Graduates – Nicaragua 2013

Chas Petraitis

Whistler, BC

Chazzie, you are a delight. You were laughing when the rest of us were sick and grumpy for two days. You are a little big kid and one of the most optimistic people I have ever taught. I could learn a lot from you.

Heather MacDonald

Seattle/Vancouver

Returning grad. Miss Heather, you are one of the most receptive and easy-going students I have ever had the pleasure of teaching…twice! You have a willingness to go raw and real more than most and have accelerated beyond borders over the last few years. I am so happy I was a part of it.

Emmanuelle Rousseau

Vancouver, BC

Oh mademoiselle! You are a creative, enigmatic genius nut ball and that’s why we all love you. Thank you for blessing us with your inquisitive mind, quirky delightful input and wild exposition of teaching.

Julie Lattimer

Pemberton, BC / Vancouver, BC

Oh Jules! What a treasure chest of tall-gorgeous you are! Just like the other second-timers, to teach you again has been an honor. I’ll say it again, you’re a walking romance novel, lead heroine (but not in a Danielle Steele kinda way, more like Shakespeare meets Sophia Copala’s lead actress).

Jodi Dodd

Whistler, BC

Jodi! What an honor to have a fellow teacher (who is already such a phenomenal teacher) come learn with me. Girl. You got it goin’ on with your quiet charm and dry humor. I got nothin’ on you. You are awesome beyond measure and everyone loves you.

Boyd Thomson

Vancouver, BC

The man of our group! You are our WilderSnail.com who slowly but surely won the race. You have an uncanny ability to make everything better…including fixing broken clocks with scotch tape and a headlamp.

Sally Hutcheon

Vancouver, BC

Our sweet tea-leaf angel. You’re one of the good ones. You are a woman who will continue to quietly – but wilfully shake the earth’s pockets of darkness and laugh with delight when the light crashes out – like a lost set of keys at the bottom of a purse, you always find the good knowing it hasn’t gone anywhere. You are a shining example of elegant leadership.

Christy Long

Kootenays, BC

What a laugh! Your transformation was literally seeping out of your rosy-cheeked pores at day 28 and I swear your teeth even got whiter. You dug deep into your 30-something guts and decided you will forever be a part-time 18 year-old! Yes!

Ramone Bissett

Australia

Oh Ramone! You are as fierce as the iconic rockers. You taught me so much about how I can be a better teacher…it’s insane. Thank you for your bold, brazen, committed, Amazonian woman contribution to our time together. You are a leader even when you don’t want to be. Welcome to the club.

Kanami Anderson

Squamish, BC / Japan

What a treat to have you come again! You were our last minuter, so deserving of the Passion Project Scholarship. I watched you one morning stand in the middle of the beach, eyes closed, as the sun rose above the jungle, quietly paying homage to its beauty. Thank you for reminding me to be grateful when I wasn’t watching. You are such a beautiful person.

Heather Durward

Ucluelet, BC

Winner of the best laugh, storyteller of travel-tales and killer surfer girl. You are such a bold and brave woah-man! You sounded something like, “Oh ya, I hiked that mountain, backwards with my eyes closed, carrying a 50 pound backpack behind an indigenous tribe that invited me to their 48-hour ceremony in the middle of the Amazon. I didn’t know anybody and I was eighteen.” (No big deal…as we slurped back our dinner, dropped cutlery and listened in silence).