As we mentioned previously, we left our quarters in Bodh Gaya, where we'd spent the past month volunteering at a nearby school, and headed toward a new adventure, one such as we'd never experienced before. And what was this intriguing undertaking? We were about to attend a ten-day meditation retreat. Vipassana Retreat Bodh Gaya, being … Continue reading Going Off Grid for Two Weeks in Bodh Gaya
And so we came to the end of our volunteering gig in Bodh Gaya; and it was time to see some test results. No, not the results of students' tests. There weren't any. The results from the blood tests we'd taken the previous week. So we walked back to the medical lab, and at first … Continue reading Portraits of Students – Bodh Gaya Workaway Wrap-Up
On Tuesday, July 12, we began our month of volunteer teaching at Jingle Bell Schools in Faizabad. Kimberly went to the classrooms next to our quarters, and Dennis trundled off to the campus about 3 blocks away. The first couple of days, he was chauffeured to and from this campus, but he made it known … Continue reading Teaching Adventures in Faizabad: From Classrooms to Riverside Festivities
On Monday at about noon, we touched down in Madrid after flying across the ocean from Bogota. It was our first time in Europe in 6 years, and the first time that either of us ever had been to Spain. The first order of business, of course, was to acquire a few euros for pocket … Continue reading Making Memories in Madrid
Leaving Chicaque Natural Park On Sunday morning, we loaded our gear onto one of those little electric carts that had brought us down three weeks earlier and a driver took us on the steep climb back, back up to the entrance. (It wasn’t until days later that we realized we’d left behind our water filter … Continue reading A Taste of Bogota
The third and final week at UBHA And so we come to the final week of volunteering at UBHA school, our final week in Chicaque Natural Park, and our final week (ish) in Colombia. Students reenacting an impromptu version of "Little Red Riding Hood" It was great fun for all of us -- there were … Continue reading Volunteer Teaching in Chicaque: “Getting Dramatic”
On our second weekend in Chicaque Natural Park in Colombia, we really aimed high. First 105 feet, then 328 feet (or, to the locals, 32 meters and 100 meters respectively). We partook of a pair of airborne adventures offered by the park, at a substantial discount for volunteers. And they were definitely among the highlights, … Continue reading Hanging from Trees
photobombed by Alain who we met on the trail to Pico March 12 With our first week of volunteering concluded at UBHA school, we were free to spend a 3-day weekend hiking through the stupendous Chicaque Natural Park. On Saturday morning, we set out on a hike to visit one of its landmarks: Pico (the … Continue reading Exploring the Trails in Chicaque Natural Park
world travel with a theatrical flair 