Wow! We can’t believe it has been a month since our time together came to an end. We have missed your lovely faces and are serious about a reunion in the future! As our first program and first group you will always hold a special place in our hearts, and hope that you feel the same about our wonderful two weeks in Belize.

It was an unforgettable time from the minute the first of you stepped off the plane bright and early at 6:00am, and from there it was one unforgettable moment after another. From spontaneous staff head shaving (it’s so long now, y’all) to tears at the Green Iguana Project, and from scorpions all over home base to grinning students at service, and everything in between!

Whenever we drive past St. Augustine, we think of you and the tender and compassionate way in which you went about service, working your hardest and gaining more confidence each day. We loved seeing you come to understand how difficult and rewarding your work was, and we hope you carry the lessons you learned with you for a lifetime.

We hope that when you look back over your time you remember the relationships you made with your students and each other for years to come!

Here’s to a lifetime of travel, leadership, and service for each of you!

Love,

Emma and Danielle

P.S.
We hope all of your big bites have healed— ours haven’t. Miss you!

 

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Emily, Cecatae, Lindsay, Kyle, Rachel, Cole, Vera, Aina, Mia and Alayna,

I can’t believe how fast the time has flown since we parted ways at the airport back in August. I will always remember the “intense” group that you all were – what an amazing time we had together in Bali. I hope that since you have been home you have had more time to reflect on the things you learned this summer. I hope you have continued to push yourself out of your comfort zones, ask questions about the world and listen to your inner best friend.

Let’s take some time to reflect back on some of the funny memories from this summer! Do you remember…

Making assumptions about people on the awkward first day.

“10,000 IQ right there!”

Eating all our meals on the floor while in Ubud. Lots of fried rice and noodles!

Kyle being pulled up on stage for the fire dance performance.

The magic of stealing Kate’s snorkel mask to see the coral and fish beneath our boat on the sunset cruise -Then singing songs around a campfire on the beach.

All the cute puppies we found and the dogs that stole our pizza on the beach.

Speaking of animals – remember the home base cats in Singaraja?

Jumping into the cool, fresh water at the waterfall.

Surviving all the earthquakes!!!

Opening up about our inner critic’s and realizing that we all are much harder on ourselves than we should be.

Our cashew harvesting competition at EBI and the delicious meal we cooked.

“Nurse, What?!”

“Dead bottom”

Dancing with the kids on our last day of service at the school!

Indo mart runs!

Taking community members’ blood pressure and telling them they need to see a doctor ASAP.

Teaching the handwashing song, and the smiles on the faces of families who were truly grateful that you took the time to come into their homes and provide health checks.

Our Balinese medical student partners.

Falling asleep and waking up to the sound of waves at our beach bungalows in Amed.

Kate saving Cole and Emily from floating down the river during rafting!

The challenge of carving our names into wood and learning to dance at the Bale Banjar workshop.

All the GLA staff send our love to you all and hope you have a great year. Keep in touch, and know you always have a home in Bali to return to.

Sending love from around the world,

Allie, Kate, Fira, Sumara and Eka

 

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To the incredible students of the Bali GHI 3 week, session one program:

I can’t believe how fast the time has flown since we parted ways at the airport! As a group you were so high energy and full of enthusiasm for everything that we did. From all of the excursions we did to the hot and sweaty days of service – we are so proud of the work you did this summer and the ways you pushed yourselves out of your comfort zones. I hope that you have continued to keep in touch with the friends you made in Bali and that you have been able to reflect on the lessons you learned in Bali. Never stop exploring and asking questions! I hope Bali was the beginnning (or continuation) of a life of exploration, adventure and service.

Let’s take some time to reflect back on some of the memories from this summer! Do you remember…

The craziness of the volcano erupting and spend the first day of the program spread out around the world in hotels and airports.

The Ubud amazing race! (Lauren’s team was the winner!)

Eating all our meals on the floor while in Ubud. Lots of fried rice and noodles!

Micah eating herself into a food coma at the mountain restaurant

Feeling like celebrities at the temple on the way to Singaraja

Beautful sunsets at Lovina – pizza on the beach, our sunset swim and looking at the bottom –
thinking it was shallow but it was actually 15 ft deep!

The magic of the bonfire we had at Anik’s on the 4th of July, dancing on the beach, singing at the top of our lungs and watching the fireworks.

All of the cute puppies and dogs!

Jumping into the cool, fresh water at the waterfall. Swimming to go under the waterfall and jumping into the white water! What a crazy feeling to have the water pounding on our faces.

Opening up during our step forward activity – realizing the experiences that make us unique and tie us together.

Dance parties with the kids at both the service sites.

During the children’s education workshop, Kate’s service group teaching the kids to scream
“spongebob squarepants” at the top of their lungs

Indo mart!!!!

Teaching the handwashing song – and the smiles on the faces of families who were truly grateful that you took the time to come into their homes and provide health checks.

Our Balinese medical student partners and all the hard work they put into helping us with our service.

Falling asleep and waking up to the sound of waves at our beach bungalows in Amed. Waking up at 6am to watch the sun rise over the ocean and swim. 🙂

Kajsa playing her fiddle for us around the bonfire.

Sumara’s personal mission to splash every single person in the whitewater rafting trip

PS – We went back to the community where you led the health education
workshops and many of the children asked about you and remembered your names!!! They
also sang the handwshing song you taught them to the new group of GLA students. It was
amazing to see the impact you had on them, and is something to be proud of.

All the GLA staff send our love to you all and hope you have a great year. Keep in touch, and know you always have a home in Bali to return to.

Sending love from around the world,

Allie, Kate, Lauren, Fira, Sumara and Eka

 

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Hey guys,

I can’t believe that it has already been six months since we were all together in Bali. It feels like we just dropped you off at the airport hours ago, but time flies when you are having fun, and the last six months have been a complete whirlwind. Kelsey has been looking into getting her legs surgically replaced with a tail so she can achieve her dream of becoming a mermaid—the doctors are still trying to figure out the gill situation—and she is saving the world one straw at a time. Beni is on his way to becoming a famous photographer, keep an eye out for his pictures. He is also trying to get on the profesional surf circuit. Fika is working on her skills as a make-up artist. She’s hoping to land a job abroad, fingers crossed for Hollywood. She’s planning on teaching Balinese traditional dance where ever she goes. Rudy is back in Phoenix working on his travel start up and he having great success. Evita has her first child on the way and the only person as happy as she is about it, is her husband. And John, well, nobody really knows, but we are sure that he’s having a good time where ever he is.

Do you remember the beach of Amed with the black volcanic sand and the warm blue water? What about snorkeling above the ship wreck, diving down to swim among the tropical fish and the see the colorful coral? I will also never forget the service. Singing and dancing with the kids was magical. I hope you realize how much the students enjoyed their time with you. They loved your games and you taught them so much.

Please never forget your medical service as well. Visiting the different Balinese households was incredible. The service gave us better insight of the day-to-day life in Bali than a tour ever could. You spent your time checking their health and providing medical care they would have had to go to a doctor to get. That’s really special. Please realize what an impact you made. And I hope you had as much fun white water rafting and surfing as I did. Bouncing from rapid to rapid through the jungle was the definition of an adventure. Reminiscing about the trip brings me back, and I feel like I am back in Kaya House now. I can almost here the bells in the distance and smell the incense in the air. I hope you have all been able to follow through on your affirmations and have applied what you learned in Bali to your life back home. If you haven’t, its not too late to start now.

Love you guys and hope all is well. Check in on your old friends; I’m sure they are all doing great things.

Terimah Kashi.

 

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

Hey guys,

I can’t believe that it has already been six months since we were all together in Bali. It feels like we just dropped you off at the airport hours ago, but time flies when you are having fun, and the last six months have been a complete whirlwind. Kelsey has been looking into getting her legs surgically replaced with a tail so she can achieve her dream of becoming a mermaid—the doctors are still trying to figure out the gill situation—and she is saving the world one straw at a time. Beni is on his way to becoming a famous photographer, keep an eye out for his pictures. He is also trying to get on the profesional surf circuit. Fika is working on her skills as a make-up artist. She’s hoping to land a job abroad, fingers crossed for Hollywood. She’s planning on teaching Balinese traditional dance where ever she goes. Rudy is back in Phoenix working on his travel start up and he having great success. Brenda is working her internship to “get back into the real world.” And John, well, nobody really knows, but we are sure that he’s having a good time where ever he is.

Do you remember the beach of Amed with the black volcanic sand and the warm blue water? What about snorkeling above the ship wreck, diving down to swim among the tropical fish and the see the colorful coral? I will also never forget the service. Singing and dancing with the kids was magical. I hope you realize how much the students enjoyed their time with you. They loved your games and you taught them so much.

Please never forget your medical service as well. Visiting the different Balinese households was incredible. The service gave us better insight of the day-to-day life in Bali than a tour ever could. You spent your time checking their health and providing medical care they would have had to go to a doctor to get. That’s really special. Please realize what an impact you made. And I hope you had as much fun white water rafting and surfing as I did. Bouncing from rapid to rapid through the jungle was the definition of an adventure. Reminiscing about the trip brings me back, and I feel like I am back in Kaya House now. I can almost here the bells in the distance and smell the incense in the air. I hope you have all been able to follow through on your affirmations and have applied what you learned in Bali to your life back home. If you haven’t, its not too late to start now.

Love you guys and hope all is well. Check in on your old friends; I’m sure they are all doing great things.

Terimah Kashi.

 

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