Day 1, 2017

Welcome to Costa Rica! Our students arrived in waves throughout the day and are now all fast asleep in a local hotel after a busy day of travel and meeting new friends! For those who arrived earlier in the day, we took a walking tour of Alejuela led by our local director, including a stop at a local ice cream parlor. Tonight we enjoyed a catered barbeque dinner at the hotel as well as had our first mentor group meeting. We look forward to heading to Home Base tomorrow and getting settled in for a great program!

CR Sea Turtle Staff

Day Two

I woke up a bit later than the other volunteers on this morning. I caught breakfast really quick and was out the door. The plan today was to go to the Jaguar rehabilitation center. Many volunteers got to know each other the day before and I found myself fairly comfortable. I sat beside a girl named Cholena on the 6 hour bus ride, she’s from California. When we finally got to the animal center we were very tired, but excited. We saw many exotic and interesting animals and learned tons of information about them. Some of my favorites (I’m Canadian) include the toucans, monkeys and baby sloths! Their main objective and end goal at the rehabilitation center was to help injured/sick animals and release them into the wild. After that amazing experience, we were ready to get settled into our home base. What is interesting about home base is that it is on an organic farm with a family who lives off the land. The two main people who aid us with our activities are Pablo and Ariel. They are native to Costa Rica and are absolute experts, we’d probably be in a ditch somewhere without them. Our first dinner included rice, beans and potato salad. After that we pretty much talked and got to know each other. A great second day!

By Ryan Madsen

Day 3

Turtles are becoming endangered, and not many people realize their importance. The reason turtle conservation is so important is because of many factors; whether it be the food chain cycle being stable or less jellyfish, saving the turtles is extremely needed.

I experienced an amazing thing yesterday, which was the fourth of July. My group saw a turtle lay eggs! We released her into the water to ensure no turtle hunters cook her. It’s an unfortunate truth about sea turtles in Costa Rica. After releasing the mama of the 169 eggs, we buried them into a safe spot in the ground.

Hours before this amazing event, we went on a farm tour. I loved the cacao! What a day we had!

Joshua Samford

Day 5

After an early morning we, the GLA family, hopped in the van for an hour long car ride to a beautiful beach called Playa Grande for an exciting surfing adventure. The group was split into two for different sessions of surfing lessons. Personally I went in confident, but once the beach was visible I was in shock by the wave size. After a few struggles, I stood up. Once I understood how I did what I did I was capable of standing up nonstop. And believe me I felt like I was surfing Maverick.  After four hours of surfing and hanging on the beach, we had lunch. Our lunch was served in a banana leaf.  After the delicious lunch, we went to a small town for some cookies and shopping. At first multiple of my friends and I thought the mentors would be keeping us on a leash, but we were pleasantly surprised to find out that they trusted us and gave us a large amount of freedom. In the town, I personally got a few cornrows and a grilled cheese. Today was filled with many adventures and new experiences.

–Emilija Vanagunas

Sstudents  digging organic yucca and picking organic plantains for dinner tonight.
Living on an organic farm has been really great for the students both educationally and healthwise.

Students work with the local staff to feed the chickens and collect eggs for breakfast.

Students and local staff pose before heading out on a turtle patrol. We found a turtle nest and buried the eggs in a safe spot!

Days 7 and 8 

Hola! The last two days have been an absolute blast! Yesterday the gang woke up around 7 and had a really yummy breakfast! Early in the morning we went on a long walk on the beach to collect and plant mangrove seeds. Mangrove trees are so important to the environment here because they act as a sponge and help filter the water before reaching the ocean. Once we were done planting the seeds we went back to home base and had a very nice resting time. During this period I had an amazing two hour nap! I was able to take such a great nap due to our dance instructor being late. Once he arrived I had a blast learning different types of dance. Some of the different types of dance that we learned were salsa and bachata. I got really into this activity, it was so tiring! After this lesson we went straight on another turtle walk, this was sadly a bust. No turtles today but I am still grateful for the first turtle we saw.
Today, bright and early, everyone was up and ready to go on another walk. The walk was very tiring, probably the most physically draining out of all the walks we have done. After we walked to the cove we had a really great beach day! I had the opportunity to snorkel for the very first time! It was pretty cloudy but I still saw a bunch of fish and it was so pretty! After beach time we walked back home in the pouring rain. After we showered we had a great game of soccer and volleyball with the family on the farm. Everyone here is so nice and amazing! Today is the last day and I am so sad to be leaving my new friends in Gandoca! Costa Rica has been such an amazing experience that I will never forget. I have met so many different people that I am so grateful for!

-Hewan Weldai! 😉

Costa Rica Sea Turtle Blog June 20 (day 1)

Written by Remy Jennings (mentor)

Welcome to Costa Rica! We loved meeting all 24 of our awesome students today, and we look forward to a great program! Between airport pickups, we had lunch at a local restaurant and spent plenty of time getting to know each other, including playing several rounds of the card game Uno. Tonight we had a barbeque dinner at our hotel, catered by our local director’s cousin (yum!) as well as our first mentor group meeting. Tomorrow morning we will head to the Caribbean coast and settle in at our Home Base!

Day 2

CR Sea Turtle Staff

We woke up to sun streaming through our hotel windows in San Jose this morning. The city was drenched in a coat of mystical fog, which illuminated it’s exotic beauty. We enjoyed a breakfast of the Costa Rican staple, “gallo pinto,” a delicious blend of rice, beans, and something special. We also enjoyed eggs, fresh bread, coffee, and hot chocolate. After a group photo, which I’m sure you already saw, we piled into one big van. The six hour drive was ample time for chatting, playing games, and catching up on some much needed sleep. After a stop for a buffet lunch, we headed towards a zip lining adventure.

As we pulled up to our next stop on the edge of the jungle everyone became eager to get off and zip line as soon as possible. We got into our shuttle and took off into the jungle. Our eyes widened and we laughed as we sat passengers to a hilly ride much like a rollercoaster. After a short five minutes, we met our many knowledgeable tour guides who told us about jungle wildlife and got us geared up for zip lining. With our harnesses, helmets, and gloves all set up we headed off deeper into the jungle to begin our adventure. Eager we took our first leap to hover fast through the canopy on a short zip line to get a hang of it. Along the way we even spotted some leaf cutter ants working their hardest and learned a little bit about how they survive and how they live. While going from platform to platform over the next hour or so we learned pro zip lining techniques and soon made it to the largest zip line of them all. We took deep breaths, leaned back, and flew almost a mile throughout the breathtaking jungle canopy. With our hearts racing and foreheads sweating we said goodbye to friendly tour guides and headed off on a long ride to home base.

So a six hour drive later, a good lunch, and a fascinating zip lining tour, we arrived at home base. We unloaded the bags and headed to our rooms where everyone had to shoo out a few unwanted insects. However, we quickly settled in our beds with our bug nets. The cold water showers were not as bad as I, and many others expected, so we took our much needed showers and went to bed.

Written by:

Hazel Siff, Kaitlyn Ringe, Sara Holland

Day 3

Today, GLA members spent some time getting to know each other with games and activities. We learned each other’s names in a fun memory game in which we stood in a big circle, then said our name one by one and something that we could have brought to camp that started with the first letter of our name. For example: JP said he brought Jellyfish, Ruth said she brought Rompers and JP brought Jellyfish, Caitlyn said she brought Cats, Ruth brought Rompers, and JP brought Jellyfish. Some of the more fun things that were mentioned were Ring Pops by Ryan, Anteaters by Anya, and Coyotes by Clint. Another game that we played, which also doubled as a trust exercise and practice for the night patrol, involved pairing off into teams of two. One person in the team would be blindfolded, then the other person would have to safely walk the blindfolded person around camp without letting them fall. Talking was also not allowed, as in the field, talking will sometimes scare away the sea turtles back into the ocean. Everyone had a turn being blindfolded and being the leader, and overall it was a very fun experience filled with (surprisingly) few falls. The night patrol itself was incredible when we did go out- the stars in the sky were unlike anything visible in the sky of lit-up cities and suburbs. One could even see the spirals of the Milky Way itself. There was no moon visible, and there were no clouds; we walked by the light of the stars and our red headlights (which we had to turn on occasionally when there was an excess of driftwood and debris).

A major highlight of today was a tour of the organic farm which we are currently staying at. Cabinas Colibri has a two hectare farm, and the food that they produce often goes into the delicious meals that we have here. They have 19 variations of cacao plants alone! We saw water apples, bananas, pineapples, and more! The animal diversity in the farm is also incredible. There were butterflies, hummingbirds, howler monkeys, spiders, termites, beetles, spider monkeys, snakes, and many more animals past the trail that we followed. We were split into two groups for this tour, led by our hosts Pablo and Ariel Rodriguez. They let us sample some of the fruit, and once we returned, they showed us the chocolate making process that they use here. At the end, hot chocolate was made with the chocolate, and we drank it with our lunch. It was a delicious and fun time for all! So far, the experiences here have been incredible and diverse, and we look forward to each new day and what it will bring!

-Ruth Fernands

Day 4

Waking up to chirping birds in the morning is better than any alarm you could ever set. Not only were the chirping birds a pleasant surprise but it just so happened to be the sunniest day here in Costa Rica that we have seen so far. We were all so excited to go to the beach on the sunniest day of the trip and the palest of us were dying to get a nice tan.

Breakfast was early because of the long trek ahead of us. Along with our daily choices of coffee, tea, and hot chocolate, we ate sausage, butter toast, beans with rice, pineapple and cereal with milk. The meals here really prepare you for the day ahead and on this particular day we needed all of the energy we could get as we had an hour walk to our snorkeling adventure. An hour walk in the heat may seem impossible but when walking along the edge of the ocean there are no worries, the view is breathtaking and if you get hot the ocean is always right there to cool you off.

We arrived to our snorkeling destination and were taken away by the clear blue water as we rushed to the ocean and dove in. The salty water was warm yet refreshing and this was a very special occasion for some that had never been in the ocean before. We swam, snorkeled, and enjoyed some fresh local fruits. During the snorkeling we spotted fish and sea urchins among the coral reef below, amazing every person as we gazed wide eyed through our snorkeling masks.

After what seemed like an even longer walk back to home base, we settled down for a healthy lunch which included a refreshing fruit smoothie. The walk tuckered everyone out so we headed to our cabins for a two and a half hour break which most of us used to nap or journal.

The last activity of the day was a relaxing beach cleanup at dusk, we spotted sand crabs and a setting sun as we collected pieces of trash that could interfere with the nesting sea turtles. After a fish dinner and a game or two, we headed off to take refreshing showers and got into bed to rest up for the next active day ahead.

By: Kaitlyn Ringe

Day 5

Waking up this morning to the soft sound of rain splashing on the tropical, green foliage, I found myself feeling so much appreciation just for being here. People, including me, had been complaining about sickness and sunburns, but I had a moment of clarity. I am in a place in which I am awoken each morning by the sound of monkeys howling and toucans chirping, and that in itself is a miracle. Above all, I am appreciative of the friendships I’ve been developing. There’s something very special about meeting people from all over the country; people that speak different languages, literal and figurative. Today the plan was to go surfing, something foreign and exciting to me.

After a breakfast of fresh fruit, we took an hour-long ride to the beach. This was no normal beach. The place could have been photoshopped. The sun shone on the crystal clear, teal water, and the sand glimmered. We split in half, loaded up on sunscreen, and made our way into the ocean. Half started on surfboards, while the others swam. I could have stayed in the water all day. Having a moment to relax amongst the waves was pure bliss.

We switched, and I took to the board. The conditions were perfect, and everyone was in a state of complete contentment. Of course, the salt burned my eyes and choked my lungs, but the fun was worth it. Surfing was way more peaceful than I could have imagined. Looking at the waves head on was terrifying, but being on the board was pure, chill fun.

We lunched on the beach, eating the typical Costa Rican way, out of banana leaves. We then loaded into the van and headed into the town of Puerto Viejo. Our first stop was a café called Bread and Chocolate. Most of us ordered smoothies or sundaes, and I can’t tell you how much I appreciated the cold, sweet stuff. I have never appreciated it more in my life. We then ventured into town, where we did some shopping (maybe you’ll be getting some presents later), then loaded into the van again.

We headed back home for dinner and a night patrol that was cut short. Everyone was burnt, and I would argue that I had turned into a crisp. Despite this, the food was good, the people are awesome, and life is great. Pura vida!!!

-Hazel Siff

Day 6

Today we started around 9:00 with breakfast. Our delicious breakfast featured pancakes and pineapple that were prepared by the local family. We had a lot free time because we had a full day yesterday which consisted of surfing with our amazing surf instructors. We played a fun game of mafia and more importantly got to know each other better.  The local family has an amazing field which made it easier for us to play Frisbee, soccer, and volleyball. Our chill day was so fun because I was able to learn soccer with Pablo and play volleyball with Ariel. I used today to learn more about the local staff and become more immersed in their way of life.

Lunch was Caribbean style–it consisted of chicken, rice, beans, and salad. It was amazingly prepared and I enjoyed every bite of it. The family prepares delicious meals and always leaves us with full bellies. Our day was very exciting because we got closer as a group and became more of a family; I have met some amazing people on this trip. While most of us played a game of capture the flag, I was able to talk a lot more with Pablo and Ariel and really learn more about their way of life. Our day ended with dinner which was spaghetti with seafood, chips made out of bread fruit, and rice. I can’t wait for our last couple days of adventure in the beautiful Country of Costa Rica.

-Gabriela Damasceno

 

We’ve been working and playing hard! On Saturday we started volunteer work in San Pedro with Green Communities, an organization started in Santa Maria to raise awareness of locally based, sustainable practices. San Pedro is a town of about 30,000 that is very vibrant and has many many coffee farms. Coffee is the number one source of income in this region, and Green Communities has begun the only ecological coffee farms in Costa Rica. We had a discussion about the coffee industry and sustainable development while observing a standard and an ecological coffee farm.

For volunteer work, we’ve been putting together bags of organic fertilizer and fertilizing the nine ecological coffee farms. We’ll be working on a cement road for the community soon as well.

Before lunch on Saturday, the mom’s of San Pedro introduced themselves with a typical Costa Rican dance. One of the mom’s also made a cake for our student’s birthday! They make us lunch every day and it’s always delicious.

At home base we’ve begun our Spanish classes! We are split into three levels and taught by our mentor and international and local directors. We speak in Spanish as much as we can, learn Costa Rican phrases, and have a fun time.

We have one more day of volunteering and Spanish before heading to the beach on Wednesday.

Written by Mentor Rebecca Ottinger

It’s been a full three days!

On Tuesday, we had a day of volunteering and Spanish class, fertilizing over 1,000 coffee plants in one large ecological coffee farm. After lunch, we got to visit with the mom’s in San Pedro. We were four students per group, and all had home made treats with coffee and tea. We also went into Santa María for a scavenger hunt and walking around the town center- unfortunately, it started pouring!

On Wednesday, we woke up early and headed to Manuel Antonio, the most visited national forest park in Costa Rica. We saw lots of insects, sloths, and wildlife with a very knowledgeable guide. At the end of our tour, we swam in the Manuel Antonio beach and finished up with lunch in town.

We’re staying at an ecological hotel in the beach town called Dominical, a beautiful spot with a pool and lots of wildlife around.

Today, we had a surf lesson and did some shopping in town! We ate at a beautiful restaurant right on the water. It’s been a really fun and relaxing time at the beach.

We head back early tomorrow morning to Cedrela!

On August 4th we left Villas del Rio Mar, the hotel we stayed at during our beach excursion. Sadly we didn’t go back on the open bed trucks that we rode to the beach on. Instead we rode in our good old bus driven by Mario. Most of the time on the bus ride was passed with loud singing by almost everyone on the bus, usually to Taylor Swift.

Everybody has arrived. All are pictured but Kate Thomas who will be in the following group photo.

July 18, 2017

Hello GLA parents and friends! After spending our first night in San Jose, we made the journey yesterday to our Home Base in magical Providencia. We had a great first day of orientation activities as the students got to know their new home, and we were lucky enough to have a super clear night for stargazing before turning in for the night. We are very exited to share this amazing place and experience with the group… It’s going to be a great three weeks! Look forward to future posts by our student Leaders of the Day!

-Written by Steph Szuch, International Director

July 19

Written by Charlotte Olver

Day one of the magnificent journey we call GLA. For today our service project was the less glorious job of shoveling chicken poop, also known as compost, into bags to be more easily transported. As a privileged white kid from NY this was quite the change of pace. What was incredibly surprising was how gratifying that task actually was. I just think about what my friends are doing at home, and I can´t help but feel a rush of satisfaction to know that, even though it was not the most cleanly experience, I was making a difference in peoples lives. As a leader in that process, that great feeling was multiplied. Though it is only the first day and not much has happened I truly believe that the best parts of being here in Tami is the smaller things. There is something about waking up and taking one of the greatest showers you will ever have in your life with the best view, and then proceeding to have the greatest coffee you’ve ever had and then eating food that someone cared enough to make with the freshest of ingredients that really makes you feel fulfilled. At this point I can truly say that there aren’t many places I´d rather be.

-charlito

July 20th, 2017

July 20th, day two of working with Green communities. Our service project for today involved taking the compost our team bagged yesterday and using it to fertilize coffee plants in a local plantation. Our group came together and formed an efficient and practiced assembly line that delivered compost from 120 bags to roughly 360 coffee plants in the span of three hours across challenging terrain and with respect to the thousands of plants. After spending the previous day shoveling all that compost into hundreds of bags, it was nice to see all that labor to it’s destination. After a few hours of labor in the sun, our group was served a wonderful lunch by some of the local women. Nothing takes the edge off hours of labor like a filling meal followed by a shower overlooking the mountains. After taking some time to clean the compost off our bodies and get a fresh set of clothes, as well as to let our work ethics atrophy with some card games, it was time to begin our first fully-fledged Spanish lesson. The three groups went to their three separate teachers, and while I can’t speak for the other groups, I learned more in two hours of teaching from Carlota than I did in a month of Spanish classes at home. Many of the fellow volunteers left the lesson wanting to speak Spanish in casual conversation amongst ourselves, a level of interest I’ve never reached in a classroom. Our group had a wonderful discussion about the meaning and qualities of good leadership, and ended the day with a wonderful meal and a game of tag with a few local children. There is no part of my day I could wish to improve, but my favorite thing to watch so far are the meaningful connections that are being made as time goes on by my fellow residents. With each other, with our counselors, with the locals, it’s been a wonderful thing to witness and it gives me great pride to be a part of that.

-Ben Anderson

July 21st 2017.

Today the troops headed out for another day of working at Juan´s farm and it was a smashing success. In total over 850 plants were fertilized at Juan´s farm. After a delicious lunch courtesy of the local ladies, the gringos geared up for a game of futbol. The “friendly” game was completed with only minor scrapes and bruises despite the slippery and muddy conditions. After the game, the intermediate and advanced Spanish class went into town to learn some local slang courtesy of the locals, while the beginners had a cooking class with Juan, the chef at the restaurant. Turns out that they would be making dinner for us that night, and I was pleasantly surprised by their Olla de Carne. I had a great time being leader of the day and I am so happy that I was given the opportunity. I am already feeling better about my Spanish skills and want to thank my family for letting me come on this trip. I am excited for the future of this trip and can´t wait to learn more.

-Chris Boennighausen

July 24
By Hannah Boylan and Hannah Balda

Today was another day of eventful traveling. We had our first adventure in Turrialba. Everyone was split into groups of 6 and we went rafting down Pacuare River. After 2 hours we stopped on the river for lunch and we swam in a canyon between two mountains on the river. Thankfully, no one fell out of the rafts! The looks of excitement on everyone’s faces were priceless as we made our way through level four rapids.

For me, today was different type of joy than the work we have been doing on the coffee farms. I honestly can’t imagine a better way to start off another week. It is just amazing to see everyone laughing and having fun and working as a team.
– Hannah Balda

Today we learned that our hard work and patience after a week of coffee farming is totally worth it when we get to the weekend excursions. We also came to understand the importance of teamwork as our group of six had to navigate our way through the rapids. Rafting was a very thrilling and fun experience, one that many of us will never forget!
– Hannah Boylan

The lodge in Turrialba

At the ecological coffee farm
Assembly line to fertilize coffee plants

Shoveling compost at service!

Cooking class in Providencia!

July 26, by Ashton Taylor

Hi Im Ashton Taylor and I am the leader for today July 26. Today was a special day in Providencia our home in Costa Rica because Carlota one of the mentors on the trip, was turning 30. In the morning everyone woke up early so we could sing happy birthday to her. We also threw a party for her which was lots of fun. In Costa Rica they smack eggs on top of your head if its your birthday, so I got the opportunity to put a egg on Carlota’s head.

Today our service project was working on a basketball court. We moved cement, gravel, and rocks to form the begining of the court. Building a basketball court is tough but everyone stayed strong and worked very hard together. The locals joined us today as well which was awesome because we got to talk to them while also getting some help. My experience as a leader was amazing because I don’t call myself the most social person in the world but being leader for the day taught me to be responsible like making sure everyone was accounted for and helping others if they were tired which means I had to be talkative for the whole day. My favorite part of this trip so far is getting to know everyone on the trip because everyone here is so funny and nice. I’ve gotten a chance to talk to everyone and I know different things about everyone which is awesome because I get to know some great people who I hope to have a good relationship with in the future. The reason I like Costa Rica so much is due to the fact that I don’t have to worry about home life and who is cool or popular because everyone on this GLA trip are great people.

The intermediate Spanish class made parrillada or barbeque for everyone and they also did a skit for everyone. The food was delicious and everyone loved the intermediate’s cooking. A fun activity that we did today was that we got to go to a near by waterfall. It was an amazing time even though it was pretty cold. Today was a great day because after we got our work done in the morning we had an amazing party for Carlota and everyone had a great time.

Today, after eating cake for breakfast we traveled from Providencia  3 1/2 hours to Dominical, which is on the Pacific Ocean. Once we arrived, we ate lunch at a Thai place called Phat Noodle. After lunch we got to surf with instructions from Costa Rica Surf Camp. For many, this was their first time surfing. Experienced or not, everyone had a great time and gave it their all. After surfing, we checked into our hotel for the next two nights Villas Rio Mar.  Dinner was at La Parcela.  Tomorrow, everyone is looking forward to visiting Manuel Antonio National Park.

July 30

By Kate Thomas

Hey guys it’s Kate! I had the amazing opportunity to be leader of the day today (July 30). Today was a day of travelling and fun as we headed home from our beach adventures of surfing and touring the more tropical side of Costa Rica. We all had a blast at the awesome hotel and getting to shop at the little stands on the beach. We packed up and headed out in the morning after waking up and serenading Steph as well as smashing eggs on her head for her birthday of course. We arrived in Providencia in the afternoon and joined the locals for games at the soccer field. We had a picnic on the field provided by the local ladies, we played/taught them capture the flag and then we had an intense game of soccer. We decided the game would only end once it started to rain and it sure did start to rain and we walked the mile and a half back to Tami lodge in the pouring rain. I really loved being leader of the day and felt just that more special having more responsibility and helping to get everyone together. To me being leader of day was more of just checking in on people as we have been here long enough that everyone knows the drill for the most part. Overall the day was a blast and I personally can’t wait for more soccer games and activities with the locals because they are always such a good time. ¡Adios!

July 31, 2017

Hey everyone its MaryFrances. Today was a beautiful day to be leader.  We were able to knock out five bags of cement today, bringing us even further beyond our goal for the summer.  We were given the opportunity to take advantage of an amazing leg workout, walking up the mountain to service and back. Once again, we had marvelous meals created by our personal chef Juan. We all missed him very much over the weekend and made sure to make that clear to him. It saddens me to say that today we had our final Spanish class which included our presentations and graduation ceremony . Everyday we become more and more grateful for what and who is around us, and though we are excited to see our families next week, saying goodbye to this one is going to be a challenge. Pura vida, mucho amor.

MaryFrances Warner

August 1

By Della Levine

Today was an amazng day with a new experience as every day is. We woke up to an awesome morning with a sunny sky and a day full of possiblities. Kat helped me lead morning strech circle, and the word of the day was energia. It means energy. Jonathan drove us to the park where we worked on cement. We filled in two panels of cement and did 11 bags of cement. It was hard work, but we all pushed through it and acomplished more than we thought we could. After lunch, a few people went to the waterfall. Then we had a very insightful disscusion about climate change. The counselors let us talk about causes, impacts, and what we could do. Then Carlota did a meditation circle with us. She made us really think about what we are doing to the enviroment, and why we should fight for it. It moved all of us, and made us realize how much we need to fight and not give up on our environment. Being leader of the day was very exciting. It made me try to be an amazing leader. I hope that everybody has the experience of being a leader as exciting and a challenge as I thought it was.

August 4

Hey, this is Kaia Adams, I was leader of the day today and we had an awesome day. This morning we woke up and went to the extreme adventure park with Jonathan and ended with a coffee tour. Everyone stepped out of their comfort zones at the park and tried their best to help others enjoy their time as well. It was great to see how close everyone has gotten and the relationships we’ve made over these last three weeks. Our camaraderie shone through and continued as we returned to tamí and took the coffee tour with Jonathan. The coffee tour showed us the hard work and time it takes to create the coffee we drink. Today was overall a great day, I was scared to be the leader at first because I am a more introverted person but the support everyone gave me and the confidence I got was super helpful and made the day great. I know that I’m going to miss this group a lot and can’t believe that tomorrow is our last day. One of the best things about this trip was a number of connections I made with not only the locals but the other people on this trip. I’m gonna go dance now, today was great and this party tonight is going to be NICE.

Wednesday July 12, 2017

Today is the second day of our GLA Spanish Service Adventure 14-day! Everyone arrived safely on Tuesday to San Jose, picked up by GLA staff and driven to our hotel about 15 minutes from the airport. We ate a traditional Costa Rican lunch (rice, beans, meat, salad) near the hotel, played some get-to-know-you games, had some time to relax from the long flights, and went to a delicious buffet dinner before heading to bed.

This morning, we did a quick city tour of San Jose with our local director, passing by the main landmarks and learning a little about the history of Costa Rica. We then headed down to Santa Maria, the main town near our home base, and went on a coffee tour. Our guide walked us through the whole process of making coffee:picking the beans, weighing them, processing them in machines, and tasting the finished product. The Los Santos region (which includes the town of Santa Maria) makes up around 40% of all coffee distributed from Costa Rica, as well as being considered very high quality. After the tour we got to our beautiful home base (Cedrela Ecolodge) tucked in the trees. We ate lunch, had orientation with our local and GLA staff, and then unpacked our bags and got settled in before dinner and a fun group activity.

The group is very dynamic and adjusting really well to the new environment. We’re excited to start our volunteer work and Spanish classes with Green Communities tomorrow!.

July 15, 2017

Recent days!

Final Blog