Final Galápagos Days: Beaches to Volcano

The following post features student writing. Our last few days in the Galápagos have been incredible! Last Monday we woke up early for our flight from Quito. We’d spent the previous night in a really nice hostel near the Quito airport. Our guide company for the…

Cotopaxi Hike, Mountain Trot

The following post features student writing. One week ago on Friday, it was a beautiful yet somber final morning in Iltaqui as we said our goodbyes to the cooks, the president, and a few kids. We then boarded the bus and set off to Cotopaxi…

Final Week in Iltaqui

The following post features student writing. Our final week in Iltaqui was great. On Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday we all worked on finishing our independent projects and the work at the work site. Murals were finished, swings were painted and fixed, and English was taught. Here…

Otavalo!

The following post features student writing. Last Friday we woke up to a beautiful and refreshing day as we all pushed each other down to the work site in wheelbarrows. In the morning, we painted a roof for the bathroom in the community center and…

Putney Olympics!

The following post features student writing. Last Thursday we woke up and ate our usual breakfast of scrambled eggs, yogurt, and granola. At 9, some of us walked down to the community center worksite, where they dug a trench for water pipes while others headed…

Work Updates from Iltaqui!

The following post features student writing. Last Tuesday was a great day. For breakfast, we had fresh fruit salad and fresh granola with blackberry juice and bread. The main task of the day was to get a lot of work done at the work site. We…

Our Community Service Project

The following post features student writing.   This week we began working on our community service projects in earnest. A couple of us helped at the nursery with the kids. I spent Monday morning at the nursery and had a lot of fun. The kids are…

Weekend Excursion to Intag Valley

The following post features student writing. Last Saturday, we left our village and wound our way up and down the Andes Mountains to Laguna Cuicocha. The bumpy ride was beautiful! We spotted cows, pigs and rolling hills on all sides. Our group was speedy and efficient…

Greetings from Iltaqui!

Friends!  Our apologies for the extended silence.  Internet is hard to come by around these parts, but we’ll be posting some of our adventures from the last week in the blog.  So stay tuned! The blog entry below was written by student Sydney Fleishman. Last Thursday, we began…

Quito and Iltaqui!

Friends! This is our first post from Ecuador! As you can imagine, working internet has been hard to come by — but that hasn’t stopped us from enjoying our time in Ecuador to the fullest. After a few days in Quito, getting acquainted with each…