Hola!!!

Most of us have made it to Costa Rica…everyone slowly trickled in throughout the day. After lunch, we took a trip to town and walked the park with mango trees. We learned each other’s names and talked about our hobbies. Our mentors bought us delicious ice cream at “POPS”. Costa Rican’s LOVE POPS.

At dinner, we met some of our hotel staff, Indiana, Julia, and Ricardo. Our Mentor, Kelly, taught us how to say “please” and “thank you” and “pleasure to meet you”. Some students in the group speak Spanish and everyone here loves animals!

We’re pumped for tomorrow. After orientation, we are heading into San Jose for lunch and a tour, which includes a visit to the central market and a coffee house.

Can’t wait to learn about our projects with dogs…

Note: not pictured are Antonia, Audrey, Brooke, Elizabeth B, Macey.

July 6, 2017

I had a million thoughts about my first day in Costa Rica. “What would we do? What would we eat? And mostly, where all would we go?” My day began with an alarm ringing, well not mine of course, but my roommates. My other roommate and I woke up wondering who’s it could have been, until we found a phone on the floor. As we turned it off we fell back asleep in less than a minute. We all woke up by 8:25 remembering breakfast was at 8:30!!! We rushed our half asleep bodies and we made it right on time. As expected, there was delicious rice, eggs, with the world’s sweetest fruits to go with it. “Hmm, yumm!”

Soon after breakfast we all played games that helped us remember each other’s names and get to know each other well. We also played a “piggyback” game which was quite fun, as my friend and I made it to the last 6. Awhile later, the volunteers told us more about the days ahead and about the program and it’s rules. Now we’re headed to San Jose for lunch and a tour. Woohoo!!

We visited the city of San Jose for lunch, where we had a Costa Rican meal which filled our stomachs. After lunch we split into groups with our mentors and played a game that helped us speak Spanish to the locals. We visited a coffee house on our way back where we tried cold and hot coffee and learned all about it. As we returned to home base, we had our dinner as Esmeralda (from Territorio de Zaguates) spoke to us about service tomorrow.

Ananya V.

July 7, 2017

Today was a bonding day for all.

First, we woke up at 7am and went to breakfast. We had eggs, ham, toast, hash-browns, and fruit. After breakfast we headed to our work site (a shelter with 835 dogs!). We split into 3 groups: one was building the veterinary clinic floor, another was building a fence for the cats and the third group was painting the gate. After a few hours of working, we went on a hike with a few of the dogs. The view was awesome!

After service, we went back to the hotel and had lunch. We had some yummy pasta and bread. Then we headed to the store to get snacks. Once we got home, we had a freeze dance party (we all bonded so much during this!) and then had a deep convo in one of the hotel rooms. After a few hours of talking and bonding, we headed to dinner where we had fried chicken, potatoes and some salad.

After dinner we had mentor group, where we talked about our day and how were doing. Today was definitely a great day for everyone!

Brooke B.

July 8, 2017

Today was the fourth day we’ve been in Costa Rica. The morning began with an early wake-up of 5:30 am, and a quick breakfast on the two hour bus ride to the Barulio Carrillo National Park, where we would be learning about this particular rainforest’s ecosystem, and the obviously most fun part: zip-lining. Though we faced some traffic on our journey, we spent the time telling and solving some intriguing riddles. Once we arrived, the instructors went over rules and helped us gear up. Overall, we went on 12 different zip-lines, the last being half a mile long. After our zip-lining adventure, we split into groups and took a short hike to take a closer look at the biological background of many plants, reptiles, and insects. We explored those same topics even further on our aerial tram tour, where our guide, Moises, talked about the inhabitants of the national park. We saw many animals, ranging from toucans to sloths.

Esmé S.

July 9, 2017

Today was a very relaxing day before a week of service begins.

We got to sleep in an extra hour today! We had a yummy breakfast: eggs, toast, rice, fruit, plantains, and some fruit juice. After breakfast we all went back and got ready for a day at the hot-springs.

After an almost 2 hour bus ride, and getting a bit lost, we arrived at a beautiful hot-spring that not only had a great view, but wifi too! We spent the whole day there doing yoga, mentor groups, laying by the pool, swimming, taking lots of pictures, using all our phone battery trying to get the WIFI to work, and eating an awesome lunch! It was one girls birthday today, so to celebrate we ate a special Costa Rican dessert and some cake.

On our way home we were all encouraged to sit by someone we haven’t sat by on the bus before. It was an awesome way to get to know new people on a long ride home. When we got back, we went straight to dinner where we got American food (cheese burgers and fries) for the first time since arriving! After dinner, one of our Mentors, Pepe, gave us a Spanish lesson. I’m pretty sure some of us learned more in that 30 minute lesson than in 2 or 3 years of Spanish!

Overall, today was a great, relaxing Sunday. We can’t wait to be back with the dogs tomorrow though!

Michelle L.

July 10, 2017

After a long weekend of zip lining and relaxation, today we finally got back to work! We scrambled to eat a quick, but delicious breakfast of pancakes and various fruits before boarding the bus to return to the Territorio de Zaguates. On our arrival, we were greeted by around 30 adorable dogs already waiting for us at the gates. After a few minutes of playing, we got down to work. My group continued building a fence to protect the cat house from the curious dogs constantly scratching at the walls. We made a surprising amount of progress! After our 3 hours of hard work, we got to walk the dogs all around the Territorio, a task that sounds a lot easier than it was!

Later that day, after an excellent lunch of rice with marinated steak and peppers, we headed over to the Britt coffee plantation for a coffee tour. The tour guides were hilarious and taught us all sorts of things I never knew about coffee. On top of that we got to try all different roasts and flavors of coffee for completely free which was absolutely amazing.

In the evening we learned a cheer from three of our friends on the trip, ate a yummy pasta dinner, and played a game of mission impossible (which might have gotten a little more competitive than expected). Overall I had an amazing, enriching day of service and fun and I can’t wait until tomorrow!

Paloma M.

July 11, 2017

Today after a good breakfast, we headed off to the worksite. My group, with our mentor Pepe, spent the time laying more tiles and scraping up concrete between the tiles to lay a filler in between.

Afterwards, we got to see what the other groups had been working on. We saw that our other mentor Kelly and her group had not only built a fence around the cat house, but had built another, much longer fence along the outside of the property. This fence is very important to the shelter in order to keep the dogs safe from neighbors who don’t like so many dogs living next door. We also were able to view the work done on the big red gate by our director Smara and her painting crew. They were able to create a beautiful picture capturing a Costa Rican ecosystem.

After lunch, we headed to ‘Zoo Ave’ to look at some rescued wild animals including birds, monkeys, sloths, and turtles. This was very interesting as I had not seen many of these animals in person before.

After dinner, Pepe gave a presentation on his experience in the wild with many types of birds and their habitats.

We finished the night with mentor groups and headed back to our rooms for a good night’s sleep before another hard day at work tomorrow.

Kristen C.

July 12, 2017

Today was a rewarding hard working day at the animal shelter. We woke up around 7 and had a healthy breakfast. After breakfast we all got ready for a day of service work.

We arrived at the dog shelter around 8:30 and got straight to work. We spilt into our typical 3 groups: painting, building a fence, and building a vet clinic. On top of our service work, we learned that multiple people will be adopting dogs! After service, we had some down time to relax and shower before lunch. After lunch we stayed at the home-base and had mentor groups, cooking lessons, watched Hotel for Dogs, and got to try a bunch of new fruits!

Overall, today was a great day. We got a lot done at the shelter and can’t wait to finish up some more projects tomorrow!

July 13, 2017

Today was day 9 and it was an eventful day. We started our day with yummy sandwiches at 7:30, then went to see our furry friends. My group continued working on building the clinic and later we helped build the fence for the cat house…and a lot of people are going to adopt dogs now!

Everyone was tired from working so we chilled and ate lunch when we got back. At 3 we went to a dance class which was incredible. We learned the salsa, bachata, and Costa Rican swing. After we found out that we were going to the grocery store and we were all so excited. Later we had another delicious dinner.

Today was a great day overall and can’t wait to see the dogs again!

Maddie C.

July 14, 2017

Today we went to Territorio de Zaguates for our service, just like usual. But as we entered the freshly painted gate and drove up the hill we were instructed to separate into two groups. One to finish painting and the other to wash dogs. Little did we know the first dogs we were going to wash were teeny tiny puppies from all different breeds and mothers. All our faces brightened up as the Territorio staff handed bunches of puppies over to us. Their fur was so soft and paws so small and after washing and drying we sat in a circle with all the fresh and clean babies and let them try to stumble around. My black pup was about the size of my hand and shivering very hard, so I wrapped him up in a towel and my shirt and he snuggled up against me. The day was a success and soon I learned I could adopt a dog pf my own. I have never been happier!

Audrey C.

July 15, 2017

July 16, 2017

Today was an adventurous, relaxing Sunday at the beach.

We all got to sleep in an extra hour and had some yummy pancakes for breakfast! We then hopped on the bus and off we went on our two hour bus ride to Jaco. We swam for a bit in the warm Pacific Ocean, while also enjoying the black sand. After some swimming, we went to a touristy restaurant that had the best burritos ever, with swinging chairs! Then we went back to the beach where we continued to swim, play games on the beach, and take surfing lessons. It was quite the adventure trying to learn to surf and watching all our friends take hilarious falls. When we got out of the water they had fresh fruit and cold water waiting for us, it was so refreshing!

Once we were done, we packed up and headed back to the home-base where we got a special treat for dinner: PIZZA! We were all so excited and hungry. Today was so fun!

Michelle L.

HELLO,

THIS IS GABRIEL BERROCAL (INTERNATIONAL DIRECTOR) OF ANIMAL RESCUE PROJECT 21 DAY.

I’M UPDATING THAT EVERYONE ARRIVE SAFE!

WE ARE GOING TO UPLOAD A PICTURE TOMORROW BECAUSE WE ARRIVE LATE NIGHT TO OUR HOME BASE AND OUR STUDENTS ARE VERY TIRED.

THANKS.

July 1, 2017

Hellllllo everyone! My name is Anthony, I am one of the students of the trip and also one of the leaders of the day! Today we did tons of fun things so you all don’t have to worry about us at all! We all got to see exotic animals, like wild monkeys and birds, which we all haven’t been able to see in our daily lives, making it great experience. We learned about how they were abused in a severe way, but this is why we are here! We are going to rescue as many animals as we can. Everyone enjoyed the food cultures that are presented here because this is all new and exciting! I seem to be typing too much so now back to the other Leader of the day!

Hi everyone! My name is Tiffany, the other leader of the day! On top of seeing exotic animals, we were able to take a tour of a community in Nosara, Costa Rica. We were able to see murals that students from previous GLA trips have done and we’re hoping to be able to do the same thing in our own creative way! The food has been great here. We were able to eat platanos and really tasty rice. The weather has been weird because it would rain, but still be super hot and humid. Still, we’re all having a great time! At the end of our day, we had our first mentorship session.

Adios!

July 2, 2017

Hola muchachos!  We are the leaders of the day, Naomy and Lizzie.  Today we worked on preparation for Mascota Manía, which is a dog festival that will be held later in the month.  We were split into different teams to cover all of the aspects required for Mascota Manía, such as marketing, looking for sponsors and donations, sign making, fashion show preparation, games, and an agility course.  We both were a part of the sponsorship group, in which we traveled to local supermarkets to ask the owners and managers for donations.  They were very kind and gracious, and we received several bags of dog food, as well as a cash donation and promises to donate later.  The marketing group also journeyed around Nosara hanging flyers promoting Mascota Manía on stores and the veterinarian clinic.  Our goal for this festival is to educate dog owners on how to properly care for their pets as well as to give the owners and pets a chance to bond doing fun activities.  Later in the afternoon, a local family welcomed us into their home where they taught us how to make homemade bread in an outdoor wood oven.  While we made and cooked the bread, we were treated to marimba music.  After the bread was finished cooking, we ate it along with coffee and homemade empanadas, and then played and took pictures with the local children.  Overall, we had an incredible day interacting with the locals and practicing our Spanish skills.
Pura Vida!

July 4, 2017

Hey guys, the group yesterday went out to our volunteering locations. Some went to Sibu, refugee for wildlife, and the vet.  So yesterday we went to the vet, we picked up dogs that were in need of a vet. We took them there and gave them vaccinations and bathed them. At the refugee for wildlife we started to build a green house. We stripped the bark off of the trees and dug holes to place the poles in. That was all in the morning, in the afternoon we went to a cooking class and made dinner for everyone. We also danced the merengue, it was a lot of fun to experience the different culture. Today in the morning we did the same thing except at the refugee for wildlife, they ended up sanding down the wood preparing it for the greenhouse. In the afternoon, we learned more about the culture and went to the recycling plant. After that someone came in and taught us about snakes. What to do in a dangerous situation and what type of snakes are venomous. Goodbye for now!

Amanda Olson and  Aidan Williams

July 10, 2017

Hello everyone! For the past three days we’ve been super busy. On the first day we went around Nosara and did a census on the animals in the community. My group went around to about fifty houses total. On the second day we went and did a castration clinic for the animals that weren’t castrated. Some of the students ended up helping the vet while in surgery. Most of us did aftercare and gave shots to the animals. I think that was a great experience especially for those who want to become vets in our group. On the third day we had a double adventure day for some. Others went to the beach and just hung out. For my activities I went surfing and horseback riding which was a lot of fun. Even though I fell off the surfboard a lot. Other students had the opportunity to go zip-lining and paddle boarding. After all the activities during the day we went back to base and relaxed. In those three days I’ve learned a lot about how to care for animals and even how to surf! Tata for now.

Amanda Olson

July 16, 2017

Hey this is Lauren and Cami! We left for Rio Celeste on Wednesday and loved it!! The first day we visited a ceramics workshop and learned how to make pottery from scratch. We also went on a river safari tour and saw a variety of animals like crocodiles and bats. On the second day we milked a cow and made chocolate milk from it. After that we went on a 3 hour hike in the parque nacional tenorio and saw beautiful waterfalls and views, as well as monkeys and spiders. After our long hike we swam in the river by our hotel and then got to drink sugarcane tea and dessert. The last day we hiked to the hanging bridges and visited the puma rescue. Today we had our first Salsa class and  our last prep for mascota mania, which is tomorrow and the super Nosara!! Yay we are excited!!

On Sunday, July 16th, we had Mascota Mania which was our big project and it was very successful. Lots of dogs participated in our fashion show and other activities. That afternoon we got ice cream and it was da boom diggity. Today, July 17th, we had a beach clean up and then we went swimming. We heart playa pelada, it was so beautiful it made Katie want to cry. For lunch, we had fried chicken and French fries which was a crowd favorite.  In the afternoon we went souvenir shopping and then at night we watched turtles laying eggs on the beach. The turtles were huge and it was amazing. We’ve all loved Nosara and can’t believe it’s almost over, but are excited to come home and not be covered in bug bites and to throw toilet paper in the toilet. We will miss being drenched by rain every night, RIP Katie’s sneakers.

-Carli  Louise Starman and KatieAnn Marie Coates

June 24, 2017

My day started at 6:00 am when I went on an early morning run with Shelby and a mentor. After breakfast with pancakes, and tropical fruits we continued the day with drawing and planning our mural and gate sign for our project site. We headed to The Land of the Strays where we played and hugged hundreds of dogs. We began our community service by cleaning the front gate, preparing it for painting the logo and making the entrance look nicer. We took a tour of where we will be working during the next few days and sadly, afterwards we had to leave. There is one puppy I want to take home so badly! Along with a few other dogs. After lunch we went to the rescue Zoo where they rescued so many beautiful animals from parrots to mountain lions. The sloths were my favorite by far. Afterwards we took a relaxing yoga class. Dinner began at 6:30 with meat, rice and beans, salad and it tasted amazing! After dinner we learned hip hop dance from our leader of the day, she teaches young kids back home and it was super fun! We played some cards and went to bed at 10:00.”
Katherine Zacharias

Salsa and bachata time! We took dance classes at a studio:

July 2, 2017

The bus, piloted by the most amazing driver himself (Elliot), pulls up to the gates of Territorio de Zaguates, still being carefully worked on by our team of GLA volunteers. The second we step off the bus we find ourselves greeted with a range of curious sniffs, wagging tails and wiggling butts. Greetings are spoken as we all start to work. Flash forward to about noon and we find sleeping dogs having a glorious nap on the backpacks, although their beauty sleep is interrupted- time to go back to base camp, diverge into our lunches paired with afternoon activities. However, time flies and it’s time for yet another bus adventure- dinnEr, of course! After a brisk walk out of the falling rain we’re soon seated in a restaurant with decorations from ceiling to floor. Soon we’re treated to an unfamiliar cuisine in which we experience new flavors. A wonderful day indeed!

-Jasmine L.

Arriving to China!

Friday, July 28th: The Forbidden City

Our adventure began with a thrilling opportunity to venture and see a center point of Chinese culture and history, the Forbidden City. A very historic place with thousands of years of history. As we were walking around people were very interested in talking to us. We learned about all the interesting history that happened there. Today was a very intense day as we walked over 7 miles.

Saturday, July 29th: The Great Wall of China

         Today, our second day in China, we got to spend the day hiking The Great Wall. I know I speak for everyone when I say that it was truly an amazing once in a life time experience. We hiked about 7 miles on one of the hardest parts of the wall to get to a hidden spot where the government does not maintain it. One of the main reasons we went to that particular spot was because over the years, people have been leaving trash, causing a magnificent place to turn into a landfill. When we got to the top, we spent some time picking up bottles and trash. We all had a fun time while doing so! When we finished, we had over three large bags of trash. Personally, I felt that I gained more insight on how our actions, although small, affect our surroundings.

When it was time to go, we all had a sense of accomplishment and knowing that we made an impact even if it was a small one.

We all knew that three bags would not make a significant difference, but we hope that our actions will inspire others to do the same.

Monday, July 31st: Kunming

Today we had the exciting opportunity to explore the fascinating Spring City. After a quick breakfast, we were off to explore the city of Kunming. We stopped at several awe-inspiring sights such as Lotus Park, Green Lake Park, and a famous Buddhist Temple. At the parks, we gained a unique understanding of Chinese architecture regarding its use in parks and gardens. At the Buddhist temple, we were fully immersed in the concept of Chinese religion, the use and functionality of urban temples by the local people. Along with these trips, we also dined at a local restaurant that served delectable dumplings, and sipped bubble tea from a nearby stand. Most of all, our excursion in Kunming proved not only fun and enjoyable, but moreover culturally eye opening and intensely new.

Wednesday, August 2nd: First Day in Shaxi

Today was our first day at service and it was a very eye-opening experience, from getting to bond with the locals to getting to see the work that goes into farming. This morning we spent our time helping in the rose gardens learning how to make “good compost that doesn’t smell” and gathering the stuff for it. And then we spent the afternoon helping weed and gather fresh produce for our diner, even though this was a hard day’s work I know I speak for everyone when I say it was well worth it.

By: Bryce, Andrew, Rahul, Kimberly and Darren

We are all here, 24 students and four staff members at a local park in Yunnan province, accompanied by senior citizens practicing their morning Tai-chi.

It's rainy season, yet rain was absent on our first day, allowing for smooth Emersion in both urban and national parks.

And now, finally, We are in Shaxi.
Our two week home.

Experience awaits.

Published on July 8, 2017

The Shaxi Experience
Written by: Evan Wang. Ashtin Wang, Vicky Guevara, Shelby Colson, Theo Moore-Manakas

Day 1: Before we arrived in Shaxi, we endured an 8 hour long bus ride through the countryside of the Yunnan Province. We passed the time playing games, listening to music, and getting to know each other. Around noon we stopped for lunch, the group enjoyed the food, despite many of us squirming in our seats after trying fried insects. After a couple more hours on the bus, we arrived at a rest stop, where the locals there were fascinated by the significant amount of foreigners that stepped off of the bus. They took many photos of us and commented on Jack’s impressive stature. We then continued on our way and finally arrived in Shaxi at 6 pm, after which we ate dinner and finished the day with an icebreaker that involved our life stories.

Day 2: In the morning, we walked to the Cheng Huang Temple, where we would be doing our service, and got introduced to the people we would be working with. After that, we walked to a local kindergarten and played games with the kids. Although it was tough to get everyone involved in group games, once the children got used to us we had a lot of fun. Afterwards, we returned to the Home Base for lunch, toured the town, and visited a temple located in the marketplace. After leaving the temple we headed to an exercise playground, which we had a lot of fun playing on. We also split up for a quick shopping break and then walked to a middle school near home base. We all enjoyed our time there, playing basketball, soccer, and ninja with the kids, which was a good chance to get to know them. At the end of the day, we had dinner at the middle school with the kids. While the food was delicious, it was also extremely spicy!

Day 3: First thing in the morning we returned to the kindergarten that we had previously visited. The day before we had prepared a list of things to do with the kids, but because it was raining, things did not all go according to plan. Instead, we colored with the kids and played with stickers. However, they eventually became restless and started to wrestle us to the ground. We retaliated by tickling the kids and picking them up off the floor. Unfortunately, we had no more time to play and had to leave, but not before taking many photos with the kids. Afterwards, we came back to home base for lunch and had our first Chinese class. Prior to dinner, we had two hours of indoor rest time because it was raining cats and dogs! Again, the food was delicious and we all ate until we couldn’t get up. After dinner, the mentors left the room and we were tasked with creating student guidelines for the rest of the trip. Once we finished our manifesto, we presented it to the mentors and ended the day by talking about our experience so far.

Day 4:
Saturday: Shilong Village

After a bus ride through the countryside to Shilong Village we all walked around to find our guesthouses. While walking around, a local elder man seemed to find interest in our group and particularly Evan’s looks. At first, he just walked back and forth admiring the ‘wai guo ren (foreigners)’ but after about 15 minutes he decided to approach us. With Henry translating we were able to understand his fascination with finding new people in his remote village. Evan was even kind enough to take a selfie with his enthusiastic fan.

After settling into our guesthouses and a traditional honorary dinner, we went to see a performance by the Bai people that was overlooking beautiful scenery of mountains and grazing mules. Before the performance, Sofia decided to change into traditional Bai clothing and participated alongside the Bai people. About halfway through the night, which consisted of singing and dancing, another group of Americans showed up… and we schooled them in a dance-off. While they sang a Chinese New-year song, we not only rocked out to one song, but two. It was clear who won. They couldn’t top our cotton-eyed-Joe and Cha-cha slide.

Day 5
Sunday: Shibao Mountain/ Baoxiang Temple

Many students woke up to the sound of roosters crowing and ethnic Bai songs. Others woke up to the sounds of Chanelle, as last night she had been terrified of a bug, which she called a parasite, and rallied a group of sleepy people to move her mattress into Lyndsay and Z’s room. Shortly after these experiences, we moved onto breakfast where many people struggled to digest the porridge. Instead, we walked to the local convenience store! While many were finding the snacks to be subpar, we ran into an old friend. Evan’s admirer was happy to take the snacks we didn’t like and we then left to hike to Baoxiang temple. The hike was gorgeous yet tiring. As we approached the temple, monkeys began to emerge from out of the trees. We were all given 45 minutes to explore the temple and take in our surroundings. Later in the afternoon, we trekked down the mountainside and had a self-served barbeque style dinner. While some of us decided to sleep off our food-coma in the bus, others had fun playing card games as we waited to depart back to Shaxi.

Day 6:
Monday: Community Service at Temple

Today we started our official community service project and split into two groups: one working on making mud bricks and the other clearing out an area to build a new museum. While working on the mud bricks, that group was soaked in mud and decided to end the event by painting on some war paint. Meanwhile the weeding group found themselves surrounded by giant spiders. In an attempt to protect his group, Connor fed several types of bugs to the spiders.

Later in the afternoon we attended a paper cutting class taught by a local master. He showed us how to craft butterflies and other miscellaneous designs. The master was very impressed with Zach’s creation and found everyone else’s “creative”.

We finished off the day with a peaceful walk through the rice patties and saw many animals such as snakes, frogs, and horses. We concluded our walk with a trip to the convenience store. Everyone got to try local items and stock up on our snacks. CC even got to try CiCi!

After dinner the staff planned a group activity called “Bucket of Dreams”. Everyone was very curious to see what it entailed as the staff kept it a secret from us. We were sorted into two groups and did a leadership activity involving teamwork and trust. At the end of the night we read out all of our dreams for the future that we wrote prior to the activity.

Day 7
Tuesday

In the morning we continued our service, this time switching the roles of weeding and mud bricking. During the walk home, many of the locals pointed out how Annabelle and Lyndsay were covered in mud and had a good laugh about it. Later in the afternoon we attended our second language class of the trip. While having an in-depth conversation in one of the language classes, Sofia mentioned she was hungry and suddenly everyone broke out their snack stashes to munch on. After the language classes the majority of the group went on a walk through the market and scored a bunch of local products. Tonight we are going to participate in “Fear Factor” and are quite terrified about what it could possibly entail. This is Lyndsay, Annabelle, Aimee, Sofia, and Declan signing off! 再见！

By: Justin Zhang, Bruno Zecchi, Nicholas Chang, Connor Boone, Jack Henderson

Wednesday, July 12

It was another rainy day in Shaxi, but we still had to do what we came here for: service. We were back at the temple, but this time we weren’t weeding or making bricks; today we were transporting tiles from the temple to a lot across the street for repurposing. The service started off with a fight over how we should move the tiles efficiently. Eventually, our leaders of the day, Shelby and Z, brought us together and made a plan. For the remaining three hours, we made a significant dent in the mountain of tiles. In the afternoon, we went on a long walk to a very small farm where we picked squash, bok choy, pumpkins, and harvested and hoed a section of the farm. After dinner, we watched a movie called “Song of the Phoenix” which taught us about the effects of modernization and recession of culture in China.

Thursday, July 13

In the morning, we trekked up the mountains of Shaxi to a composting farm where we learned about the process of turning leaves and fruit to a source of nutrition for plants in the surrounding area. We began by flipping the current composts and made a compost from start to finish. In the afternoon, we were introduced to our group student project about a certain aspect of Shaxi culture. After this we had our third language class where we perfected our bargaining skills for the next day’s challenge: The Market Challenge. In the evening, we were given time to do our field research for the student project and begin organizing our ideas. The night ended with an intense game of Spies; Shelby and Jack were rightfully accused while others, such as Nicholas and Declan, were wrongly accused of being a dirty spy.

Friday, July 14

Today was a day of competition. Every Friday is Shaxi’s market day and this was the day we got to participate in a challenge of who can buy the most fruit with 20 yuan ($3). We were split into four groups of six and were sent out into the busy streets of Shaxi to bargain for the most fruit we could get. In the end, group 1 (Zach, Allie, Nicholas, Gabe, Shelby, and Channelle) got the most bang for their buck. Group 2 (Jack, Vicky, Connor, Annabelle, Justin, and Jake) thought they were cheated because they thought group 1 had dusty dragon fruit, however, they never realized their own lychee was busted. Later that day, we had a lesson from an expert on how to make silk flowers which everyone had a tough time trying to figure it out. At night, we had an activity called “Choose your own Adventure” where everyone chose a mentor to discuss a topic of their choice (travel, Chinese education system, Chinese language, and art).

Saturday, July 15

         Today we were back at the composting farm, but this time instead of making composts we were creating enzyme water with fruit, sugar and water. Before and after our service we indulged in homemade bread from the farm (especially Allie). While all of us were exhausted, we were still excited to go to our last Chinese class ☹. We had a bit of time to wrap up our preparations for our projects and then in the evening we began our presentations. Most were around 15 minutes of talking while others were half an hour of interactive activities. After the presentations, we walked out of the room with a deeper understanding of Shaxi’s expansive and complicated culture which we will take as a lesson to use in the future.

Sunday, July 16

Relaxation day!!!! We got to sleep in an extra hour and then could go to the internet café and connect with our families and friends back home. We just got back from the Bai dance class which everyone had a blast at and now we’re able to show off our dance skills to the rest of the group and locals who were fascinated by us westerners. Right now, everyone is out exploring the town and tonight we will be going on a sightseeing trip. These five intense days have challenged us and helped us grow as the leaders of tomorrow. We are sad to be leaving Shaxi soon but are excited for the next adventure. We miss you guys a lot and we look forward to seeing you in a week 😊.

Final Days- A page from Theo’s journal

Goodbye to what was likely the most challenging day of the 2017 One Nation: Two Worlds journey. The twenty-something hours between the morning of July 20 and the morning-night of July 21 tested all our strengths amidst two flight cancellations, a delay, and a redirection.

Thursday morning saw the group get up bright and early at the instructed time of 6:30AM, only to be told that our plane from Kunming to Beijing had been cancelled due to intense weather. A nice post-wakeup nap, the recommended activity while we waited on further information, was in fact a relief: even while volunteering in Shaxi, we were never required to wake with the cock’s crow.

Rise again at noon. Be told that there was a plan for a second flight, but it too was cancelled thanks to weather. Go out for a rejuvenating dumpling lunch after convincing the hotel staff to let us stay for a few more hours while our schedule is managed. As a student, be prepared for the new plan: an early drive to the airport to avoid disastrous traffic congestion to be on time for a 9:00PM flight to Beijing – finally!

Staff and students settled in for a long wait in the airport. We did not so much as lounge as venture from place to place. We were urban nomads for a time, forced by security guards to not remain where we thought we would, scavenging delicious noodle soups and fried chicken (dishes seldom and never had in Shaxi respectively).

Next, rumors arose of a two and a half hour delay on our Beijing-bound craft. Nevertheless, we had to assume count-off position – one, two, three, four … – and moreover assume that the flight would leave at the expected time. After all, the delay was only speculated, right?

Wrong! Once arrived at the gate, we waited those drudging hours past our original takeoff time until finally, all passengers were welcomed aboard.

Make no mistake: the day was not all broken hopes and changes in schedule. Fun was had on the plane. Dancing (while sitting down) was done to the in-flight music. We socialized, and with the help of those sitting near her, Lyndsay overcame a dangerous craving for the glutinous snacks in front of her. Plenty of us slept soundly on the late-night adventure.

Those that did not manage to snooze, however, were required to give the fatigued a rude awakening. Due to, again, weather, our flight was negatively affected, not with a delay or cancellation this time (we were flying in the air, of course), but with a detour. Beijing skies were not safe for travel. We would be landing in Xi’an, the city home to the Terracotta Warriors.

Groans, bewildered faces, and defeated sighs echoes through our end of the plane. But, after a motivational speech by our international director, Henry, we all stayed sane for the rest of the flight and safely landed in Xi’an.

Greeting the group in the lobby of the airy, tall, and copiously wide Xi’an airport was an information desk no manned by a human, but by none other than an insect known as a praying mantis. The slim, hunched, small thing stared around with its compound eyes at students asking rightful questions: “What?” “Why is there a praying mantis in the airport of a Chinese city?” “Why is it by itself?” “Did someone put it here? Why?”

The lone creature was a tiny bishop, as lime green as the bright leaves on the trees surrounding Shaxi and the road signs we drove by in Mr. Ma’s bus. The “religious” bug of course seemed to be praying, possibly mimicking the classmates around it looking to a higher power to assure their safety and comfort. Where I come from, mantises are symbols of good luck. If anything in the case, though, the insect was a metaphor encompassing the confusion, hysteria, and sense of disarray in that moment. We left the mantis to its help desk and stepped out into the powerfully humid, rank air of Xi’an.

A bus employed by our China Eastern Airlines drove us to a hotel. All seemed well, save for a long wait in the place’s lobby, until the group received one last collective shot in the arm. The hotel was completely full and booked. We would have to take another endless ride toward a different stay.

Finally we arrive at the quaint, ‘70’s-inspired Apple Hotel, no earlier than four in the morning while I write this now.

The craziest thing of the day was not the flight debacles or the rogue praying mantis. What I think all the students and staff can be most proud of and inspired by is the fact that everyone kept their cool. Through some of the worst travelling any of us have ever experienced, in the face of even locals growing enraged, each person maintained incredibly respectable composure. All were ready for the next challenge, and that is outstanding. And still, we have plenty to look forward to in the last few days of our Global Leadership Adventure.

How fun.

• Theo