Greetings to all my lovely friends from Children of the Maya,

I seriously can’t believe it’s already October! It seems like just yesterday we were bouncing along those dirt roads in Guatemala to and from the schools thinking we were going to fall out of our seats, or as I recall some of us actually did (Woohee, although snuggling up to Oliver seemed to help)! I miss it all so much! The fun we had at service, the music that was mostly appropriate (Maya/Ryan), the afternoon excursions, and of course all the time spent goofing off at the home base! Although probably I could pass on another three hour van trip back to the capital!

Whenever I’m telling my friends about our trip this past summer I always tell them about our beautiful weekend trip to the lake and how unfortunately it was often followed by me getting to play nurse for a few days, (Bailey said it best “The Plague!”)! I’m so happy you all got better so quickly, despite a few days of struggle! I also tell them how much I learned from all of you, keeping me young with the latest Sam Smith jams or serenading me with “Come on Eileen”. Although I do include how I learned that there are consequences to playing games of odds with you (Kevin)!

I still think one of the best parts for me was seeing all of you at service and how hard you worked. It was incredible to watch you, some with language skills others with little, really reach out and make a connection with the children. It was amazing to see how much you cared and really wanted to learn about Guatemala, leadership, and everything around you! You are all an awesome bunch of individuals and I am so proud and pleased I got to spend time with all of you this summer! I hope you all remember your action plans and are continuing to work on those ideas of yours. I know you will all be doing big things in the future!

Rudy, Meredith and I got really lucky this summer. Not only did we become best friends, because, come on, they are the coolest, even if Rudy never quite knows what’s going on! But I got to see some real dance skills, honestly I would like to mention a few names here but the list is quite long! From Fabian’s reggateon, to Pete and Charlie’s salsa, to Ariel’s “moves”, and so many more, I’m laughing right now thinking about it! The whole summer was full of so much learning and fun!

I hope school is going well for you now! Whether it is your first semester of college or high school I hope you are rocking it! Hopefully I will hear from all of you on what’s new and how it’s all going! Or maybe we will even get lucky enough to run into each other on a future GLA trip!

 

All my love,

Eileen (Momma Eileen)

 

Don’t just relive your summer abroad. Experience GLA in a whole new way next summer, in a country you’ve never been to before.

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Most pictures say a thousand words. Your photos say a million. Check them out!

 

Don’t just relive your summer abroad. Experience GLA in a whole new way next summer, in a country you’ve never been to before.

∴

Most pictures say a thousand words. Your photos say a million. Check them out!

 

Don’t just relive your summer abroad. Experience GLA in a whole new way next summer, in a country you’ve never been to before.

∴

Hey Peru Service in the Sacred Valley 3-week crew:

Holy wow! What a whirl-wind summer it was!  I just returned to Costa Rica after visiting the jungles of Peru, the salt deserts of Bolivia, the alto plano of Chile, my family and friends across the U.S and Baja California, Mexico.  My bags are unpacked and this gypsy adventurer is glad to have a place to call home until next summer!

I hope this letter finds you well and loving life!  Have you all checked out the blog we wrote or looked at the pictures I posted on the Peru Facebook page or taken 5 minutes out of your busy school schedule to look at all the pictures you took?  I am sure you are up to your eyeballs in school, social, club activities now that you are home, but I encourage you all to think back to what we did this summer – what you experienced and learned, how you were impacted and inspired, and how that shifted something in you -permanently.

My hope for each and every one of you is that you put in the same hard work, care, dedication and passion into your relationships, families, schools, teams, churches, groups, clubs and to the strangers you have yet to meet, as you did in Yuncaypata and the community of Peru.   I was blown away (as I told you many times during our program) by how invested you were and what we accomplished in the end.  Please continue to volunteer as the LOD, to run the show, and be in inspired to transform: yourself, your community and your world!

Much love and pura vida!
Jen

 

Don’t just relive your summer abroad. Experience GLA in a whole new way next summer, in a country you’ve never been to before. Then check out Jen’s highlights from the program below.

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PS: here are some of the highlights…. In no particular order and know there are so many more:

1)     Maria refusing to get on the horse and hiking that damn mountain! Eso!

2)     Lisa, ‘I feel like I’m living in a default desktop wallpaper!’

3)     The village of Yuncaypata – Frederico, his family, the kids and the church inviting us to their celebration

4)     Hiking down the mountain with Maddie on horseback

5)     Our visits to the orphanage

6)     Jump roping in Wanchaq park

7)     Our last night dinner, including the photo contest award!  Haha!  Good laughs from both groups!

8)     My awesome team of Silvia, Serita and Miguel… so grateful for them!

9)     The 2^nd 3-week group going back to Yuncaypata on their last day in Peru to finish the roof!!!

And playing the game of Tetris, with bricks and mud! 🙂

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Hey everyone,

I’ve only been in the states for two months, but I’m already itching to go overseas again. I imagine Drew needs a restock on Inka Kola… GLA is sending me to China in a few weeks to look into next summer’s programs – I can’t wait. I wish I could take Lucas with me to laugh at all of my jokes. I’ve taken time to reflect on our visit to Peru and how much of a growth opportunity that it was (and can continue to be) for all of us. Many, MANY good memories fill me with pride and admiration for you guys and some bring up feelings of confusion and disappointment. All are worth recalling.

Collectively we built eco-fridges in 12 houses and pathways in 14. According to Sandro (that hair…), the community was very happy with the work that we did and his hoping to continue the project during the rest of the year. The community president of Mancco, Santos, and one of the more active community members, Emilio, say the nicest things about our exchange. That work was tough, but the Papa John’s at the end of the day made it all worth it. I still laugh about the battle that Ryn and Elizabeth got into about stealing a pig from its mother! I’m glad Ryn won – GLA does not condone forced adoption of animals.

I wish I could transfer back to Andahuaylillas for a few days. Maybe we can do a reunion tour for the town anniversary and go dancing with all the aggressive old women? Sambath, you in? Although boat hopping in rapids and hiking through pre-Incan ruins was cool, my favorite time was spent chilling at the home base, talking trash with all of you. I was so impressed by Laura’s drawings of nature (even her log was good!) and couldn’t believe the summer reading you guys were crushing while on the trip – I think Sacha and Megan finished 10 books between the two of them!

I do my best to align my actions with my principles, so I did a few things as soon as I got back: I stopped eating beef, I switched to a credit union, I grocery shop almost exclusively at a farmers’ market and I started researching local organizations where I can volunteer my services as a public health educator. These are all things that I think are good for my community and are DEFINITELY within my time/money/skill limitations. I’m curious to know what changes you guys have made. What has stuck with you? What are you worried that you’ll forget?

You guys always amazed me – keep it going.

Eric, Director

 

Don’t just relive your summer abroad. Experience GLA in a whole new way next summer, in a country you’ve never been to before.

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