Time Capsule Letter – October 2016

My dear Session II students,

Mambo. I write to you from Kilimanjaro International Airport, in the final minutes before I cross into the departure area to catch my flight to Rwanda. The home base was quiet this morning, rain dripping off the banana leaves, the only sound Mama Keti’s daughter Sharon singing quietly to herself in the hallway. Martyna is off to climb Kili with her Polish customers; Swiff has boarded his flight to New York from Doha. Only Mama Shindi, Mama Keti, Agatha, Furaha, and Lotha remained, taking down bunk beds and preparing my last rice and chicken lunch, as I finished packing upstairs.

It is strange to find the summer over, a summer that seems like it just began. I am sure it feels the same to you, arriving back in your same bedrooms, preparing for yet another school year. But there are differences, too; the bracelets on your arms from our FGM presentation, the Maasai earrings you pair with nice dresses, the dear friends in other states you’re still texting. And by the time you read this, several months from now, I hope you will be able to glimpse some of the other ways in which you are different. Perhaps you are more willing to take on the uncomfortable role of speaking up when you see injustice; perhaps you are taking real steps toward achieving the capstone project you planned in Tengeru; perhaps when you watch the news you remember that a place is often more complicated than it is portrayed; perhaps you just feel enriched, made more alive by having seen lion cubs lope across Ngorongoro Crater. Perhaps you are planning your next GLA trip, or committing to another way of being a leader—being the change—in this big world.

Sitting at this table, looking at the rows of tourist shops selling Maasai gear, I am remembering the moment Malachy’s spear hit the ground and stuck there, at Jacobo’s Maasai boma. I’m remembering the Maasai boys we saw in their black post-circumcision garb, faces painted black and white, and that ostrich feather bouncing from one’s head as he skipped through the grass. I’m remembering the red sunrise that morning, and our first giraffe. I am remembering standing under leaf umbrellas on the way to Laurenti’s coffee farm; I’m remembering working the wood “machine” to the rhythm of a coffee grinding song. I’m remembering how Winnie from Akeri Secondary School would visit Ellie and Emily; I’m remembering eating handfuls of Ugali during the poverty banquet. I’m remembering our Happy-Crappy-God down by the gently burbling river, a man washing his clothes nearby; I’m remembering all the children racing to hold your hands as we walked to class. I’m remembering what it feels like to stand up in a Jeep with my face in the bright wind; I’m remembering how hard we laughed during Drop-the-Sheet when Lodrick cheated again and again, and how throughout the trip at uncomfortable moments he would croon,

“This is called ‘experience’!” I’m remembering the first time you said, “Shikamo” to an elder and they responded with, “Marahaba.” I’m remembering the triumph of you all lowering each other deep into the rope circle to retrieve objects, learning trust;  I’m remembering eating warm chapati, letting Kili’s waterfalls spray our faces, and gently brushing thick wax and black ink onto our batiks.

We packed a lot into three weeks, and when you left I cried. This type of goodbye is a fullness first, then an emptiness. I was so proud at the way you all grew, and I loved the relationships some of you found in each other. Our trip was not always easy, but this seems to me the real possibility of such experiences: In being challenged, we grow. In experiencing discomfort, we ask ourselves new questions. At the very least, we return home with a new set of eyes, grateful for what is in our lives that we’d like to keep there.

What have you discovered? What are you now hungry for? What might you have to offer the world?

Remember: you are a treasure and a work in progress, simultaneously. The world is bigger than we can ever imagine; be big in it. Listen to more than the single story of each place and person you interact with. And remember that we love you here. We—Swiff, Martyna, Lodrick, Lotha, me and the others—are just an e-mail away. Hakuna matata. Safi?

Salama,

Kati

p.s. Here are more of our favorite moments from this session, compiled by me & Swiff & Martyna.

Session 2 Memories

1. Ellie and Natalie dancing ridiculously in the safari jeep with culturally inappropriate clothing.
2. Group dancing to our Japanese-learning videos of “I have a bad case of diarrhea” and “spare me my life”.

3. Lodrick’s over-competitive nature and cheating during the “Drop the Sheet” name game.
4. The group had a great experience skinning the goat at Maasai Boma.
5. During ‘what NOT to do skits’, international staff put on a skit on “what not to do in the community”. Kati was acting like an inappropriate, obnoxious tourist, Martyna was pretending to be a Maasai man, and Swiff got up in a dress and got on Martyna’s lap.
6. One day we opened our front door to find “We Miss You Mama” dola dola waiting for us.
7. Corinne created an alter-ego “Willy the Wildebeest” during safari and made some ridiculous interviews.
8. A few students created a reality show on the program called “GLA Exposed” and dubbed one of the armchairs as the “confession chair”.
9. The Bro Zone!
10. Corinne dyeing everyone’s hair blonde one night.

Summer Blog Posts

July 17th

Jambo!

Today was our first full day in Tanzania. Although the sound of roosters woke us up early, we were very excited to look out of our windows at the banana trees and experience our first full day in Tanzania.  Our morning began with ice breakers and skits to help us better understand and feel connected to the students and staff who will be our family for the next three weeks.

After lunch, we had our first Swahili lesson to prepare us for our service followed by a cultural lesson by Mama Simba. Mama Simba explained to us that regardless of the differences between our home countries and Tanzania, we are all one. She told us about the importance of family and community in Tanzania. Later, we had surprise birthday celebrations for Nola, Juan and Julie with cake and singing in English and Swahili. We all can’t wait to finally start exploring the country tomorrow morning!!!

-Emily

July 18th

Today we visited the school that we will be teaching at for the next three weeks. Seeing how different the school and limit of supplies made me realize how much we all take for granted in the US. It was great to see how eager the kids were to learn and to meet us. The highlight of my day was when three girls ran up to me and started yelling my name and clinging to me. Something I realized when visiting the school was that all of the kids looked so happy and it really touched me, because some of them are living with so little and they still manage to stay happy. After visiting the school, we drove to Arusha where we spent a lot of time in a hot van. While we were sitting in the van complaining about the heat a little girl came up to the window with scars on her face begging to us for money. Seeing the pain in the little girl’s eyes made me realize how much we take for granted.

-Nola

July 19, 2016

Today, after breakfast, we started our day with a wonderful ESL (English as a second language) lesson from Martyna. Through her perspective-shifting activities, we were able to better understand some of the difficulties that we would face when teaching students that weren’t native English speakers. We also learned important skills that would be needed when lesson planning for the classes we would teach later in the day. Following this lesson was a few hours of team building activities. While attempting to complete a series of mentally and physically challenging tasks as a group, I and the rest of the students were able to better understand our group dynamics. We began to see some of the hidden talents that our teammates possessed that would eventually become essential for the success of the mission. In the afternoon, we started our first day of service. We were able to practice our Swahili (which also means sharing a few laughs) with the locals while walking through the town on our way to school. Similar to the previous day, our arrival to Patandi Primary School was accompanied by cheers and smiles from the children. In teams of two or three, all of the GLA students were able to teach two separate English lessons. During lesson planning earlier in the day, we all planned detailed accounts of the layouts of our classes, but were quite taken off guard when things didn’t go as planned. Many of us were frustrated by the difficulties that came with teaching a group of students that barely understood us, but the enthusiasm and dedication that each of the students shared really made the class a learning experience for both the students and the teachers. After each lesson, we went out to the playground to play with the dozens of children that had stayed after school. Playing soccer, Duck Duck Goose, and a few confusing dancing games with our students really helped us to begin to solidify a GLA/Tanzania relationship that I believe will make a lasting impact on us all. For the second part of our daily service, we began to refurbish one of the school buildings by sanding the walls in preparation for painting. We finished our day with a few self-searching activities led by Swiff and our mentors. These activities helped us to identify our strengths and weaknesses as team members and understand the importance of leadership as well as follower-ship. The entire group is excited to start our day tomorrow and apply everything we learned to a brand new and hopefully better school day.
-London

July 20, 2016

Mambo? Poa!
This morning we split into groups to participate in cooking and batiking classes. In the batiking class we drew sketches and dyed cloth to create the image of a sunset and a silhouette. We also had the opportunity to purchase pieces of art made by the batik teachers themselves. The cooking class spent time with our very own chef Geoffrey to cook lunch for the day. We cut vegetables, peeled fruit, and kneaded dough for a delicious salad, passionfruit/mango juice and Chapati. The we went to the school to teach and started painting the classroom that we are renovating. After dinner, we did an activity called Alpha/Beta Society to remind of us the importance of learning about and respecting cultures that are different from our own.
WAKA WAKA
-Ellie

July 21, 2016

Even my never-ending headache could not damper the amazing experience that is Tanzania. We started out our morning visiting a secondary (high) school where we engaged in cross-cultural exchange. I had a great conversation amongst a handful of students about our favorite rappers and sports. It was surprising to find that the students watched and listened to the same media that we do back in America.
We later started our third day of teaching at the Patandi primary school. My teaching partners Corinne and Julie taught our kids verbs ending in “–ing” and played a fun game of flashcard wars. By now our kids have better gotten to know us and we could joke around and pick up on learning styles.
The evening ended with a activity raising awareness about privilege, which is important to consider in a developing country. Hopefully we all get a great night of sleep in this new place we call home.

July 22, 2016

Today was the last day of the first week working and teaching at the Patandi School. We arrived at the regular time like any other day, but today was the first day I felt incredibly connected with the kids. Previously, the kids and the teachers were separated through an invisible barrier, but now we are all very close and comfortable with one another. I had brought my camera to the school and the reaction from the kids when I pulled it out was priceless. It was heartwarming and eye-opening to see that a little thing such as a camera can brighten a kids’ day. We took many, many, many pictures and the kids had a blast. By the end of the day, and when it was time to say goodbye, everyone was very sad to have to say goodbye to our new friends. I am very excited to start up teaching again on Monday.

July 23rd

Today, we all gathered onto the bus to see the Maasai tribe. The ride was quite long, but considering that we woke up at 4:00 am, it was perfect for a nap. Also, during the ride, we saw a couple of giraffes and I was amazed. I’ve never seen a giraffe in their actual habitat so I was completely entranced by the fact that here I was, witnessing it. Something I have never imagined would happen in my lifetime.

When we got there, members of the tribe came in wearing Maasaishukas and instantly welcomed us. A few minutes after arrival, we formed a group circle and asked the leader of the tribe some questions. It was very interesting because their culture is completely different from ours – varying from their goat sacrifices and sister wives; the difference was very intriguing. Immediately, we went and milked some goats. Very interesting, and I was especially happy when I got to hold a baby goat. The innocence and purity of animals never fails to bring a smile to my face. Afterwards, we ate breakfast and then headed for a hike along the safari. It was beautiful seeing all the bomas and zebras at first, but after walking through thorned bushes and almost dying with Julie from the heat, I can easily say the excitement of going through the savannah died down fast. I can also easily say that it was something that I will probably never do again, but even through my exhausted mind, I am quite proud that I didn’t die from a heat stroke. I really thought I was going to give up, so I was relieved.

After the long trek, we had a chance to watch an actual goat sacrifice. I was shocked watching it because the sacrifice was not what I imagined it would be. Instead of impaling the goat, they ended up chocking it. I felt that the method they used was pretty inhumane in a sense, as it was torture for the goat and there are probably better methods of killing without torture, but it still did the job. Also during the goat sacrifice we had a chance of skinning and chopping up the meat. (apologies for vegetarians). Then, we ate lunch. Note to self, goat meat is very hard to chew.

Once lunch was over, we practiced spear throwing. It was hard but fun. I was surprised on how hard it was because the tribe members made it look so easy. Then, we participated in tribal dances, chants and songs. In addition, an inside tour of their houses. The differences in culture is astounding. For example, how they use cow skin as a bed whereas we use mattresses. It is extraordinary how strong the huts were even if the walls were made of mud and roofs were made of grass and wood.

Next, we had a few more questions with the women of the Maasai tribe, and then we left. We shopped a little bit on the way to home base, and viola. A story that quickly began has ended the same way. Though the story is now in the growing collection of other stories, the memories will always stay.

July 24th

July 25, 2016
Dear Michele Schreer, Emily was married today and will not be returning. The goats and cows will be sent via FedEx and should be arriving within the month.
Moving on, this morning we left after breakfast to go the Maasai Market, where we tried to practice our bargaining skills. And, while some had more success than others, we all are very happy with our purchases which included more batiks, instruments, handmade trinkets, and jewelry. We spent some time at an internet café for some Wifi and gelato. After lunch, we returned to the Patandi School to continue our teaching and service work. My class has started to become more confident and outgoing with our lessons which makes us really excited as teachers. Some of us are excited to have also noticed an improvement in their language skills and are excited to continue working with them. We actually finished renovating the classroom that we have been working on all week! We will begin a new project tomorrow based on the needs of the community. After dinner, we had a group discussion about international aid, continuing our comparison between tourists and ambassadors as well as what constitutes successful aid projects.
#africafornorway
-Emily

July 26

Jambo!!

We began the day with an in-depth lesson on the process, causes, and effects of FGM (Female Genital Mutilation) which is a very common practice in Tanzania, along with many other countries. For those who don’t know, FGM is a cultural event practiced by many families as the “rite of passage” for girls to become women. It involves a very unsafe procedure performed on girls aged anywhere from 1 to 9, in which the clitoris and/or labia are removed. It was quite shocking to learn that some cultures still do these practices, and most often in dirty, unsafe environments. Luckily, this procedure is now illegal in Tanzania, however many Maasai tribes still do it. In fact, in Tanzania 15% of women are mutilated. In the total population, about 3 million girls are mutilated every year. This also sparked some interesting discussions in our mentor groups about Human Rights, and whether we have the right to judge/interfere with their culture.

After the speaker on FGM was finished, we were able to purchase bags, bracelets, shoes, and many other beautiful hand-crafted things, the money from which support NAFGM (Network Against FGM). It was nice to know we were helping to make a difference, even as small as a few thousand shillings.

Later on, we went to school and taught until about 4 pm. My group reviewed pronouns, and introduced reflexive pronouns. Then, we began a new aspect of our service project-repairing broken desks! It was a nice change to be outside in fresh air instead of inside painting, and I felt a great sense of accomplishment for completing the other task after all.

When we returned from service, we began our evening activity-Hunger Banquet. This was an incredible learning experience because we were given characters and evenly split (according to statistics) into high class, middle class, and lower class. We were then given the amount of food that our characters would eat on an average night. I was part of the majority (50%) that ended up in the lower class. 3 people were high class (20%), and 4 were in the middle class (30%). High class was served an entire meal while middle class was offered a buffet-style meal of beans and rice. All of the lower class was given a single plate of a dough-type food called ugali, and 2 pitchers of water to share.

This really opened my eyes to the extremity of poverty in the world today, and the fact that the majority of the United States belong to the “high class” of the world, who make at least $6000 per year. According to Swiff, 6 kids around the world die from hunger every second. And we are living in the home base less than 10 feet away from families who are starving. This was truly an eye-opening experience for me and many other Ambassadors.

The evening ended with everyone receiving a full dinner from Jeffrey (thankfully) and a spectacular view of the Milky Way from the third floor. Can’t believe the trip is already halfway over ☹ but also very excited to see what will happen tomorrow!

-Keli Moriarty-Alkire

July 28, 2016

The mornings start out surprisingly cold here, but it becomes just as surprising when the weather raises up into the 80’s with clear, blue skies in the middle of the winter. In Tanzania, the weather has been extremely nice, with it being sunny and at least 70 during the day everyday so far. Today, in the morning, the group was split up into 2 separate groups. One group was taught by a group of native Tanzanians on how to batik paint. The other group, which I was in, was taught in a cooking class by chef Geoffrey. While it was fun, the moment the goat began to get cut was not enjoyable. While I am a meat lover, I find goat very unlikeable. Later in the day, we went to our service, where we taught native Tanzanian kids around the age of 12 English, played soccer with them and fixed multiple desks. The kids are very enjoyable to be around, and some are the most friendly I have met in my lifetime. After dinner, we started our evening activity around 7:45. This activity was GLA jeopardy, which contained categories such as Swahili, GLA Program Activities, Local Staff, Tanzanian culture and more. My group beat the other two by a large margin, with the final scores looking something like 305-155-55. The day was very enjoyable and went by very quickly. I am looking forward to my next week here and, frankly, I do not want to go home one bit. I hope he next week is as eventful as the last two. Hakuna Matata!

July 31, 2016

Dylan Gavasse
Today was perhaps my favorite day of the trip. We got to go on a safari and see the amazing African wildlife. We started out the day waking up in our hostel at 5:30am and setting off the Ngorongoro national park. The park is huge crater that is stunning to see and contains so much extravagant wildlife. I was told by our guides that there was a high possibility of seeing lions which excited me very much. To my excitement about 45 minutes into the safari we see a female lion walking with her two cubs. They walked right in front of our vehicle which was absolutely stunning and made for some amazing photos. Shortly after this sighting we were able to see an adult male lion standing just 20 feet in front of us which especially amazing being so close to such a dangerous animal. He just stood there and starred at us which was absolutely incredible. Most certainly one of the highlights of the trip for me and an amazing day to be a part of.

Juan Lopez Blog
We had all been looking forward to this day since the beginning of the trip. We set out at 8:30 am for the safari, very excited for the day’s events. We arrived at Tarangire National Park and waited in a long line for the permits to be approved. In the end, the wait was definitely worth it, as we saw stunning wildlife and created memories that we will never forget. It was a humbling experience to see how vast and extraordinary the world really is, and how we’re just a small part of this amazing planet. The first animal we saw was a giraffe, followed by many zebras, wildebeasts, and gazelles. Perhaps most exciting to see were the dozens of families of elephants—they are by far my favorite animal and I had been looking forward for so long to see them on safari. In the evening, we went to our hostel and went to bed early, hoping to feel refreshed and energized the next morning when we had to wake up at 5 am.

August 1, 2016

Help, I’m stuck in a Chinese fortune cookie factory; just kidding I’m still here in Tanzania . . . Despite the Mosque and the roosters, I was actually happy to be back in my own mosquito net, I mean bed. Our day began with a short trip to the Serena Lodge hotel where we bought some snacks and talked in our mentor groups about the differences we have noticed in the past 2.5 weeks between Tanzania and the US. Then we walked to the river in our town where many locals do their laundry. I fell there…I’m okay. After that we had lunch at the home base before going to the Patandi School . In my class we used hangman to enforce our lessons about pronouns and verbs. My students also taught me a little Swahili—colors and animals. Since we are finished with service, we came home early and I got to help Geoffrey make dinner. After dinner, we watched Girl Rising which showed the struggle that many girls around the world face in their daily lives. Although the movie made me angry, it also made me feel grateful for the privileged position that I am in and that I am able to help. After the movie I thought I was free to go to bed, but then I was reminded about this blog and I threw myself on the ground like a child. It wasn’t so bad though. Probably because I’m not actually writing this, my roommate helped me
-Natalie

August 2 , 2016

Today we got to sleep in an extra hour, which was good for everyone because we usually wake up at 7:30 and we’re all exhausted. After breakfast, we had mentor groups and talked about our attributes. Each person had to choose a few tarot cards that represented their personalities and how they used these attributes during the trip. For example, one of my attributes was called detective. The “light” attribute said “great powers of observation and intuition and desire to seek out the truth.” The “shadow” attribute said “falsifying information and voyeurism.” Although each attribute is good, there also can be undesirable traits that affect yourself and other people negatively.
Afterwards, the Kili Wizards performed for us. They are a dance/music group who entertain around Tanzania. It was fascinating to see them perform their traditional art form. We all sang and danced when the dancers picked people from the audience one by one. One of the children of the dancers pulled me in and I busted a groove, but he had the best moves in the end.
Once the fun was over, we sat down for a quick lunch then went to work writing down our lesson plans. Today we taught them about words that end in “ing” which came easily to them after practicing it. After a few hours of teaching and playing with the kids, we all headed home.
When dinner was over, we had an activity called the “life worth living” where we had to answer questions and contemplate about our lives and our future. We listened to poems and speeches, pondering the meaning behind them and how they impact our lives. One of the speeches that struck me was “Why you should wear sunscreen” by Baz Luhrmann because he mentioned important points on how to lead a successful life. We then wrote a letter to our future selves asking questions about who we’ve become a year later. I had to think deeply and ask myself who I wanted to become in the long run. This type of activity reminded me why I chose to come on this trip and why I am the person I am today.

-Raven

August 3, 2016

Today we started our day an hour later than normal at 8:30, which we all loved, more sleep!!!! We had breakfast made by Geoffrey like usual. After eating we planned out our goodbye to the students we have taught and learned to loved, and to the teachers we met. Keli and Ellie had a wonderful idea on what to do and even put it together. After we ate lunch, we walked to the school to teach our last lesson for this trip and then started our goodbyes. We got sung “My Only Sunshine” by the children, and the GLA teachers sang the “Jambo “song . We also taught the kids the cotton eye Joe and Macarena, which they really enjoyed and loved. Then all the students signed a piece of poster paper with the quote “Be the Change “which the students also got to color and decorate however they wanted too. We said goodbye and tears were shed, tons of hugs were given, and contact information was shared. Then after that, all of the students we taught walked us back to home base and we said our final goodbyes there. We then signed up to pick one of the two activities for the final project for this trip, some of us chose walking to the lake and buying sodas and just talking and hanging out with your friends. The other option was to stay back with Swiff and talk about different problems going on back at our hometown and here in Tanzania, to learn how to help and fix these difficult issues. This activity was meant to show leadership and hopefully to continue when we go back home. Then we ate dinner and hung out for a little while before Mama Simba arrived. Mama Simba talked more about herself and her childhood hardship, she also told us about how she got to be working with GLA. I was very moved by her speech and will take her advice to heart.
Shout out to my dad for having a birthday today, you go dad!!!
-Julie Ginsberg

Time Capsule Letter – October 2016

Mambo!!!!!

I cannot believe that I am back in the United States after spending an AMAZING summer in Tanzania with Global Leadership Adventures! I am now into the routine of work and school here and I hope that all of you are fully immersed and enjoying your next adventure whether that be another year of high school or your first year in college.

Looking back, the first session of GLA Tanzania was incredible- our group of six was small but mighty.

Every day I was amazed at how well you bonded with each other and fully immersed yourselves into the program.  I will not forgot the times spent doing service, debating during discussions, relaxing at the home base, and adventuring on safari.

I want to take this opportunity to once again express my heartfelt gratitude and appreciation for everyone who worked at and participated in the GLA Tanzania Moshi program this summer.  All of you took an incredibly brave step by traveling halfway around the world to a foreign country to experience a different culture with strangers who turned into friends and you all succeeded in fully immersing yourselves into the GLA experience.  Most importantly, all of the hard work that you did for the students at Himo and Korona has had a positive impact on their lives.  I hope the GLA experience has been life changing for you as well and that your experiences in Tanzania continues to positively impact your life as you continue to grow both as individuals and future leaders.

Summer Blog Posts

Day 1 – Jambo – Greetings from Tanzania!

Today was a great first day with all of our students. Our day started with a full breakfast of juice, eggs, toast, and fruit. After breakfast we played name games and icebreakers to get know each other better. After the games orientation started. The students learned some basic Swahili and about the overall structure of the program for the next two weeks. After orientation the students got to meet and have lunch with their host families and practice some of their Swahili. After lunch the host families took the students to their homes and for a tour around the village. All of the students had a great time and learned a lot. The night ended with a workshop on service learning and discussion of the goals for our trip.

Great start to our GLA adventure!

Friday, June 17th

Today we woke up to an amazing wake up call consisting of ringing the dinner bell. After waking everybody up, we ate a delicious breakfast of eggs, toast, and other Tanzanian breakfast staples. Mama Simba then came and talked to us about cultures and customs. Soon after at nine, we took a thirty minute bus ride to go and visit the two schools we would be teaching at: Himo and Korona. While at the school, we visited all the students and introduced ourselves to where we would be doing most of our service work. After that we walked around and played with the school kids in a field near the school. We then left and returned back home where we are our lunch.

~Melisa Dindoruk

After lunch we had a teacher in Tanzania come talk to us about the education system and history of the country. We learned about the grade levels and subjects in Tanzania as well as how the country was formed from Tanganika and Zanzibar. After that Mama Simba told us about her life and challenges. Then we ate meat and rice and fruit for dinner. After dinner we talked about orphanage tourism and the issues Southeast Asia has with it. Then we finished the day
with our highs and lows and went to bed.

~Shan Duffy

Saturday, June 18th

Today was a very special day! We woke up at exactly 7:30 AM. After waking up to lovely noises, it was time to eat. For breakfast we had eggs, French Toast, and a magical juice. Once finished eating we got in the van and went to exchange some money. Being safe like always we headed to some shops after getting some money. We went to a local market and bought some fabric. After buying some fabric we headed to a supermarket. The supermarket was great, and after leaving the store we went to an Internet cafe. We bought some internet and some food. For lunch we had pizza and milkshakes!

-John Mack

After coming home from Moshi town and the Internet cafe, lunch was served for those who had not eaten yet. Lunch was very yummy in on our tummys (as always). After eating, a tailor came in to take our measurements to make clothes using the fabric we bought earlier that day. We were allowed to choose from hats, bags, pants, shirts, dresses and much more. We had a shot break where we played some competitive games of Uno. After this, we got ready to go to the orphanage. We walked, as it was a short distance and in the same town we were staying in. We brought gifts of rice to present to the head lady running the orphanage. The orphanage had around 100 very happy kids of all ages. We all had so much fun talking and playing with the kids. Later, we ate dinner and had our daily session with Ashley where she blows are minds with cool information!!! Until tomorrow!

-Caylie Milazzo

Sunday, June 19th

We drove to the base of Mt. Kilimanjaro early in the morning and we started hiking with a guide. We went to a waterfall and we had to cross the river, but it was very slippery, so most people fell in the water. Allison, the international director, fell and hurt her leg, so she had to go back to the bus. We had to hike uphill for a couple hours until we reached a natural swimming pool, where we ate lunch that were packed for us. John was the only one of us to swim in the pool because it was very cold. We spent an hour there hopping on rocks in the water and sitting. We had a lot of fun! Then we kept hiking and passed by Novelia’s house. We met her youngest daughter and took a quick break outside her house. We then proceeded hiking until finally we reached the official national park and base of Mt. Kilimanjaro, where hikers start. We saw a model of the mountain and the guide explained to us the journey it takes to climb. He also told us about the environment, plants, animals, and history of Mt. Kilimanjaro. We learned that the record time it took to climb up and down was only 6 hours! Usually it takes 6 days!

When we got home, we had dinner and then had a lesson planning workshop. We learned that actions and hands on activities help students understand and learn better. We also learned to speak slowly and clearly and that repetition is important. We were also divide into pairs. Each pair would teach a different class. After the workshop we started the lesson plans for the next day. We used text books and what we learned in the workshop to make our plans, which had to be approved by Allison and Ashley.

Then we had Ashely time,where we discussed the harm in a single story. We looked at two songs. One was about Christmas and about how while people are celebrating in America, people in west Africa are dying. We discussed what was wrong with this. This song says that Africans don’t know what Christmas is, when in reality, many are Christian. This song also implies that all of west Africa is dying of Ebola and that there is no joy. We then watched a series of videos that talked about the stereotypes of Africa and made fun of them. We also saw some examples of good videos that represent a more realistic version of Africa. We also learned about an organization that gives prizes to the best and the worst aid videos. This organization gives golden and rusty radiator awards depending on whether a video is bad and stereotypical or whether it gives a god representation of the place that it is talking about and promotes good types of aid.

-Cassie and Ilana

Monday, June 20

Today we woke up to go to our first day of service at Himo Kirona Primary School. All of us were paired up to teach English in either Form 3 or Form 5/6. In Melisa’s and my class we had the kids make name tags and then we had them read aloud a story to the class. After that we asked them questions about the story to see how much they understood. Finally we wrote vocab words on the board and had the kids copy them into their notebooks. We had 1/2 an hour to play games with the kids and we played 7 up and taught them 4 corners. After that we all met up in a classroom and sanded the walls for an hour. When we were leaving the kids asked us all for stickers which made us realize they see white people as gift givers. When we got back to base we ate lunch and then started making batik. Batik is an art form where you draw on a cloth, cover it in wax, and paint it. After that we walked to a shop nearby to buy sodas. We ate dinner and then we watched a movie called Girl Rising and talked about female development. We also did lesson planning for school the next day and then we went to bed.
~ Shan Duffy

June 21, 2016

Moshi, Tanzania

It was raining again when we woke up today. Wakeup time was at seven and breakfast was at seven thirty as usual. After eating breakfast we all loaded into the bus, and made our way to school. We taught the kids for about one hour, till we began our job of painting the classroom. We had to prime the walls and put plaster around the windows in the class. It was a tiring and messy job, but we managed to have fun. After school we made our way back home and ate lunch. At two, we made our way to a local coffee plantation about fifteen minutes from base. We learned about the coffee industry in Tanzania, and even got to make our own coffee. It was really interesting seeing how it was made, and even more fun getting to drink it. There were local chagga people there who taught us how to dance their tribal dances, and even dress a little bit like them. After that we went back to the local supermarket in Moshi, and bought some more snacks that we were craving. We all decided to eat dinner at the Internet Cafe and spent about an hour there catching up with our friends and family. We returned back home after and had some much needed free time that consisted of some wild card games. During our evening workshop we played a game that taught us about what kind of leaders we are. We had some more free time after that and some people sat in cat poop at that time. At ten we had lights lug and were more than happy to get to sleep again.
-Melisa

June 22, 2016

Today we woke up to a yummy breakfast as usual. We woke up at 7 and were on the bus to school. Our driver, Isaac, did a fantastic job driving us through the muddy, uneven roads after the storms from the night before. We almost got stuck, but we got through the muddy road. We went to school where we all taught for an hour. After this we were allowed some time to play with the kids. For the first time of the week, we were allowed to play with the kids outside. For the earlier part of the week, the field had been too wet to play. Being outside with all the kids and all the GLA kids was so much fun. After having some play time, we began painting the first coat of color paint over the primer. The fumes were very strong, but we had masks to help. We finished this first layer and then we were done painting for the day. In the afternoon, a dance group called the Kili Wizards came to our home base to show us their show. They danced for us, played instruments and sang. After dancing we were allowed to join to them. This was a really great experience as this type of dance was nothing I had ever experienced before. Following this, we ate dinner and then walked to the local orphanage in the same town as home base. This was so fun playing with them, but also so sad to leave these kids for the final time. As the day was coming to a close, we were allowed some free time to play cards and hang out with each other.
-Caylie Milazzo

Friday, June 24

We woke up and had a wonderful breakfast of toast, eggs, and fruit. Then we went to school and worked with the kids for about an hour. After that we played with them for about half an hour. It was really fun playing with the kids because we got to spend time with kids from other classes. After playing with them, we started painting the classroom that we’ve been working on. All of us got paint on us, but it was fine because we had fun. When we finished we made our way back to the home base. We ate lunch when we arrived and after that we showered because we were getting our hear braided. While our hair was being braided by some wonderful ladies, I gave my LOD presentation/activity and Ashley talked to us about health and hygiene (poop). To prepare for safari, we went to the nakumatt (supermarket) and we bought snacks. Then we went back to the home base and had a delicious dinner. After dinner we had a super helpful feedback session with Ashley and Allison. To continue safari prep, we had a safari/Masai talk with Allison, which was very interesting. To end the day, we packed for safari and finally went to bed.

IlianaSaturday & Sunday, June 25 & 26

Safari weekend.  Saturday we drove to Tangerine national park, spent the night at a hostel, and woke up early to go to Ngorongoro crater conservation area. We had fun. We saw cheetahs, elephants, a rhino and many other wild beasts.  We were very close to the lions. It was very cool. We took a lot of pictures. We had some quality sandwiches for lunch. Melisa asked our lovely tour guide to do some homework before the second day and she was ignored. Raymond, our tour guide, was a very special Savannah boi. He was very skilled and could smell the wildlife miles away from us. He made us laugh and will be missed very dearly. John farted on our way back to Arusha and it smelled so bad it woke up both Melisa, Caylie and our HQ guest, Veronica, I mean Valerie. Actually her name is Vanessa. After John farted in the van and woke up everyone we realized the Savannah boi was actually the one who farted:/ that’s when things got awkward. We drove up the caldera and stood up with the window down. It was really fun seeing the floor of the caldera disappear into the distance.  Caylie also farted liquid eggs in the bus, and almost killed us all. Bring a gas mask. On our way back to Arusha, most of us slept. I (Melissa) got to have the entire backseat to myself and it was awesome. Caylie got a little jealous but it’s alright. I offered to let her sleep there after me, but she declined and jammed with John instead. She’s still a little salty about it. Me (Caylie) and John jammed to MGMT and no one else understood the love for Electric Feel. Imbeciles. We went to the Maasai market in Arusha. God bless Tanzania and good day!!

-Entire GLA 2016 6/15 student group

Time Capsule Letter – October 2016

To my dear amazing friends I met in Tengeru this summer

I’m packing now to go for another adventure, to travel to Asia. I look at my bags and recall the moment from the middle of June when I was preparing to go to Tanzania. I can’t believe it’s already been a few months since we all said „Goodbye”. I can still smell Geoffrey’s food, hear the rooster, baby and water buffalo for the wall behind our house. All those memories came back.

This last summer was incredible. Tanzania was a totally new experience for me. I’ve been waiting for it for 3 years and you guys made it totally worth waiting for. Thanks to your amazing Tanzanian staff: hilarious Lodrick, carrying Lotha, inspiring Mama Simba, friendly Mamlaka and Upendo and of course other people working in our house like Mama Ushindi, Geoffrey, Agatha, Mama Ketty. I won’t forget our safari trip, visit to Maasai boma, chow circles around the table, paper plate awards, and mentor groups. Maybe they were not always fun but after all those weeks and month they are still in my head and I can recall thought we shared and what we felt at that time. You guys all grew so much, everyone in different ways.

I can still see the faces of our Patandi students and the smiles while we were there. Your faces with masks while sanding the blackboards and your black hands after painting them. I will never forget the tears when we said “Goodbye” to them on the last day of school service. You all should know what impact you made with your hard work in those schools. There were definitely a lot of lollipop moments!

The past summer was unforgettable. It impacted all of us. I hope you are happy to be back at school with your friends, getting adjusted to that life style, sharing your experience and implementing your ideas. I also hope that this experienced changed you in a way no one ever expected and you that will cherish those memories and use all you learned to implement in your communities.

All the best to all of you,

Martyna Skura

Session 1 Memories

1. Colored powder party in front of the home base!
2. Martyna was attacked by a monkey during safari…and a goat at the orphanage.
3. Lodrick was stealing food from all social classes during Hunger Banquet because his role card was a poor Ethiopian farmer that had 11 children
4. Mayson showing up the Kili Wizards dance troupe and teaching them how to twerk!
5. Will tried to outduel the dancer at his “driving the car” dance move during Kili Wizards dance troupe but flipped over embarrassingly.
6. On one of the last days, the group burst into the “When I’m Gone” song with hand clapping and percussions on the bus ride home.
7. The whole group was soaked completely at Kilimanjaro and many took a stumble and slid down the hill.
8. Carly achieved her dream of milking a goat at the Maasai!
9. A bunch of students created a “No Flies Zone” huddling under a shuka at the Maasai boma.
10. Eugenie and Elle held a beauty salon evening for all the international staff by plucking eyebrows, doing make up, and shaving.

Summer Blog Posts

Day 1

We start this long journey in an airport, where we fly over oceans to get to our destination of Tanzania! As we exit the airport we see the sign welcoming us to Tanzania help by our soon to be family, Audrey and Bri! We take a 45 min. drive back to our base where we will live for the next 21 days. We then eat a traditional Tanzanian dinner and go to sleep.

After having some scary dreams from taking our Malaria pills, we start our day with a breakfast of Toast, eggs and fruit! Then we jump right into orientation, I mean every adventure has it rules. We go over common do’s and do not’s of the culture in the area. Then Mama Simba makes an extravagant appearance, she gives of a speech of power! She tells us she loves us and thank you for coming and experiencing her Country. All feeling very welcomed with slightly hungry tummies we get set for lunch. We ate rice with beans and a various vegetable combinations. As we slowly but surely learn each others’ names we prepare our selves for the journeys to come!

(Here in this beautiful country, things are often misperceived so I ask all who are really curious about what work we will be doing to watch a Ted Talk called “The danger of a single story”.)

– Elle Mickelson

Dear mzungus (foreigners)!

The community in this area is one that I’ve never experienced before. Everyone is a family; everyone cares for each other. Greetings are customary here where they are always expected as you pass a person in the street, and it’s amazing how bright people smile here after a simple hello. Mama Simba, our country director, has taught us amazing things about the basis of Tanzanian culture and how they live here in this third world country. I had never thought of how much water I use and food I waste, but as Mama Simba put it, “the food that you throw away kills someone on the street.” It’s only been two full days here, and, as cliché as it sounds, I already have a new perspective on things.

During our first visit to the school, we were given a quick rundown and tour of the school, but then we were allowed to enter the schoolyard and play with kids. As soon as each of us stepped out, each member of our group was chosen by a child to hold their hand and play games with them. My girl’s name is Shanazi: she is 11 years old and has many brothers and sisters. Saying goodbye to her after playing soccer, simon says, and hand games, was so hard, that it’s impossible to imagine how hard it would be to say goodbye when we leave. Some of the kids walked us back to our house, and Shanazi insisted on carrying my backpack. The best part of my day was that each time I would kiss her head goodbye (they followed us after each time we leftJ ), she would push my shoulders down and kiss my head as well. These are the happiest, most well behaved kids I think I’ve ever met. It’s a blessing to me to be given the opportunity to teach them and spend my time with them.

I honestly could not be happier here. I love every single member of the group, including the staff. It’s amazing how many like minded people are my age and how now I know types of people I didn’t think existed. I want nothing more than to stay here with Mama Simba, her son Lodrick, Shanazi, Lota, a local staff member, and all the other little kids, like Noella and Grace. Life is so simple and happy here: they really do live by the phrase ‘hakuna matata.’

P.S: Hi mom and dad!!! Although I love you guys so much, I’m having such a great time here that I don’t want to leave. I’m trying to devise a plan that’ll let me stay another week J Also I’m going by the name Bean now.

-Gillian Bean Chanko

June 25

Today we woke up extra early today, 6:15am, to eat breakfast. We woke up extra early because we had to take an hour bus ride to hike on Mount Kilimanjaro. We had eggs, pancakes, toast, watermelon, and pineapples. Once we finished breakfast and we got our backpacks, rain jackets, and took our box lunches provided by the chef at the home site. Once we got in the bus, it was a long bus ride, so we have to see a lot of the Tanzania countryside, markets, farms, and lots of cows and goats. At Mount Kilimanjaro (which is the 4th tallest mountain in the word) we met our mountain tour guides. On Mount Kilimanjaro, it was cold and raining very hard. We went into the tourist shelter at the Kilimanjaro base they told us facts about Mount Kilimanjaro. The hike was steep at parts, with slippery slopes because of the rain. During the hike, we saw beautiful views including two waterfalls. At the waterfall, we took many pictures, because it was soooo beautiful. Then after the hike all our cloths was wet, and we were all very cold. On the way back to the home base, we stopped by art gallery. The art gallery had lots of local hand painted paintings, and hard carven wooden sculptures. Everyone bought lots of beautiful paintings, and sculptures while spending only around ten dollars. Then after the market, we drove home, and ate dinner. The dinner was traditional African food, It was delicious. Then we played a game called Alpha and Beta, which simulated the language and culture barriers between Tanzania and us, and how we could best make the barrier as small as possible. Overall, it was a fun day.

– Will Gao

June 26

Today the GLA students met with their host families. Some of them spoke some english but most of them spoke little to none. We learned basic phrases in swahili beforehand so we were able to minimally communicate with them. The host family that my partner,Hannah, and I were with were very kind. They were close friends with eachother and they brought their 2 children. We had lunch at the GLA homebase and then we went with the families to wherever they wanted to take us. Our family took us to where they take their trash. It’s a big cave and when the trash gets too big, they burn it. We then went to their homes. They showed us pictures of their families and also showed us Tanzanian pop culture. When we got back to homebase, we had free time to do what we wanted. Personally, I used it to change and eat. When my partners for teaching got back, we finished our lesson plans. Then we had dinner which was amazing as per usual! Then, we did an activity about privilage which the other blogger will now talk about (Ginny).

– Evelyn

After dinner, we usually do some fun and informative activities. Today, after the dish washers were done with the dishes, we all sat back at the tables, which had been rearranged and some of the tables had two or three bowls of colored beads and one sheet of paper for each bowl. On each sheet of paper was a list of statements referring to privileges (nationality, ability, sexuality, gender/sex, religious, class, and race privileges). We were supposed to take a bead if we could associate with any of the statements. After everybody was done with colecting their respective beads, we put them on wire as bracelets, rings, keychains and things like that. While we did that, we talked about what privilege looks like, and in what shapes, forms and sizes it comes in. While we mentioned different examples that come with all the privileges, Kati would write different things on the board such as hot vs cold water, infastructure, elecricity, new vs used items, and sanitation. We talked about how people can be affected differently by different privileges. Some people shared some personal stories and it really made us all look at things with a different perspective based on what we have available to us on a daily basis and what we have available to us here in Tanzania.

– Ginevra

June 26, 2016

Today was a very productive day. Breakfast started at 7:45 and after breakfast we walked to the school to start teaching. In class we got to know each other’s names and what we like to do in our free time. We got the kids to open up and have a bit of fun so that we could make a connection and create a foundation of friendship and trust. After class we all rolled up our sleeves and did some work around the school. Some people were assigned to sand paper the black boards so that a new coat of paint could be applied while others fixed the children’s desks. The children were very appreciative and would go around saying hello to everyone in every classroom. Finishing up at the school, we all decided to play with the kids outside. We played duck-duck goose while some of the girls played rhyming hand games. After playing outside, the children decided to walk us all back to home base. Arriving at home base we said our goodbyes and made promises to return tomorrow.  Inside home base we had a delicious lunch made by our amazing cook and friend Jeffery. We had potato salad with rice, mango and avocado salad. Finishing up lunch we had a speaker come in and teach us more about Tanzania’s rich history. We were very grateful and thanked him by rubbing our hands together and saying “pasha pasha pasha”. After lunch we talked about developmental aid and humanitarian aid and what the differences were. Under developmental aid was  financial, overseas, social and political while under humanitarian was refugees, homeless, natural disasters and victims of war. After a lengthy discussion and informational video we had dinner thanks to our cook Jeffery. Following our wonderful dinner we got into our mentor groups and played games. The first game we played was called elements. After playing the game we discussed why we were the elements we were (you could be water, fire, wind or earth) and what it meant to us as individuals. After elements we talked about the highs and lows of our days and what emotions we felt. Today has been a day full of learning, happiness and understanding. Learn to listen to the needs of the people and make connections with those around you.

-Leila Alvarado

June 28, 2016

Today is Tuesday June 28th and we had our second day of teaching. In my group we split the four of us into two groups and my half we went over “when and why” questions. They were catching on pretty fast and we will only have to do a little bit more of a review. The other half of us taught “perhaps and maybe”. Then we went to the field and played games with the children and shared many laughs. Then we headed to our labor activity. Today was my day to help fix desks, while the other half sanded the chalk boards so we can paint them later.

NOW IT WAS TIME FOR LUNCH WITH GEOFFERY’S AMAZING FOOD!!! After lunch we went to an orphanage and colored with the children and yes that was us teaching them. But to be fair we were drawing animals and objects that were around the room. They were super tired and were falling asleep on a lot of us. Before dinner we were in our mentor groups and talked about our moments in the day and the differences between orphanages in the States and in Africa. WE HAD DINNER WITH GUESTS AND THE FOOD WAS SOOOOO GOOD I COULDN’T EVEN HANDLE IT OH MY GOSH!!!!!!!! THE SOUP AND THE MEAT BUT THEN ALSO THE BEANS AND RICE COMBINATION IS FANTABULOUS!!!!!!!!!!!! THE GUESTS WERE TOO NICE AND SUPER INSPIRATIONAL AND I LOVE HEARING THEM SPEAK!!!!!!!!!!!!!! THAT WAS MOST OF OUR DAY AND IT IS A BLAST HERE!!!!!! ALSO FOR THE PEOPLE THAT DON’T KNOW ME THE CAPITAL LETTERS ARE EXCITEMENT!!!!!!! THANK YOU FOR READING!!!!!!!!!!!!!

-Gillian Rowland and Taylor Ehrlich

Hey y’all its taylor here. I just want to say how amazing this trip is. This trip really has opened my eyes and made me realize how lucky I am and what I can accomplish as a leader. The people here are so amazing and they are my best friends. Ive never met as sweet and kind people as I have from here. I love my best friends here and I’ve already made so many memories that I will never forget.-Taytay

June 30, 2016

Today was a pretty normal day in the morning. We had breakfast as 7:45 and then headed to the school. It was kind of chilly and it was raining. On the bright side it was one of the first days I didn’t slip in the mud from the rain. After the time was up for teaching, we had our normal break. At this point, it was still raining so a few of us stayed inside the library and the rest still went out and played with the kids. During this time, there was a bit of an adventure. A few kids were playing and they saw a snake, what we believed to be a black mamba. A little boy with amazing aim threw a rock at its head and killed it. Later we found out that that type of snake can’t survive in this area and it was a harmless snake that is identical to the black mamba! After working on the school, fixing desks or painting the chalkboards, we headed back for lunch. Later, we split into two groups. The first group was learning to cook and the other was painting. I was in the cooking group and together we made the dinner for tonight. The guy that came to help paint brought his own paintings and also elephant pants that he sells so everyone had a chance to buy either. On Monday the groups will come back together but switch roles so we all get a chance to do both. After eating the dinner we made, we all watched the movie Girl Rising. It was about women’s struggle for rights in other countries where they are deprived from basic luxuries. We had a good discussion about it. By the end it was around 9:30 and everyone was exhausted and went to bed. From having fun teaching the kids to help cooking dinner to buying a few paintings and a pair of elephant pants, today was a very good day!

-Kelly Walters

July 1

Hi all, my name is Bree! So here is the run down for today. We woke up this morning and went to school, just like we have every other day of this week. I think at this point it is getting harder to teach the kids certain material because I think the kids are over us, and just want to play games and braid our hair. However, I have to admit it is a nice challenge to get all of us GLA students to figure out new methods to teach the kids, and to find the one that works the best for each student. Today during our 30 minute break, the girls of the school decided that they did not want to play the games we usually do during their recess, and they wanted to braid hair. Everyone had some pretty awesome hair by the end of recess, but I have to say mine was the best… Thank you Glory! After school, we returned to home base for lunch. Geoffrey made us some really cool pizza- it was so yummy! After lunch we waited for the tailor to arrive, so he could take our measurements and design ideas for our custom outfits we are getting. I am excited! Also while the tailor was here, we had an organization come to talk to us about FGM, or female genital mutilation. The lesson was very informative, and gave me lots of new information on the topic. I did not realize how big of a world issue this actually was, and I am happy that I now have insight on the topic. We all bought bracelets from the organization to help support the cause to help end FGM. We have finally ended the night with yummy popcorn, and singing along to the lion king, in preparation for the safari tomorrow. I am so excited! Lodric told us that the first park we will visit is known for its large groups of elephants! For those of you who don’t know me, I LOVE ELEPHANTS!!!!!!!!! I am sure that the other people in my safari car will have to hold me when I see the elephants, and then watch their feet because I just might pee from excitement! Just kidding… let’s hope that does not happen. Well that’s all from me! I hope you have a wonderful day!

-Bree

July 3

Today was amazing!
We started off the day waking up at 5 in an “interesting” hostel. We ate a really good breakfast and headed off to the safari jeeps. During the 45 minute drive to the Ngorongoro crater, we were able to see the beginning of the sunrise. While we were waiting to get tickets into the crater we saw crazy baboons that jumped over cars and threatened to attack people. We had a beautiful drive up the mountain where we saw lush trees and fog that surrounded our jeep and the crater. We finally began our bumpy ride into the crater where we saw zebras first. We saw ostriches, weird birds, gazelles, jackals, hippos, lions mating, elephants, buffalos. Out in the distance we spotted what looked like a rock. It ended up being a sleeping endangered rhino. The park rangers woke it up and we all got amazing pictures of a species that is sadly going extinct. This slightly ugly yet beautiful creature is being hunted for its tusks. I felt extremely amazing to see an animal that might not be on this planet for much longer. We roamed around the park for a while longer and found lions that began to mate. They were closer up than the lions we saw before so we all got great shots. We headed back for a 4 hour car ride after a wonderful day.

– Jordan Clark
PS Hi mom!

Today was one of the greatest days of my life. I struggled to leave the warm covers of the hotel’s bed, but finally succeeded 15 minutes after my actual alarm went off. The delicious breakfast and tea definitely woke me up and prepared me for the busy day ahead. We jumped into our safari Jeeps and drove along the bumpy road, watching the sky slowly brighten. When we arrived to the opening of the park, we were met by baboons who caused quite the commotion when one jumped onto a jeep. After going uphill for around 20 minutes, we stopped to open the top of our jeep. This was when the real adventure began. Everyone in our jeep (the Trap Jeep) stood on top of the seats to peep our heads into the wild. We zoomed through the cold and foggy jungle, taking in the mesmerizing sights. I felt free and adventurous as I stuck my head out the window, the brisk air sweeping across my face. After we entered the crater, we were met by an abundant amount of animals. Zebras were grazing, wildebeests were wandering, and antelopes were frolicking. The scenery and animals were beautiful. At one point of the safari, we reached an area where around 10 jeeps were lined up. We wondered what everyone was looking at, and soon realized it was a standoff between 5 lions and one water buffalo (which the Trap Jeep decided to name Mark Buffalo). Our jeep guide told us that the lions could possibly attack Mark Buffalo, so we watched for 30 minutes. At one point, Mark Buffalo charged at the lions, scaring them off for a bit. In the end, Mark Buffalo made it out alive and ran away from the scene. We also saw an endangered rhino who was sleeping before it was woken up. It was amazing to see such a rare creature. Later, we witnessed a female and male lion lying together near a lake. Suddenly, the male lion walked over to the female lion. We had been informed that it was mating season, and we soon witnessed it first hand. Lunch took place by a hippo pond, and we soon ended our safari by driving out of the caldera back into the frigid jungle. The end of the adventure ended on a beautiful note when we watched from above as the crater disappear into the distance. I will never forget the feeling of “flying” through the grasslands. Wind (and dust) blew wildly in my face but I felt free and a part of nature. Though Tanzania may not be the most developed of countries, no other country could compare to the life-changing safari that Tanzania offered me today.

– Christine Tao
PS: shout out to my fam, love and miss you guys!

July 4

First of all, Happy 4th of July everyone! I hope you had a day as wonderful as ours. So, since today is America’s birthday, we decided that it would be a fun idea to teach the kids a little bit about how our country began. To be honest, I am not sure they understood everything, but they did enjoy the huge map of the world my group drew across the whole black board. After giving the kids a cultural lesson, we finished painting all the blackboards and fixing all the desks. As we wrapped this up, the students joyfully sat with us waiting to walk us home, as they do every day. Later we had afternoon activities which included going to the market and touring a coffee plantation. For the market, we were given a shopping list and 10,000 shillings. As Americans in Africa, we had to use our bargaining skills so that we are not ripped off. For me, it was quite uncomfortable but my friends helped me out with the bargaining. At the coffee plantation, we went on a tour through the coffee bean trees as we learned about the history of African coffee and then went to a house to make our own coffee! It was very tasty. For our 4th of July celebration, the local staff made it really feel like home by making us burgers and fries! After dinner we roasted marshmallows around a campfire and made s’mores. I could not have asked for a better celebration!

-Hannah Liddy
p.s. Hi mom, dad and Henry, love and miss you guys … 10

July 5, 2016

Today consisted of our usual morning routine of teaching. Unlike the other days of service, we sanded down the walls of the special education dining room. The entire group was together during service as well. When we first started, everyone was a little unhappy to be sanding an entire room although no one said it aloud. As we got going though, everyone got in their groove, and we were able to get a sing along going. The songs varied from Boyfriend and Call Me Maybe to Hakuna Matata and The iCarly Theme Song. We got so loud at one point that some of the kids came in and started dancing along. It was cool to see how easy it is for everyone to come together here. Even though the kids had never heard the songs before and didn’t understand the lyrics, they were able to come in and openly dance with people they had never met. Once back at home base, we switched the roles of batik and cooking. Today was my turn to cook. My group peeled garlic, cut onions and carrots, made dough, and cooked chicken. The process was astounding to not only watch but be a part of. Not to mention talking to Chef Geoffrey is pretty entertaining, too. A lot of hidden talents were shown during the process. Leila’s ability to peel garlic in seconds and Bree’s ability to flip a stack of 4 chapattis were of the most impressive. No matter how great we were at a given task, the local staff was always able to come in and fix our little mistakes. It was nice to see how much work goes into making every meal we eat here and how quickly they are able to produce enough food for all of us. Every meal is prepared on site with fresh, local ingredients which was something I was previously over looking. We finished the night with a game that really opened up the group. A series of statements were read, and if you identified with the statement, you took a step in. It was something that showed how complex people are. It brought me back to the first few days when we discussed the single story. We often see this outer shell of a person and assume the rest, but there are so many layers deeper down that don’t always get shown to the rest of the group. It definitely made the room feel heavy at times because of how personal the questions were. What struck me most, however, was that never once was a person in the circle alone. There was never a statement that only a single person identified with. This brought me comfort because it showed that whatever problem a person has, they always have someone who can sympathize alongside them. By the end, we were all hugging each other. We were comforting those who usually aren’t as open and making sure that everyone realized how supportive this family will always be. It gave people an opportunity to score some free hugs too which is always a plus.

Jenn

July 6

Today we woke up shivering in our beds, and quickly rushed to breakfast all bundled up and huddled together for warmth. After a delicious and nutritious meal, we scurried to the school with our lessons planned and our spirits high. However, instead of being greeted by the usual smiling faces of our loving students, we found that many were not in attendance because of the moon phases of Ramadan. Just as we are doing now to write this blog, we, Lucy and Mayson, came together and combined our classes to create one powerful class with equally powerful students. These students were so powerful in fact, that the eight teachers in the class were too much for their great skill. Lucy, our MVP sander, led a few to continue our handy work sanding the special ed classes, while Mayson dominated the teaching crew and taught a flawless lesson. Then we all reconvened for a quick peanut butter sandwich pick-me-up and a break with the students (no black mambas today luckily) then continued our labor until our shoulders and hands were sore and our faces were covered in paint dust. We skipped home [clammy] hand in [clammy] hand and bid a sweet goodbye to our children.
Then after gobbling down a great lasagna lunch, we set up for our talk about HIV/AIDS. Kati’s lesson was both inspiring and engaging and we all ended our talk informed and excited for the next activity – a panel of locals who have been living with HIV for years. They were very open to all of our questions and it was a very eye-opening discussion that shattered our single-storied perspectives.

To finish off the day we had a hunger banquet. For those of you who are not familiar with this it is an activity in which you draw a card, which places you in the upper, middle, or lower class. You eat a meal that corresponds with your economic class level, a feast, beans and rice, or ugali respectively. Mayson ate with the rich and was served scrumptious foods. Lucy ate as a middle class civilian. The poor had a unique experience and reflected on the more serious aspects of their meal. Then we had a discussion about the overall experience. Thankfully, the leaders were just playing and they served us dinner… yum, yum, yum in my tum. We went to bed full and cozy.

Also, happy birthday Ma! Love you and can’t wait to snuggle when I get home! Love to all <3

-Mayson & Lucy

July 8

The sweet aroma of cinnamon rolls motivated us to rise from our beds for a scrumptious meal completed with omelettes and toast. With high sprits and full bellies the group headed off to school for our very last day. The school day was jam packed with fun learning games that encompassed all of the lessons taught in the previous two weeks. After a recess of hair braiding and hand games we were relieved of our physical labor so we could have a goodbye celebration. Before we parted ways we danced the cupid shuffle with the kids, played the cup song (look out we will be starring in Pitch Perfect 3: Rise of the Tanzanian Acapellas), and sang Jambo in perfect harmony. Hand in hand with the children we sorrowfully walked home at a slow pace to bask in every last moment with the children. After a tearful and bitter farewell we returned to the base for a pasta lunch. We then loaded up the bus to go exchange money before the Maasai Market. At the market we bought souvenirs for family members and friends (get excited, the items are pretty cool!). The market was overwhelming and exhilerating with wood carvings, t-shirts, shoes, and jewlery. We harnessed our bargaining skills to get the best “rafiki” price. Once we boarded the bus Bean shared the unfortunate discovery that she bought two left tire shoes in different sizes. Don’t fret Eric and Susan, with the help of Lodrick she will be returning to the market to buy a proper pair of tire shoes. The shoes were quite popular as Lucy and Gillian bought a pair that she is content with. We then went to the gelato place to get some delicious treats and some highly coveted wi-fi. On the bus we had an impromptu sing along session to throwback songs. We returned home to a dinner of mashed potatoes and stew. The day ended with a documentary about European tourism in Papau New Guinea. The group is appreciating each moment a bit more with each other as the time on the trip winds down. We have much more to come so stay tuned. All in all it was a successful day here in Arusha.

The Best!
Carly Sturm

Time Capsule Letter – October 2016

Summer Blog Posts

June 26, 2016 – 1st night in Peru!

Everyone is tired but excited to be here. We have a handful of students still to arrive and the group will be complete. Lots of sleep and drinking water have been the main activities of the day. Tomorrow we will head to our permanent home base and meet our Peruvian hosts and Spanish teachers. It’s been a great first day.

– Suzannah Crandall

June 28, 2016

We’re all here! Our group of 30 is finally complete and everyone is settling into home base with new roommates and a beautiful 360 view of the mountains.

Yesterday was a day filled with orientation and our first Spanish class.  Everyone took a quick written an oral test and then were divided into 4 groups for Spanish.

Today we start our service projects and have the first official Spanish class.  Weather has been a bit overcast and definitely chilly in the morning and evening.

All is good on our end…more updates to come later.

– Suzannah Crandall

June 29, 2016

We woke up to a very cold morning. We had bread for breakfast with jam. So yummy! At around 8:30 we boarded the buses to go to Cuzco. On the way there Ayianna sang us a song and it was so fun! Once we arrived at the market we met our Spanish teachers who gave us 2 soles for the days meal. We learned to bargain with the local vendors and in the end we were successful! Later, we went to the house of our local director, Carmen. Can you imagine walking up 200 steps in a low oxygen environment? We did that!

Carmen split us up into teams in order to successfully cook a traditional Peruvian meal. Local chefs taught us the secrets to a tasty meal. Then we climbed even further up the mountain to play soccer and enjoy the view.

Our next adventure was to visit the Incan ruins of Cuzco. There, we learned about the religious and cultural practices of the Incas. After the conclusion of our tour we were bombarded by local artisans who insisted on selling us their llama and alpaca products. Eventually Toney gave in and purchased a traditionally woven hat and began the trend as many additional GLA students purchased goods of their own.

Once we arrived at our village the student body divided as some students returned to home base for a siesta while the remaining travelers explored the All Saints festival of Andahuailillas (our town). Many of the girls participated in the local dance after a generous invitation from the local senoras.

Once the sun had set, all students returned to home base for our evening meal, followed by alone time when students stargazed the clear skies, read, or meditated in the silence. As the stray dogs howled, the students hobbled into bed, dressed in many layers, eager to sleep after an exhausting day.

Nicole Constantin
Max Lee
Ayianna Casanova

June 30, 2016

We started off the day by going to the service site. Some people hiked to harvest flax seeds and bring them back. Others helped make dollsand paint the inside of a new building on the property. After lunch, we did a leadership personality assessment. We worked in groups to learn more about our different leadership styles. Next, we learnedtraditional Peruvian dances. The dances were called Sacra, Majeno, and Valicha. The Sacra included colorful masks and many sounds. Majeno represented a drunk rich person in Peru. Valicha was a dance of love between partners. After dancing, we listened to an Andean performance group. They played five songs for us. We wrapped up the evening with burgers and mentor time (a discussion in groups).

Kori Golding
Tess Temple
Joey Mata

July 1, 2016

Today we woke up around 6:30, a little earlier than normal, to cold air and cold showers. After eating the typical bread and jelly for breakfast, we took a 15 minute walk to a nearby Peruvian public school.

Surrounded by a great view of mountains, we bonded with the kids initially by joining their volleyball game. Then we split up into two groups, one going to English class and the other going to math. We were instantly welcomed in by wide-eyes and interested smiles from our Peruvian classmates. All day we got asked question about everything from what we eat (mainly because they wanted to know why we were so tall), to questions about our hair (blonde hair really weirded some of them out). For lunch we had a typical Peruvian meal of rice, potatoes and chicken as well as Chicha morada, a purple corn drink. We learned a lot from the students and them from us; it was a great culture exchange day.

After we left the school, we stopped in “the market” for snacks and other necessities. We made our way back through the main plaza and headed home to rest before afternoon activities. Activity time included a cultural awareness game and Spanish bingo.

After a delicious dinner we had a quick check in with our mentor and then had “selfie” time to reflect on the eventful day.

Mariana Zamarona
Delfina Forlenza
Killian Munro

July 2 and 3, 2016

What an amazing, jam packed weekend exploring the Cusco area! Saturday and Sunday were spent exploring ruins, shopping for gifts and biking through the Andes along the infamous 4 lagunas route.

On Saturday we celebrated Alessandra’s birthday and spent the day exploring Inca ruins. We first visited the Pisac ruins and then had a chance to go shopping for gifts at the Pisac market. We then ate an amazing three course meal for lunch,visited a llama farm AND toured the Sascayhuaman ruins just above Cusco. Everyone was exhausted from the day and went to bed with heads full of new information and an appreciation for Inca ingenuity and architecture.

An early start on Sunday allowed for a visit to a traditional market (we were the only “gringos” in sight) and an amazing bike ride at 12,000 ft. For two and a half hours we struggled up and cruised down hills along a route that took us past for separate lakes. The air was thin, the sun hot but the incredible scenery made up for all the struggles.

It was a great weekend and everyone is ready for week two to begin!

July 4, 2016

Hola! This morning we ate breakfast at 7:30 a.m. and left for service around 8:20 a.m. Most of us were still sore from our bike ride yesterday. Service was between 8:30-12:30 p.m. and ranged from digging holes for the senoras (which was new), painting rooms, making dolls and playing with the kindergartners. However, we (the toastmasters of the day) left around 11:30 a.m. in order to assist in the kitchen with lunch.

After lunch at 1 p.m. we had free-time, which included games to celebrate the Fourth of July. We had human wheelbarrow races, trivia and three-legged races followed by an activity at 3 p.m. about assumptions and stereotypes. From 4:30-6:30 p.m. we had Spanish class. After, we found the face paint and proceeded to have fun painting full American flags on people’s faces, among other things.

At 7 p.m. was dinner, which included patriotic performances to see who would get their American-style meal first. After dinner we concluded the day with roasting marshmallows around a bonfire. Happy Fourth!

– Daily Desenberg, Izzy Najah and Kennedy Wade

July 5, 2016

The morning was sunny, the birds were chirping and Pongo (our home base puppy) was yapping. Izzy’s woke up as a 16 year old today!
After breakfast we headed off to service where some people worked in the field building rock walls and cutting down corn stalks while others hiked to collect flaxseed and the rest continued making their dolls.

After lunch and siesta time, every once got to find their inner peace with a yoga session led by Haylie, Daria and Sophie. Then everyone had a chance to head t the local market to buy Peruvian snacks. Max purchased the most at 57 soles (about $17) and then Zoe came in second with 55 soles worth of food.

Before dinner we all got to experience a 3000 year old Shaman ceremony that predates the Incas. It involved an offering to the Pachamama (Mother Earth), Apus (the four sacred mountains) and a cleansing of our spirits. The Shaman left us with good energy and good fortunes for our families, friends, homes and cars.

The day ended with delicious cake and chocolate caliente (hot chocolate) for Izzy’s birthday!

We have started our countdown to MacchuPiccu: 5 days left!

– Emma Clark and Annie Lord

July 6, 2016

Hola familia y amigos,

Today was another typical day in Peru. After a breakfast of yogurt, cheese and bred, we headed out to the service site with our new found doggy friend Patches. The group split into two, the majority going to help out in the can fields and the seven girls committed to making their dolls met with senoras Paulina and Vilma to continue their work. Doll making is harder than it looks. Even Dolly is constantly getting roasted n her skills!
After lunch, we practiced our Spanish skills with a murder mystery game with the staff.We also tried our hand (and feet) at several Latin American dances including salsa and a samba.

To finish the day, we had formal Spanish class which included a fun game of charades with the entire group.

Though a number of us have been pretty run down the past few days, it’s good to see everyone feeling better. The chicken soup at dinner didn’t hurt either.

The countdown to Maccupicchu continues…

Dolly Rath
Delaney Caldwell
Harmony Andersen

July 7, 2016

Hola families and friends! Today the doll makers officially finished making their traditional Peruvian dolls while the rest of us worked on clearing rocks from on e the senoras farms. One of us had the pleasure of “dancing” with a “happy” cow. Once it started raining, we headed back to all help with doll making.

We had a nice long siesta today and then a singing competition during Spanish class.

After dinner, we starting planning and packing for our next three day excursion to Macchu Picchu. Tomorrow we officially begin our weekend adventure to Macchu Picchu!!!

Stessie Germain
Zoe Demetros
Jane Delahey

July 8-10, 2016

Suzannah Crandall

Three days of non-stop, action-packed adventures! Friday we started our journey towards MacchuPiccu by ascending to 15, 000 feet and stopping for a quick snowball fight. For some, it was the first time they saw snow, it was great. After reaching the snow caps, we descending into the cloud forest for a declicious lunch, a tour of tea farm and tried our hand at harvesting passion fruit. To finish the day, we spent a relaxing few hours in a natural hot springs surrounded by the mountains.

Saturday our adventures including hiking for a few hours to a refreshing waterfall where almost everyone challenged themselves by dipping into the freezing cold water. Another few hours of hiking along the train tracks, we arrived in Aguas Calientes, the town closest to MacchuPiccu.

Finally, on Sunday, we had our day at MacchuPiccu. It was everything (and more) our group had been expecting. Most of the group hiked their way up to the Sun Gate (the main entrance to Inkan site) before getting a tour of the lost city. Our tour guides did a great job highlighting the important structures on site and as we left, we officially checked off our visit to one of the seven wonders of the world by adding a MacchuPiccu stamp to our passports.

We finished the weekend by doing some shopping for gifts in the Aguas Calientes market before boarding the train back towards home base. It was a long and exhausting weekend and despite a number of folks battling illness, everyone had a fantastic time.

July 12, 2016

Max Lee, Sophie Spiegel and Evan Resende

It is our last Tuesday in Andahuayllilas and as our stay in Peru comes
to a close, another successful day of adventures and service was
completed. Our day began with a hearty breakfast consisting of hard
boiled eggs, avocados, cheese and as usual, bread. We headed to
Q’ewar for service where we were divided into groups for field work
and doll support. For those who were assigned to doll support their
day entailed of conversing with the señoras in Spanish whilst cleaning
wool and picking fuzz out of clothes made for the dolls. For the other
group of students their day consisted of hard manual labor in a local
señoras field. After service, we returned to home base for a lunch
of vegetable pancakes, semolina soup and pesto pasta.

After lunch we rested, followed by an exhibit on silver making in the
plaza. At the joyeria (jewelry store), the jeweler gave detailed instruction on how
to solder earring forms, then sand, and place gems into earrings.
After the jewelry demonstration we had free time to shop in the local
market, followed by a tour of the iglesia (church) de Andahuaylillas, a
historic baroque style church influenced by the Spanish and
characterized by ornate gold leaf trim. Two local artisans who took
part in the church’s restoration process visited Casa de Campo (our home base) to
demonstrate their wood carving techniques.

Finally we ate dinner, chicken and rice, followed by hot chocolate for
dessert. Lights out 9:30. adios, gracias.

July 13, 2016

Kori Golding
Nicole Constantin
Killian Munro

After eating a good breakfast we returned to Q’war to help the senoras make dolls and also help them clean their fields for the next season of corn.
After lunch and a relaxing free time filled with chess, napping and showers, we divided into our mentor groups and prepared for our thank you presentation for the community members.

Spanish time! Groups 2 and 4 went to the market while Groups 1 and 3 played games in Spanish.

Right before dinner, we listened to an inspirational speech from our local director Jorge about recognizing our potential and being the change in the world. His short story and heart felt words reminded us of who we are as a community and what we can achieve in the world.

Finally, we sat down for a dinner of fish, rice and vegetables. We also had a delicious desert of bananas sprinkled with cinnamon. It was a perfect way to end a great day.

July 14, 2016
Toney Kanaan
Kennedy Wade
Alessandra Leon

We started out our last day of service with our normal 7:30am desayuno (breakfast) and left for Q’war at 8:15am. Our finally day wit the senoras was filled with a bittersweet celebration. We did normal service work (work in the fields and doll work) for the first part of the morning and then start our goodbyes. To say goodbye, each mentor group prepared a song to perform. The senoras surprised each member of GLA with a goody-bag with a handmade baby doll inside.

After the despedida/fiesta we headed back to home base for lunch and an afternoon activity. OUr activity covered culture shock both in coming to Peru and what we can expect when we return home.

Our final Spanish class consisted of farewell games and presentations by each group. We were all sad to say goodbye to our our profesoras.

Tomorrow we look forward to our day-long white water rafting adventure.
Adios! 🙂

Time Capsule Letter – October 2016

Summer Blog Posts

July 20, 2016
First morning in Peru! Everyone got a full night of sleep and has spent the morning getting oriented and ready for the next 3 weeks. Lots of smiles and laughter so far; it’s going to be a great session!

July 20,2016
Jose Azocar, Emma Kreisler

Today was orientation day. It was low key, we stayed at home base the entire day, but it was fun. We did lots of bonding and leadership exercises, and I have already made some friends. The leadership exercises we did focused on communication and trust. One of the exercises was one person was blindfolded, and the other person led them around, following Suzannah. The trick was, neither person was allowed to talk. We had to completely trust our partner guiding us, and the director had to figure out an effective way to communicate what was happening to the blindfolded persons without speaking.

Base camp is in a valley surrounded by beautiful, peaceful mountains. Tomorrow we will start our first service day and join our Spanish groups in the afternoon for the first class

July 22, 2016

Dane Hoffmann, Sophie Saydah and Carly Bailiff

Today was our third day in Peru and our first day of service. After breakfast we left for Qe’war, the school that we’re volunteering. The school receives funding from dolls handmade by local women that are then sold all around the world. At first, we took a tour of the grounds and got to see all of the rooms where the dolls are assembled. Also we toured classrooms with Kindergarteners and terraces for farming. We got the opportunity to help the women make dolls. Some of us cleaned wool while others sewed and knitted clothing for the dolls. After having some local fruit, half of the group went to go play with the kids during their recess time. It was a ton of fun interacting with the little Peruvian kids and seeing the smiles on their faces was really fulfilling. In the afternoon, we ate lunch, participated in various leadership activities and then went on to our first Spanish lesson of our trip. For dinner we had spaghetti and learned about some of the traditional Peruvian foods we’ll be cooking with a local family in Cusco this weekend.

7/23-7/24/201

Haylie Navarre, Karen Lovrovich
We had a busy weekend!
On Saturday, we left Andahuaylillas bright and early and headed to Cuzco. First, students were provided with money and a list of food items needed for the meal which we would be having at the home of Carmen and Percy. The Spanish teachers met us at the market and helped the students barter. We then prepared a traditional feast with the help of excellent chefs. After eating, the group walked to the old town center and had a tour of Coricancha, an archeological site. Then we were off to Plaza de Armas where the students completed a scavenger hunt and explored the plaza. We then boarded the buses and headed to Yucay in the sacred valley. There we had dinner, played games, accessed wifi, and tiredly headed to bed.
On Sunday we slept in before heading out for a long day. We visited the ruins of Pisac and walked along the ancient terraces. After our tour, we went to the large market in town to search and barter for souvenirs. Some of us made our way to the Museo del Choco to sample one of Peru’s most popular exports, chocolate.
We had a remarkable lunch at a resort, which included three courses. With full bellies, we made our way to the next stop, a llama farm. We spent time feeding the llamas and alpacas fresh alfalfa and trying to take the best photos. Our final stop of the day was the ruins of the Incan Empire of Sacsayhuaman. We walked around the grounds and took advantage of the natural rock slides. Finally, we made the journey back to home base, just on time for dinner.

July 25, 2016

Sandra Hunt, Anneliese Thumann and Ethan Kallett

We woke up well rested today after a long weekend excursion up north. The smell of breakfast soon got us in the dining hall, dressed and ready to go. The bread, yogurt, and jam were well liked enough, but the traditional vegetable omelette was by far a favorite.

To pump up for our first full day of service, Annaliese came up with the idea of playing two truths and a lie, which was sadly cut short when we realized that the hairless hound had gotten sick. Gigi whisked him away and then we were off to Proyecto Q’ewar.

The GLA counselors had planned to split us up into two groups at the site; however, when they asked for volunteers to work the fields, the more demanding job, 11 hands shot up instantaneously. Tianna, although she had been sick the day before, raised her hand soon after.

The doll staff got a much easier job inside, and after a snack break at 11, they got the opportunity to order customized dolls. They were hard to resist.

We soon had a phenomenal lunch at Casa Campo, and then a couple hours free to shower, hang out on the couch with some music, and read in our rooms. We were all back downstairs at 3 for our eye-opening activity. Even though Suzannah had told us the night before that it was going to be controversial, none of us opted out.

The activity was about assumptions. Everyone wrote down one they get, and then we all drew one at random and tried to guess who it belonged to. The possibility that you might pin the stereotype on the wrong person, especially in front of all 25 kids, was quite frankly terrifying, but that was the point GLA was trying to make.

The day was capped off with Spanish class and Alejandro’s amazing cooking. We sure are never going to forget our time in Peru (especially the food).

July 26

Today we started off by splitting up into two groups. One group did service in the corn field, while the other group helped make dolls. After service we came back to home base and ate lunch. Then we had an activity about bullying and judgement. After this we had our Spanish class. In the first half we had class, and during the second part we played a game of dodgeball using Spanish vocabulary. After this we watched an Andean Music Performance, it was very deep. After dinner we had a pulse check to see how everyone liked the GLA experience, then we had free time.

Jenna Soong, Cameron Crawford, and Maddi Walsleben

July 28, 2016

Today our group went white water rafting. It was described by many of us as one of the most exciting things we have done. We started from the day normally but the rest of the day was anything but. We left at around 9:15 to go to the buses. The ride was relatively short only taking about 45 minutes. On the way we experienced flawless natural beauty, dotted with small towns and villages. It was a good start to a better day.
The majority of the day was expended on the water. We had wet suits on because the water was freezing. During the boat ride one of our guides pointed out bubbles coming out of warm spots in the water. These were the first hot springs that we have seen here. Since the country is in the dry season the river was not very rough, only about a class 2 rapid, but the water was tinted a bluish green from the farmers irrigation trenches running into the river. As we went down the river several people fell in or were pushed out.
As we neared the end of the shore some of the people in the rafts decided to take a swim before heading to shore. Lunch was served as soon as we headed in. With our bellies full we headed back to our base camp where we ended a leisurely afternoon and a delicious dinner.

Jeremy Abraham Mackles
Andrea Azocar
Rayna Burgett

7/29-7/31/2016
Suzannah Crandall

What a great three days! We had an amazing adventure this weekend that included driving up to 15,000 ft to the cold and snow and then descending to 8,000 feet and visiting Macchu Picchu.

Friday: A travel day that included a long bus ride, a quick stop for lunch where we learned about making chocolate and then a harrowing drive along a sheer cliff road before we got to a hotel. Before eating and sleeping that night, we spent a few hours basking in the shadows of the Andean mountains in a natural hot springs. It was very relaxing.

Saturday: We began our trek to Macchu Picchu following the infamous Perurail train tracks to Aguas Calientes. Along the route we were able to get a sneak peak of the Macchu Picchu ruins high above us and enjoyed an ice cold waterfall.

Sunday: The big day! We made it to Macchu Picchu!!! What an amazing place. We got an in-depth tour from our fearless guides Andi and Patti and took tons of pictures. Gifts were purchased at the sprawling market before we boarded the train heading back to home base.

It was an exhausting weekend but everyone had a great time. We are now returning to home base, to our normal schedule and to our last week in Peru.

August 2, 2016
Aditi Shukla, Sierra Johnson, & Tianna Smith

Per usual, we participated in four hours of community service at
Q’ewar, had lunch, and spent some free time chilling like villains.
Then we had an interesting Spanish murder-mystery activity, and had to
figure out who “killed” Kyle. (It was Suzannah.) After, we had free
time and then dinner. However, instead of Spanish class, we
participated in an intriguing shaman ceremony. The priest blessed our
cars, homes and souls by making offerings to the four highest
mountains of Peru and Pacha Mama, or Mother Earth. Overall, we were
enlightened by the beauty of the ceremony and another day of Peruvian
fun! Peace out.

8/4/2016

Sofia Roth
Sophie Saydah
Sophie CJ

Today, sadly, was our second to last service day at Q’wear working with the señoras on the dolls. Today was also very special, because it was Dane’s birthday! He woke up to lots of balloons and birthday messages waiting for him at breakfast. Since the water was turned off and we couldn’t shower, field work today was a little bit different. Instead of working at the chakra, a group of us helped one of the señoras build a second floor to her house using rocks. She was very thankful for our help, which was extremely rewarding. After service and lunch, we all went to go visit a woman’s house where we killed, cleaned, and cooked a traditional Peruvian cuy (Guinea pig) as a special birthday treat for Dane. Then we walked down to a school where we played a friendly game of soccer with some local Peruvians. Before Dane’s birthday dinner, we had a Spanish class and did some fun relay races. For dinner, the Guinea pig was finally served, and was followed by some delicious cake and birthday songs. We finished up the day with a special fiesta for Dane involving a piñata, salsa dancing, and other fun party games.

8/5/2016

Today we all worked in the fields, clearing rocks. It was hard work, but it was cool to see all the progress we made helping the farmer. Our activity was about reverse culture shock when we return home, and what we can do after GLA. We then presented are different options having to do with not only GLA but traveling in general. After our activity we had our last Spanish class and said farewell to our teachers after singing “Vivir mi Vida” by Marc Anthony more than 3 times!!! Then we worked in our mentor groups to create various presentations to perform for the women who make dolls at Q’wear. Wish us luck on our performances tomorrow 🙂

8/6/2016
by Ethan Kallett and Logan Bokor

So, basically, it was our last day at Q’ewar. We sang our thanks to them. They sang our thanks to us. Little kids also sang. There was a music teacher with a wicked ponytail who strummed a guitar. It was bittersweet and beautiful.

Some people made jewelry. It was fun for them. It was silver. (95%).

Then we went to this pretty interesting church in the plaza. There was lots of gold. The arch used to be made of skulls.

Then some people bought hot chocolate that was overpriced, but tasted good.

To no one’s surprise, we ate rice and potatoes and chicken for dinner.

The last thing we did is make a bingo board. The categories are Peruvian outfits.

We’re all sad to be leaving in a couple of days, but excited to be finally sleeping in our own beds soon.

8/7/2016
Jeremy Mackles, Maddi Walsleben, and Carly Bailiff

Today we were blessed with an extra hour of sleep. We then departed to a local Peruvian market. This market was different from the other markets we have gone to because it was where actual Peruvians shopped. The previous day we had made “bingo boards” of the different clothes that the Peruvians wore. The aim of the game was to identify the regions the the different Peruvians were from. After the market we left for biking. We arrived at a beautiful lake that filled the horizon. After a quick tutorial for those of us who didn’t know how to bike we set off on our journey. We biked up and down the mountain, traversing ten miles in total. We stopped at the edge of a lake where we had lunch. After that we headed home and had free time to pack. We’re excited to see all of our loving parents soon!