take the opening question into seriouse consideration and please do share, what tail would decorate your oh so lovely behind?

Lots and lots of big, silly lovins all over the place!

- Heidi

Free Travel Adventures and More!

Where I last left off our group was preparing for our final shift at Playa Longosta. We´ve done much traveling since then and we have experienced and seen some wild things. First off was our final shift working with the turtles. We had to rise at 4:30a.m the next morning to leave for San Jose, so we were able to all do the same shift from 7 to 11:30. We all walked down the beach to begin the shift except for Alex who had to go to the bathroom. When we were making our first pass past the entrance to our camp ground Alex was there next to a freshly hatched nest of baby lora turtles, or so we thought. Alex had come back to find a raccoon eating through the nest of turtles that were most likely two days premature. He had scared the raccoon off and our guide immediately searched through the mess to find survivers. Some of the baby turtles had hatched themselves which is why the raccoon found the nest. Our guide Carlos found the healthy turtles and put them in a bucket to rest, many of them were to weak or injuried to make to the journey to the water and actually have a chance at surviving. It was dishearting to see the pile of dead turtles that had entered the world to a raccoon claws. Still as sad of a sight as it was it was simply part of nature and trying to stop every raccoon is futile. A few turtles were strong though and they made it to the ocean after a wild start to there lives. The rest of the shift was more or less uneventful. We got back and happily fell asleep, but Carlos woke the people who had yet to see a Baula at around 3a.m. I was not present but there were two massive Baula´s out, one significantly larger the the first one seen by my group. With that we left pre-dawn with a great sense of appreciation for the people working for this organization and we simply felt lucky to have played a small part for helping these turtles and for being able to witness so much during those short days. It was time to move on to the free travel portion of the trip and we were all excited for the days to come. We all worked hard to do what we wanted to do for free travel especially Max and Bobby who put in so much time to make sure or plans went smoothly even if there was frustration along the way. We took a surprisingly nice public bus to San Jose where we stayed the night in preparation for the journey to Corcavada in the Osa Pennisula. We woke early yet again and made our way to Sierpe to catch the hour long boat ride to our three night stay at Corcavada Adventure Tent Camp where we were hooked up big time by the owner and man with the plan Larry Hustler. On our boat ride to our stay we were able to see three crocidiles laying on the river bank thanks to the sharp eye of our driver. When we finally made it to the camp area our expectations were blown away. The place was beautiful and not to mention almost mosquito free. There was so many amazing activities and places to go but not enought time and money to do them. We relaxed there the night we arrived but the next day would be quite eventful. We left early in the morning for the trip to Caño island. We cruised around for about two hours in the boat fishing and looking for aquatic life. We saw at least two pods of humpback whales there in Drake Bay. It was a beautiful sight to see the whales breach water and raise their massive tails above the water. For many of us this was the first time seeing whales in the wild as well as many other animals that we saw in Corcavada. Before we got to the snorkeling section of the trip we saw at least 8 dolphins gliding through the crystal clear waters. The grace at which they leapt into the air was quite astonishing to see. Finally we anchored the boat and prepared to snorkel in the amazing waters excited and a little nervous at what we were about to see. In those waters we saw a array of colorful fish. During the second snorkeling section after lunch we saw what almost all of us had been hoping to see. Sharks. We saw two white tipped sharks below us. One was laying still at the ocean floor, another much larger flying through the water. On our way back to the camp area Alex caught a Yellow Fin Tuna which we happily ate for dinner that night. The next day was also quite excitng, we took a hike across the beach and we were lucky enough to see Scarlet Macaws in the trees along the beach as well as a troop of white faced monkeys that allowed us to get many good photo opportunities until the flash angered them and started baring their teeth at us. They were in leaping distance so we decided to keep moving. We made it to the part of the beach where Rio Claro merged into the bay. We relaxed there, played some ultimate frisbee trying to enjoy our last day in Corcavada. When we returned we were all quite exhausted. Later that day Alex and I took to kayaks out on the ocean and watched the incredible red and orange sunset floating there speechless. After an amazing stay in Corcavada we returned to San Jose to stay in a friendly hostel for the remaninder of our free travel. We are enjoying our time here and we all look forward to Thanksgiving, we intend on making a nice meal in the communal kitchen. Hope everyones doing well back home and have a happy Thanksgiving.

I also asked everyone to write one to two things they have gained or leaned from this trip that they will use and benefit from back home.

Celia: From traveling with C.D.I ive learned to be more confident in navigating around unfamiliar places, and to let my requests and needs be known and to keep a positive attitude when in challenging situations.

Dan: I have figured out where i want to go to college, UC Santa Cruz, and what i am going to be doing for the spring semester. I will be volunteering for 3 months in the Dominican Republic with Fundacion Mahatma Ghandi which I cant wait for. I have learned how to live in the moment and be appreciative of my life and most importantly myself.

Heidi: I have been interested in Botany, Medicinal healing, sustainable living and working/studing abroad. This trip has shown me opportunities to combine all these things as a career, which before this trip thought might be an impratical goal.

Alex: Through this trip ive learned and gained independence, a good plan for my future, organization, and how to be present and enjoy each day.

Andy: Ive learned that Nicaragua´s southern pacific coast boasts sunsets that rival those of my desert home. That despite decades of political violence, repression, and state terror, people still laugh, play, reminice and smile; open their doors and offer a meal. Ive learned new salsa steps, thizzle dance, and going dumb. Ive remembered that my potential is immense. That my passions exceed my fears. and i am so greatful for all my years.

Karen: Something I´m taking away from this semester is a hgiher appreciation for those I love in my home country and understanding that I can diverdge my desires into a whole. I dont need to seperate them to understand them; humans tend to do with information as its received. Furthermore confidence and happiness.

Max: Two things I have learned and want to bring home from this trip: I have revitalized interest in yoga and plan to practice at home. Also I have learned alot of Spanish and feel really inspired to keep it up, and also to start working on my French again.

Bobby: I have learned to be more like the emperor. Not in a ruling sense, but in the same sort of mindset. Have my armor and sword at the ready, but not carrying it around unnecessarily tiring myself in that process. Think about discipline, and how it can make my life the sort of life I want to lead.

Kaise: I have gained a true appreciation for my life and the luxuries I have, also a new love for volunteering and helping others. I have also gained a strong motivation to work hard and to pursue my new found interests of Environemental Sciences at the college level.

With Much Love, Kaise.

Turtle Time

After leaving the island of Ometepe we once again awoke well before sunrise in order to make the journey to Costa Rica in time for dinner at our new home in Playa Longosta for Proyecto Baula. Surprisingly Crossing the border between Nicaragua and Costa Rica went smoother than expected. With our passports freshly stamped we were ready to venture into a new paradise known as Costa Rica. We soon experienced much greater prices in Costa Rica then what we were used to in Guatemala and Nicaragua. The country is clearly more of a touristy country and some shopping areas looked straight out of Southern California. We arrivd in Playa Tamarindo which is quite the colorful party town. We got a short ride to Playa Longosta where we have been staying for the turtle project. Our set up is quite simple two large tents and small cots but it is a very unique and rustic experience sleeping no more then 30 meters from the beach. We are staying with Carlos and Adrian who are in charge of the turtle project and leading the nightly patrols. And of course our friendly, loving Abuela who has filled our stomachs and intrigued our minds with a variety of important Spanish curse words and phrases. We also have been enjoying the companying of lots of biting flies on the beach, raccoons, iguanas, crabs, and many many welcome mosquitos who have thouroughly enjoyed our presence especially Max´s. Of course the most important yet rare visitor are the turtles. The first over night shift was very incredible for the equipo chicos guapos con suerte. We immediately found a Lora turtle which is not an endangered type of turtle but we still collected here eggs and buried them in a higher safer place. It was a strange yet amazing experience wondering the beach at 2 in the morning and it only got more amazing when Andy nearly tripped over a massive Baula turtle. The turtle probably weighed around 700 pounds and it was quite a spectacle to see this creature digging its nest with its powerful rear flippers and laying 126 eggs. Of course making it up the beach and digging there nest is extremely exhausting for these turtles and the entire process can take anywhere from 1 to 2 hours. The Baulas or leather back turtles are an endangered species as well as the negra turtles. We recorded the needed information and gathered the eggs, burying them at a more choice location for the success of the newborn turtles. It is such a shame to see several nests that have been dug up and the eggs eaten by the dozens of raccoons that roam the area. The next night shifts were longer and the late shift stretched from 11:30p.m to 4a.m. One group saw another Lora that night, but my group came up empty handed wondering the beach for hours spending time looking at the constalations in the sky a viewing the dozens of shooting stars that night. Last night our group saw a Negra turtle and collected and reburied the eggs only for half the nest to get eaten by raccoons later that night. It is an ongoing task to save these magnificent creatures and i know we all feel grateful to have experienced and contributed the survival of these species. Tomorrow we leave for our free travel portion of the trip and we are going to the Corcovada national park to see the wildlife and and incredible nature Costa Rica has to offer. Tonight are our last shifts for Proyecto Baula so hopefully the other group will ge the chance to see a Baula. Thats all for now.
Much love, Kaise

A Blast of a Time

After saying goodbye to San Juan the beach and our new friend Tyler, who has been accommodating us, we made our way over to the island of Ometepe. The island is on the biggest lake in Central America. With its water covering 8,264 sq km makes it the 21st largest lake in the world . ITS BIG! We arrived to the island by a hour long ferry boat trip, then took a 2 hour long bus ride. On the way we passed by many villages (each one getting smaller and smaller) and plunged deeper and deeper into the Pacific Dry Tropical Forest. Our hostel was literally at the end of the road, the bus could no possibly go any further.
Again we are blessed with beauty. As we got out of the van with butts sore from the constant bumps of the unpaved road, a flock of green, yellow and red parrots flew over head. There is are many critters and beautiful animals here. A teranchala scared us half to death as it tried attacking Kaiese as he ate dinner. Volcanoes also surround the island, one of which we hiked today.
On the way up we came across views looking over Ometepe. We stared trying to distinguish water from clouds in the distance. At the end of the 4 hour hike we found our selves down in the volcano of Madera. Other than a 3 ft deep pond filled with mud that one sinks into another 2 ft that Bobby attempted to swim in, a dense forest surrounds the floor.
Coming back down the mountain we came across 3 different troops of Howler monkeys. Before seeing the hairy animal their screams were heard a good 100 plus yards away. It is crazy how such a small thing can make such a loud cry.
Tonight we dined to yet another beautiful sun set and this time instead of a ocean we gazed at a massive volcano that seemed to scrape the pink sky. Tomorrow we shall rise at 5 am and hit the road once again; another country, Costa Rica. There we will start a turtle project that many of us have been looking forward to.
With love,
Alex

Nothing But Good Times

All has been and is still going really well in San Juan. Our time is being spent eating, building solar paneled water heaters, surfing, playing games and just having a fun relaxing time. The past three nights some of us have witnessed the most beautiful breath taking sun sets with the sun seeming to melt into the sea. Some have watched from a bobbing board in the waves of the sea and others from the beach.

The solar paneled water heater that we all helped make and put up is a awesome invention that Tyler had seen before but came up with his own idea. Solar panels catch and convert sun rays into energy, which then heats up water. We are one day away from setting up all the tubing so that we can have hot water in the sinks and showers. It feels good knowing that what we have really help Tyler with his dream. He is now a step further in his process of creating a hotel.

Latley after dinner we have been playing the game sardines and sherades. Sardines have so far been the favorite. For those parents who dont know the game, some one hides while the others count. Once youre done counting the search is on, but when you find the one hiding you must hide with that person until everyone finds and is hiding together. The last person to find the group of people is then it. One game we all huddled up in the bathroom. Dan curled himself under a 4 by 4 space under the sink. Without the yoga we practiced in San Marcos it would have been impossible fit.Celia was found in a humid out house. A good hiding place because no one would think or dare to go inside but damn it smelled. 8 of us huddled in a ball trying to breathe as little as possible not to smell the toxic fumes. Thankfuly I was not the first person to find her.

Tomorrow we have a boat trip scheduled. We will cruise around to another beach done the coast, while fishing and checking out the scenic view. On thursday we will say our goodbyes and head off to hike Ometepe. draft

New Beginnings

Since our last post a lot has changed, but before I tell you about the present I should talk about how we finished off in San Marcos and what has happened. Our last day 4 of us (Dan, Bobby, Max and I) decided to doing some exploring and ventured off up into the Mountains behind San Marcos and found a gorgeous waterfall. That night we celebrated halloween. With all of us dressed up in costumes we met at dinner and attempted to eat, but this was difficult for everyones costume was very comical. Heidi was a cat, Dan was Danielson from Karate kid, Bobby a lovely Lion, Max the Genie In the Lamp, Kaise a Rasta man (with dreads), a GI Jane done to perfection by Andy, Karen a troll/gremlin/I dont know but it was awesome and Celia and myself represented Oregon by being the best hippies we could be. The rest of the night was spent boogying in our outfits that each of us came across on our travels. All of us literally huddled in a dense cirlce and danced for a good 30 minutes never breaking character of what we were suppose to be. We ended the night around 12 and only slept for 4 hours before rising and hitting the road for our last city in Guatemala, Antigua.
Our best best experience of Day of the Dead was in Sumpongo, a city on our way to Antigua. After pulling off the road and into a pig slop of a parking ground we walked into a feild of kites. Both big,small, bright and dark, kites were every where. Each one was usually attached with a laughing little kid blindly running around. You had to be aware at all times for the strings that would be at head level or a diving kite. Some kites took months to build and exceeded 50 feet high. These ones were designed with elaborate colors, each different than the other and portraying a message both with words and images. People had come from all over to look at and watch the flying beasts. It was really awesome trying to articulate each message and observe such a cultural fesitval. The reason for the kites was to honor their culture and to remember and apreciate the dead.
Once in Antigua we hit the city hot quick because we only had a afternoon before we left the next day. The city was beautiful, full of very old buildings, churchs and beautiful parks, some buildings dated back to the 1700´s. That not after dinner we all found ourselves stuck in a rain storm. With 10 blocks to go and no rain jackets we dashed through the city getting soaked. It was great! The next morning, once again we rose at 4 to catch a plane. We said our goodbyes to the amazing country to Guatemala but took our unforgetable memories and expereinces with us and was off for our next adventure, Nicaragua.
We are staying in a hostel that is right outside the city of San Juan Del Sur. The person who has created the hostel is a 31 year old Oregonian, who had a dream to one day come to Central America and begin building his own hostel. Being here and observing what he has done is very inspirational. It really shows how you should believe and follow your dreams and how they can manifest into reality and through hard work you can do anything. Since we are away from the city there are no buildings or noises, other than howler monkeys in the distance and the sound of waves crashing on the beach. From our balchony we can see the blue Pacific. The weather here is mid 80´s with little spells of rain, but warm rain! During the morning after gourmet breakfast´s we help Tyler with whatever we can around his property. The afternoon is then left up to us. The beach is only a 5 min walk down the road and is visited quite often. A few of us have put alot of time into learning how to surf. The waves however are no joke! Almost everyone has be able to get up and bust some moves. I however thought I was a little too good and tried going out with the big boys and was crushed by a gigantic wave but now am able to ride farily big waves. At first I had no idea what I was getting myself into. While some put a lot of time into surfing others have just swam and relaxed back at the hostel.
All is good here. Everything in life is positive and beautiful. I want to say thank you to my mom dad and sister (Jill, Carl and Madison) for encouraging to travel and supporting me. I myself and everyone have agreed that this was the best descision. We´re all so happy to be where we are at. I love you mom, dad and mad. Thank you again
Alex B.

Karen- Is Harvesting love betweeen both parts of her cake and learning she can eat it to. She´s working on maintaining the fine balances in life, self respect and is getting excited to do the things she can´t on the go.

Andy- Focising on pressence. Patience. Contentment. Catching beautiful waves in soft warm waters. Under refreshing rain storms. Rainbow skies. Tropical cost lines in my eyes. Dirty fingers gardening in the day. and many prayers to sichebenieptevan...God of seven balls, to whome my supplications have this far produced scanty results. Hence the patience mentioned above. Slowly buy surely, I take big work...one step at a time. : )

Max- Focusing on yoga, gerneral mental and physical health. Hoping to find some answers to cosmic curiosity through beginning a practice.

Kaise- Focusing on getting back to full gealth so I can surf some waves for the first time. Also learning more of the history of Nicaragua so I can pass on yje history to everyone.

Celia- Hey everyone at home in P-town! Love you all. Focusing on keeping a positive state of mind, and being active. Learning to surf here in Nicaragua.

Bobby- Opening up my arms and my mind. Shedding the shell of uselessness, harmfull characteristics: seeking my truth all the while.

Heidi- Trying my best to soak up as much knowledge as possible here at Parque Madera. I´m learning that is possible to combine my dream career of sustainabilty, Botony & living abroad. Tyler is extremely inspirational & I am excited at the thoughts of what is to come in my future.

Dan- Focusing on keeping focused. Loving the beautiful beaches and weather and people of Nicaragua. Hopign to get plenty of surf time. Working on all aspects

Alex- I am wanting to work on being consistent and being content with who I am and what I want to be. Focusing on how I can be the best person I can be and doign this while catching the biggest wave I can... without dying. = )

Thanks again to you parents. I can´t explain how thankful we all are. We love it!

A trek to relaxation

Hola amigos y familia
We are writing from the San Marcos on the beautiful Lake Atitlan. After saying our goodbyes to Xela and all of our new acquaintances we headed off for our 3 day 28 mile trek to Lake Atitlan. On Saturday we all met at 6am with bags packed as light as we could and only what we needed for the trek. We headed off for our first day, mentally prepared, because we knew it was the hardest and longest, about 12 miles. The landscape was beautiful and we all found time to enjoy it during the struggles of going up and down the mountains with our extra weight. Our guide, David, was excellent. He had hiked that path 40+ times and was an expert on the terrain. Even though he probably could have done the trek with fewer breaks he had plenty of patience with us and when we wanted to stop regularly. We got to our camping destination next to the river. By the time we got there it was already getting dark so we had to get up our tents and start dinner started fast. David cooked us some delicious pasta with tomato sauce and after that we quickly got ready for bed and fell asleep... well, most of us. The girls tent and Andy, Alex, and Bobby´s tents were sounds fast asleep, while Max, Kaise, and I´s tent on the other hand was not so peaceful. Our zipper to our tent didn´t close and there were a blanket of mosquitos living and feasting on us. It was almost impossible to sleep for the 3 of us because we were swarmed and eaten up by the mosquitoes. We all woke up the next morning with a significant amount of blood loss and feeling reasonably rested, although I don´t know how, and started off for day two. Sunday was much shorter at around 7 miles, but it felt even more tough because of the soreness from the day before. The pace was a bit slower, but we ended up reaching our destination earlier than the day before, around 5. Our second night was in a ¨hotel¨ in a little town along the way. Our rooms consisted of 8 matresses on a floor in one room and 3 in the other. This was a lot more comfortable but reeked! If only you could imagine. We had restful night sleep but woke up at 5 am for our final so we could watch the sunrise over Lake Atitlan. Walking up to the viewpoint and seeing the jaw dropping view of the lake with a bright orange sun coming up over three volcanoes that surround the lake, one of which was smoking this was absolutely incredible a sight that could never be forgotten. Even though it was very early we were all revived and ready to go for our final day. The last day was the shortest, about 5 miles, and the most beautiful with expansive views of Lake Atitlan and the whole way down. We got to our first town of Lago Atitlan, San Pedro, then took a boat to our current destination, San Marcos. We said our goodbyes to our guide, David, and walked to our new hostel, La Paz (the peace). San Marcos is a beautiful little town that is very focused on spirituality and tranquility. Our group is split into 2 houses, one of the girls and one of guys. So far this week we have been participating in yoga, meditation classes, tarot readings, and much more. The yoga has been both challenging and revitalizing. A great way to start the day, which all of us have done at least once. Our 4 hour meditation class was also great. We learned 4 different types of meditation: moving meditation, writing meditation, a special breathing meditation, and and walking meditation. The object of learning the different types was to find one or more that worked particularly well for each person. We all left that class feeling refreshed and clear headed. The majority of our time here has been all about relaxing and self reflection. On Sunday we are off to Antigua to celebrate the Day of the Dead and Monday is our final day in Guatemala, then we are headed to Nicaragua. I collected thoughts and feelings from everyone about this week and here they are...

Max- grounded, open-minded, healthy, excited
Celia- refreshed, relieved, rested, excited, joyful, thankful
Kaise- excited, youthful, revived, zentastic, itchy
Bobby- has been looking at things incorrectly
Alex- Revived, inspired, happy, tranquil, contemplative and also wants to say... He has been loving the vibe in town and spending time thinking about his life and how to better himself. He has also made a vow to become a vegetarian for the rest of this trip.
Heidi- Refreshed, inspired, challenged, expanded, compassionate and also wants to say... I have enjoyed yoga every morning. Pushing myself athletically, mentally and providing a proper recovery for my legs, which loyally supported me our three day trek from Xela to Lake Atitlan. La Paz is the absolutely perfect place to rejuvenate our bodies and get our spiritual gears turning. We reside in a lush little town with much to offer, including a 4 hour meditation class, tarot readings, yoga, and many other fulfilling activities.
Dan- Thankful, inspired, proud, energetic, rejuvenated, and loving life and i also want to say thanks mom and dad for letting me have this incredible experience i can´t tell you how great it is for me and for my fellow CAM-goers.

Until next time,
Peace and Love from Dan, Alex and the rest of the CAM group.

Did you know Xela is Alex spelled backwards, a story of gigging down in the streets of Xela

Friends, family, countrymen, lend me your ears. We write to you during our last precious week in the lovely city of Xela, more formerly known as Quetzaltenango. Since its been a little over two weeks since our last update, fasten your seatbelts and prepare for a semi lengthy account of our ongoings thus far. Arriving in Xela on a Monday, our first days of class were on a Tuesday. The classes we are all taking (save for Andy the spanish master) are 5 hours,8 to 1, Monday through Friday. The teachers at Casa Xelaju are very knowledgable not only about the spanish language but also a great deal of Guatemalan culture. All of our experiences at Casa Xelaju have been nothing short of pleasant. The school offers daily activities that we all have been rather eager to participate in. The first of these experiences was a lesson in the Latin American dance of Meringue which had all of us stepping on toes and counting the steps out loud. Bobby´s homestay family had a birthday party and Dan´s celebrated a marriage anniversary. Interestingly the families are related and melded these two circumstances in to one joyous occasion. Meanwhile, the rest of the travelers attended a Salsa fundraiser which sparked a high level of enthusiasm to learn this style of dance. As a result, the follwoing evening we all took a free Salsa lesson provided by the individuals who put on the benefit. After the lesson had ended we all went back to our respective houses and prepared for our hike to Laguna Chicabal. Laguna Chicabal is a lake sacred to some Mayan cultures, situated in the crater of Guatemalan volcano. Having finally ascended the volcano we came upon the lake shrowded in fog, giving it a very mystic appreance. It was easy to see why the lake is important to so many people upon first glance. Located around the perimeter of the lake were altars about every 50 feet. On our way out of the crater we had to ascend exactly 615 steps before we could begin our descent. On Sunday, the eleventh, the boys experienced an authentic Guatemalan sporting event. The Xela Super Chivos (Super Sheep) played the University of San Carlos from Guatemala City. The event overall was a huge success highlighted by our newly enhanced vocabulary (mostly bad words), eating Guatemalan stadium food, and a 3 to 0 Super Chivos victory. On wednesday of our second week, we volunteered at a local grammar school called La Pedrera after our own classes were finished. The children who attend the school come from very impovrished backgrounds and enjoy the attention of big gringos. It made those who went feel a sense of nostalgia because of our intimate experiences in Poptun, Peten earlier on in our adventure. The next day after class, Casa Xelaju offered a lecture on the history of Guatemala up until 1954 going into specific detail on the revolution during 1944. This lecture was accompanied by a second part which covered from where we left of until present time. These lectures were great opportunities to practice our spanish comprehension due to the fact that they were given in spanish by a teacher of the school. If it werent for Andy´s timely translations most of us would have been lost within the first 5 minutes of each lecture. On friday the seventeenth we had a day off from school due to the celebration of Guatemalan Independance. We took this pause from our studies to further explore the area around Xela. The first stop was at a Mayan village called Zunil. We visited two very different places during our time here. The first of these was a weaving cooperative which employes over 500 Mayan women. This gave us some insight into all the hard work that goes into the creation of the bags, clothing, and trinkets that we come into contact with on a daily baises. The second of these locations was a house tucked deeply into the city. This place was the current home to the Idol named San Simon. San Simon is an example of the clash of cultures between Spanish indoctrinated Catholicism and Indigenous Mayan faith. It is also a prime example of Idol worship which the Catholic Church does not recognize as legitimate. After our departure from Zunil, the highlight of the day was upon us. Having bused for 30 minutes we were able to take a dip in the hot springs named Las Fuentes de Georginas for some rest and relaxation. All in all it was a great day. On suday the eighteenth we took a 2 hour and 30 minute day trip to the famous Guatemalan market city of Chichicastenango, to the locals known as ChiChi. The best way to describe the ongoings there is ¨Sensory Overload¨. The crowded streets, persistent vendors, inescapable noise created a very hectic scene. This is also were the lot of us completed the bulk of our shopping for all of you back in Gringolandia. That brings us to todays events. After class we learned how make chocolate at Max´s homestay. After today, we only have three brief days in this fabulous city. But its not all sad because on Saturday we embark on a three day trek to Lake Atitlan, one of the most flooring sights Guatemala has to offer. In total we will hike 42 kilometers in three days, thats 26 miles for all you who arent so keen with the metric system. Assuming that our prayers of surviving this hike, we will update all of our loved ones at the end of October. We depart for Nicaragua on the second of November.


Much Love from Dan, Bobby, and the rest of the CAM Carpe Diem Crew

just so you know who is who....
(from left to right)
Dan, Bobby, Celia, Heidi, Karen, Alex, Max, Andy, and Kaise (pronounced like kai-eees like pie)

PHOTOBUCKET, that means pictures mom.

Because of popular demand, mainly my dad, we have a photobucket account for your viewing pleasure.

http://s673.photobucket.com/albums/vv97/cam09album/




love
bobby

Naturally Flowmatic

Carpe Diem is the name of our group.
Crammin 25 in a 14 seater, as if were in a coop.
Going nation to nation,on the road agin to a fresh destination.
Bags packed, domes in tacked, onwards in our adventure yo, no hesitation.
Were naturally nomatic,scratch that flomatic, no static, on the road wreaking havoc.
Back at it cause were a traveling addict.
Just left Jam bamboo, all night long played teh drums with you.
Were one dope ass crew, don´t stress we like you too.
We don´t have to have the same state of mind,
Be sure to squeeze in some peace and love and we´ll all be fine,
Fantastic, Camtastic, pleae don´t burn you´re plastic.
Travel the worl with our third eye open,
You can catch me in the free world hoppin, to bring a liitle light to a dark place,
To put a smile on a sad looking face.
Max on the guitar, us three on the lyrics,
Don´t go far you know you wanna here this.
We don´t get caught up and we don´t stress beef,
You can´t set trip you´re rollin with me.
Although this adventures in diapers, it´s just a baby,
Weve learned allot and that´s no maybe.
Chillen in the cloud forest, so dense and so green green,
Bro we moved more mud then you eva seen seen.
Boots so slopped up, we be stuck in a lean.
We comin to yoru city, whatcha gunna do?
the CAM Crew comin through bringing good vibes to you.
Scrambalin for the scrilla on a lard pole in Poptun.
Jugamos con pelotas and singing Bob Marley´s tune.
¿Yo estoy caliente y tu?
Pullin Spanish bloopers, giggling, smiling, lovin all of you.
dan´s the man with the plan in his hand.
A thankful G, a positive light he never seases to see.
He provides some dope beats,
When he smiles your heart leaps.
Oh Celia, you´re making my heart, you´re building my confidence baby.
You know it´s true,you be fallin right into my heart,
Slippen every where what´s new?
She´s giving and loving, digs el musica de espanol and also likes hugging.
Mucho gusto, me llamo Andya,
He´s wittier then any fool you eva senna.
He´s one of the leaders of the pack,
Rock climbin, Spanich speaking, his juggling skills are just wick, wick, wack.
His knowledge and insight will take your mind fora flight,
Soarin, never borein, big balla, atcha boy give a halla.
Mr. Bobble-O-Seven intellect and cleverness you´re always reppin.
You´re a deep bro fo sho, a water rhino.
When it comes to el agua there´s no testin, hands down you gave Alex his lesson.
Kaise my brotha you´re one cool cat.
crackin jokes all the time adn reppin the Jamaican hat.
Always goin with the flow and gettin hit on the chicks, fo sho.
the boys are a little jelouse but how we all love you so.
My Dead Head friend, you know who you are.
With you´re guitar and you´re voice, you´re our group star.
There´s no one like you near nor far,
Your humour and your doodles, we all have love for you in oodles.
And last but not least, smallest but with a pick axe one hot beast.
We´ve got Kare Bear, the lovely bubbly you share is rare.
supportive, self-exported, smile loaded.
One´s tempted to hoard it
But like you we´ll share adn while doing so a smile we´ll wear.
Alex what´s left?
I guess it´s just you and me.
What can I say were some funky MCs.
Keepin it fresh and unique
And to think we havn´t even reached the peak.
Reminice a month ago we were prparing to deploy
And remember the earth is our mother not a toy,
So always appreciate her, BOI!
- Heidi
Flow written by Heidi, Alex and Max!

Xela who? No, Xelaju!

After reading this blog families, friends, and loved ones will understand why it has been such a long time since our last post. Today is our first full day in the lovely metropolis of Quetzaltenango aka Xela, but before i delve too much into our current activities let me inform you all of what our group has been doing the past several days. The last post we shared that we were about to embark on a small journey to Tikal. We arrived at the national park around 3 or so. After placing our bags in our respective tents who entered the park for a three hour tour. If you know anything about Tikal you understand 3 hours is analogous with a speed date. Fortunately, we were able to spend the next morning either making it to places in the park that we werent able to see or spend more time in the locations that we had seen the previous day. Tikal is a fascinating place which reeks with hundreds of years of culture, and we were happy to have spent time there. After a brief, final lunch in San Andres we set sail for Coban and the hostel Casa Luna for a single night. The trip totaled around seven hours in which we all either read books, held conversations, sang and/or listened to music, or like Alex slept. The drive into the highlands was very beautiful and the terrain which is a combination of jungle and mountains was unlike anything that i have ever experienced. Arriving in Coban to the tune of Bohemian Rhapsody put smiles on all of our faces. We welcomed the cooler climate that the mountains provided and some even adorned sweatshirts and long pants (Dan and Bobby were looking too handsome in our new Mayan Calender tank tops to change). The next morning we took a public bus basically the size of a school bus and a smaller van to the village of San Lucas Chicacnab. The van made to seat 12 was filled with twice as many living, breathing humans (not counted were the Guatemalans who were hanging on to the roof) which is the norm for public transportation in the great country of Guatemala. Our journey was not yet complete after reaching San Lucas. We had a 2 1/2 hour hike uphill in the jungle between us and our destination, Chicacnab. After minor struggles and playing some word association games to pass the time, we made it to this remote jungle village high up in the mountains. Living here was basically the furthest thing from the life that most, if not all, of us were accustomed to. The village of Chicacnab consisted of 32 families who all had the same goals in mind; to stop deforestation in their village and to continue to live their relatively comfortable lives. Hardly any women spoke spanish, which made those of us less adept in spanish conversation feel a little better about ourselves. Q`Eqchi, one of 23 Myan dialects, was the first language that all inhabitants learned to speak. Our accomodations were simple, but at least they had a building that all nine of us could share. Interstingly enough, a Carpe Diem group had previously helped build the structure called "The Hotel" that we rested our heads under. The floor was dirt and we didnt have any electricty but this had little to no effect on the group morale. Sharing a space together and again eating our meals with one another were nice perks that our time spent in Chicacnab afforded us. Our service project was to dig into the side of a small hill behind The Hotel and level the area so they could build an adjacent kitchen could be built. If anyone out their reading this has ever tried to dig into the side of a hill and build a structure from scratch you would know that 5 days is far too few to complete such a task. Undetered, we took our picks and hoes (this allowed for a nauseating ammount of jokes) and started our project. One of our fearless Leaders, Karen, was in short a piking fiend which the lot of us struggled to keep pace with. During our third day of work we experienced rain throughout the entire day and were forced to stop labor. This did not stop us from having a good time however. Bobby, Alex, and Dan had a mud fight for the ages and will not soon be forgotten. Celia and Heidi learned from a 14 year old girl how to weave during one afternoon. The mud fight entailed a shower for those who participated, while bathing we witnessed something that will remain with us for a while. A group of villagers had taken a pregnant, sick woman to the nearest hospital several hours away. We witnessed her return; she was strapped to a chair which in turn was being lugged on the back of a grown man. Our jaws immediately dropped and we all exchanged words of appreciation for the proximity of hospitals in each of our home towns. The last night of our stay the villagers held a celebration for us decked out with a Marimba, chocolate drinks, and plenty of dancing. We all enjoyed the final night very much and it was nice to feel a sense of appreciation and accomplishment. The next morning we departed with hugs and handshakes, made our way down the mountain, and waited for our bus to civilization and Coban. While waiting for our bus we started a geography word association game which Andy ended up winning 6 hours later. Once in Coban we all ate a short lunch and departed for the hostel named "Jam Bamboo" which is in walking distance from Semuc Champey. The hostel had a Italian menu and we all ate pizzas, pastas, and salads the two nights we were there. The first night one could feel the pleasant, warm, and welcoming aura of the hostel. Andy, Max, Alex, and Dan helped us all feel the aura by joining in on a drum circle with those who worked at the hostel. The following morning we anxiously hiked down to Semuc Champey, meaning Sacred Waters in a Mayan dialect. The landmark is aply named. It begins with a river rushing into an underground cave, all the while several small trees feed the numerous tranquil pools on top loaded with bathers. I can speak for everyone when I say that it improved all of our moods dramatically. After an action packed day at the lovely Semuc Champey we sluggishly returned to Jam Bamboo in groups of two. Upon return Max and Bobby made sweet music with Kaise and Celia as their audience while the other group trekked up a hill to get a bird´s eye view of all of Semuc Champey. The night was rather mellow with all of us enjoying pizza and good conversation. The next morning we made an eleven hour journey to the second largest city in all of Guatemala named Quetzaltenango (Xela). Xela has a population of around 150,000 and is our home for the next 3 weeks. Last night we met our new homestay families (these families are also our last homestay experience on the trip). We look forward to above average living conditions and building a meaningful relationship with each of our families all the while enhancing our spanish skills in a nice and comfortable environment. As i had previously mentioned, today is our first full day in Xela and also the first day of classes. We expect the blogging to pick up in frequency seeing as how we now have 12 computers at our disposal at Casa Xelaju, our spanish school. We all send our love and think about you all a lot. Staying with one family for an extended period of time will undoubtedly make me miss my family back in Loomis, CA a whole ton more. Let me again speak for all of us when I say that we are supremely thankful for this opportunity and look forward to personal growth and further insight into what it means to be a responsible adult. I believe now you can understand why you all have experienced a dry spell of information regarding your young travelers. Also, I fully blame any spelling and grammar errors due to the increasing pain in my rump left our from our 11 hour bus ride.



Much Love,
Bobby Fleming and the Carpe Diem CAM Family

A Curandera, a Slaughter and Some Jaguars!

We are wrapping it up here in San Andres, spending some time with our families and preparing some thankyou gifts. We have been emmersed into some of the historical Myan beliefs of San Andres, including a visit to a Curandera(a shamanistic herbal healer.)At the Curandera we learned about some of the common sicknesses amongest children and ways of healing them. One of the illnesses is caused from the transfer of heat, from someone who has recently been working or is drunk, to a baby, causing fever. Curing it involves an egg, a lemon, a duck, a local grown herb, some other goodies and some ancient orations. Karen has visited the Curandera since then and has had a facinating experience. Aside from this, these last couple of days have been mello and relaxing, as far as activities go. We have managed to fit in allot of swimming and time with group.
Last night Dan, Celia, Robert, Max and Alex had an experience that will forever change there outlook on what it is to eat meat. Dan´s family are butchers and the group mentioned before, had the opportunity to watch them kill a pig. This raw experience has brought more appreciation for the meats eaten here as well as respect for the locals interactions with the animals. The animals here live a life untainted from inhuman treatment. We are thankful for the culture we have been exposed to and are pumped to continue on our journy.
The excitment continues to bubble up in us as we prepare to head our for our first visit to a Myan ruin site, in Tikal. We will be camping out over night at the Jaguar Inn near the Tikal jungle. Hopefully none of us will wake up to find ourselves in a jaguar cuddle puddle, for there are Jaguars in the area, thus the name. Dan, Alex and Kaise arranged our stay in Tikal as well as the transportation there. Thanks Boys!
All of us here send our love and are thinking of ya (you know who you are)!
The Cam Crew
- Heidi

Quetzales in the Bank, Shawty Whatch Drank

Its our third day at our second homestay, in San Andres. We apologize for the lack of blogs thus far. We thourghly enjoiyed ourselves in Poptuon and were fortunate enough to have participated in the local Guatemalan Independence Day festivities. These festivities included, sack races, music, a compatition with horses and a scramble up a 30 foot tall, lard covered log. Alex and Robert were champs and participated in the human ladder to get to the top of the lard pole. Although Alex got pantsed infront of everybody and a little aftermath of sore backs, it remains a once in a life time experience. We explored the city of Poptun with a fun scavanger hunt, put togeather by Celia and did our first service project at La Escuela. Our service project included filling a large planter box with soil and putting up the fence. We spent alot of time at the school aside from our service project. There, we were greeted with lots of smiles and many invitations to play soccer and basketball. The children were very friendly and we became immediate friends with many of them.
We were spoiled with the wonderful meals made for us and ate togeather as a group. Most of the meat we ate was once crusing around in our backyards, including tamales made with a cerro, pig, from Heidis house. With a mixture of excitement and a little sadness we moved on in our adventure, never to forget the family and freinds we made in Poptun.
We took an hour long bus ride form poptun, which gave Andy the first hand experience of what a sardine in a can may feel like. To our ammusment he was accompanied by a man who basically sat on his lap the whole way, yelling for more passangers out the window. We were thankful to arrive in Florez where we took a great boat ride across the lake, Peten, and arrived where we now reside. Yesterday we had a great field day. Max, Andy and Heidi went to an organic farm , where they gathered fruit, habeneros and saw the national tree of Guatemela, a Ceida. Karen, Celia, Robert, Kaise, Alex and Dan went to an animal rehibilitation where they saw the beautiful Occelots and experienced how crazy Spider Monkeys can be,
Big Love from The Cam Crew!
- Heid, Robert and Max!

We made it!

Having met the group after months of only knowing them over the internet has made this whole journey become real. It started as we sat in a circle on the ground in the airport playing games and getting to know eachother. After a 6 hourt flight to El Salvador and another half hour to Guatemala City we hopped on a 7 hour bus ride to Finca Ixobel. Alex managed to get the most sleep on the bus in the most uncomfortable awkward positions while everyone else struggled to get any sleep. After 7 hours we were shown around the beautiful Finca Ixobel grounds and to our rooms. Bobby, Dan, Max, Alex, and Kaise were all in the same dormitory while Celia and Heidi slept two doors down next to Andy and Karen. The boys were welcomed by a half foot long spider and a bat flying in their room. After eating a great dinner we ended the night with a few games of scattergories and after a long day of traveling for everyone and lots of heat and humidity everybody fell asleep with no problems. The next day was filled with activities, orientation, and group agreements to make these next 3 months go smoothly. In between group meetings some people decided to swim in the lagoon while other people relaxed and did what they wanted. We were lucky to have a ping pong table which everyone managed to spend plenty of time on throughout our stay there. Everyone decided to get a early nights sleep to prepare for a long and exciting day of caving and swimming. Everybody woke up ready to go except for Celia and Dan who unforunately came down with a slight stomach illness. Andy graciously stayed behind to make sure things went well for both of our sick companions (including but not limited too providing ginger ale). As for the remaining six, we enjoyed our breakfast, packed lunches and flashlights, applied sunscreen, filled up our water, and began our two hour trek through the Guatemalan jungle. Our guide Pilar, although not practiced in English was very experienced in navagating the jungle and got us to our destination with only a minor hiccup. Pilar and most of us heard a gun shot while no more than 100 yards from the cave entrance. Erring on the side of caution, the students sat and waited for Pilar and Karen to go ahead and examine the noise further. Our anxiety was for nothing, after seeing three jovial hunters walking towards us. The cave at first sight was a lot like many others, but upon further inspection it was rather unique. Flying bats and cool deep waters put smiles on all of our faces. The stark contrast between the heat of the jungle and the refreshing pools of the cave was welcomed by all. One of the many features inside the cave was a 20 foot jump which had the bravest of us showing signs of trepidation. Once out of the cave we enjoyed the quick lunch that we packed and scrambled back to Finca Ixobel as fast as the terrain would allow.
Betweem the great meals, plush accomodations, and some heated games of ping-pong, Finca Ixobel was a great place. We left it for the town of Poptun for our first homestays. Everyone seems to like their families so far, though most of us can´t tell what they´re saying. I am excited to be forced to improve my Spanish, because progress has been slow so far. Tuesday is Guatemalan Independence Day, and being part of the celebrations should be a great experience for all. Until next time, much love from Dan, Celia, Max, Heidi, Kaise, Bobby, Andy and Karen. Paz!

Let the Journey Begin!

I just spoke to our intrepid leaders, Andy and Karen, and they've got the entire group together and are heading through SFO airport security as we speak! I have to admit this is an auspicious beginning to the semester as everything seems to be going quite smoothly thus far ... and I'm sure the semester will continue accordingly!

So, stay tuned for fairly regular blogs from the students on a roughly weekly basis. Until then, this is Ethan, signing off.

Cannot wait for CAM!!!!

Hola Los Amigos: Alex, Celia, Dan, Heidi, Kaise, Max, y Robert,

This is our blog-site in which all of your friends and family will be vicariously living through. Once a week one of you will be a "blogger"/author who will describe all the juicy details of our amazing, twisting, bumpy and winding roads that we travel along during the next three months. We encourage you to peruse past blogs to get an idea of what they might, might look like. Also, please inform your family and friends of this site, and show them how to log in, so they will know what an amazing and authentic experience we are having.

In addition to gaining responsibility of the blog, we will have other job titles assigned and rotated once every 1-2 weeks. They are described below. Contemplate which one you are most enthused to take charge of for the first couple weeks of the semester.

Cribs: Organizes any sleeping accommodations we need. ie: hotel/hostel/camping

Hotwheels:
Coordinates our transportation to and from cities, activities, caves...

Director of Fun:
Scopes out and arranges fun activities. ie: Hiking volcanoes, reiki classes, salsa lessons...

El Cap:
The leader of our team who makes sure everything runs according to date, corresponds with budget and is plainly doing their job. Yeah, crack that whip... ;)

Slacker:
Actually one of the most important roles. The slacker picks up the slack we all drag behind. If we are messy, you help clean up and delegate us to pick up our poop. The slacker may also write appreciation letters to those in communities helping us have an amazing experience and may deliver flowers and chocolate... you get the idea.

Appreciator:
This person compliments the slacker. He/she tags people throughout the week with stickers or ribbons as he/she catches them performing acts of kindness, growing in a special way, recognizes strong effort, pushing comfort zones, etc.

Clark Kent: The news reporter who finds out current events in local communities, U.S. happenings and any other cultural information we should be aware us as we travel.

Spanish Spiller: provides us with a word of the day and encourages us to use it until we are blue in the face. ie: "VACA" "Tengo un vaca en mi camiseta." Yes, we just wrote that.

We are pupped for our upcoming endeavors as we get ready for this place called Central America, and hope you are too. Spend lots of time with your family and friends, eat lots of American food and listen to a lot of Latino music. We'll See you sooner than later!

PAZ,

Karen and Andy

Gratitude

Happy Mother's Day! As we post this last blog, Namanda (Nick & Amanda) would like to take the opportunity to thank the mothers (and fathers) out there for giving space for your son and daughters to further spread their wings over Central American's vibrant currents. How to encapsulate three months of intense living and inspiring transformations... although there is not so much a need for this, since the 'light bulbs' from our trip have registered at bodily levels, and will thrive in us and lead us onwards.
For one, I think we'd all agree how we've learned of the freedom that comes from opening up to the magic of the moment. For one, I (Amanda) am reminded of that as I scribe this blog from Arizona. Prior to May 5, I had no plans to make it home for Mother's Day, but found the world conspire to move me in this direction as our CAM family attempted to travel to our respective homes from Roatan, Honduras.
On May 5, we arrived to the Roatan aiport and Namanda began the check-in process. To our amazement, we learned that five of the eight of us had our plane tickets mysteriously 'canceled'. While a bit strange, we expected this to eventually sort itself out, but ultimately Nick, Tim and Julia had to board the plane without the other five after we said our abrupt goodbyes. The rest of us hunkered down to 6.5 hours of airport time while we phoned our travel agent nearly every half hour in hopes of new flight confirmations. As the airport shut its lights off around 7pm, we swiftly negotiated vouchers for food and lodging, and set off in a taxi for West End beach. Safely checked into our hotel, we found out from headquarters that indeed we'd have the same flight schedule the next day. We drifted off to sleep with that relief and assurance.
The morning greeted us with another unexpected surprise: rumors of strikes on the island which might prevent us from traveling to the airport from West End. We heard several different stories, but ultimately took the advice of a taxi driver wielding a cell phone and radio. He anticipated that the strikers would close down several more routes as the day progressed, and that it would be best for us to leave for the airport immediately.
As this driver (who we learned is the president of taxi drivers on this side of the island) carted us to the airport, we learned more about the situation at hand. The strikers were Honduran construction workers frustrated with the reality that many Guatemalans have been arriving to the island and taking up jobs that would otherwise be theirs. As a result, many Hondurans were struggling with 'making ends meet'.
We arrived to the airport to find all but one of our plane tickets confirmed and easily ticketed. While we waited for TACA to locate Amanda's ticket, several reporters entered the airport to investigate the situation of plane departures in light of the striking laborers. Apparently, there had recently been an altercation between the police and the strikers, reporting several injured, and the rioters were now moving towards the airport. Amanda was briefly interviewed live by these reporters, before being called by TACA personel who asked all of us to move through security to our first flight which was taking off an hour and fifteen minutes before schedule. Unclear, but a bit relieved to have lift-off from the island, we boarded our first of four planes en route to San Francisco.
For the next twelve hours, Anjali, Hannah, Rachel, Jessica and Amanda rode the wave of travel home (Amanda having decided to suprise mom for mom's day rather than travel El Salvador), through La Ceiba to San Pedro Sula to San Salvador, and finally to the open arms of Julia awaiting us in San Francisco. Meanwhile, Nick was struggling with worry as he attempted launch into solo travel in Panama, and Tim was off to his Boston home.
The interesting twists of these final moments of our journey appropriately reflect the curiosities we encountered on our travels through the region. It's these unpredictables of life that encourage us to develop a comfortability with the 'chaos'. The attitudes with which we deal with these such situations that arise are ultimately those which sculpt our experiences of life...
We hope you continue to find the magic, the silver lining, the message of hope and possibility in every instance of our ever-changing lives. Remembering that it is our relationships with one another that sustain, and in the most frustrating and seemingly 'lost' of times, we can call on one another and again set aflight with the wings expanded in Central America. Que viva, pura vida.

Diving into our final week

We have found another paradise in Roatan, Honduras. Getting here was another trip in itself. Our taxi was late for our 4 am pickup at our hostel in San Jose, and at the airport we apparently "had reservations, but no tickets" and waited at the check-in desk for 1 1/2 hours. The rest of the day went complication free, despite the fact that we stopped at 4 more airports. Our hotel, Posada Las Orquideas, is a dream come true. We have three beautiful rooms with ocean views. Not to mention the simple convenience of water and electricity, both of which we were without the week before. Quick facts: We are on the West End, which is very touristy. The locals speak English, as well as a Creol dialect? because the British used to have control over the island. Ok, those were very quick facts.
We came to get certified in SCUBA, and Roatan is said to be the second best place to do just that (second to the great barrier reef of course). The dive shop is next door to our hotel, and is run by the sweetest, chillest, local people. Our classes consisted of watching 5 hilarious instructional videos (one of which was an infomercial for PADI "stuff"). Tony, our instructor, let us essentially teach ourselves the details. He didn't spend time in the classroom, but out in the water, he was great. The curriculum has closed-water dives, and open-water dives built into it. But this dive shop forgoes the close-water dives and takes students out in the ocean on the first day. Most of the group absolutely loved diving from day one. (The reef is such a beautiful world after all.) A couple of us were not as enthusiastic at first. When Hannah and I would begin panicking about a particular skill practice, Tony would say matter-of-factly, "why are you worried? This is the easiest sport in the world. All you have to do is breathe." Which is the truth, essentially. Not all of us are able to always see it that way, however, when we are many feet under the OCEAN. We all became certified on Saturday! With the exception of Jessica and Julia, who didn't take the course...(Jessica could not participate because of complications with a past head injury). Amanda was already certified on her last Carpe Diem trip in Australia, and chose to take 5 (we love our overachieving leader) courses. We all joined her in her final dive, the night dive. Tony told us before we set out that it is, "the safest dive", because we don't go deep, and stay in a small area. (And technically, if the night dive is the safest, and scuba is the easiest sport, we could have spent the evening in bed and been at the same risk level. Ha! According to this dude Tony.) We took down flashlights and were able to see lobsters, and other parts of the reef that only feed at night. Turning off the lights, we played in the phosphorescence. I personally had a terrifying experience when I floated to the surface due to a lack in weights, couldn't swim down, or find the boat. We had been warned that jellyfish swim at the surface at night. Tony pulled me down eventually (thanks to my amazing buddy Hannah) before I had a heart attack. All in all it was a great dive. Everyone was in a great mood afterward.
Although Jessica and Julia didn't take SCUBA courses, they were able to snuba, (which is the bizarre combination of snorkeling and scuba. One takes an air hose under the water, but without safety equipment used for scuba. Sounds more risky than scuba.), play with baby monkeys, and visit a local museum. Jessica and Rachel also swam with dolphins!
To get the vibe of this past week, we encourage you to listen to the following playlist (these songs were on repeat at the dive shop all day long):
1. Whatever you like--TI, and this song is also the theme song to the entire trip
2. Mad--Ne-yo
3. Right now--Akon
4. Miss Independent--Ne-yo
As it is our last week together, we planned a few final bonding evenings. We played a great game of "funniest Guatemala moments" charades, had a delicious potluck (each of the 3 rooms brought 1 or 2 special dishes, and it was quite a success), attempted to watch the Costa Rica vs. USA soccer game on tv, but ended up chatting on the beach, and tonight we have reservations at an ocean side restaurant. Our final night together! Yes, the time has finally come to say goodbye. We are in our last phases of organization before the trip home (although if you were to walk into one of our rooms the word "organization" would not come to mind). The students part ways with the fabulous leaders in San Salvador tomorrow evening, and go our separate ways the next morning. We all will miss Central America. What an experience this has been! I am failing to find words to express how valuable this journey has been. Thank You Carpe Diem! Goodbye dear blog readers, thanks for following. (For all you prospective CAM students, do it! Just do it. Wow.) With love, Anjali

pitch black sandy beaches

4/20
2:00pm we caught our bus for a 4hr bus ride to San Jose to spend the night before our journey to the turtle project. San Jose was nice but we were all mostly pretty tired and took the night to relax, eat, and catch up on our e-mails, facebook, blogs, etc. before enjoying our first all ladies dorm room hehe sorry timo and nico!
The next morning we woke up bright and early for an interesting journey involving transit from taxi-bus-taxi-boat. The boat was by far the best part. It was a 30 minute ride that led us on canals through a safari jungle. It was like we were on our way to Jurassic Park. Which, we later we found out was actually quite possible considering the movie had been filmed in that very same area of Costa Rica. With no previous experience in this realm of volunteer work we had very few/ little to no ideas about what time place was going to be like just that it was started by a man named Roberto Solano, a biologist and that it was located somewhere on the Carribean coast by the Pacuare River(wherever that is?). After the boat ride and a 15 minute walk through palms we had arrived and were warmly welcomed by the project coordinator Sherry. We all settled in to our rooms and then headed off to have some lunch and orientation. During orientation Sherry told us a little bit about the program and how most of our guides had previously been poachers but had come to work for her and also notified us that we would be walking that night! The shifts were four hours long and we were to go in pairs. Little after we were given this information it began to rain...and rain. Shifts started at 7,8,9,10,11,12. Luckily Rachel and I got the late night shift so we could nap a bit after dinner...or so we thought. After dinner everyone was pretty excited but still so completely unware of what it was exactly that we were going to be doing. We all went to bed awaiting our shift. Two by two every hour our group disappeared off into the unknown. When it came to be 11:30 Rachel and I awoke packed all of our stuff and headed off for Blue Skies Chris (meeting point before walks). Our guide was late so we sat and talked with a member from the other camp who had come to join us that night. The walk started off long cold monotonous with no sound other than the crashing of the waves to our right and the pouring of the rain from above. It was dark and it kept getting darker we stumbled around for 2 hours thinking to ourselves why would anyone want to do this?! We had encountered one turtle but she decided she wasn't going to lay eggs so we continued on. When we reached the point we turned around to return home. Our clothes were soaked our spirits were low and the constant questions of why am i doing this kept floating around. We walked on for about 20 mintues until we came across another turtle who was in the process of digging her nest. We all stood around hiding in the shadows our clothes stickign to us while Minor our guide yelled instructions at us in incomprehensible spanish. He helped the turtle dig and wrote away in on his clipboard yelling some more for us to help keep the sheets dry and safe from the rain as well as the turtle eggs as he put them in a plastic bag. After about 45min of birthing this turtle we were finally going to be able to go to hatchery and home! We came across to other turtles on our way back but we left them behind. We were later explained that we cannot simply pick up every nest of eggs and that their must be some natural nests in order to not throw off any other balance in nature. We made it to the hatchery and reburied the eggs and finally headed off for home!! When we arrived it was 5:20am we were soaked and starving but too tired to think about anything other than peeling off our soaked clothes and jumping into bed.

In the mornign after discussing our walks over breakfast we were able to tour the project a little bit more and were told that during the day we were to work as well. Aiding in all Camp maintinence duties which included: weeding, composting, beach sweep, tidying rooms, helping in the kitchen, making sure Chancho(the piggy) was well fed and comfortable, and my favorite! filling basins of water and bringing them to the kitchen and outside our dorms. Prior to our arrival the generator that provided the camp with water had decided to kill over and die so no electricity and no running water.The project had many great big ideas to bring them towards their main goal of sustainabiliy but for some reason were just not working. The ideas for the butterfly/frog garden, hydroponics, compost/trash management were all great big ideas but they involved much more planning and work and right now their plans due to disunion within management had caused all these ideas/plans to be poorly executed. It was clear that they had been struggling especially after having weathered a series of storms which had not only thrown off the rythym off the ocean making it unsage to swim but had taken out there flower, vegetable, butterfly&frog, gardens. Just as the "ocean needs time to heal" as Sherry said so did this place. And we had arrived in the middle of what seemed to be a slow long recovery. There was a lot of work to be done...

Knowing this, the majority of the group seemed really respond to the call for help and accept the challenge. Even though after first having been under the impression that we were to walk all night and sleep all day. The majority got up out of their beds in the morning to help out with camp maintinence and were out there every other night into the dark abyss with high hopes of being able to rescue some of these magnificent creatures. I believe all of the questions we had been asking about this very peculiar labor were finally answered when a man named Glenn who was a coordinator of a different project gave us a mini lecture. Usually all of us tend to zone out, get bored and try sleep without anyone catching us, like a highschool math class. But, this was different. Glenn captivated us all and gave us the run down of basically all the other turtle projects, the migration routes of the turtles and the reasons of why they are so highly endangered and nearly extinct and gave us yet another call to action through his passionate presentation. Glenn at least for me gave me reason to continue my daily labors throughout the rest of my stay. Its a beautiful thing to see someone so passionate about their work. To believe so whole heartedly in what they do that you can feel it and want to be apart of that something. Maybe I am strange but it made the following days much easier for me.

Aside from all the labors we got the chance to meet a new group of people who were also volunteers and really just talk and understand where they were all coming from. A specific group made up of 3 kids from German all around 19 like us were towards the end of their travels. Not wanting to go home. Wanting to explore the rest of the world. Not wanting to worry about college, jobs, money, the realworld! It was nice knowing we weren't the only ones.

Our last night after dinner we had a pow wow pulled tarot cards and discussed our experiences over the past week of volunteer. It was nice because the previous nights walk had gone much better than we had expected(considering the lack of action on previous nights) for everyone was finally able to see turtles AND rescue a nest of eggs! The discussion was so interesting considering the range of different answers, view points, and stories. It was exciting because even though we are all here together and have been for the last almost 3 months as a little camfamily we each are so unique and experience, see, feel, and take things so differently.

It has been a real treat throughout this trip to hear what everyones thoughts are about our many experiences. We have journeyed for quite a bit and we have all come so far together. Even with our differences we have all managed to become this amazing, strong, and caring mix of friends. With only one more week and pull of tarot left before our return to all over the states.

Our meeting ended early and we all turned in for bed. We had to be awake and ready to go at 4:30am to catch our boat to take us back to the world outside of Jurassic Park.

Sorry i am bad at ze writing of ze blog.

LOVE hessica <3>

Swine Flu - Update from Carpe Diem HQ

The following is a post recently made to our FAQ page that we wanted to include to all of you who might be reading this blog.

Swine flu has recently been confirmed throughout Mexico and parts of the US. A few other countries have also reported possible infections. While we're in touch with the CDC and monitoring all of the international news we can put our hands on, we also feel we are uniquely placed to handle the situation given that all of our field staff are trained in Wilderness Medicine; two of our office staff are currently Emergency Room nurses; and the other is a Wilderness EMT. We also have contact with a variety of local doctors (including a few with advanced training in international and tropical medicines) that should needs require we can reach out to.

Our spring & fall 2009 programs will continue to run as scheduled although we plan on requiring flu shots for our fall programs as they have been proven (with Avian Flu for instance) to much reduce any severity of infection. We may also choose to outfit our medical kits with extra supplies such as extra hand sanitizer and the like.

Swine Flu is an offshoot of the 1918-19 flu: just as every flu since then has been. In that strain of flu as well as most that have followed including Swine, Pneumonia has been the actual concern and the one we're most on guard for. The good news is that once recognized there are very good treatments for Pneumonia and we are very familiar with good doctors in the areas our students travel. Of course we plan on continuing to take the proactive approach and deal with any medical potentialities quickly and professionally. Since that initial pandemic in 1918, the subsequent strains have historically been more and more benign. The Swine Flu is presenting thankfully as a low-mortality flu (currently, in the US as an example, there have been 50 suspected cases and only one took an overnight in the hospital before being discharged in good health). So, while this particular flu strain is stronger than the typical seasonal flu, we are hopeful that it will continue to be as easily treatable as it has been.

We just finished a week in complete and total paradise, in the form of the ecological resort-in-progress Parque Maderas. Last Sunday we left Leon at 9 am for the four hour drive to San Juan Del Sur, arriving at Parque Maderas in the heat of the early afternoon. However, we pretty much forgot about being hot once we discovered where we were. Parque Maderas is run by Tyler, who grew up with Ethan and is right now, quite simply, building his dream: a center for art and ecology. His project is expected to take about seven years, and right now is at year three and a half. We all stared at him in disbelief when he asked us not to fight over the double beds in the spacious dorm room that he has set up for groups. The beach was a short but excrutiatingly steep walk away, and was the hangout for a pretty big surfing community. We walked a bit farther down past all the surfers and swam and sunbathed at this gorgeous empty beach, finally going back up after watching the first of many incredible sunsets. That night we discovered that we were also in for a huge treat food-wise, starting with our first dinner of grilled ginger chicken, corn and bean salad, lettuce salad and rice. We all went to sleep completely blissed out. The first full day we were there Tyler was busy fixing some broken generators, so we had another day of relaxation. Some of us braved the big waves and took surfing lessons from Tyler's friend, and others swam. After lunch it was so hot it pretty much called for a siesta, and then there was more beach time. The food continued to be some of the most delicous food of the trip. Tyler was trying to figure out how he wanted to run the hostel, and we were guinea pigs for some of his ideas, including trying to create the perfect brownies, which we were the lucky recipients of. Over the next few days we spent time having class with Tyler, where he taught us about sustainable developement, what goes into a project like his, and learned in more detail about his vision and the problems and successes he has had so far. He took us around his property and showed us the plants that he's been cultivating, many of which have medicinal properties. We spent one afternoon taking cuttings of lemongrass and replanting it along the paths. He also had us take a stab at designing the entrance to the resort, which was really fun. He was very chill about everything, explaining to us that he had had this vision, so he came down to Nicaragua and "built this resort or whatever." We were able to experience Nicaraguan emergency health care when Rachel was stung by a sting ray at the beach that Tyler had sent us to that was about an hour away from San Juan Del Sur, which was where the clinic was. We were blown away when the visit took all of about five minutes. The other patients in the waiting room ushered her through, where she gave her first name and age to the nurse, got a shot of local anesthesia and left without even needing to pay anything. On our last day Tyler packed us a picnic (cajun chicken pasta salad, peanut butter and jelly sandwhiches, banana bread, watermelon, and cookies) and we took a boat ride a little ways down the coast to yet another incredible beach, completely empty of any other people. By the end of the week none of us wanted to leave, but we all packed up our backpacks with promises to come back and visit some time in the next few years, when I'm sure it will be even more amazing than it is now, and headed off to cross the border into Costa Rica.
Hasta Luego,
Julia

Tim´s Second Edition

I really have no idea how I´m going to make this a satisfying report for all you out there, but I am certainly going to try...
This week was our last in language school, and everyone is starting to feel a little awed by the rapidly approaching end date, coming to destroy all our fun. Well, maybe not all so melodramatic as that, but still, it´s a mighty odd feeling.
School was enjoyable for some, less so for others, but I think that everyone this week not only recovered all the ground we lost speaking English to eachother since Xela, and then some, considerably. Anjali, for example, began this trip with not a word of Spanish, but now understands a very respectable amount of what is said around her.
Group ¨togetherness¨gained some new dimensions this week; we all paired up for our homestays in light of logistical problems in Xela, among other things, and I think everyone is now closer to the group then before.
After school every day has been a tad more boring then in Xela, though not because there is little do to. Rather, it is because it is hot as all hell down here, in this, the perportedly hottest city in Nicaragua. We found a supercheap movie theater, and hit it up two days in a row, for no small part because it has some seriously awesome air conditioning. We saw Monsters Vs. Aliens, a clever kids movie in that blobby animation that is so popular in kids movies these days, and it was in Spanish, to boot. The next day, we saw Bride Wars, with Kate Hudson and Anne Hathaway, and I personally would have disliked it more had it not been in the supercool theater.
This week also happens to be Semana Santa, an extremely important holiday week down here, culminating in Easter Sunday after many festivities and parades with Jesús and Mary floats. Being Good Friday today, there are several large parades in town at various parts of the day, and we are´ll going to a big parade tonight in the center of town, because we don´t have class tomorrow and don´t need to hit the sack early tonight, for a short change.
Tomorrow we may go to the beach, but it is supposed to be obscenely crowded this week,and as were are going to be on beaches essentially for the rest of the trip, I think tomorrow will more likely be a lazy day before we head off to church in the evening, those of us that want to, anyway, for an early Easter service, as we will be heading out early Sunday morning for Parque Maderas, our next stop.
Hoping I wrote enough,
Tim for the CAM Carpe Diem group

Freedom in Nicaragua

Hello to all our faithful blog-followers!

CAM just wrapped up the first ever free travel in Nicaragua. After getting up at to leave Antigua at 4:30am, we arrived at the airport and were bumped onto an earlier direct flight to Managua. The plane was empty, but we all sat next to each other anyway because we don´t like being apart for very long. Upon arrival in Managua we were immediately thrown into the heart and heat of Nicaragua: public transportation. We packed onto an already full bus and sweated out the next 30 minutes barely hanging onto the bars attached to the ceiling. We changed buses and headed toward Rivas, getting to see a lot of beautiful Nicaraguan countryside in the ensuing three hours.
With another taxi ride, a ferry ride, and another taxi ride, we ended up at our destination on Isla de Ometepe at Hotel Playa Venecia. Ometepe is in the middle of Lake Nicaragua, the largest lake in Central America, and consists of two towering volcanoes, with beautiful beaches and forests in between. It was paradise. The most impressive part was that our group had planned the whole week; accomodations, transportation, and activities, all on our own. The first whole day we had on Ometepe some of us rented bikes and biked into Mayogolpa to go to the grocery store and see more of the island. That 13km excursion warranted a swim in the lake and refrigerated beverages afterward due to the extreme heat and humidity that we were not yet acclimated to (and still aren´t). Others of us spent the day journaling, making bracelets, reading, or jogging and doing yoga. Our lakeside location made even the most mundane tasks seem more exciting. A bunch of us spent a good three hours on the rocks of a slimy old dock until sunset, just because it seemed like a good idea. In the evenings we got to sit around in the restaurant and decide whether to eat pesto or eggs and gallo pinto (those weren´t actually the only options). As we have learned, gallo pinto is a mixture of rice and beans and a staple Nicaraguan food.
The next day was the day for conquering the volcano Conception. Everyone except Anjali and me got up to be at breakfast at 5:30am. After everyone fueled up they headed out with the two guides to catch a bus to the base of the volcano. The bus barely missed them, and apparently didn´t see them running to catch it, so the group had to secure alternative transportation to get to the beginning of the hike. In the beginning the trail wasn´t too bad, but the day quickly heated up and the volcano quickly became incredibly steep and by the 900m lookout half of the group decided they had had enough and posted up for naps. Jessica, Nick, Amanda, and the guide continued the ascent, partially on all fours because the grade increased ridiculously the closer they got to the crater of the volcano. The insect activity also increased ridiculously; bees and giant prehistoric insects swarmed around the crater, making for an unpleasant final ascent. The guide, Elmer, said that there was more activity than he´d ever seen and limited the time the group spent at the top to ¨a few minutes at most¨. He also mentioned that the evacuation plan for the whole island consists of two ferries and four launches. But regardless, the view from the top of Conception was wonderful. They alternated between walking, running, and sliding down the mountain, meeting up with the rest of the group halfway and hurrying down the rest of the way to get back before dark. Just as the sun was setting the group returned to Venecia and literally walked into the lake fully clothed. Anjali and I had a slightly more relaxing day walking around a protected forest and beach called Charco Verde, making bracelets, and kayaking on the lake. Friday we had to pack up and leave paradise for a slightly more inland location at Finca Magdalena, a cooperative farm and hostel near the other volcano on Ometepe. The van ride across the island gave us a firsthand experience of the state of the dirt roads, but we finally bumped up to the hostel and set up camp in the ¨psyche ward¨on our foldable cots with coded pillowcases. We sweated out the rest of the day in the shade, breaking our siesta only for meals. At Magdalena some of us again wrestled with illness, but it was a good time for recharging. The hostel was also a great place to meet Nicaraguan (or Barcelonian) students who were on vacation for Semana Santa (the week between Palm Sunday and Easter). Saturday morning Jessica, Anjali, Nick, and Amanda headed out to conquer volcano Maderas. This turned out to be a slightly less steep endeavor, with a forest protecting them from the sun most of the way and ending in a swim in the lake formed by the crater of the long-dormant volcano. The lake turned out to be a strange combination of mud the consistency of pudding and a layer of water on top of that. After the descent all were ready for more siestas, but we rallied after sunset to go to another finca for brick oven pizza. We got a ride from a guy who had driven his van down from Colorado and enjoyed hopping out for the potholes and speedbumps. We enjoyed our last night of free travel eating pizza, playing with an armless Obama doll, and trying to avoid mangos that were falling on us from the tree overhead.
The next morning we woke up and were glad that we had splurged on private transportation to get all the way across the island, onto the ferry to get across the lake, and back north to Leon. We arrived at Dariana Language School before lunch, where we were whisked away to our homestays to settle in to our week in Leon. Our week of free travel was a success and we are now enjoying Semana Santa festivities and our last week of language school in the hottest (climate wise) city in Nicaragua.
Hasta pronto,
Hannah

Spiritual Retreat?

Posting a bit late, but we just finished a week in the beautiful town of San Marcos.

We finished the trek in what we thought was San Pedro, only to realize we were in Epcot. The perfectly colorfully painted houses, wooden benches and trash cans, cobblestone streets and cleaning crews were there and everything. But we made our way to the launch and arrived in San Marcos, a spiritual community on Lake Atitlan. Wide eyed and covered in mud, we made our way through the narrow winding paths to La Paz where we were staying. La Paz was absolutely beautiful. The grounds were covered in grass and vibrant follows and nobody complained about the hot water. We spent the day relaxing, making ourselves decently presentable, and trying to decide how we would spend the next week focusing on spiritual growth.

Meandering the two and half paths we found a variety of different things, some within our price ranges and some that we could reconsider when we have an annual salary. The group seemed to gravitate towards different healing related activities including massage, medicinal healing, and reiki, along with the yoga, meditation and metaphysics classes that Las Piramidas had to offer.

The week didn´t end up being as much of a spiritual retreat as we had hoped, but it was a growth experience nonetheless. Four of the eight made our way on a chicken boat (yes they also have chicken boats) to a chicken bus, to a lab to find out what other living things were enjoying the weather in San Marcos. Meanwhile throughout the week the group was overwhelmed with a feeling of superficiallity and had a hard time connecting to the majority of other Gringos in San Marcos. However, this disconnect brought us to a new level of awareness as tourists. We began a team ¨survey¨ with as many people as we could find about how the spiritual tourism affected the locals in San Marcos. We tried to establish a level of trust so that people would feel free to express negative aspects of it. We heard a good amount from a variety of people mostly that it brought money and money was good. With what we had left from struggling against parasites, we struggled to portray the idea that development isn´t necessarily ideal. It got pretty heavy.

AFter a busride that involved walking up the hills we got to Antigua, the oldest city in Central America for two days of free exploration. I think the highlight for most people was seeing the mostly floral displays lining all of the streets for the pre-Semana Santa Parade.

We´re in Leon as you´ll hear more about soon, but it is too hot to stay near the computer any longer.

Raquel