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Thursday July 5, 2018

Hello GLA Families!

Greetings from Alajuela, Costa Rica, the first stop in our summer adventure!

Twenty-one young ladies and two young men have arrived throughout the day to participate in the fourteen-day Animal Rescue Project. The earliest breezed through at 7am and the last touched down at 8pm, local time.

First photo shows the 19 students that arrived by 4pm, and the second photo shows our last four arrivals!

So glad to have everyone here!

We spent the day resting, getting to know one another, and eating the fine food.We are tired, but well-fed!, and excited about the next two weeks. Stay tuned for more updates!

Pura Vida!

Sunday July 8, 2018

Hi families! It’s Clairese!

Today we had our first clinic day in the lovely town of Parrita. After breakfast, we loaded the bus and headed to set up the clinic. It was such an amazing experience getting to assist with pre-surgery, surgery, and recovery. All the groups worked very hard and worked together as a team.

After the clinic we came back to lunch and then participated in a global awareness discussion. Next we headed to a local restaurant to try the fine cuisine.

Overall it was such a fun day with a truly amazing, unforgettable experience.

Love,
Clairese

 

Monday July 9, 2018

Alicia here!

Today, we went to a beautiful beach where we worked all morning to make it look even nicer. We divided into three groups: the first one cleaned tables and wrote VIDA and GLA symbols. Another group planted trees, and the last picked up trash from the sand. When we finished working we went to the ocean and had a lot of fun taking pictures and looking at the waves. After the beach, we had some really good pizza and pasta for lunch. We got on the bus and arrived in the new hotel where we had dinner.

   

Tuesday July 10, 2018

Hi families!

Clare here,

Today was the first morning in our temporary home of Liberia. Breakfast was at 7 so that means we got to sleep in a little (6:40)! We ate a classic breakfast of beans and rice, eggs, and fresh fruit. We changed into our scrubs and began our journey. The bus ride was guided by lush mountains that reached the sky. We arrived at a small community about 20 minutes later.

This was an amazing opportunity to be one with the culture and lean directly from the locals. We were walking around and completing home visits, which consisted of drawing with the kids, seeing how the locals live and experience life, giving a survey about the new animal welfare law in Costa Rica, and also teach families how to care for their pets.

Many of the owners didn’t want to neuter or spay their dogs for many reasons like bleeding, expenses, or the fact that it’s perceived as unnecessary. We informed the owners of the importance of spaying/neutering and mentioned our upcoming clinic. Not only did the owners have lots of dogs—they also had rabbits, chickens, sheep, and even cows.

To conclude our afternoon in Liberia, we had a scavenger hunt in the park, went shopping, and had ice cream!

At night, we went out to eat and played a leadership activity that was heart-warming and made us all closer. It showed us the value of new friends and the impact of new experiences.

Bye for now!

Wednesday July 11, 2018

Hey all! This is Sarah!

Today we had our second animal clinic day in Liberia. After breakfast, we loaded the bus
and went to the clinic that was set up in a local school. We had the opportunity to give
shots, take their temperature, and even assist in surgery! We all had a great time and
learned a lot more about veterinary medicine.

After the clinic, we headed back to the hotel for lunch and participated in a leadership
activity discussing our interest in animals and what motivated us to take this amazing GLA
trip.

Then we walked around and went to some of the local souvenir shops and the
supermarket. We returned to the hotel, ate dinner, and reflected on our unforgettable
experiences in Costa Rica!

See you soon!

-Sarah

 

Thursday July 12 through Saturday July 14, 2018

This is Grace Fitzgerald and I am writing three days of blogs!

On July 12 we moved to our final location for the last leg of the trip. We got to sleep in until 8am and ate an exciting breakfast of pancakes, which differed from the rice, beans, and eggs that we had every other morning at the hotel. The bus ride to Orosi was long, but beautiful views of mountains and valleys made it worthwhile.

For the last week, the counselors have been talking up Orosi as the best location we visit, and when we arrived we realized that it is as amazing as it sounded. Our hotel’s views of the entire valley unparalleled by anything we have seen so far. At night, we watched a TED Talk that opened our minds about the benefits of travelling and seeing the world from different perspectives.

July 13 began with our first day of volunteering at the local dog shelter. I myself woke up to the beautiful sounds of chirping birds, but at 4:30am. At the shelter, we spent the first hour scraping paint off the walls so that a new coat could be put on. However we were limited by the tools at hand. Only the paint chippers worked well despite hard scrubbing with sandpaper. We also got the chance to walk the dogs along the road and look at surrounding farms and houses. After lunch, we finally got to visit the hot springs. The naturally warm mineral water calmed everyone down and put us in tranquil moods. After thousands of photos were taken overlooking the edge of the pools into the valley, the staff served us fresh juices and authentic Costa Rican snacks. At the hotel, we got to learn to prepare and shape tortillas. Our dinner of pizza felt close to home. In honor of Friday the 13, we watched Coraline at night in the meeting room and relaxed.

Saturday July 14 did not go exactly as planned. Due to rain the night before and into the morning, our service was cancelled and instead, most people spent the morning relaxing in the meeting room and enjoying the views. We had an activity about animal behavior to fill the space, and then after lunch embarked on our journey to the coffee farm. The owners of the farm explained the process of making coffee from the starting plant to the finished roasted bean. We even got to try freshly roasted bean. Everyone had a great time and bought lots of fresh organic coffee Before dinner, we watched Adichie’s speech, “The Danger of a Single Story” and discussed the ways that stereotypes can skew our perceptions. After dinner, we had a dance lesson from some of the Costa Rican staff members. Although critical at first, everyone ended up having a blast and dancing our hearts out. Despite the thunderstorm outside, everyone truly enjoyed themselves and we connected as a group.

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Monday June 18, 2018

Hello GLA Families! Greetings from Alajuela, Costa Rica, the first stop in our summer adventure! Twenty-four young ladies have arrived throughout the day to participate in the fourteen-day Animal Rescue Project. The earliest breezed through at 7:00 AM and the last touched down at 10:00PM, local time. We spent the day resting, getting to know one another, and eating the fine food. We are tired, but well-fed, and excited about the next two weeks.

Pura Vida!

Friday June 22, 2018

Lily here!

As the days go by, we continue to grow both as individuals and friends. Our service trip began with a little rest time and soon after, the fun began. The first day of work started in Manuel Antonio National Park where we separated into groups and spent the morning improving the condition of the parks. It was hard work but we really made a difference. We then headed to the beach in the afternoon, where we soaked up the sun and enjoyed the beautiful view. That night we came back and took a Zumba class. It was pretty intense and at the end of the day we were completely exhausted but excited for the next day.

Our clinic day began bright and early. We first set up the clinic and then went right into our work. It was such an exciting experience for all of us to watch and even aid in the surgery, pre-surgery, and recovery operations. We spayed and neutered eight dogs in the day. We was hot but we made it!

Next, we headed to a local supermarket where we bought yummy food and then to the community park where we watched local children rehearsing a traditional Costa Rican dance. We even enjoyed a game of soccer with some of the local children.

Today, we visited a local school and talked to second and fifth graders about the importance of animal treatment and veterinarians. Overall, the beginning of our trip has been very full and exciting for all of us. We can’t wait for more!

Sunday June 24, 2018

Sydney here!

June 24 we got to wake up later and it was storming really hard so we got to rest another hour, which was lovely. When the rain went away we set off to go into the community. We split into groups and went to talk with families in their homes about their pets’ health. The people were very nice and their pets were adorable!

If they had children, some of the girls from a group would go color with the kids. It was a great day for bonding with the community and learning more about animal welfare. We finished around lunchtime and headed back to the hotel where we were able to rest for a couple hours, which was very nice. Then the counselors surprised us with a scavenger hunt in the park, finding a lizard to take selfies with and dancing with people in the park! We got ice cream and did some shopping before heading back to the hotel for dinner.

Today we had our last clinic day, and everyone had a really positive attitude! We spayed/neutered seven animals, both dogs and cats. Then we said our goodbyes to the vets we’ve been working with and went back to the hotel to rest and do leadership activities.

Tuesday June 26, 2018

Hi everyone! This is Zoe!

Our time here has been going by so fast. Just today we were all talking about the first day when we didn’t know each other—today, we feel like we’ve known each other forever.

Yesterday afternoon we came back from our second clinic day and had free time. We were able to go in the pool and rest. We then played a great leadership activity that revolved around Aboriginal groups in Australia having their land fought over between themselves, Wet Tropics Management, The Australian Logging Company, and The Australian Nature Conservation. We were split into groups and researched our agency’s role in the conflict. Each group was assigned a role to play and then researched their opinions on the conflict. We then debated the issue while thinking from the perspective of each of our agencies. I was part of a group called CREATE that mediated the debate and set the frame for the discussion. It was challenging because we didn’t always agree with the agency we had to represent. It also helped us speak and share our values.

Our last activity of the night was a bonding game where we formed a circle and faced outward with our eyes closed. Then a few people were picked to go into the circle and tap people who made them happy and did well in the debate.

We went to bed early because we set out for Orosi very early this morning, at six thirty. We drove to Orosi, which took about five hours. We arrived at our beautiful hotel, Hotel Tapanti, around one. Here we have a great view of the mountains and even some active volcanoes. But there hasn’t been an eruption since 1968!

We then had a group discussion about the debate and how the skills we used can help us in the future. We split into mentor groups and talked about what makes as a good leader. We just had a delicious dinner and now we are watching the movie Coco.

Bye for now!

-by Zoe

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Tuesday July 10, 2018

Everyone safely arrived yesterday on July 9th. Today, we talked about the cultural differences and introduced the program during orientation. In the afternoon, we visited the Forbidden City and overlooked the entire city from Jingshan. For dinner, we had a big meal of Peking duck. Looking forward to the Great Wall tomorrow!

-Yi, International Director

Wednesday July 11, 2018

After an early breakfast during a morning of light rain, we packed onto our bus and spent two hours driving to the Great Wall. Upon arriving, we decided to grab lunch, which was one of the more exotic meals we’ve had thus far: Subway. After, we were faced not only with the challenge of climbing thousands of stairs to get atop the Great Wall, but also the challenge of doing so in the rain. After a somewhat gruelling climb, we were faced with thousands more stairs on a hike on the wall itself. Determined, we accomplished the feat with smiles on our faces.

As we hiked the wall, rainfall picked up, and with it, fog. Eventually, the entire wall was encompassed in fog; we were seemingly swallowed. Chinese police officers told us it was time to go due to the inclement weather. After heading down the thousands of stairs we had just spent hours climbing up, we spent some time bartering with shop vendors.

We returned to the hotel and decided to change, given that we were all soaked. Soon after, we had dinner at a restaurant known for its delicious pear-and-honey tea. We ended the day being introduced to our mentor groups, which are small groups in which will we meet every day for the remainder of the trip. For our first group, we played a game called ‘rose, thorn, bud,’ where you describe one positive thing that you have experienced in the day (the rose), one negative experience (the thorn), and one thing that you’re looking forward to (the bud).

-by Brayden Priebe

 

Thursday July 12, 2018

With every stride, step and turn, there is always a new adventure to be found when traveling abroad. Whether it has been trying a new food or visiting a new location, China has always presented us with new experiences, with this rule be no truer than during our travels today.

One of the focal points of our travels with GLA has always been, well… travel. With today being dedicated solely to our journey from the capital of Beijing to Kunming, a large city within the Yunnan province, many of the values found within program were brought out today.

Being able to view a country at over 10,000 feet brings a whole new meaning to experiencing a country. Because we were flying (with a connection), we were able to have this new perspective, a “birds eye view” if you will, allowing us to view this new country in different ways. Seeing how a country (especially China) is physically structured can often bring out many of the values the people hold dear to their hearts. As we were informed during our first full day in the country, the ideas of family and community are the cornerstones to Chinese culture.

As we were able to view from the air, this was represented in their towns. Unlike American cities and suburbs, China’s houses have little to no space between them. There is no back yard, no front yard, just houses. There is plenty of space around for such things, with Kilometers spanning between the separate groupings of houses, but the people do not care. It was easy to see from the sky that these were not separate houses, but instead one conglomerate, one single community that was built together, no separation. People shared living space not because of a lack of land, but because they enjoyed each others’ company.

Traveling is half the experience. Many times I have heard that it is never about the destination, but instead the journey. I have heard people complain about travel, but if there is one thing that I wish for you, the reader, to get from this blog post… it’s that you should never take for granted the small moments. There is always something to be seen in the obscure, you just have to look.

-by Oscar Clement

Friday July 13, 2018

Greetings from Kunming!

Today, we visited The Stone Forest. The scenery and wildlife was beautiful. It was a long day of hiking but every stop was worth the effort to view the everlasting landscape. Everyone had a wonderful time! Throughout the day we ate dumplings, mixed vegetables, and tofu platters, you know the usual chinese food. However, the most surprising dish of all was WORMS! Interestingly enough it was the favorite of some of my peers including me.

After heading back from the Stone Forest and dinner, we walked around Green Lake to roam around the area. There was a traditional dance class in session while walking through the streets. Very cool! Apart from a long day of walking, we are excited to head to Shaxi tomorrow. We can’t wait to see what is in store for us in our two weeks of service! Tune in to the next blog post to find out! Good bye! 再见! (zai jian).

-By Jonathan Roldan

Saturday July 14, 2018

Today our GLA group spent most of the day in our bus, with views of the beautiful Yunnan province. It was breathtaking to be in the presence of such large mountains crowded with lush green trees and rich soil that reminded me of red velvet. A couple riddles were told and we were collectively baffled, we also laughed about things like cows in our pockets.

When we arrived in Shaxi I was amazed by how beautifully the nature, architecture, and diverse and exciting people came together to create a such an interesting and alive feel. Our home is far more perfect than I could have imagined. The whole place is very cosy and homey, but also very complex and intricately built. Today was also Oscar’s sixteenth birthday, and we celebrated with cake and singing in Mandarin. We ended the day with a pleasant conversation in our small group, where we reflected on the day and also what we are grateful for.

-By Gaia

Saturday July 15, 2018

Today we woke up and had breakfast at 8.50 (a really good meal). Later on we got an intro to Shaxi community service, which was awesome and we all learned stuff we didn’t know, such as the fact that Shaxi used to be an important trading town on the Tea-Caravan route where business people, travellers and locals would come from all around.

After lunch we did Chinese language class and I learned how to say my name as well as my peers’ names. We also learned basic words and had a blast doing it. Additionally we learned the different pronunciations. After that, we did goal setting which was great! We got to create a poster as a group describing our personal and leadership goals for the program, as well as our leadership qualities. Our visual representation of a leader was a lion called “Loving Loud Leading Lion”!

Next we had dinner consisting of the classic rice, spinach, tofu, stir fry chicken with carrots, broccoli and apples. After dinner we had mentor group and played two cool games, one of which was ‘shoe switch’. To play this we took one shoe each, put it in a pile, kneeled down, grabbed one then opened our eyes. We found out whose shoe we had, and had to tell the group a fun fact about them.

I’m really looking forward to making mud bricks tomorrow and going to the middle school to play with the students there.

Oh, I almost forgot, earlier today I had a fruit milkshake at a tavern where we went to have some WiFi time to talk to family and got acquainted with their two cute dogs.

-by Tristen Summers

Monday July 16, 2018

Today was a day we have all been waiting for. #BRICKDAY has been the buzz of the whole trip and it finally came. Being the leader of the day I had a lot of responsibilty to make this go smoothly and not to toot my own horn; I think i did a solid job. After breaking everyone up into their respective jobs for brick making we got to work. Jonathan and Gaia made the most with ten bricks (sorry Jonah and Alexis only winners make it into the blog). After #BRICKDAY we went to a temple to meditate and bought groceries from the local market. Many snacks were acquired. Once we got back to homebase we created a group constitution, and after much diplimatic debate we settled for 15 amendments, the highlight being “shrug the little things”. I’m hoping tomorrow can be as successful and enjoyable as today.

-by Ryan Havas

Tuesday July 17, 2018

Today we went to a kindergarten and a town called Jian Chuan. We decided to drive to the kindergarten because we thought the hour long walk in the rain was not optimal. When we got there they were jumping around and giving us high fives. They then started their morning exercises, and we joined in and tried our best to follow their elaborate dance moves.

They ended the dancing early after about 20 minutes, because they thought that we looked tired. We then split up into pre-assigned groups, and went to different classrooms that the kids were in. We all tried our best to speak to them, when they didn’t speak Mandarin, but Bai. Some played in classrooms, others in the art room, and the play ground outside. We had a great two hours of playing, running around and lots of high-fiving, until we had to go.

When we got back, we had some free time, then went to an old town called Jian Chuan. Uncle Lu, the man who has been making all our amazing meals at the home base came with because he was very familiar with the area. He showed us around and we saw 500 year old homes, and some beautiful temples. We walked around for a while and met some native people who were very nice and kindly welcomed us into their home.

All around it was an amazing day and everyone had a lot of fun!

– Alexis Norwitz

Wednesday July 18, 2018

The GLA Bricks Record: Part 2

Each member of the group woke up today with a smile on their faces and a fire in their hearts,
for today finally marked the grand return to the brick making site. But before we could get to our quest,
we had to first sit down to breakfast and discuss our group’s consitution. Following some reported
breaches from the day before, we decided that it was necessary to figure out what is a punishable
offense and what isn’t. After productive conversation, we were finally able to get started on our bricks.
Upon arriving at the site, we had to kick things into high gear fast, splitting into three teams: Two brick
making teams, and a mud transport team. It took a little while to get organized, but before long Dense
Brickz Inc. was churning out smiley faced bricks. By the end of the day our brick total was 160, putting us
about 150 short of our goal with one day left. However, we get better every time we go out, so I’m
confident that we’ll take the record.

After brick making, a group of mud covered and dead tired kids returned to the home base for
some well deserved lunch. We then had about an hour of free time before leaving for a farm about 20
minutes away. At the farm we once again got a bit muddy and dove into thick trees to recover
numberries; a sour berry with an interesting tingly/numbing effect on the mouth. After finishing our
picking, and maybe consuming a few too many numberries, we climbed back on the bus to go home. We
ate another delicious homecooked meal, and then broke for free time as we waited for the mysterious
“food challenge”. We sat on the edges of our seats for about an hour until we were called upstairs to
learn about the challenge. There was a line of upside-down bowls, each covering an unknown and
outside the box food. We broke into two teams, and had an eat off where we raced to finish these scary
dishes and guess what they were. After an intense competition, team JuiceWRLD won by a controversial
half point. However, what really speaks to the mettle of this group is the fact that every single dish was
finished, no matter how frightening it was. Overall, it was another great and adventurous day in China.

-by Jonah

Thursday July 19, 2018

Today was an important day, both for me and the group. It was the first day of making the plum enzymes, along with making sustainable, and economical, compost, using a blend of green and dry grass. The day started off as any other normal day, but for me, it was anything but normal. Today, I was the leader of the day. The leader of day comes up with schedules, reminders, etc…. The day before, I was the assistant leader, but unfortunately I had to cancel, due to the fact that I was unwell.

The walk to the organic farm was about an hour long, and we all stopped around thirty minutes into the walk for a water break. Even though it was only 10:00 in the morning, I was so tired. Other than that, the walk was uneventful.
When we arrived at the worksite, we broke into three groups. After splitting up, we each got a basket of plums, and put them into a a water jug. We then added water and sugar syrup to the plums, and they began to ferment before we knew it.

The second part of the program involved picking a mixture of green and dry grass from another one of the fields. The grass was then used to make compost. The compost was an economical, and environmentally friendly way to allow plants in the future to grow faster.

My favorite, and the final part of today’s service, was rose picking in the garden fields, from roses, to herbs like rosemary and thyme. During the service, a couple of bees decided to come check me out. Now, as a reminder, I am DEATHLY AFRAID of bees. I pretty much stayed like a statue, and hoped they wouldn’t sting me.

After the service, we had lunch back at home base. Uncle Lu cooked up some braised pork, and it was sooooo good. When i tasted it, i literally had no words to say, it was that good. After lunch, we had Chinese class. My friends and I were in the advanced group, so we learned about Chinese table manners and customs, as well as bargaining methods.

At 5:00, the group and I headed out into Shaxi to do some shopping. I bought a comb, some awesome looking aviator sunglasses, and a farmer’s hat. At 6:00, we had dinner and for the first time since arriving in Shaxi, it did not rain during dinner. We all ate dinner outside.

After dinner, we did a skills market challenge. Basically, we had to write some skills we had, and skills we wanted to learn, then browse and exchange skills with others. At the end, we shared what we learned and what we wrote down. After that, Jonathan taught us how to do some origami, and we made spinning tops out of paper.

As i sit here, tired and ready to get some sleep, I hope you enjoy reading tonight’s blog, and truly knowing how it felt today, I can tell you all one thing, and it is that my life is changing for the better. Shoutout to my parents, I know they must be dying to read my blog. 🙂

-CJ Sandel

Friday July 20, 2018

After spending the past few days doing community service, today was an opportunity to rest and relax. We started today with a fun market challenge and were split into four teams, each contributing their blood, sweat, and tears to the goal of buying as much fruit as possible with only 20 Yuan (about three dollars) at the weekly market. It was a great opportunity to practice our Mandarin with the locals.

After a fantastic lunch, a local artisan came to our home base and taught everyone some fun paper-cutting skills. I’m pretty proud of my newfound ability to cut semi-intricate designs with safety scizzors. After paper cutting and dinner, we had a nice mentor group discussion about the differences between all the places we’ve been and took a brief nighttime walk to a local coffee/pastry shop. Overall, today was absolutely fantastic; The weather was great, I didn’t get a sunburn (despite forgetting sunscreen), and I had tons of fun hanging out with all the group members.

-Brezlan Malina

Saturday July 21, 2018

Day two of our weekend break was filled with plenty of fun and interesting things.

Starting in the morning, we headed off to the mountains to see the Bai temples and the monkeys that inhabit the area. Along our hike through the breath-taking mountain trail we collected trash to keep the environment clean for our animal friends. When we reached the temple we were greeted by a monkey in a tree, then two, and then many many more. It seemed like we were in the Planet Of The Apes! They began to watch curiously as we walked through. Eventually they grew confident and snatched one of our trash bags and tore it apart to fight for a granola bar.

The temple is filled with amazing, colorful statues of various things. After our visit with the local monkeys we headed over to a nearby community area to enjoy some delicious local BBQ. When we finished our meal we visited two temples that were in the area, one in restoration and the other completely remade. So after a very busy day filled with walking, good food, and some fun with the monkeys, we headed home to enjoy dinner and watch a Chinese animated movie called Bigfish and Begona. Over all it was a good day and we can’t wait for Sunday!

-by Daniel

Sunday July 22, 2018

Today, in the quiet village of Shaxi, GLA had an semi-relaxing, and fun day today. In the morning, we had a delicious breakfast cooked today by the cooks at the homebase. Then some of us went on a relaxing walk with Yi and Vaila, and we drew some of the scenery with Yi’s expert guidance, while others went to the playground with Xiao and had an adventurous time with him. Afterwards, we went to the wificafe, in which we chatted with families, or with friends. Afterwards we had lunch, then we went off to learn traditional Bai dance. Unfortunately, it rained so we went back to homebase where we successfully learned the dance. It was so energetic! We are going to perform the dance as a group at our farewell party.

Afterwards, we went on an adventurous scavenger hunt for a riveting hour, and the winning team was awarded ice cream. After that, we returned home for another delicious dinner, and ate until we felt satisfied. In the evening we wrote letters to our future selves, in which some of us wrote advice, our goals, and we all made dates to open them. All in all, today was a great day in Shaxi filled with happiness, fun, laughter, and joy.

-by Jordan Lott

Monday July 23, 2018

Breaking The GLA Bricks Record: The Finale

Today was our final day at the brick making site; our final day to demolish the record. After a delicious breakfast of dumplings and fried dough, we packed our egg sandwich and drinkable yogurt lunches and started our final trek to the work site. Once arriving we immediately jumped into action to achieve the goal we set out for: making more than 160 bricks. About one hour in we were all exhausted, but with the help of our cheerleaders (Ryan and Jordan) we were soon back in the groove of pumping out the bricks. After a scenic lunch at the brick site, filled with music and some dancing, we returned back to our brick making stations and began making mud bricks once again. In the end we not only broke the previous record of 320 bricks, but we DEMOLISHED it by making 482! Satisfied with our work, we headed back to home base to have our 3rd Chinese class.

In Chinese class we went over what we had previously learned, culture and traditions, and we also learned more fruit, vegetables, and how to say the pros of living in either a village or a city. Following chinese class and a scrumptous dinner, we had an evening activity of describing the story behind a picture we had taken on this trip. This activity led us to talk about how we should always keep our minds open about other cultures and be open to experiencing and learning new things. Overall today was a rewarding day and I am looking forward to the rest of this trip and our time spent in Shaxi! Zai Jian!

– Laura Lennon

Tuesday July 24, 2018

This morning, we woke up and had breakfast at the usual time (8:20). We had some delicious dumplings, along with some Sprite and Coca-Cola. After breakfast, we headed off for some more service on the enzyme farm. When we got there, we mixed a lot of green grass with a lot of dead grass, added some enzyme, sprinkled a little magic dust on top and left it to react.

The combination of all these substances is supposed to rise in temperature to 60-70 degrees celcius before flipping the mixture to result in a nice combination. Then, we headed to check on our other enzyme solution that we had already made. Finally, satisfied with our work, we left back for homebase. After a pleasant break for lunch, we revisited our goals that we made on posters when we first arrived in Shaxi. While it was fun to look back through our journey to China, we also reflected upon whether or not we had met our goals, and if we acquired any leadership traits that we had written down.

After that activity, we had one of our final Chinese classes. We then had a short break before dinner, which was used to continue our connect five tournament. There were many games played, but the standings ended having Beck waiting to participate in the final game, while Jonathan and I are competing in the semi-final. The winner of the final game will not only recieve a prize, but get the opportunity to compete against Uncle Lu for the title of connect five grandmaster.

After dinner, we had some free time to walk around Shaxi in order to buy any last souvenirs that we might have had in mind. Finally, we all participated in an appreciation activity in which we both anonymously and openly commended each other for our positive behaviors and leadership traits. Through this activity we came much closer together as friends, and had many newfound appreciations for each other. Overall, today was a very productive day in all aspects.

-by Cody Rupp

Wednesday July 25, 2018

Today, after a change of plans, we headed to the organic farm to pick flowers. It started to rain on our way there, but thankfully we all had our rain gear and boots. On our way back to home base, we stopped by at the supermarket to buy a few snacks for our bus ride to Dali and Kunming. After lunch,we learned how to make silk flowers from a very talented lady. It was a bit frustrating at first, but we all ended up with beautiful flowers. One of our favorite activities today was walking around Shaxi and buying souvenirs and/or presents for family and friends. We were all excited to have another chance to explore Shaxi.

After dinner, we played a game called Bucket of Dreams. We all wrote a dream or two that we would like to achieve, folded up the piece of paper, and put it in a bucket. Then, we split up into two groups. Each group had a few people that were blindfolded, a few people that could only write on a piece of paper without talking, and a few people that could talk and give directions. The challenge was to instruct the people with blindfolds to use a rope to haul the bucket that was on a chair. The chair was in the middle of a circle of rope that no one could step on or trespass. It proved to be a frustrating task as everyone had different ideas and there were barriers like being blindfolded and not being able to talk. Tonight we were able to talk about our dreams and why we want to achieve them,which let us learn even more about each other and was a good way to end the night.

-Itzel Martinez

Thursday July 26, 2018

Yesterday we had two leaders of the day – Ellie and Natasha. They wrote separate blog posts so we’re posting two blogs for yesterday!

Ellie’s blog:

Today was our final day in Shaxi. We started off with a delicious breakfast at 8:20 am. Just when everyone was finishing eating, the schedule for the day was announced by me and my co-leader. The code of the day was “make the most of your last day in Shaxi”. This is what we swiftly accomplished!

At 9:20 we left for the service site. Today we were planting flowers outside of the East Gate of Shaxi. We split into two groups to plant flowers in two separate areas. One group was planting flowers in multiple large wooden flower boxes, the other group was planting flowers in the cinderblock wall to make the space more pleasant and beautiful. We continuously worked hard by shoveling and breaking up a huge pile of dirt, and then by planting the various flowers into their respective areas. At around 11 am, we finished planting all of the flowers; you could see that our hard work had a notable positive impact on the Shaxi community by lighting up the area with beautiful flowers.

After having about an hour off nothing scheduled (some chose to either relax or to pack) we ate an amazing lunch. Then, at 2:30, we all went to Chinese class. We wrote our own stories based off of the childern’s book, wu ya he shui. After we shared our stories, we watched an insightful animation that gave each of us a little bit of wisdom. It was a really enjoyable last Chinese class and from all of those classes I know that I have learned so much.

Following Chinese class we had a short break time before our next activity. In this time the first China Gla Connect Five Tournament was concluded with Beck at the champion, however, Grandmaster Uncle Lu remains superior. At 4:30, we began to make dumplings! We split into two groups to make a ton of dumplings. Following the instrctions of the kitchen crew, Uncle Lu, and Mr. Ma (and through a process of trial and error) we made A LOT of dumplings.

This was our dinner, and after hearing about how someone in the last session at 46 dumplings a few people in this session were determined to beat that number. These dumplings were delicious mind you but, 46 is a very large amount of dumplings to eat, as these challengers soon found out. Ryan and Jonah tied at 37, while Jonathan and Daniel each ate 37.5 dumplings(nobody got sick). With full stomachs., everybody attempted at coming up with ideas for the farewell party.

At 8:00, we all arrived at the home base and were met by local Bai dancers and Uncle Lu’s friends. After a frantic review/practice of our Bai dance, we headed into the home base’s courtyard to perform for everybody. We really tried our best. Everybody danced to the best of their ability and, even though the order and some moves of the dance were forgotten, I believe that we pulled it off.

After our first group performance, the local Bai dancers performed for us! It was a wonderful event to experience! We had three more improvised group performances following that. Featured dances, in order, include: the cupid shuffle, the cha cha slide, and the macarena. When we were doing to macarena, we taught the Bai dancers the dance and they joined us! In between each of our dances the Bai dancers would perform for us. They were amazing and it was a great cultural experience.

After all of the group performances(minus the macarena, since we had that as our last dance), we had a few solo performances by members of our group! First was CJ, who did his first stand up comedy routine in front of a big group! Then went Ryan, an upcoming stand up comedian, who made us all burst out laughing. Tristen went next, singing Perfect by Ed Sheeran. For the last solo performance Gaia performed an amazing and incredible dance to Feeling Good by Nina Simone. All of the solo performances were great because each person put a ton of effeort into it and because it took a ton of courage to perform somthing by yourself in front of a large group.

The conclusion of the farewell party also signaled the end of our time in Shaxi. The group then surprised Uncle Lu, the kitchen crew, Mr. Lin, and Mr. Ma by giving them handmade thank you notes signed by all. A little later,right after the mentors finished telling us the plan for tomorrow, we surprised them with thank you notes. Each card was handmade and signed by everybody. We all also each wrote something personal and meaningful to each mentor on the back of the card an it really showed our greatfullness towards them which has continued to increase over the course of the trip. It was a beautiful end to our final night in Shaxi.

Natasha’s blog:

The first thing in the morning is community service. We head out past the East Gate of Shaxi to plant some flowers. We planted in the boxes and along the brick wall. The area was quickly filled with bright flora.

We made dumplings in the kitchen once our afternoon Chinese class was over. At dinner, many of us made a show of eating as many as we could. And after dinner, we hosted a farewell party. We danced a traditional Bai dance and got to watch professional dancers do their routines. A few of us contributed to the festivities by giving a few performances of our own.

Overall, we made the most of our last day in Shaxi.

Friday July 27, 2018

Zaijian Shaxi!

Ni Hao Dali!

Today was the day we left our home base in Shaxi and head to Dali to do one last day of sightseeing in China. We woke up extra early and ate our final meal with Uncle Lu. Saying goodbye to our home base was definitely not easy and I think I can speak for everyone when I say that not only will the beautiful views of the town be missed, but so will the wonderful people that we met. Uncle Lu, the kitchen staff, and Mr. Lin took such care of us and their hard work was greatly appreciated.

It was a 2-hour bus ride to Dali where many of us caught up on some Z’s. We first went to the tie-dye shop to learn about how the local people use organic materials to create beautiful tie-dyes. Jake taught us about the process they use to prep the dye and the cloth for the process, as well as how different plants can produce a variety of colors depending on factors such as the material of the cloth, and the time spent in the dye.

Now it was our turn to try our hand at tie-dying a handkerchief of our own. Some of us tried to replicating techniques Jake taught us to create a certain patterns, some of us folded the cloth however we wanted and hoped for the best (myself included), and some of us did a mixture of both. All of us had fun getting our hands dirty in some indigo and seeing how each other’s tie-dyes turned out.

After a delicious meal for lunch, we went to our hotel to drop our bags and get some rest. Then we visited a local Confucius temple that had some beautiful architecture. There was a stone bridge that lead to the main building of the temple that people in the past used to cross in the hopes that it would help them pass their imperial exams to become officials. Once Yi told us that the stone bridge was still used today for giving people good luck for academic success, we all scrambled to get across. The figures inside the temple were beautiful and grand. Every inch of the architecture was intricately carved and amazing to see. Right before we left, some of us bought a good luck charm and wrote their wishes down to tie onto a structure in the temple.

Now it’s shopping time! We had time to spare before dinner so we all split into groups with the staff members and walked around the shopping center to get goodies for home or to simply snack on. After wonderful authentic dinner we went back to our hotel to take a small break and drop off anything we had already bought, before those of us that still wanted to shop could head out for another hour and a half.

Dali was a beautiful place to visit with amazing architecture and art. I loved all the different tie dye patterns that many of the shops had. Tie dying in the States is very different from the style in China, where the patterns can vary from simple flowers to intricate lotus designs. Shaxi will be dearly missed by all of us but the experiences we had there were worth it.

Nandini Janapati

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Friday June 15, 2018

Hello Families!

Everyone safely arrived yesterday (Friday)!

Today (Saturday) so far we have talked about the cultural differences and introduced the program during orientation. We went to a local park near by for ice breaking activity and made sure everyone knows how to use a squat toilet. We’re all currently on the ride to the stone forest and everyone is excited!

Friday June 22, 2018

We visited the stone forest, a collection of unique rock formations that were once underwater millions of years ago. We got to climb on the rocks and see amazing views of the formations, such as “heavenly gate” and “the two lions.” It allowed us to view the beautiful nature of China.

For two days we worked on mud bricks that will be used to restore a local temple. Making mud bricks involves mixing the mud, moving the mud and molding the mud into bricks. We work together to make the workflow. It was hard work but we were very productive. Also at the temple, we worked on polishing pillars with sandpaper. In the end the pillars will be painted to create a museum showing Shaxi’s involvement in the tea and horse trade route.

We traveled to a local kindergarten. The walk was a little long but the views were nice. We joined them in their daily morning dance and played with them. We led group of kids in classrooms and in playground. The language barrier made it challenging to communicate with the children but we came up different strategies to work with the groups.

We went to a local middle school on Tuesday afternoon and got a chance to play basketball against the students there. We also got to see a classroom and learned that this particular middle school had a dorm for the students to stay in. We got to see the differences between Chinese and American education.

On Thursday afternoon, we worked at a local farm to remove weeds from the bean crops. We finished with a huge pile of weeds. It was quite satisfying. The views from a farm overlooking the valley were beautiful. We could see all of the different corn and rice fields worked by different farmers. The landscape in Shaxi is very green. It is in a valley surrounded by hills. There are plants and farms in all directions. Sometimes it is hard to tell where one ends and another begins.

Today (Friday) we went to the local markets. May people attend the local market to buy food and other household items. In addition the local farmers sell the produce from their farms. The fruits looked really fresh and pretty inexpensive so all our teammates bought some.

Written by Abel Zukerman, Isaiah Behnke, Ryan Price

Friday June 29, 2018

Here’s recap of the last week of activities, written by Arun Kukreja and Jack Tulauskas!

Learning paper cutting

During this activity, we were met with paper cutting master, Ou-yang laoshi (teacher). He was able to teach us the different traditional cuts and artworks of Chinese paper cutting. Guided by Ou-yang laoshi, he led us step by step to make 双喜， an apple, and at the end of class Ou-yang laoshi presented one of his master pieces, a butterfly accompanied with many small and difficult cuts on the inside.

Visiting Shibaoshan (Stone Treasure Mountain) Baoxiang Temple, Shilong Village on Saturday 23rd June

Through this excursion we went on a one hour hike through the mountains to reach the 石宝山 or better known as the Stone Treasure Mountain. Through this hike, we witnessed astonishing views accompanied with many monkeys. At the end of this amazing hike, we reached the 宝相(Bao xiang) Temple. In this temple we experienced the three main religions of the region, Taoism, Buddhism and local Bai religion.

After having a good time with the monkeys and viewing the breathtaking Buddhas, we hiked down the mountain and were able to go through the village of Shilong. Here, we went to a restaurant that served a scrumptious local fish BBQ accompanied by a talented Bai singer-most of the local people in this region of China are Bai. Later we traveled through the farms and up a hill to see another temple accompanied by more breathtaking views. Finally, we walked through the village to experience the viewpoint of a true local.

Learning Bai dance

When we first met our Bai dance teachers and when they presented the dance, it was very beautiful. At first, it looked bewilderingly complicated but as they broke it down step by step, we slowly mastered the traditional dance and further practiced it to be able to perform it to the locals on the last day of Shaxi.

More community service at Chenghuang Temple

Thursday marked the last day of community service at the Chenghuang Temple. Although being the smallest group of only seven people (normally 15-19 people), we finished polishing all wooden pillars in the temple. With a combination of American, Singaporean, Indian and Kiwi muscle we are also able to smash the record of amount of mud bricks made by any GLA group, amounting to an astounding amount of 315 mud bricks (record of mud bricks made by GLA).

Learning silk flower making

In this activity, we met Shi laoshi. Once again, many of us students had trouble with this challenge; we came out victorious at least making one beautiful silk flower. Some of us may even be taking home two silk flowers.

Activities such as bucket of dreams, food challenges

Each night we have been doing more activities just as challenging as the paper cutting, silk flowers, and Bai dance. One of the activities, bucket of dreams, was all about teamwork. Two people had to explain the rules not being able to touch or grab any of the tools, two people who are completely blind and can only touch things and talk, and then three people could talk and tough the blind people.

Although there was a major challenge trying to grab the bucket using ropes while not entering the circle, we were finally able to achieve the challenge and collecting the bucket. Another activity we did was the food challenge. This tested our abilities to try different foods without hesitation or judgments.

 

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Thursday July 19, 2018

We started our first full day with a city tour of Manaus. It was great to get to know each other a bit better as we walked around the Amazon City! We got to tour a famous theatre that was built in the 1800s, and luckily there were even musicians practicing for a concert. After the theater we went to a local market where there was everything from fresh fish to souvenirs!

The second half of the day was spent heading to the home base, which is a few hours outside of Manaus in the rainforest. Meetings the local staff and seeing the home base made everyone really excited to finally be here. Everyone is pretty tired from their travels, but still having a great time playing games and getting to know each other. We’re excited to get a good night’s sleep and learn more about the Amazon tomorrow!

 

Friday July 20, 2018

Obrigada!

Today, we woke up to amazing views. On the girls walk down to breakfast, we even saw a Toucan! Then we took a quick lesson on Portuguese. We learned basic phrases such as greetings, thank you, water, thirsty, etc.. Then we were greeted by Carlos from the Wildlife Conservation Society. He spoke to us about saving wildlife and wild places through science, action, education, and inspiring people to value nature. Then we went around a walk around our home base, Tropical Tree Climbing.

We toured the garden and ate so many interesting plants! We saw so many interesting animals, like monkeys, lizards, and an armadillo hole. We eventually reached the Princess tree which we will soon be climbing! We got back to the home base to have some downtime; we swung in hammocks, played with the dogs, and played games. Our dinner was great! We are all having a great time, but we definitely miss our families!

Hi mom!

-Leader of the day Piper Hauff

Saturday July 21, 2018

Today the group woke quicker than previous nights. Breakfast was great, it tasted like, and was shaped like pancakes. We followed with a name/movement game to get us moving. I think we had about 10-15 min. of “hammocks” before our guest speaker, Wezddy Del Toro Orozco, spoke. We went over her life, what we would be doing here, and the ecosystem. We ate lunch, and went on along walk, touring the camera traps. Wezddy taught us how to set them up and view the captures of animals. We had a debate immediately after, over whether or not natives should have a say in deforestation in Australia. It was about 8:40 when we had dinner.

-By George

Sunday July 22, 2018

To start today’s activities, we participated in a traditional cooking class. We made our own lunch including tapioca, tortillas and guacamole. Afterward, Wezddy showed us more videos on jaguar behaviors and tendencies before taking us jungle trekking and tree swinging. We held hands and formed rings around the “queen” tree. Then we went back and had dinner before heading out to the camp fire and then camping outdoors in the hammocks. Everyone ate marshmallows and told some really weird stories before checking out a bunch of creepy bugs with one of our guides, Leo.

-By Jared Cordova

Monday July 23, 2018

After a night of hammocking within the Amazon, our group got to wake up to the sounds of the surrounding birds, insects, reptiles, and other surrounding animals. Since we ended up waking up a little later than usual, we packed up our things and headed back to home base to have a delicious breakfast of pineapple, scrambled eggs, watermelon, and breads with cheeses. Breakfast was followed by our group’s last presentation with Wezddy, which covered problems and solutions relating to the relationship between big carnivores and humans in the Amazon. Soon after we had another tasty lunch of beans, rice, salad, pork, and steak before we settled into a game of “Duck Duck Goose” following this.

Now was time to start developing our sustainability projects that incorporate all that we have learned thus at in the Amazon to our own communities, where we separated into four groups and brainstormed ways to push for eco-friendly lifestyles closer to home. We presented our ideas to the rest of the groups and provide feedback for one another before it was time to say goodbye and thank you to Wezddy and everything she had done this week in teaching us the tasks of a biologist and sustainability in the Amazon.

Tired from our night before hammocking in the jungle, we had a fair amount of free time to rest, take a shower, and especially play card games. Right before dinner, however, we did an activity where we had to go by instinct and choose between two opposing sides, such as light and dark. After this is when we split into our two different mentor groups to discuss our results.Finally, we all had a dinner of rice with a squash stew, and bread with avocado, cucumber, and tomatoes before we spent some more free time together and then turned in for the big day tomorrow.

By Abby Wilkins

Tuesday July 24, 2018

Today we had an early morning as we prepared to leave for our second camping experience. After a delicious breakfast, we departed for our camping site. After a bumpy car ride we took a boat ride down the flooded forest of the Rio Negro. The sun was hot and a lot of students are sporting beautiful farmers tans. The campsite is a beautiful, pastel purple house on the bay of the river. Once we arrived, we all ditched our sneakers and shirts for a refreshing swim in the river. We played a few games of marco polo and even had a chicken fight! However, we had an epic dash out of the water to avoid a quick thunder storm. Lunch was a spread of piranha, rice, and spaghetti. Then we had the chance to catch piranhas of our own for dinner! Although some boats were luckier than others, we all enjoyed fishing with bamboo rods. The rest of the night was spent hanging out in hammocks which we will sleep in tonight. What a great end to amazing day!

By Reece Elowe

Wednesday July 25, 2018

Most of the group had an early morning beginning with breakfast at 6 a.m. and fishing at 7 a.m. Many students had the chance to catch piranhas for lunch and see some amazing Botos (pink Amazon dolphins). A few students also chose to sleep in this morning and enjoyed breakfast around 9 a.m. When the rest of the group returned, everyone devoured a second breakfast. Then we swam in the Rio Negro which was a nice relief from the hot Brazilian sun. We had tons of fun with more chicken fights and we were lucky enough to spot a pink river dolphin.

After that amazing experience we showered, chilled in our hammocks, and had lunch. Lunch included regular and sweet potatoes, pasta with eggs, and piranha of course! After everyone cleaned up we got back in the boats and made the journey back to hame base with a beautiful sunset to enjoy. We made two stops along the way: one to spot dolphins and one to spot parrots and a giant turkey. The parrots even spoke for us! Back at home base we had dinner with a thunderstorm brewing overhead. A perfect end to a beautiful day. Today was also my moms birthday so I would like to wish her the best birthday! Enjoy your day mom, I love you!

By Reece Elowe

Thursday July 26, 2018

The first day of physical service began with a bang! We were all still recovering from the camping/boating trip from the day before but even that didn’t break our spirits. The group cleaned the whole entire yard of sticks and planted a variety of plants including “monkey ears”. All this was done of course with tons of dancing and even a one sided walnut war. After the work we were all covered with dirt from head to toe and enjoyed nice cold showers and lovely dinner of chicken and rice. Of course the day wasnt even close to over. The group sat down to do an emotional activity which then led to a intense dance party. After an exhausting day I’m sure everyone slept insainly well.

By Nicolai Rolett

Friday July 27, 2018

In the morning we woke up to a nice breakfast of foods such as fruits. Here is where the real work began. After breakfast we got ready to begin our manual service. Very soon after we headed out in groups to do tasks such as smashing charcoal and spreading compost around the property. Everyone was pretty tired after a few hours so we came back to enjoy a very good light lunch. Two or so hours later we resumed our service under different tasks, continuing to make satisfying progress. Over our heads a storm began which was exciting, but caused us to switch our focus. Planting banana trees was the last thing we did before going back to home base. Everyone came together to eat dinner of fish and vegan options. Ending the night we hung out and journaled, after a very busy, but good day.

-by Charlie!!!
(find the hidden message)

Saturday July 28, 2018

Today we woke up to a breakfast of guava, pineapple, and oatmeal. Everything was so good! After breakfast, we went down to the campsite, where Chico and Igor taught us how to make a bow and arrow and how to shoot it! It was so much fun and some of us got to shoot down the target. Then, we returned to Home Base for lunch. Many were excited to see chicken on the counter. It was delicious and we were grateful for it! Afterwards, we walked to the campsite again for another activity. On the way there, Geo showed us some medicinal plants. We got to learn about different leaves that can cure a variety of problems, such as stomach ache, indigestion, headache, and bug bites. Chico also created flutes from a bamboo tree. We were put into groups at the campsite and we created songs based on the tune of our flutes. Our group recreated (or tried to recreate!) the tune of hot cross buns. We all enjoyed tapping into our musical talent! We came back to Home base again to engage in an activity where we split into four groups and debated the issue of whaling in St. Vincent and the Grenadines.

We built our debate skills and got to learn more about what’s going on in other parts of the world. Later, we sat down to a great pasta dinner! Then we went to the Pousada to do an activity. We wrote down all of our expectations of Brazil before the trip and put them onto a map. We watched a Ted talk by a famous author where she spoke about how stereotypes and one-sided stories are a disadvantage to everyone. Listening to this talk helped us to realize how Brazil, and any other country, is not limited to samba and favelas. There is always more to a place than the generalizations people make. We finished off the night by watching the movie Rio 2 in the Pousada. It was interesting that we were able to recognize some plants in the movie that we didn’t know before the trip, such as the açaí berries. It’s been a long day and we are all ready to rest for tomorrow!

By Myles Almonte

Sunday July 29, 2018

Today has been a very exciting day and probably the day a lot of us were looking forward to; tree climbing!

We separated into four groups which was honestly a blessing. Two groups went today and two more will go tomorrow. Because we got to separate into smaller groups, we got to spend a lot more time in the trees without feelings of a rush. I went in the first group this morning/afternoon and besides the view being absolutely STUNNING, Vanessa and Leo made the experience suuuuper comforting. Before we actually went in the trees, Vanessa went over the mechanics with visual aids which helped my anxiety a whole lot. While we were in the trees, the others did arts and crafts or baked bread with Kinan. It also was super nice that they had other things for us to do while the groups were having fun in the trees having a whole blast.
While in the trees, our group ran across a green and black gecko that got super close to us. I mean, it touched one of our feet. Leo informed us he has never seen that kind of gecko in said tree (the trees name is Princess, by the way).

Then, in the late afternoon after we made bread, my group went to the market. The first place we went was full of beautiful jewelry that was handmade here in the Amazon. Then of course, we went next door to get some snacks for our going away party tomorrow, which honestly is going to hurt a lot. I know I’ve personally grown so fond of everyone in this house. I truly mean everyone, too, even the folks I don’t talk to much I have sweet daily interactions with that I’ll miss. To the family, to all the staff, to the scientists that came out, thank you a lot. You have all shaped my perspective in many different ways. You’re such beautiful people I’ll never forget and I do hope to visit you again.

To sum things up, today was a great day full of amazing people. I feel so lucky to be apart of this I just don’t want to make it too sappy, so I’ll end it here with a shoutout to Catherine who not only helped me fundraise but emotionally supported me the entire way, I couldn’t have been here without you. Thank you so much! 🙂

-By Kat R-H

Monday July 30, 2018

July 30th 2018 can best be defined as a bittersweet day. Bitter, as it was our last day with the Principe family. It has been two weeks since they’ve welcomed us into their home and each day has been an adventure of its own. It was really hard to fathom the fact that we were going to be leaving our new family in the Amazon. But, it was also really sweet as we got to spend our final moments in the trees with such an amazing group of people.

The day commenced with the third group getting the opportunity to venture off and climb the Princess Tree. No matter what time of the day it is, the views from that very tree make you wonder if you’ll ever see anything more exquisite. While our third group was away, the rest of us did the most simple yet amazing thing one can do on their last day in the middle of the Amazon: be in the moment. We all just enjoyed each others company as we spent time with the family, letting the day be its own.

After lunch, the fourth and final tree climbing group got to experience the magnificent views as some GLA students were off preparing pizza with Kinan. After the fourth group had returned, we celebrated our last night in the Amazon with a pizza party. Each person got to make their own pizza, adding how much of anything they wanted onto a pizza of their own. We all got to try a piece of each pizza, the combinations were very interesting and by the end of it most of us had eaten over ten pIeces of pizza (it was totally worth it). After the exquisite dinner, we had a talent show.

Charlie had taken the cake with his one man comedy stand up. But, my mom will be happy to know that I’ve finally met people that will proudly and loudly sing Hamilton with me (hi mom!!). Every act was so good though, we felt everyone’s energy and positivity in the room as the our final night took its course. The night ended on a peaceful note. We talked, laughed, and felt the most unconditional love that this Amazonian household has to offer. July 30th 2018 was indeed a bittersweet day.

-By Mona Chahfe

Tuesday July 31, 2018

Today was a sad but yet exciting day; we had to depart from the wonderful family that was willing to host us. On the other hand, we had a long and successful flight to Rio! We got to meet our new hosts and got to see our new home for the next week.

Wednesday August 1, 2018

Today we woke up to monkeys outside the porch. Then some decided to feed the monkeys was it a good idea? we don’t know. After that, we went to a local art store and stopped at a market to grab some snacks. Next, we were headed to Copacabana beach and had a blast swimming. Although, the weather was a bit chilly and the current was very strong but that made fun for swimming. Later, we headed back to the home base and hung out for the rest of the night!

Thanks for reading my blog! Hope you enjoyed it!

Mackinley✈️🙉🌊💦🏖🌧⚡🏡😴

Thursday August 2, 2018

August 2nd: It was the first service day in Rio! We started our day off at 8:30 to head to the two favelas partnered up with some members of the group Community in Action they split us into two groups, one group cleaned a garden that they had in the favela and the other group went to a different favella and painted a mural of colorful houses in a classroom at local community center. Each group has two days at each community then we’ll switch.

The group I was with went to the garden today, it was a really amazing experience being in the community and talking to the locals. While we were picking up trash and pulling out weeds there were kids that came over to help us which was really cute and actually super helpful. Half way through we had a lunch break and talked more with the local family we were helping then we got back to work! We were there for another three or four hours then we headed back to home base. Today was a really amazing day, getting to talk to the kids and the family we were working with was absolutely awesome.

-By María Torres

Friday August 3, 2018

Today, we continued service in the favelas! Group 1 went back to manguinhos where we began building a new and improved chicken coop and put up new fences. After lunch, we played soccer with the kids and sadly we lost :(. At the same time, group 2 was in the Complexo do Alemão, painting another mural for the community with the kids. We came home to a delicious dinner including pasta, rice, beans, and flan for dessert! We then did an activity where we closed our eyes and the chosen ones tapped people who they believed represented the qualities read aloud. This activity was team building and motivating. We then discussed our days and gave advice for the service work tomorrow when we switch places. The night ended with Dafne showing us her secret talent of levitating peanuts and we all tried, but did not all succeed except for me, goodnight!

-by Juliet Murphy

Saturday August 4, 2018

Today was an exciting day as group 1 and group 2 switched jobs. Group one, who had previously painted, went into a favela to garden. They spent the day finished the chicken coop that group 2 had started the previous day. After the chicken coop, the group gardened and planted plants such as peppers, violet and passion fruit. While group 1 was gardening, group 2 started to paint. Once group 2 arrived at the community center, they were split into two groups. The first group spent the morning constructing a wall out of cement. The second group spent the morning painting a mural of the rainforest with forest animals and waterfalls.

After lunch the groups switched jobs, therefore the first group finished the mural while the second group finished constructing the wall. After both groups finished their jobs, group 2 decided to celebrate by having a paint fight. They used their brushes and hands to throw paint at each other. After service, both group 1 and group 2 convened at the hostel to grab money and head to the market alongside the Copacabana beach. At the market we were given 45 minutes to buy souvenirs and after shopping we stopped at the market to grab some more snacks. After shopping, we all went back to the hostel and hung out until it was time to go to bed.

-By Annabelle Derrick

Sunday August 5, 2018

We wrapped up our service in the favelas doing more work in the garden and painting at a community center. It’s been really cool getting to work within a community and see how much people truly care about their neighbors. Our group in the garden got to play a pickup game of soccer with some local kids and it was so fun to see everyone play together (language barriers aside).

After returning to homebase, we went to an all you can eat sushi-slash-pizza restaurant, which is something I never knew I needed in my life. It’s hard to believe the trip is already almost over. We all went to bed in food comas excited for the city tour tomorrow!

-Ari (mentor)

Monday August 6, 2018

The trip has flown by! We shipped out early to see all the major sites in Rio: São Conrado beach, Rocinha favela, Floresta da Tijuca, Parque Lage, Cristo do Corcovado and Pão de açucar. Sadly, the weather was less than ideal and we ended up sightseeing through thick fog and rain. Everyone had phenomenal attitudes about it, though, and we played in the rain.

Dinner at the homebase included a live samba band and the locals we’d been working with to celebrate with us. Everyone danced and George showed off his breakdancing skills. It was great. Everyone’s pretty sad to say goodbye tomorrow, but we’re so glad to have met and shared all of these crazy experiences together. Until next time!

-by Daph & Daf