The celebration of todos santos began with my host mom bringing my sister and I to the cemetery. The cemetery was at a long procession of festival stand with drinks, so many flowers, cervesas, games for the children, and an overall sense of joy and......Read More
This festival was beautiful and like nothing I really expected. I could have stayed there, watching everyone and everything pass by for days. I could have stayed on the little white lawn chairs, or on the grey sidewalk and watch people in their......Read More
Here I am in Peru, trying to move forward with a new independent study, watching the news in Bolivia and realizing that my own country had something to do with the political crisis in Bolivia. We were in La Paz after the presidential elections. Evo......Read More
Over the past three weeks, I have been deeply immersed in the country of Bolivia. Out of the 27 countries I have traveled to this has been my all-time favorite. Out of the 21 ish days of being in Bolivia 18 of them have been spent during government......Read More
Dear friends and family, I am writing to let you know that CSA South America has made it back to Peru safely. We left Tiquipaya at 3 am and had no trouble catching our flights from Cochabamba to La Paz to Cusco. We arrived mid-day and have been......Read More
Earlier this past week I received some news of an important mentor from high school dying. This brought up a lot of past memories of my youth and wishing I could go back in time to this summer to reach out to her one last time while I was in......Read More
A chorus of pan flutes are playing behind me, with a drum beating so loud that it rattles my bones. The vibration feels like home. In front of me, my family mutters prayers with their heads slightly angled downward. In front of them is a wall with......Read More
I had the privilege of dancing in San Miguel this last weekend. We dressed up and walked through many groups of dancers in elaborate costumes and makeup. Eventually, we found our group of dancers and musicians. We danced for about 4 hours with our......Read More
Dear Friends and Families, We are writing to give you an update related to Bolivia. As you may be aware, last Sunday presidential elections were held in which Evo Morales was running for a controversial 4th term. Final votes were counted earlier......Read More
Hello all, This is a message to let everyone know that this evening we will be traveling by bus to the city of Cochabamba where tomorrow students will enter into their second long homestay. We are excited to make this transition and for students to......Read More
Dear family and friends, The CSA South America group has undergone a big transition! We traveled for almost 24 hours from the Sacred Valley in Peru, along Lago Titicaca, across an international border, and dropped down from the altiplano into the......Read More
Hello friends and family, This is a quick note to let you know that our group is transitioning tonight from Peru to Bolivia. Our time here in Peru has been wonderful and it’s bittersweet to leave the place we’ve called home for almost......Read More
When I first came to Urubamba, I was on a mission to find one thing: Chocolate. I have allergies to gluten and dairy, so finding sweets that I can eat is usually a struggle for me. One challenge for me here is not being able to eat sweets and......Read More
As we are gearing up to leave Urubamba and continue onto the next phase of our program, I can’t help but feel a bittersweet feeling to leave my homestay family here. I remember when I first walked in the door of my home for the past 5 weeks, I......Read More
