When I say Pura, you say Vida…! Pura, Vida! Pura, Vida!

Hey guys, we cannot believe how time flies and that our days and bug bites of Rancho Quemado are fading into memories! It feels like yesterday that we were stomping through rain to make it to mountain top views and quietly listening to chirping frogs. We hope you had a great rest of the summer and imagine that some of you are starting school again—or even college! Despite this, down in Rancho Quemado, the impact that you made remains!

Our time there really did make an impact of the community. From beautiful murals and stool seats, to a huge contribution to the garden project, your efforts are now part of the community. The economic impact that we made by purchasing from local vendors was matched by the impact of the knowledge we gained about traditional methods of making cane sugar, “agua dulce,” gold mining, butterflies and more! Those experiences of learning community traditions, not to mention all the wildlife we saw, are memories that will last a lifetime!

Remember the photos of the “dantes” we saw on the forest cameras? Amazing! Not to mention the sloth! Among our memories of our service work and animals are those of the fun and laughter our group shared all through Rancho Quemado, in the library, the plaza, zip-lining from tree to tree, and even in the ocean waves. Not even the ant bites could stop us from having a wonderful time and enjoying the fresh food of the organic farm there. We’re so glad that you were all a piece in the puzzle in the special time we shared leaning, laughing, and giving in Rancho Quemado! Thanks for all the work you did, all the laughs we shared, and all the knowledge we gained and exchanged during our June GLA program of 2018!

Here are some more of our Special Memories:

-Our stay at Dante Lodge

-Trying all that fruit with Sandro on the Organic Farm Tour

-Playing the Serpent Song Game with Lizzie and Glenda

-Playing traditional games with the community

-The night talk with the Abeulos

-Horseback riding though the farm land

We hope you are all doing well!

Pura Vida,

Namita, Hannah, Lauren, and the Rancho Quemado Team

 

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Greetings to the students of our last Costa Rica Beachside Service Adventure session of 2018!

Your proud team of directors and mentors – Callie, Daya, Carlitos, Sam, Sophie, and Michael- had the most
amazing and memorable time with each and every one of you. We hope that the following moments during
the ten days we spent together felt as meaningful for you as they did for us.

We had four service projects during the session, each one enlightening, challenging, and enjoyable in their
own way.

At ROW, we worked long and hard, learning about the environment with Alberto and Marcia. We had that
tree planting competition between Sam and Marcus – 60 trees total. Sam “tortured” our group doing the
values activity, but made up for it when we made a long exposure Thank You pic for Alberto and Marcia.
We had a great time on the last day, with an impromptu activity that made a competitive game out of
recycling for the local schoolkids.

At Avellanas, one of our best memories was when we all went surfing. We also had so much fun at the
party on the last day, watching Curtis werk it to Bum Bum Tam Tam. Beach Clean Up was hard work,
especially when Frank made us run down the beach to do it. It was all worth it when we got to ride that
horse! And we’ll never forget those refreshing swims after hours of service on the beach.

At Pargos, highlights included playing soccer with the kids, befriending cute little Curtis, and painting our
beautiful “orgullosamente de ser guanacestecos” mural. And we will definitely never forget sharing our stories of self on the beach under the stars!

At VerdiAzul, the highlight had to be releasing the baby turtles! We were the only GLA group all summer
that got to release them ourselves! It was also fun to go out in the dark and see what we could of the mama
turtle trying to make her nest and lay her eggs. We planned amazing activities for the kids of Paraiso, which
they loved… some of which they wouldn’t let us stop playing. We dug holes for posts to protect the land-
Fasted Hole-Digger Award is a tie for Parker & Catherine. And we will never forget the times we spent
together on that blue couch that we loved so much.

From the meaningful: sharing stories of self, reflecting on what it means to be a responsible tourist and
effective leader, participating in our final appreciation circle; to the thrilling: Snorkeling! Canopy ziplining!

Trying gallo pinto and trying new things in general; to the downright fun: Bus ride dance parties, playing
soccer with members of the local community, unexpected magic tricks and the talent show…No question
about it, we will remember our ten days with you for years to come. We hope that wherever you are
(perhaps someplace just a little bit colder?), you are able to look back on your experience with GLA and
use what you learned to be the change you want to see in the world.

¡Pura Vida, Mae!
-The GLA CR Beachside team

 

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Greetings to the students of our fifth Costa Rica Beachside Service Adventure session of
2018!

Your proud team of directors and mentors – Callie, Daya, Carlitos, Bridget, Sam, Sophie,
Chanel, Bethany, Kasia, Michael and Ila- had the most amazing and memorable time with
each and every one of you. We hope that the following moments during the ten days we
spent together felt as meaningful for you as they did for us.

We had five service projects during the session, each one enlightening, challenging, and
enjoyable in their own way. Those of us at Escuela Paraíso spent our first day of service
adding finishing touches to the ocean themed mural in the front of the school. We also used
our creativity to build a playground made of tires and paint a minion planter. We learned how
to use cement in order to ensure that the tires were placed steadily in the ground. We even
had the chance to spend August 8th at the English Festival listening to impromptu english
speaking competitions followed by a spelling bee and precious moments with the students.

We’ll forever be bonded by our love for the caramel fudge that we ate in the school.
At Pargos, we were a small but mighty team of five. We played a lot with the students
including playing red rover. During mentor sessions, everyone had a nickname, including
Olga. We also painted murals with the students in Pargos and had fun helping them place
their handprints in the mural.

The people who were working in Avellanas had a blast working with with local leaders such
as Frank and Cindy. Each day, we picked up garbage along the beach in a local community
called Los Pargos. We also learned how important it is to pick up garbage along the beach,
especially microplastics, which are what the fish and other sea creatures ingest. Our service
combined painting and hanging signs to encourage people to take care of the beach.
On the final day Pargos and Avellanas groups got to plant trees, hang out with Lola (the
giant beautiful pig that lives at the local restaurant), and had a surprise surf lesson.

All of us working with Restoring Our Watershed (ROW) had a host of adventures and
surprises, including, eating moringa seeds, planting trees in La finca, beautifying the recycle
centre in Las delicias and playing games with the students there to teach about the
importance of recycling and of taking care of our planet. We enjoyed getting to know our
motorcycle-riding community leader, Alberto, with whom we made an energetic circle.

We used mentor groups to reflect about the day, listen to each other and visualizing our future.
Finally, VerdiAzul shone: We had a blast playing soccer with our local leader, Pan and
stargazing at night. We used mentor group time to finish our turtle relay races and it felt like
we were staying up late cramming for an exam with our second local leader, Bryan. We gave
our all as we dug holes and transplanted trees in extreme heat, nonetheless, we did it!

From the meaningful: sharing stories of self, reflecting on what it means to be a responsible
tourist and effective leader, participating in our final appreciation circle; to the thrilling:
Snorkeling! Canopy ziplining! Trying gallo pinto and trying new things in general; to the
downright fun: nightly games of UNO, bus ride dance parties, T25, playing soccer with
members of the local community at 5pm…No question about it, we will remember our ten
days with you for years to come. We hope that wherever you are (perhaps someplace just a
little bit colder?), you are able to look back on your experience with GLA and use what you
learned to be the change you want to see in the world.

¡Pura Vida, Mae!
-The GLA CR Beachside team

 

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Greetings to the students of our fourth Costa Rica Beachside Service Adventure session of
2018!

Your proud team of directors and mentors – Callie, Daya, Carlitos, Bridget, Sam, Sophie, Chanel,
Bethany, Kasia, and Ila- had the most amazing and memorable time with each and every one of
you. We hope that the following moments during the ten days we spent together felt as
meaningful for you as they did for us.

We had six service projects during the session, each one enlightening, challenging, and
enjoyable in their own way. Those of us at Escuela Paraíso spent our first day building a table
with Orlando. We even used our creativity to build a playground made of tires and paint a
minion planter. We spent Venticinco de Julio participating in the celebrations at the school and
enjoying precious moments with the students. We’ll forever be bonded by our anthem “Mi
Paraíso es tu paraíso.”

With Playa Marbella, we painted gorgeous signs for the community and hammered tons of nails
while cheering each other on. We planted over 150 trees in 1 day, watered trees, and
interacted with our local leader Lori. Lori also prepared limonada for the whole group, wasn’t it
delicious? We also learned Arroyito, a very upbeat song. ¡Chuls!

Escuela Marbella also sang Arroyito and enjoyed one another’s company while eating tons of
snacks during mentor group and having thought provoking debates on the bus. We painted
parts of the school the beautiful colors of sea-foam green and mint. We also learned what it
means to be the “Guardianes Pura vida.”

With Huerta Vida y Salud, we celebrated Venticinco de Julio at Escuela Delicias with Josh, Aron,
and David. We enjoyed watching a horse race, eating corn, playing soccer, painting tires,
digging holes, and breaking up soil in la Huerta. We’ll never forget “Bucket Boy” and the phrase
“love to see it.”

All of us working with Restoring Our Watershed (ROW) had a host of adventures and surprises,
including, eating moringa seeds, and getting to know our motorcycle-riding community leader,
Alberto. We also spent time with Doggie and Dave while working with different plants, worms,
and seeds. We learned how to plant “mata” in different locations, met “machete-man” and
spent time in the Venado community picking up trash and painting garbage cans.

Finally, VerdiAzul shone – with sweat, but also with pride and glory – as we carried heavy logs,
dug deep holes, and worked on the turtle hatchery (Calypso and Lalo provided the emotional
support). Towards the end, our service paid off because we got to witness the release of baby
turtles with Pan and Valerie. On our last service day, along with all of us at ROW, we played
soccer and put on relay races with the local kids of the Venado community, face painted,
collected garbage and played tiburón y peces.

From the meaningful: sharing stories of self, reflecting on what it means to be a responsible
tourist and effective leader, participating in our final appreciation circle; to the thrilling:
Snorkeling! Canopy ziplining! Trying gallo pinto and trying new things in general; to the
downright fun: nightly games of UNO, bus ride dance parties, star gazing, Yoga at 6 am…No
question about it, we will remember our ten days with you for years to come. We hope that
wherever you are (perhaps someplace just a little bit colder?), you are able to look back on your
experience with GLA and use what you learned to be the change you want to see in the world.
¡Pura Vida, Mae!

-The GLA CR Beachside team

 

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Greetings students of Costa Rica Beachside Service Adventures 2018!

Your dedicated team of directors and mentors – Callie, Daya, Michael, Carlitos, Bridget, Sam,
Sophie, Chanel, Bethany, Ila, and Kasia – would like to reach out and reflect on some of the
unforgettable moments we shared living together in Junquillal. We hope the ten days we spent
as a group were as meaningful for you as they were for us. Each service site had a unique story
and presented enlightening challenges, and each one of you adopted that story as your own
and grew because of those challenges.

Those of us at Escuela Paraíso tackled a handful of projects in the local schools with Chanel
and Sam. We painted la huerta (the orchard), built a playground from scratch (including a
makeshift tractor made of painted car tires), and painted a mural for the kindergarten. We didn’t
forget to have fun along the way – in the morning we sang the Paraiso song we wrote ourselves,
and got to spot howler monkeys at the service site.

Kasia and Ila led team Marbella Escuella, where the students worked ceaselessly to paint the
schools murals and signs raising awareness about the environment and beach cleanup. We had
a satisfying and rewarding last day of service, when we got to meet the kids we’d been working
so hard to support. Other highlights from our service days include playing with the dogs on the
site, perfecting our “Marbella Estrella” cheer, and drinking Lori’s Lemonade.

Carlitos led team Marbella Reforestation, during which we planted and watered trees for the
local community (the community has a system where for every tree you cut down, to build a
house for example, you have to plant two!). Like Marbella Escuela, they got to enjoy iced
lemonade made by Lori, a wonderful Italian woman who’s been living for many years in Costa
Rica with her family. And one of the best memories of the session – students dancing to the
Brazilian song choreography!

We also had the chance to start a new service project with Bridget at the Vida y Salud Organic
Farm. Here, we learned about sustainable farming practices that benefit the environment and
make use of local resources, made fertilizer from leaves, and weeded. It was all worth it
knowing that it supported Rodolfo and his family, particularly his child Saul, who quickly became
a celebrity among our group.

All working with Beth at Restoring Our Watershed (ROW) had the opportunity to look at and
understand more deeply some of the most prominent environmental challenges that Costa Rica
faces today. For example, we learned about the importance of Vetiver grass to the prevention of
soil erosion and water retention. We painted signs and bins at schools to encouraging recycling
among students, learned alongside local high schoolers, and even teamed up with Verdiazul to
facilitate a day of learning for local students at Rio Seco.

Finally, at Verdiazul, an organization dedicated to sea turtles and beachside
reforestation,Sophie led her tireless team to dig holes and put posts to build a fence along the
shoreline. Building the fence was an important achievement, as it will help prevent the public
from parking on the beach and destroying the plant life that’s so essential for protecting against
erosion. When we weren’t laboring under the hot sun, Verdiazul group got to know our local
leaders, Pan, Valerie, Bryan, and Dani, and with their help planned fun activities with kids from
the local community.

When we weren’t laboring away, we got to drink coconut water straight
from the coconuts, practice our Spanish, pand have great bonding sessions by the pool.
From the meaningful moments: sharing stories of self, reflecting on what it means to be a
responsible tourist and effective leader, participating in our final appreciation circle…to the
thrilling: Sea kayaking! Canopy ziplining! Trying gallo pinto and dragon fruit!…to the downright
fun: fire twirling, playing soccer against a local women’s team, bus ride dance parties, beach
yoga…Sin duda, we will remember our ten days with you for years to come. We hope that
wherever you are (perhaps someplace just a little bit colder?), you are able to look back on your
experience with GLA and use what you learned to be the change you want to see in the world.

Now if you would all put your hands over your heart, and repeat after us: “Voy a reír, voy a
bailar, vivir mi vida, GLA la la la la…”
And dude… Where’s chicken?

Pura Vida!
-The GLA team

 

Feeling nostalgic? You can experience that same sense of friendship and adventure abroad again! Check out all our 2019 programs, or enroll now.