Hello Wild Ones,

We hope you are recovered from your culture shock by now, and feel immersed back into your home culture. Stop a moment and reflect: how has India affected you? How has it made you better?

Now close your eyes. Take a deep breath (count to 5) and exhale out (count to 5). Think of a great memory from this experience.

India has the tendency to change people. You may not feel it when you are here, but it is an experience you carry with you. What changes have you noticed?

Things in Dharamsala are moving along. The community of Gamru is a bit quieter without the loud morning wake up calls, music playing and night time roof chats. Tourists are still flocking to McCleodGanj and the mountains still reign over the beautiful green landscape. Life is vibrant and beautiful, albeit a tad disorganized to the Western eye.

Your experience may be over, but it lives on through the pictures you have taken and the stories you tell. You have to power to greatly affect this community, simply by sharing your photos, your words, your stories. Use this power with respect, care and mindfulness- your actions always affect others. You make and create “lollipop” moments every day. In this sense, your “service through the lens” continues well past the program dates. Perhaps a better name for the program should be “Leaders through the Lens”.

All experiences are ultimately shaped by us. We have our own lens that we see the world through. Does yours feel a bit more “green” than before your trip (hint hint: Kaitlyn’s story about yellow and blue cultural lenses)? We hope that this experience challenged you and helped you grow- now and in the future.

We wish only the best for you and hope you keep in touch.

Warmly,

Laura, Kaitlyn, Priyanka, Kapil, Sachin, Vinay & Ishan

Feeling nostalgic? You can experience that same sense of friendship and adventure abroad again! Check out all our new destinations for Summer 2018, or enroll now.

Hello, where ever you are in the world!

I hope this letter finds you in good health and happy spirits. If not, you can always read this letter. It has been a while since you were a wide-eyed teen entering into Guatemala’s small and busy airport. I think it is also safe to say that you have changed a bit since then. When Nicole, Ana, or myself were waiting for you at the airport, we also wondered about the adventures that were sure to come. I especially, wondered who would be the people that became sick and who was the one that would talk non-stop. I was sure that at the end of this trip, you would form bonds and unforgettable memories of each other.

I hope you remember the reflections and private conversations that you had those late nights watching movies, cooking brownies, popcorn, and those long van rides. I hope you remember that time is not what dictates your life, it is what you do with the time you have. I hope that the idea of privilege and what you have decided to do with your privilege has better informed your decisions. The discussions from the ex-military Pepe and the ex-gorrilla Auturo, hopefully have stuck with you to assist you in avoiding the acceptance of a Single Story. While you were in Guatemala you taught English, painted murals, or provided upkeep for a school and its students who all desire the best in life. There may have been doubts as to the impact or importance of your GLA trip. However, there is no doubt that you have pushed yourself to see and imagine a world without borders. As your director, I genuinely hope that you consider yourself a world citizen with purpose and a need to serve others who are you neighbors.

I also want you to remember and cherish these moments:

-When you would wake up to a busy bathroom and you had the Guates, and begin to appreciate the bathrooms at your house.

-When you hear a story that was just too much to be true, it probably is not!

-Do not trust a fart!

-I do not have time for that!

-The smallest deserts or comfort foods can remind you of home, so cherish home!

-Siguen en la Buena Lucha,

-Brian Tyler

Our trip to Guatemala was surely incredible and I can’t believe how time has just flown by! In just two short weeks we did a TON of activities, made new friends, learned more about ourselves and our host country. Now that you are back home and back to your normal routines, I hope that you still think about your time in Guatemala and take those ideas that Willy talked about to heart-to do what you are passionate about, find happiness in the little things (like awesome smelling plants!) and remember that time is just a social concept, not something that should run our lives.

But most importantly, I hope that you are challenging yourselves at home and making sure that you are not giving a single story of Guatemala or any other social group and remembering to check your own perspectives of others to prevent a perpetual stereotype of a group/country/people. As GLA has taught us, it is our job to utilize adequate words and express our ideas and opinions knowing both sides of the story, looking at the pros and cons of everything before making a decision. It is also our job as global citizens to promote cultural awareness and acceptance in our own communities, as well as abroad. What we hope is that your time here helped develop you to be true global leaders and using what you have learned to promote unity among people.

But besides the academic portions of the trip, we also have learned a lot about ourselves through the afternoon excursions! Some of us learned to embrace the unexpected and try to look at life through a new lens-whether that was learning how to trust and be brave while zip-lining across the mountains, putting our differences aside while working with the kids at the school, meeting the community members, or being valiant enough to use the bathroom at the weaver’s house on the side of a mountain! I’m sure that each of us gained a bit of confidence somehow, someway, during our time here and sometimes that’s the most valuable thing you can achieve from a trip like this! So next time you are in a difficult or similar situation, I hope you think about how you handled differences, insecurities, debate, and friendship while in Xela.

We hope that you all think of Guatemala and the people here often. The school has finished steps with the multiplication tables painted on the sides, newly painted desks are now in the classrooms and the plastering of the new constructed classroom is complete! Hopefully students will be able to be in that new room soon! I think you’ll be happy to know that the kids loved playing hopscotch and are practicing their letters everyday with the caterpillars that you all repainted. Let’s hope that they continue to play and learn while at recess while we are gone and our work there remains beneficial to the students and teachers.

Although it may have been awhile ago that we were all together at the comfortable home in Xela, your memories and the friendships made here will remain forever! Here at GLA Guatemala, we hope that you are all doing well and going the extra mile in whatever you are passionate about. Keep up the good work!

Some highlights of our trip:
-zip-lining across a waterfall
-talking with Willie  (Red Kat Kafe) and asking him to write a book about his life and philosophy
-ordering McFlurries from McDonalds during movie nights
-Julio’s jokes/pranks
-The boat ride across Lago Atitlan
-laughing with one another all the time and creating special bonds that made us cry at the end of the trip

-Nicole, Ana, Brian + GLA Guatemala staff


Feeling nostalgic? You can experience that same sense of friendship and adventure abroad again! Check out all our new destinations for Summer 2018, or enroll now.

For some of you your trip to Guatemala might feel like a distant dream, something you still can’t believe actually happened and for others the trip in Guatemala is very present everyday in your lives, constantly reflecting and moving forward in being the best global citizen you can be. Our trip to Guatemala was absolutely incredible and the bonds that we shared with one another are the true champions of the experience! Nobody else can understand our time in Xela like we do and I’m so glad that I got to spend my GLA summer with you all, learning, growing and laughing along the way!

My favorite memories come from my conversations with you, getting to know you all and helping you conquer some serious fears-from zip-lining , to ‘extreme bathroom usage’ at the weaver’s house in Momostenango, to confronting the awful realities of the girls in the ‘hogar’. I’m so proud of each and everyone of you who stared difference right in the face and just rolled with it, even when our own life experiences, ideas and opinions were very different from those around us. You ladies are a 10/10, picture of greatness!

I LOW-KEY learned a ton from each and every one of you and just want to tell you, you’re A-1 students. Nayo still wears his GOAT t-shirt and is working hard to maintain great relationships with the school, Pacaja, so that GLA can continue to work there on future projects! The newly painted green desks are a showstopper in the classrooms and the kids continue to study hard without having to look at those poorly chosen words etched into the tops. The newly painted kitchen caught the eyes of the teachers  and the classroom that you helped plaster is nearly complete! Hopefully we’ll have paint and desks in there soon!

Brian continues to wear his ‘jorts’ and socks with flip-flops, in true dad fashion but laughs anytime someone mentions it since you ladies loved to tease him on that! Ana continues to insert random Spanish words into her speeches, because you know, nothing is complete with a random “bien” thrown in there! Nicole has left her nursing duties but her time with GLA has definitely given her some new medical experience!

Some amazing memories:

-Temblor!!!! (AKA mini earthquake)

-zip-lining over a waterfall, and getting eaten by all the mosquitos there…that’s ok, worth it!

-The wedding ceremony on our first day-there’s no better first day bonding than that!

-10/10 picture of health

-drinking the suero (hydration packets) even if we didn’t want to

-random dance party in the living room!

-playing with the kids at the daycare center and singing songs while in the classrooms teaching

-Wal-mart shopping, where the ladies went crazy and bought almost everything in sight.

We all hope that you are doing well and adjusting to your new schedules, school, jobs, classes or whatever it may be. Do good, continue with community service at home and remember that Guatemala loves you!

We appreciate you,
-Nicole, Ana, Brian + GLA Guatemala Staff

Feeling nostalgic? You can experience that same sense of friendship and adventure abroad again! Check out all our new destinations for Summer 2018, or enroll now.