CAM 2022

My semester with Carpe Diem was definitely one of the highlights of my life so far. I pushed my limits, physically and mentally, and grew into the person I want to be. The places we visited and the experiences I had challenged me deeply, but I never felt unsafe or unsupported. I always had my fellow students and OEs (leaders) close to me if I felt unsure or needed to take a step back. I learned a lot about culture, food, sustainability, and Spanish, but perhaps even more valuable was the way I was able to get to know myself and connect with the people and places around me. This is truly a life-changing program.

Thinking back to before this trip, I remember reading reviews trying to get a better idea of the way this program works. Now that I've gone through it, I'm going to try to answer a couple of my own questions in hopes that it can help you!

What are accommodations like?
Accommodations ranged from cold showers and concrete floors to comfy beds and an internet connection. We had 10 students in total and I ended up rooming with each of them at least once. The majority of my time was spent in dorm style rooms with 4-9 other students, but we also did 4 weeks of homestays with two students per household. At the beginning of the trip, there was the option to choose if we were comfortable sleeping in mixed gender rooms. The one person who said no was paired only with other girls for all except two weeks. This was during our trek and student directed travel where there was only one room for all of us.

How was the food?
The most consistent part of the trip was the mind blowing food. Almost every single meal hit so hard. Most of the time meals were relatively simple - eggs, beans, rice, fruit, veggies, and chicken - but something about the way they make it is SO amazing. The majority of the time meals were pre-ordered for us, provided by our host families or the places we stayed, but some weeks we were given money to order from restaurants or cook for ourselves. I did feel that the budgeting was done a little poorly at times - In Guatemala I would often would be confined to the cheapest option if I didn't supplement with my own money, and in Costa Rica I felt I had more than I needed - but ultimately, I only ended up spending a few dollars of my own money per meal, if anything, so I wouldn't worry about it too much.

Something I didn't expect is the lack of trouble I had with my food allergies. I'm gluten and dairy intolerant, and only eat white meat. To my surprise, I never had a problem or was faced with a meal I couldn't eat. We also had vegans and vegetarians and every location we visited was extremely accommodating of that as well.

How is the pacing?
My semester was very action packed. We had multiple activities each day, usually eating breakfast at around 7AM and having classes, volunteer work, hikes, tours, ect. until much later in the day. Activities weren't always mandatory, but much of what we did was. That being said, whenever I needed a break or had a health issue my OE's were supportive and listened to what I and/or the group wanted/needed. I think there is a certain level of physical fitness needed to keep up with the pace, especially if you want to do all of the activities, but I was able to build this throughout the trip. We moved locations about every week, sometimes less and sometimes more.

What did you learn?
I learned a lot of Spanish, through excellent teachers, loving homestay moms, and the practice that naturally comes with living in a Spanish-speaking country. I also learned a lot about green building and sustainability. We had two weeks of classes on green/sustainable building with the ability to apply our knowledge after class by building eco friendly structures and dreaming up potential green building expeditions with the help of our teacher. We had cooking classes and farm tours where I learned a lot about the plants and food in the area. We did volunteer work with conservation, planting trees and learning about nature and preservation efforts. I joke that Carpe should advertise their programs as a great chance to move dirt around for 3 months but really... there's a lot of truth to it.

We were also challenged to be reflective and think deeply about ourselves. The program gave us a structured way to think about concepts like what is love, what goals or values to I have, how can I function in a community and in new and different cultures, ect.

I hope this helps! Everyone I on my semester had moments that really challenged them or were uncomfortable, but we were never unsafe. If you're looking to learn and grow, and have the drive to make it a reality, I truly cannot recommend this program enough.