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
Click here to jump down to the most recent post!
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 29
Today with a delicious breakfast buffet that included, eggs, bacon, cereal and pastry’s. Afterwards we hopped on the bus preparing for a three hour bus ride to the pompeii ruins tour. On the way to our destination we stoped after an hour of driving to a rest stop to all get ourselves situated for the tour. As soon as we got to Pompeii we quickly sat down to eat a lunch of pasta, bread and chicken with fries. Next we met up with the tour guide to the tour. The most amazing part of this experience for me was seeing the body hardened by volcanic ash.
After the tour, we got back on the bus ride for about 3 hours, and we were able to see a beautiful sunset accompanied by the mountains and volcanos, which was loved by many students including myself. After the bus ride, we at a buffet for dinner which consisted of pasta, potatoes, chicken, etc. To wrap everything up, we started our GLA activity with a rose, thorn, and bud between students. After, we played a game of charades with a topic of movies, which was very fun, especially when it was challenging. Finally, we will get rest in order to prepare to wake up at 6AM for the colosseum tour.
By Amaya and Nisson
BLOG POST FOR MARCH 1
In the beautiful morning we all came downstairs to have a lovely breakfast at 6:30 am. Afterwards we got on the bus and headed to the impressive Colosseum to begin our walking tour. We learned about the gladiators history in the Colosseum and how it used to be more often called an amphitheater. We took pictures and then it started to rain. We went back to the bus and headed to make our own pizzas. This was an amazing experience and i would say everyone had a fun time and enjoyed their experience. We ate dessert and then hopped back on the bus to our next walking tour to the Trevi fountain. During our walking tour in this area we saw the fountain and the views were astonishing. The structures godly like and magnificent. Many of us were shocked by the grandeur of it all.
Tomorrow we go to Milan and then to Paris which we are all very excited about.
– Laura & Darickson
BLOG POST FOR MARCH 2
DAY 6: Rome to Milan Travel Day
Hello everybody, For today’s blog we traveled all day from Rome to Milan. What we did was wake up at 6:30, ate breakfast, went on the bus to the train station, then took the train to Milan. The train was really cool and the seats were comfortable. While we were on the train, Most people used their phones and some people went to sleep. A lot of people played card games and also the board game, Life. When we got off the train, it was really chilly.
We were all really hungry so all of us got on the bus and drove to Milan Center and went to different places to eat. We got to see the Milan Duomo which is this really big cathedral and it was really beautiful. When we finished eating, it started raining so everyone was cold and wet. Then when we got back on the bus, it took us to the hotel where we rested a bit, ate dinner, played some games, and are now just relaxing with the other pods. There is fooseball and games that we can play.
That’s really all we did today. Hope to see you again in another blog.
Ciao For Now.
BLOG POST FOR MARCH 4
DAY 8: Paris and Le Louvre
Day 6 of our trip in Paris ! Pod 4 has had an amazing day starting from morning to night. We woke up a bit earlier than usual. It was 9 am when we had to meet up in the lobby to have amazing breakfast, the breakfast was so good, everyone had this chocolate crepes and the juice was out of this world! We got to talk to our friends and chill out for a bit before we went to the big trip of the day, The Louvre Museum! I personally was so excited to see this museum because it has one of my favorite paintings, all my friends were excited too.
Eventually, we got on the bus and head out. It wasn’t a long drive, only 25-30 minutes. The view to the museum was beautiful. Everyone was able to see the Eiffel Tower from afar and we saw amazing buildings. It was one of the first days in France that we had since traveling here. Everything was shocking and impressive. I heard many others talk about how France looks like New York (where were from) and it was so similar in small ways. The streets, the people, and other stuff like the amount of food places there was. We arrived and had lunch, the lunch was amazing. I had chicken and rice with beans. At this point, we arrived at The Louvre Museum (after eating) which is the biggest museum of the world. I saw so many people. The staff let us go off in groups and explore the museum which was great to many because we got to spend time with our friends. I was severely happy and I was looking forward to seeing the oil painting. The oil painting I was excited to see was “The Death Of Marat” by Jacques-Louis David. It was absolutely beautifully tragic. I loved everything about the painting. Everyone also saw the iconic Mona Lisa. We had a scavenger hunt to find all the paintings listed and take a picture with them which is very fun! Everyone had a good time, no one noticed how time passed fast and we had to leave now. We left the museum which was stunning, and took the bus to go back to our hotels. Everyone had a good day and were excited for the next days we have in France!
– Isshalem & Luis Ron
Note to families: We know everyone has returned home, but we received these two blog posts from program staff, so we’ve added them below! Happy reading 🙂
BLOG POST FOR MARCH 6
Day 10: Montmartre and the best lunch ever
For today’s adventure, we traveled to an artist neighborhood to explore more of the diverse art types in one of the villages in France. We got to shop and see artists sketching and painting in the town square. We ate great cuisine from Mama Kossa – where we enjoyed Senegalese food. The building was a factory in the old days and now they are making it a place where people can work, eat, and play. The manager of Mama Kossa was so cool and they played great music.
After the meal, we enjoyed a pastry tour and the history of the bakeries and food in Montmartre. Everyone’s favorite were the traditional macarons and the puff pastries that had cream in the inside. After the main activities, we all had gotten together as a group to do a game of Killer Frog, where one person was “killing” us and two people had to figure out who the Frog was.
We then participated in the Appreciation Circle, where we had to express emotions to specific classmates and then ended the day with a game of Mafia.
See you later!
– Pods 3 & 4
BLOG POST FOR MARCH 7
Wow! What an amazing last day of our Europe trip.
This morning we got to really get to know the local side of the big city of Paris. We met up with Serve the City Paris, a community service group that we helped serve the unhoused population in Paris. We actually got a lot of help because the night before we arrived, the police had moved a lot of the homeless population to different spots of the city. We packed hygiene kits and food kits with coffee to pass out to people on the streets. It felt very rewarding to help people in the city we are touring around.
We then went to a yummy lunch where we got to choose our own meals. After that, we visited the famous Arc de Triomphe. We climbed up all of the stairs which was difficult but not too bad. When we got to the top, we got to see a view of the city that was really cool because you could see the Eiffel Tower and Montmartre and all the places we visited.
We got in traffic on the way back to the hotel and when we arrived we quickly changed and got ready for our dinner cruise on the river Seine. We had a perfect view of the Eiffel Tower lit up at night and got to take photos. We all got to dress up and enjoy the last night of our trip.
We are excited to come home tomorrow but we are very happy we got to visit these cities in Europe!
