Adventures of Living Abroad

One month ago I began my journey to Ecuador to participate in a volunteer teaching program. This is something I have been thinking about for years, but I never took those final steps to sign up. It was such a wonderful experience that I'm getting choked up and teary eyed as I sit here and try to reflect on this experience and how best I can go about sharing it with others. I've thought about this community daily since I've left and hope that I'll be able to go back and continue to work with them in the future. So grab yourself a cup of coffee/tea/or whatever beverage you fancy and settle in as I think this will be a long one! The Organizations: T2T (Teachers 2 Teachers Global)      This was the organization that I was a part of. They have partnered with many schools around the world and organize trips each summer. What I really love about this organization is it brings empowerment to the local community. It's a sustainable way to volunteer because it forms ...

After doing lots of research about where to go scuba diving at the end of June, we went off the recommendation of our neighbors and local dive shop owners and were so happy we did! The place was perfect for our two week vacation.  Alor island is still part of Indonesia but located near Timor-Leste. We flew direct from Bali to Kupang in just under 2 hours and stayed the night in a hotel. The next morning we took a short 40 min flight over to Alor island. Smallest airport I have been to yet! The plane pulled up to the airport like a taxi.  From the airport we had a 45 minute car ride across the island and a short 5 minute boat ride over to the smaller island of Alor-kecil.  The resort La P'tit Kepa is owned by a French couple who has been there for 20 years. What I appreciated the most about this resort was their desire to use  local and renewable resources as much as possible. They use solar panels for electricity and have developed their...