This is the last week of service for the remaining Vaka Team members. We were 15 and are now 7 members strong as the others completed their service. (it is yet to be determined if we are the Magnificent 7 or the Seven Dwarfs!) I want to share some of the team observations and learnings […]
China Team Journal for Friday October 23, 2015 Message of the day: “Give me the ability to see good things in unexpected places and talents in unexpected people. And give me, O Lord, the grace to tell them so.” (excerpt from a 17th century nun’s prayer) The unexpected discoveries and unanticipated experiences of the past […]
China Team 218 Journal for Monday October 19, 2015 by Jo Carol Message of the day: “I have always been delighted at the prospect of a new day, a fresh try, one more start, with perhaps a bit of magic waiting somewhere behind the morning.” J. B. Priestly After six days of teaching my Chinese […]
The 2015 World Bank and International Monetary Fund annual meetings took place in Lima, Peru. The highest authorities of both institutions, ministers of economy and finance, and governors of central banks, met in Lima to discuss poverty issues worldwide and policies to alleviate it. Both institutions agree in their analysis of Peru’s economy: the last […]
China Team 218 Journal for Saturday and Sunday, October 17 & 18, 2015 Message of the Day: Treasure family & friends, respect everyone, work for harmony and peace. Anonymous Saturday: Carolyn & Jo-Carol departed with their High Tech hosts to visit the site of the tomb excavation of Emperor Qin from whose name CHINA is […]
China Team 218 Journal for Wednesday October 14, 2015 Message of the day: “Don’t judge a man by where he is because you don’t know how far he has come.” C.S. Lewis I see China and my students through virgin eyes. This is my first trip to China so all I have known about this […]
Magical Cacao Beans Most people appreciate the deliciousness of chocolate, but most are entirely unaware of where it comes from or how it becomes so delicious. While volunteering in Monteverde, you can learn about and delight in Costa Rican chocolate. Native to the Americas, the cocoa tree is believed to have first been discovered in the […]
“Pura vida” is more than just a slogan that so easily rolls of the tongues of Costa Ricans; the phrase is a true mantra for the way of life in this Central American country. Said only by Costa Ricans, this phrase would literally be translated as “pure life”, but it means much more than that. […]
WHAT A STUPENDOUS DAY – CELEBRATING 20 YEARS Fond Farewells – Final Glimpses of Our Beautiful City of Monopoli. Everything was happening for the last time – last class, last lunch, last time to shop, but more importantly the last time to feel the soul and spirit of Italy. But, along with the sadness […]
Today started the usual way a real yearning to turn off the alarm and go back to sleep. But what would the Galileo Galilei students do without us or, more to the point, how could I think of missing a day and not see all those smiling eager faces? So, off to breakfast, our morning […]