Thanks for the checking out the blog for this Global Leadership Adventures Custom Group program!
Here are a few things you can expect:
- We typically receive 2-3 blog posts per week here at GLA Headquarters from our program staff and students, so please don’t be alarmed if you don’t see a blog post daily – that’s totally normal.
- Blog updates sent on weekends may not be posted until Monday.
- Due to many factors, including but not limited to internet accessibility, photos may not always be available to post onto the blog. Sometimes onsite program staff are only able to send text back to Headquarters, where our team updates the blog.
Thank you for your patience and understanding, and we hope you enjoy following along on these unforgettable adventures.
For frequently asked questions about the blogs, please visit our Program Blog FAQ page.
-The Global Leadership Adventures HQ Team
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BLOG POST FOR FEBRUARY 27
Bienvenuti a Roma!
Hello Atmosphere families and friends!
This is your GLA staff team reporting in that the 10th graders of Atmosphere Academy have officially arrived in Rome, Italy!!
After a long day of traveling from New York, we all headed to a local Italian restaurant to get our first taste of authentic Italian pasta. We had red sauce pasta with bread and delicious chocolate mousse.
We played a game with our giant group (81 students!!) where we got to run around making groups of various sizes depending on what action was called out, for example, “Giant Pizza” would be called out and students would have to make groups of 8 to create 8 pizza slices with their arms.
We made a trip to the grocery store for snacks and then went to the hotel to rest and recharge before enjoying an authentic Italian meal of foods from the region of Italy that we are visiting.
We are so excited to explore Rome and Paris over the next 10 days!
Ciao Ciao!
BLOG POST FOR FEBRUARY 28
For breakfast we had eggs with blocks of cheese, orange juice, bacon, croissants of many flavors, water, and bread. After, we took a 30 minute bus ride to the Colosseum and had an amazing walking tour of the amazing monument. Did u know that the Colosseum had crazy things that have happened inside of it? People say it was a place of violence while other say its a place of peace and unity. After the Colosseum we went to a pizza restaurant to make our own pizzas. It was very fun to make it in which some people say, “Italy, the place where pizza was created.”
After lunch, we drove on the bus for about 30 minutes. When we got off the bus, we walked around and saw many beautiful art works. I liked how we had time to shop and time to really take in the work of the old romans. Then, for dinner we went to an Italian restaurant with a nice atmosphere that served us a great vegetarian lasagna, followed by a good salad, and then capped off with an amazing cake.
BLOG POST FOR FEBRUARY 29
Today in the 4th day of the trip the 29th on a leap year we were able to begin a ride to Pompeii, while the 3 hours seemed long at first it begun to fly by as we interacted with one another! Not only did we start off the day with a great breakfast but a great bonding experience as well! When we arrived in Pompeii we were greeted with an amazing Italian lunch, filled with singing and hanging out with one another! After lunch we were met with a tour of
An ancient city that was once buried under layers on top of layers of stone and dug up only to reveal history from over 2000 years ago. As we begun to walk around we were able to see old architecture and structures from the ancient Romans!
BLOG POST FOR MARCH 1
We went to Vatican City and saw the basilica. Seeing and admiring the drawings of Michaelangelo. His relationship with the pope at the time, and how it influenced his work when drawing, mocking the pope very subtly. During our experience at the Vatican we got to learn how Michaelangelo used painting as a form of mockery and communication. We also learned that people in the time of Michaelangelo didn’t know how to write so instead they drew paintings to communicate with each other. We finished of the day with eating pasta and celebrated two of our friends birthday, and once we headed back to our hotels we packed for our big travel day.
BLOG POST FOR MARCH 2
Hello today was a very great, smooth, and easy day. We had a wake up call as it was our last day at Rome. We packed and got ready for a 3 hour train ride. It was very fun as some played games and slept. After the ride we took a short bus ride and got to eat what ever we wanted in Milan. After we got to explore for a little and then got on our way to the hotel. When we arrived to the hotel, we went to our rooms and had burgers for dinner which was a relief for many. I would like to shoutout everyone as the day was smooth and fun! We played a fun game with pod 4 which was a version of rock paper scissors. Now, we are at a new hotel tonight!
-Pod 1 & 2
BLOG POST FOR MARCH 3
The travel from Milan to Paris was fun and calming. The scenery viewed from the bus ride was amazing as students were able to view beautiful sights of parts of Milan, Switzerland, and part of France. Students were given information about sights viewed from these three locations. From Switzerland students took a bullet train to Paris. Students saw mountainsee on the way and got to experience how it is like to travel in a bullet train. Students arrived at the hotel and began having roommates which allowed them to bond with other students.
-Pod 1 & 2
BLOG POST FOR MARCH 4
Bonjour! Today, we woke up at 8am to get ready our historical action pact day. For breakfast, we had crepes with nutella and croissants. After breakfast we had a GLA activity where we debate whether or not the we should have stadiums for the Olympics that take down stations. Once we wrapped up that activity we hopped on the bus and headed onto lunch where we had a variety of different options spanning from chicken nuggets to lasagna. Once we all ate lunch we headed onto the Louvre where we had the chance to see the Mona Lisa in person and many other famous artifacts and then we finished off our day with dinner at the hotel.
BLOG POST FOR MARCH 5
Today, we woke up early to get ready to visit the Eiffel Tower. We got there early in the morning and we were able to explore the tower and see the wonderful view of the city. Then, we left and we ate some amazing food at a local restaurant with a wide variety of options of food to consume. Then, after that we went shopping for a few hours and we then left and went back to the hotel!
-Pod 1 & 2
BLOG POST FOR MARCH 6
Today, we went on a journey to explore the arc de triumph but first we started off with a delicious breakfast at 7:30. Then we left on our way to our community service project where we made toiletries bags and sandwiches for the homeless of Paris. Then, after we gave them out and we enjoyed seeing our work being put to good use. Afterwards we were on our way to lunch which was a buffet style restaurant which was delicious and very fancy. Then, we went walking to the major point of today, the arc de triumph! It was like a big arch full of history and names which we got to climb through stairs which were gruesome to walk up because of the copious amount of steps there were. But ultimately it was worth it to see the beautiful view from the top of the arc. Then, on our way to the bus to head back to home base we found a dj and danced for a bit which was super fun. After arriving to the hotel we headed to a beautiful outside area to do our final appreciation circle as a group to appreciate each other and our lovely GLA members who were with us on this journey. After a lot of tears and laughter we enjoyed a delicious dinner in the hotel and went to bed.
Au revoir pour l’instant! Thanks for reading our blog!
-Pod 1 & 2
