6/15/2015

Ready to leave San Jose and head to Santa Maria!

6/16/2015

After a very long day yesterday, we all had an early start. After our last typical American meal (breakfast of pancakes) we headed off to the Home Base. We stopped at a coffee farm where we got to tour their machines and get an idea of how the coffee was processed into what we drink. We were able to taste test roasted coffee beans which was interesting to see how the different amount of roasting time affects the taste. After finishing the tour we were off to Cedrela Lodge which is absolutely beautiful! Basically a tree house! We had orientation and room assignments. We played a few games to get us going after the long bus ride. THen we had some free time to get settled. We designed a poster as a group with all our handprints on it and “Pura Vida” which is a Costa Rican saying. All the staff were super welcoming and it was a great end to our day!

Pics: Our group becoming coffee experts!

6/17/2015

After being woken up by some music at full volume, we had breakfast and headed to where we were doing our service work. We were lucky enough to see a performance from the local students of San Bernardo school. They showed us 3 traditional dances and taught a few of us the steps. We were then split into two groups for our service work. One was making organic fertilizer for the community’s first day of organic farming. It’s the first community to be organic of all the nearby coffee farms. The other half helped dig canals/ditches to channel the rain water through the coffee field and prevent erosion. After lunch that we were lucky enough to have prepared for us by a few local women we took our spanish placement exams to decide how advanced we all were. We then split into two groups determined by our skills and had class full of games and developing new skills. It was then back on the bus to home base where we had free time before dinner and met up with our mentors. We did a personality game after dinner, which ended day 3 of our trip!

-Olivia Larder

6/18/2015

We woke up at 6:30 this morning and packed our bags for a long day ahead of us. Our wonderful chef, Memo, provided us with a delicious traditional Costa Rican breakfast in order to prepare us for a day of service. When we arrived, group 1 dug ditches to collect rain water on the coffee farm, while group 2 mixed together fertilizer. The community cooked us lunch and then we left for Spanish class. Spanish class was held in Santa Maria where we practices with the locals. Afterwards, David from Green Communities gave us a talk about being a tourist vs being a traveller and to finish the night, we talked about our day with our mentor groups.

(drops mic) – Hailey and Amy

6/19/2015

Today was a very packed day with lots to do. We had to wake up earlier than usual and everyone was packed and ready to go to Turrialba. We traveled 3 hours through the foggy mountains to the National Monument Guayabo, which is near the most active volcano in Costa Rica. There, we walked through the tropical rain forest and occasionally stopped to learn about the surrounding area and it’s history. Afterwards, we had a typical Costa Rican meal consisting of gallo pinto and meat. Then we went into town and hung out in the park and got ice cream. We finished our day by going to the Turrialtico Lodge, having an amazing group meal, and then a connective group activity. Peace out y’all. Yo kids be off to sleep.

-Sam and Emina

6/20/2015

After a well earned rest from yesterday’s early morning, we awoke to the pouring rain. Despite the gloomy weather, everyone piled onto the bus for the journey to the rafting location. As we arrived we discovered that we would not be able to raft as planned because the river was flooding. The rain would not stop us though, and as team leaders we had to make a decision between two other rafting locations. After discussing with the mentors we headed off to the new starting point. We had a beautiful, but tiring downhill hike to the river, where we put on our life vests, helmets, and got our paddles. We split into our rafting groups and after a brief tutorial from our guides we were on our way down the Pacuare River. After a rapid or two we got out of the river and walked to a waterfall. We climbed up the rocks and stood under the rushing water. We encountered frogs, spiders, and various species of plants. Further down the river we stopped for a lunch of burritos and fruit which were laid out on the bottom of a raft. To conclude our rafting experience, we jumped into the water and floated downstream. After a quick change of clothes, we headed back to the hotel to switch to Mario’s (our GLA bus driver) bus and start our long drive to home base for dinner, mentor groups, and our highly anticipated sleep.

 

6/25/2015

Today we woke everyone up to I’m on top of the World. Then after breakfast we started our journey to Zapotal. We had to drive up a beautiful mountainside where we saw some of the most incredible views we’ve encountered. As we arrived, we discovered a breathtaking valley with a river snaking through. We were greeted by the locals with a traditional dance from the adorable school children. We were invited to dance with them and we all clapped to the beat and laughed as we danced along. We worked with Eco bricks for the first time, which are water bottles stuffed with plastic. The community uses eco bricks as an alternative to using a lot of cement. We used recycled plastic so we could save money and the environment. The bricks may not seem like a lot but it really helps out the community and serves an important role. After we ate lunch in the community, we headed back to Cedrela. We had some free time. Then we had a talk from Carlos and David about what we can do when we get home. We watched the Story of Stuff then discussed our thoughts on that. We ended our day with a group activity. They were all trust exercises. We had partners and took turns leading each other while one partner closed their eyes. Then we all went on the floor on all fours with our eyes closed. We had to find a partner and rub heads together. The activities really brought us closer and made us trust each other.

Tomorrow we are off to the beach!

Pura Vida!

– Sarah and Jamie

6/26 – 6/29/2015

Last night everyone pitched in to decorate the dinning hall for a breakfast celebration of Dennis’s birthday. In the morning everyone gathered in front of Dennis’s door to wake him up and sing happy birthday! After a delicious breakfast cooked by our amazing chef memo we hit the road towards the beach. About halfway through the 3ish hour drive we met up with two truck drives that took us on a scenic route of the coast with breath taking views. After our exciting 3 hour drive we reached the Costa Rica national park where we were able to have a tour. Despite the almost unbearable humidity we got to see multiple sloths and monkeys! After walking through the beautiful park for about an hour we reached the pristine national park beach and were able to go for a swim. The water was very warm and the weather was perfect… Up until it began to pour rain on us and we had leave …. But that’s Costa Rican weather for ya- unpredictable. After we all cleaned up we headed out to dinner and to further celebrate Dennis’s birthday with singing and cake. At the end of dinner we did a surprise attack on Dennis by chucking eggs at him. For those of you who think this sounds mean it is merely Costa Rican tradition to throw the same number of eggs at a person as the age they are turning. Dennis took it like a champ. All in all I would say it was a solid day.

*drops mic*

-Hailey and Amy

6/27/2015

Today was a pretty relaxed, played by ear day.  We spent the morning in Dominical.  We were allowed to roam in groups in the town and on the beach.  Everyone enjoyed swimming in the warm Pacific Ocean and shopping at the toursity shops.  Around noon we had some amazing pizza at the hotel and packed our bags.  After lunch we waited around in the awesome humidity, bonding over beating the heat and talking about our bug bites.  When the bus arrived, we hopped on and made the trek back to our abode, Cedrela.  There, we had an very American dinner of cheeseburgers and french fries made by Memo.  Finally the day was over and we all have free time
to relax before bed.  And that’s all folks.

-Sam

6/28/2015

Today we woke up early as usual, 6:30 am. We ate a delicious breakfast as always and headed down for our bus to Zapotal. As we got there we had a bit of low energy because the days before we had been traveling. We split up into groups of 5 and started doing Eco-bricks which consists of bottles and stuffing them with plastic and other people dug trenches around the soccer field for drainage that was desperately needed. We ended service earlier and played a soccer game with the locals. It was a great way to bond and gather the community together.

After the game we headed up for lunch and ate a typical Costa Rican dish. We then headed to the nearby city of San Marcos to explore and have Spanish class there. Our Spanish teachers showed us around the city and we got to try and see new things. Then we got back to home base and had a whopping 2 hours of free time. After free time we gathered for a group activity consisting of fun games and an informative Ted talk. We ate dinner and all knocked out from being so tired! Peace out America! Pura Vida!

– Emina

8/13/2015

All students have arrived, with the exception of a few due to delays. They will arrive today!

8/14/2015

Hello!!!!!

Session 6 is underway! We had a little problem with the airplane arriving from Boston, but we are all here safe and sound! We had relaxing day filled with getting to know each other, a bit of free time and also heading to the local town called La Cruz. We “cruised around” there and bought some snacks at the grocery store, tried some exotic fruit, and got some delicious fruit smoothies. Everyone is now having a language exchange with some locals to enhance our Spanish skills and also to help them improve their English. This is going to be a great session!!!!!

8/15/2015

What an adventure day it has been! We enjoyed a nice hike through the forest to see a beautiful waterfall and also to experience some volcanic activity including steaming pools of water and mud. After the hike, we were tired, but not too tired to go to the hot springs where we soaked in the hot pools and then painted volcanic mud on ourselves. Once the mud dried, we wasted ourselves off in the refreshing river. If you can believe it, we then went souvenir shopping in a town called El Coco. We were able to buy gifts for our loves ones, eat gelato and so slurp up some delicious fruit smoothies. On our ride home we stopped at a cool beach and found some hermit crabs. All in all, it was a tiring, but awesome day. We can’t wait to see what’s in store for tomorrow!!!!

8/16/2015

Wow!!! What a fantastic day adventuring!!! River tubing, horseback riding, and zip lining have been a definite highlight of our program so far! It ended on a wonderful note watching the sunset on the beach with a surprise rainbow!! We are all excited for service tomorrow!

8/17/2015

First day of service: August 17, 2015

Service is an important word commonly used to express people helping others in need.

Today, Lisa’s service group jumped onto the bus and made their way to one of La Cruz’s primary schools. This adorable little school has many creative decorations made out of reusable material. Today was picture day for the kids so all of them were dressed in their nice uniforms. Most of the little children were very energetic, friendly, and excited to play with the “gringos”. After recess, while the kids were back in their classrooms, Lenin, Juan Carlos, Lisa, and her service group were working on evening the ground to continue building the sidewalk around the school. This process included shoveling the rocky dirt into the wheel barrows and bringing the wheelbarrows to the sidewalk. At the sidewalk site, various people worked on evening out the dirt that the people brought with the wheelbarrows. This process was tiring and it was very warm, but it is satisfying knowing you are helping others in need. Around 11:30, all the service groups started to head back to home base for a delicious lunch. As the afternoon began all the kids and mentors hopped onto the buses and drove a couple minutes to reach a calm, beautiful beach in El Jobo. At the beach, the kids and mentors played volleyball, explored the sealife, and swam through the water. As we head home we’ll be expecting some mentor time, a fulfilling dinner, and a music fiesta to finish off the day.

Selin Dogan (Leader of the Day)

Today the GLA family enjoyed a nice breakfast featuring cheese that everyone thought was french toast. We then loaded onto the busses and went off to service groups. Alex’s group helped high school students practice their English by playing games and having some conversations. Once back at the base we had lucy, then set off again for the beach. Everyone had a blast with some tackles in the water and tossing some balls back and forth.

Delana Husby (Leader of the Day)

Today I was challenged with leading the team through our first day of service. Though taking directions myself, along with the others we dedicated roles to each person to make the job more efficient. I tried to keep our morals up with music and games. We got to play with kids from a local elementary school and practice our Spanish. I learned about the Costa Rican school system, how to keep people motivated and the first step of building a side walk.

Malick Boly (Leader of the Day)

At first when we started to work we had no idea what we were doing, but soon found out how to work it out. When we first started to talk to the locals in La Cruz we realized how extremely friendly they are, even when you don’t even speak their language. By the end of the amazing experience we were exchanging social media and taking pictures with each other.

Steven-Michael Richmond (Leader of the Day)

8/18/2015

Today our GLA service group visted a bilingual highschool in Costa Rica. It was such a great experience and so great to see other students our age!

This is a group photo of the GLA students and an eleventh grade english class. We helped them with the plot seqence from a short story and got to ask eachother questions.
The school is has a lot of outdoor greenery surrounding the classrooms and it is quite beautiful!

We also went to a ninth grade english class and interacted with all of the students. There was LOTS of laughter and great conversations.
The students loveeee to play soccer and they have a wonderful stadium at there school.

Finally we came back to a wonderful lunch and we could feel the love from the kitchen staff.

Following lunch, we all took a boat to the island across the water from the beach. A few adventurous ones decided to hike up the steep mountain on the island. I was one if them and it was one of the craziest experiences. The journey was very difficult and it felt like we were people living in the wild. The view from the top was absolutely amazing and definitley worth the struggle.

Overall, today was quite an adventurous and fun filled day!

– Justine Pavia (Leader of the Day)
This morning we were originally set to continue working on the benches at one of the high schools in La Cruz, but our plans changed and we ended up at an elementary school. Once we were there we began work on a sidewalk. First we had to shovel rocks and sand into the cement machine and then we added cement powder and water. From there we used wheelbarrows to transport the cement from the machine out into the road where the sidewalk was beginning to take shape. Albeit heavy, the large amounts of cement made it to the sidewalk where one of our drivers, Lenin, was helping us spread it onto the ground. The job was messy at times with wet cement splattering onto our clothes and faces, but knowing that we were helping create a safe place for the young students to walk really made it worth it.
After we got back to home base we ate lunch and had siesta and you-do-you time. Once that was over we all took a boat ride over to a nearby island. It was really nice to hang out somewhere where we were the only people and the views were amazing! We hung out on the beach and had the option to do a hike up to the top of the island. Most of us hiked and were scared out of our minds (we weren’t expecting to be on our hands and knees!), but the view was definitely worth it. Another highlight was finding some really beautiful shells on the beach and the water was really clear by the shore! We also had the chance to snorkel and saw several pufferfish, grouper, and a bunch of other animals.

– Halie Mariano and Lilli O’Riordan (Leaders of the Day)

Today, Jake took over for Alex’s group and we went to Playa Coyotera in El Jobo to complete unfinished work from previous sessions. There, we sawed, painted signs and fences and also hung signs regarding rules to the playground including “Protect the Nature”, “Adults Keep Off” and signs that will be hung to direct the public to the playground (it’s a little difficult to paint when a perro is stepping all over your sign). Once the majority of the work was done we all picked up trash and played with some local kids. We bought them soda and also shared a bag of Cheetos together! Before we said our goodbye’s we took a group photo and removed any paint spillage from the concrete steps. Once we all loaded the bus Jake told us that one of the mother’s of the children we played with makes bracelets and wanted to know if we’d like to buy some. How can you turn down anything homemade?

Once our wrists were decorated we headed over to Tempetal, the location where we would be doing service work for the remainder of the week. Since we arrived early we were able to jump rope and play tag with the kids who definitely have more energy than all of us combined. After the bell rang and the little ones headed back to their classes we dug holes that would hold support structures for the fence encircling the school. Wielding pick axes, shovels and hoes we got a feel for the work we’d be taking on. After that we headed down the road to a house donated by a family that housed equipment we’d be painting. The home included two dogs, two pigs, a cat, and a parrot! After giving the animals an abundance of attention we headed back to Hotel EcoPlaya for some delicious lunch and free time. Everyone needs a little siesta when you’re working this hard!
When everyone was rested and bright eye’d we made our way to an island across from the beach where we would take a boat. The ride was rough and everyone got very wet which made it all the more fun. The island was breathtaking and very remote. We also had the option to go on a hike, which the mentors warned us was very difficult (scariest experience in my life and I speak for most). The struggle to get to the top was well worth it to see the breathtaking view. After a few hours on the beach we came back and ate dinner. Today was filled with hard work and topped off with paint in our hair and blisters on our hands. Tomorrow is bound to be even more exciting!

– Yours truly, Gabby Darling (Leader of the Day)

8/19/2015

The day started off regularly, and after an early breakfast, we set off on the buses. Making a quick snack/sunglasses stop, we got to the service sites on time, splitting up into 2 groups of 5. One group went to the primary school, to make a sidewalk.
We were super messy but had a ton of fun. The other went to a high school close by, and made benches for the students. When heading to the high school, they saw the marching band from the school, who were amazing!
The morning was full of hard work from both groups, so when we were on the way home, we were so tired that we forgot to pick up the other group! After a delicious lunch, we had a couple hours of free time, where some took naps, went for a swim, cleaned up the beach, or went on a hike. At around 4 the whole group made its way to a community soccer game!
There was a LOT of sweat in this game, and the whole team was awesome and full of energy, but sadly, we lost to the amazing local team. All in all, we had a great time being the leaders of the day for this awesome group, and look forward to the rest of this trip!

Julia Herrero and Isabelle Towle (Leaders of the Day)

Today we visited a bilingual high school in La Cruz. We went into an eleventh and ninth grade classroom to help the students practice English. We learned there was many differences, but also many similarities between their everyday lives and ours. We joined them for a friendly game of soccer. We shared smiles and laughs, making it a great day.
Later on in the day, we went on a hike to a beautiful view. Despite all the obstacles such as barbed wire and cactus, it was worth it.
After our hike we played a soccer game against the townspeople. Even though we lost by far, it was so much fun!

Alessia Gorostiaga and Leah Horan (Leaders of the Day)

This morning we took a trip to the local elementary school. The children were all very excited to see us and we played together for an hour. After all the girls had their hair braided and the boys were exhausted from tag, we moved on to the community house. There, we sanded down pieces of wood which we then turned into signs. It was tiring and repetitive work but everyone was having a lot of fun. Then we painted them and, as they are going to be on the beach wrote things like ‘Pick up your trash’ and ‘protect the nature’ all in Spanish. After a few hours, we headed back to home base and had lunch, followed by a you do you time and seista. During this time most people slept, getting ready for the soccer game. Others took a personality quiz which showed you what colour you would be. It was strange as some of them were scarcely accurate. At 4, everyone headed down to the vans, dressed in gla blue ready for the soccer game against the local community. It was a lot of fun, and everyone got hot and sweaty. Although we had a great team spirit, on the field and the sidelines, unfortunately the Costa Ricans beat us. However we all had a great time.

Olivia von Stauffenberg (Leader of the Day)

8/20/2015

Today we were planning on working on the sidewalk but when we arrived on site we found out the power was out and we weren’t able to mix the concrete. Instead we collected rocks to level the site for the rest of the sidewalk and played with the local kids. After we got back we had you-do-you time and we made recycled trash jewelry, we made empanadas, we played soccer, and we had various talks from the mentors. The talks included traveling on a budget, the peace corps, and taking a gap year. Tonight we will be having a dance class and learning dances such as the salsa.

Kaitlyn Wilson (Leader of the Day)

Today in Alex’s service group we went to Tempetal and dug about ten, 50 cm deep, holes through hard clay for the fence supports. Also, we de-barked and sanded wood, and painted signs for the community. Upon arriving back at Home Base we enjoyed you-do-time with making recycled bracelets, cooking lessons, and talks about the peace corps, gap years, and traveling on a budget with the mentors. Also a game of soccer went on, gla against the employees of the hotel. Even after a lot of effort from both sides the Costa Ricans were again victorious. To end another great day we will be having mentor time, dinner, and some Latin Dance lessons before bed.

Amanda Engeman (Leader of the Day)

A cool breeze flowed through the air in relaxed waves early in the morning, foreshadowing the low-key day by GLA standards to follow. First and most important was community service; we went to different high schools and contributed to improving the lives of the student by doing everything from constructing benches to playing soccer with the students. After returning to the GLA campus, there were multiple different seminars conducted by the mentors and hotel staff based off their personal experience’s like taking a gap year and the art of producing Costa Rican coffee. All the meanwhile, the hotel staff vs GLA soccer game took place. Let’s just say the effort was definitely there from Team GLA. Today featured lots of choice for everyone but also lots of fun and excitement for all the kids to enjoy.

Eric Trachtenberg (Leader of the Day)

8/22/2015

All students have departed and are on their way home!

8/5/2015

All students have arrived safely! Stay tuned for blog updates and photos!

8/7/2015

Hello my name is James. It’s day 3 in the frightening nation if Coats Rica (*satirical). I was a leader of the day for the sidewalk group. Initially we were very disoriented while trying to visualize the completion of our prep work. At first I was very frustrated with the project since I couldn’t completely understand what our end goal for the day was, but eventually I was able to understand our end goal was to level out the dirt near the asphalt. As I was observing the prep work I synthesized an orderly approach to properly and efficiently complete the sidewalk project. Step one: you need an individual to man a pickaxe in order to break apart the surface of the dirt that has been compacted for many years by the footsteps of individuals and cars. Step 2: you need another individual to use a shovel to excavate the dirt from the region and properly dispose of the dirt preferably in the center of the island. Step 3: you need an individual with a rake to go over the raw area and properly rid the area of large rocks and level the region in order to complete the prep work process.

Hi this is Ravi and today was cheeky introduction to the school (La Escuela del Coco). In my group we did a bit of cheeky painting in the cafeteria. There were some bees acting like mugs and trying to sting us all, but fortunately only one person, Kaylin, was sacrificed, taking one for the team. Overall it was, like the Ticos say, ‘Tuanis.” Ethan and Aidan picked up a ton of trash with like 30 Costa Rican kids who were very eager to help out. We also cleared a lot of rocks.

After lunch we all visited a pottery shop/chicken farm and made our own ornaments and bought souvenirs. I think its safe to say we all had a great time!

8/8/2015

Cafeteria

Today we painted the “comedor” green. We had to communicate with a Tico who spoke no English to help us complete the job. In the end we learned that Costa Rican’s are primarily generous people. We learned new words in Spanish and new customs that are the norm in Costa Rica.

Playground

Today was a great accomplishment. As a team, we managed to set up all the wooden planks, saw all the pieces, and design all the ideas behind our new playground. We were able to get to know new people in our group that we had not been given the opportunity to previously connect with. We had a great time, and look forward to seeing how the playground looks at the end.

Eco-bricks

Today we worked on creating eco-bricks by stuffing trash into empty bottles. At first the job felt very tedious because we had to compact the trash into the bottles and there seemed to always be more space for more trash. It felt like we would never finish a bottle. As we went on though, people from other groups came to help us and together we filled more bottles a lot more quickly. We feel like the fact that so many people came to help us motivated us because we were all in it together and we were all determined to make a difference, and in the end we made enough bottles to build a bench.

Bus stop

Today we finished prepping the ground for cement and cut wire. We had an issue with supplies that caused us to have not much to do for a couple hours, but we were able to create new jobs for people to take advantage of while waiting for necessary supplies. We managed to get visible progress today, which is really encouraging. Our goals were to be organized, which we achieved when we organized our breaks and took turns cutting wire. Our other goal was to be productive, which we achieved despite the issue with supplies. Overall, it was a great day.

Dancing

After a day of hard work, we went to learn traditional Costa Rican dance. We watched a group of Ticos and Ticas in traditional costume dance to three songs. The first two dances were very intricate, but during the third all of the dancers got us up and dancing together. It was really fun and super inclusive! We played a couple of games to learn Spanish words and loosen up and then we learned three dances step-by-step and it was easier than expected and an awesome cultural experience.

8/10/2015

Eco Bricks

Lynn and Aidan were leaders of the day. It was really hard at first to get people motivated because nobody really wanted to be in the eco bricks group but once a few people moved to different work sites and we found out exactly what we needed to do everyone became more excited. We made a flower decoration out of the eco bricks and painted a podium with kids. All the kids called Aidan a gringo.

Playground

Today on the playground we worked on four major projects. We finished building a wooden half pipe that the kids could walk through, we built a ladder, we fixed a rope net, and we almost finished a new roof for one of the sections of the playground. The major challenges that we faced were the kids running around and being absolutely too energetic and interrupting our work, and not having enough power tools to keep everyone engaged.  However, we were very productive and accomplished almost all of our goals. Aidan is a gringo.

Painting

Today we painted the beams of the dining hall black before 10.  We needed to do this quickly because the children ate lunch at 10:30.  After we got the inside beams of the dinning hall done, we painted the outside bars and the fragments of the beam that stuck out on the outside. Some of the kids helped with that, and we finished everything that we had to do before we had to leave. Cleaning up was a challenge because the paint needed to be scraped off with keys or a kitchen knife. Overall, our group was engaged in the task and the music. Aidan is a gringo.

Bus stop

At the bus stop today the main project was to finish one whole section of sidewalk.  It took us about an hour to get our groove and all the materials; so everyone waited around and talked. Once we got the materials we got the job done quickly and everyone remained enthusiastic and positive. Because of this, the environment remained a happy and relaxing place. It was a little bit challenging to keep everyone on task because at the moment the job they were doing may have seemed trivial. But in the end everyone seemed satisfied with what they have accomplished for the day and the upcoming days.

Ecology

Christian came into home base this evening to show us the four different ecosystems and all the critters that inhabit them.  He showed us some cool footage of a volcanic eruption and its aftermath as well as up close and personal footage of a tiger shark investigating a group of divers.  Christian is not only very passionate about what he does, but one can easily make the observation of how passionate he is about his field.  When he showed us the final video, his face was buried into his laptop screen like he was experiencing this video for the first time even as all twenty-nine students had side conversations.  I look forward to meeting up with Christian this Thursday afternoon and going on a guided tour into the wilderness.

8/11/2015

Eco-Bottles (lynn and caroline)

Today we finished all of our projects that we had set out to complete. Our group decorated a boulder at a playground and completed a bench made from recycled materials like trash and bottles. We faced problems such as traveling to two different locations to finish our projects. Because of this, the day seemed chaotic and rushed but we completed our projects at both the school and the bus stop.

Painting at the school

Today our group did some finishing touches to the paint job in the school cafeteria and we then went on to painting the markings on the basketball court. This job turned out to be exhausting and it was really hot so everyone was lacking motivation but with the help of some good music and a few ice cold coca colas we managed to finish all the painting and after we had finished we went back to the home base and had a well-earned lunch.

Painting the Playground

Today we finished painting and fixing up the playground at the school. We drilled a few parts and added a few support beams before we began painting. Our main challenge of the day was trying to tell little kids that don’t speak English that they couldn’t play on the areas we were painting. We eventually managed to get everything painted and we are currently typing this with stained green hands.

Lunch and after

Lunch was another delicious meal made by Dona Veronica and Dona Lisette. After lunch, we drove to the amazing monkey farm. We saw raccoons running wild, baby horses conversing with goats, and adorable monkeys swinging from branches over our heads. We also saw a lot of different animals like rabbits, possums, armadillos, and many more. It was interesting to see the different species of animals in Costa Rica.  We also learned about hydroponics. Hydroponics is an efficient water recycling system used to grow any type of plant without having to waste water.The monkey farm was full of Costa Rican culture and our amazing mentors even gave personal tours around the farm, describing the stories of each individual animal.

– Noie (Charlotte was of no help)

After dinner

Dinner was another joyful meal consisting of rice and beans. Our main dish contained delicious lasagna topped with a side of sweet cranberry juice. After dinner we discussed what we could do after high school to continue to fulfill an adventurous lifestyle. Scott, our mentor, gave us an inspirational speech of his life experiences. Then we broke up into 3 groups and talked about a personal issue that we wanted to act upon to further better the community—James and Matt (pure savages like shooting stars in the night)

8/1/2015

Hello!

Session 5 is underway and it’s off to a wonderful start! We’ve done quite a bit so far, including, getting to know each other and the mentors, kicking it at the beach, and learning about where GLA came from and where it’s going. We have a jam packed, but fun week ahead of us! We are looking forward to all of the activities and becoming leaders!

Until next time!

8/2/2015

Today we went to a preschool and used recycled tires to create a playground fence for the kids. We painted the tires, drilled them together, and made a colorful and fun addition to their playground. Later, we got to play with the children, whether it be a game of soccer or dancing. It was a super fun experience and we can’t wait for 3 more days at the school!

– Evan Parness (Leader of the Day)

Today our service group went to the high school in La Cruz. It was a great experience and during our debrief everyone seemed to be impacted and to have really enjoyed connecting with the students, as well as improving our Spanish speaking skills. We first started out in a classroom with 10th graders, where we split up into groups to talk to the students. It was engaging to try and communicate the best we could despite the language barrier. Then we went to both a 7th and 12th grade classroom and played games. Overall it was a very enjoyable service trip.

– Olivia Foster & Emily Jones (Leaders of the Day)

Today was an amazing first day of service for all of us!! We learned how to mix and pour the cement from. We also had a great bonding opportunity when the student came out for recess and we got to practice our Spanish to get to know them. We could tell we still have some work due to the laughter of the children as we tried to speak to them.

– Bridget Bruneau (Leader of the Day)

¡Hola! Today we got to a school in Tempatal around 8:45 am. As soon as we walked into the gates of the school, chiquitos (little kids) ran up to us and grabbed onto our hands to take us to their playground. We played with the kids during their recess (which involved our hair being put into braids and some fun piggy back rides around the school). When the children had to go back to class, we started our service assignment. Using wheelbarrows, we carried wet cement over to the holes for the fence posts. We worked hard and really enjoyed our time at the beautiful school. We are going to a local town later today called La Cruz, and we couldn’t be more excited! ¡Adios!

– Lauren Forster and Sarah Samaniego (Leaders of the Day)

In Jake’s Service group today we hoped repair a playground in El Jobo, a small community close to home base with many wonderful women who take great pride in their town, constantly working to better it and a lively group of elementary school kids that easily beat us in soccer and were a blast to play with. For our service we scraped the bark off of pieces of wood to be turned into wooden planks that could eventually be used for a fence. In addition, we painted signs that were hard to see and turned them into bright clear signs. After this hard work we headed to La Cruz where we bought snacks and fresh produce where some tired dragon fruit and passion for for the first time. Today was so much fun!

– Sarina Moore (Leader of the Day)

8/4/2015

The smiling faces of young Costa Rican children could barely contain their excitement as they watched my team and I worked to improve their playground. These preschoolers now have a completed fence made from the recycled tires that our service team painted around their playground. We all rotated in groups of three or four either painting, pushing wheelbarrows of sand to be put on the ground of the playground, or using rakes to spread out the freshly dumped sand. After some teammates finished their work, they helped to shovel gravel as a way to secure different play areas also made from the recycled tires. Sadly we did not have enough time to play with the kids today, but we all are looking forward to having fun with them tomorrow!

– Kelly Kartarian (Leader of the Day)

Today, some of our GLA students went to al coal high school here in the region of Guanacaste. The students interacted with residing middle school and high school students here in Costa Rica in what we call a language exchange. WHen we first arrived, we were greeted by the Costa Rican children and we introduced ourselves. Almost directly after that we headed out to a field to play a game called “Mano Pelota.” Most Americans would probably recognize it as a clever cross bread between the American sports basketball and soccer. We ended up playing, “Nosotros contra ustedes” or “us against you,” which basically means that children vs. the volunteers. It was very fun and the children also learned English because they were forced to communicate in English while playing. Overall the volunteers learned the connections between teachers and students in Costa Rica are different than Americans have with their students or teachers and that many Latinos or Costa Ricans take their sports more seriously than most and they really love the games they play. In my own personal perspective, it’s almost like soccer or Mano Pelota is like another language that is shared and enjoyed by many of the residents of Costa Rica

– Josh Conti (Leader of the Day)

We all had so much fun today! We went back to the city of Tempatal. Our service group as a collective, in combination with the local people got together to design, cut and measure the wood and paint it to build wood signs for the beach. These beaches are “protected” by the people that live in the community, so these people take care of the place, keep the local clean and do their best to preserve the place. We had such a great experience and got to know more about the region. Playing with the kids in the school was super exciting, they are such amazing people and very thankful for the little they have!!
I loved it!

– Bianca Coelho & Samantha Macrides (Leaders of the Day)
Today we visited the students at Inglés de la Cruz, a bilingual high school, and came to the realization that laughter is universal. We were given the opportunity to converse with peers at the high school as well as compete against them in a super conceptive handball game….GLA was victorious. Although communication was a barrier to the relationship we had with the students at some points in time; it was through cooperation, the use of both English and Spanish skills, and frantic/animated hand gestures that had us all rolling on the floor laughing like the oldest of friends. This experience enlightened the face that despite our differences we are all still human.

– Thomas Bolland & Tiffany Tang (Leaders of the Day)

Today, our service group worked on building a sidewalk for an elementary school. First we had to mid sand and rocks with water and concrete mix to create concrete that we would later wheelbarrow out and lay down. Through the experience we lean red that teamwork is necessary for the success for these types of projects.

What, we as a group, enjoyed was the feeling of accomplishment during and especially after the laborious work. The students were very happy to have us there and enjoyed playing with us.

– Flynn Eastwood and Alexander Kamen (Leaders of the Day)

8/5/2015
Today was a fun and efficient day making sidewalks for the elementary school. The children were very friendly and even played an intense game of ultimate frisbee with us! They have such positive attitudes and can never stop smiling.

– Skylar Cunniff and Kata Fusco (Leaders of the Day)

Hi everyone! Today in the beautiful Costa Rica my service group and I went to a high school in La Cruz. We spoke to them in English to help improve their language skills and made fantastic friends. Some of us played soccer with them while others took a tour of the school. Bonds grew between us and everyone in the group had a beautiful experience. The local teens were so friendly and kind I think everyone in my group would agree that if we returned in 2 years or so they would still remember us. We all took away from it new Spanish words and memories that will last a lifetime. Alright, back to festivities for us, PURA VIDA!

– Lauren Rose (Leader of the Day)

On Wednesday, Regina’s service group made its way out to a local preschool in La Cruz, in Spanish called centro de cuido infantil de la Cruz, or the center for infant care of La Cruz. The team met with Maria Jose, who assisted GLA students with the projects. Several projects at the site included transporting wheelbarrows of sand to a playground that had recently been cemented and painting and preparing a hopscotch made of tires for the students. Together, we completed the projects at the preschool after they had been in progress for 5 weeks, allowing tomorrow’s team to now move to work at the local high school. Go GLA!

– Alice Vinogradsky (Leader of the Day)
Today had to be my favorite service day so far. We had a change in schedule and ended up volunteering at the local high school. We walked in and the class greeted us. Kelly and I sat next to 3 boys and we talked about our lives in Los Estados Unidos and their lives in Costa Rica. We joked about one of the boys, Pedro, having una novia (a girlfriend). He claims he doesn’t have one but we know he did. There was also Marco who claimed to be “the nerd” of the class. He knew a lot of English and I was very impressed.

Then it was time for recess. A boy named Matthew came and sat down next to us as we watched the other students play handball. He told me he always wanted to live in New York and I told him I was from there. He was so excited as I began to show him photos of the big apple. He even said that he might come to New York next year! I said he could contact me when he got here and I could show him around. We then exchanged social media accounts.

After, we had to part. I was so upset because I really got along well with the students. I hope we get to see them again!

A few hours later we also went to play a soccer game against the locals. It was so much fun even though we lost. We met 3 dogs, 2 of whom we named Lloyd and Socks, and also met a few of the local kids and played with them for an hour or so.

Overall it was personally the best day we have had so far and I’m so excited to see what’s ahead in the future.

– Isabella Boccasino (Leader of the Day)

Today at our service site in El Jobo, we continued to work peeling the bark off of planks of wood and touched up the playground with spray paint. We also finished painting a sign displayed near the school and pulled an old one out of the ground to revamp. At the school, we watched some students preform a dance and joined in to learn.

– “The Maggies” aka Margaret Stevens & Margaret Hughes (Leaders of the Day)

8/6/2015

Today was an incredibly relaxing day, with an abrupt start. My roommates and I nearly missed the bus by sleeping through breakfast and beyond (note to self, set an alarm). Service went mostly smoothly, except for a mishap with the concrete mixing which nearly ruined the whole batch. Personally I’m incredibly happy it got fixed as lifting buckets of rocks and sand is not easy.

On the bus ride back there was lots of extra room since one group had completed their task. We stopped at a fruit stand and bought this awesomely weird fruit called mamon chino. It was covered in tendrils that hooked towards the bottom of the fruit. They tasted somewhat like an apple but squishy and chewy rather than crisp.
After a delicious lunch of seasoned chicken, rice, and beans there was hours of time to relax and read in the pool. The activities were fun too, Manuel’s personality test revealed that I was in the green group of more analytical thinkers. Zumba, a form of exercise dance was fun as well, providing a truly unique experience.
Overall the day was a perfect mix of manual labor and relaxation, and sure to put me to sleep early tonight.

– Elias Garcia (Leader of the Day)

Today at the service site we struggled with the cement formula. We put in the sand before the concrete bags and Lennon had to fix our mistake. This demonstrated how sometimes volunteers in other countries can actually be detrimental rather than benefiting the community. Being aware of this made us more sensitive to our actions and we were more careful during the remaining time at the service site. We were able to successfully complete a good amount of the sidewalk. Playing with the kids at recess was fun and they were starting to be more outgoing and warmed up to us because we are becoming familiar faces. They are becoming more friendly and just seeing how excited they get to see us is heart warming. Despite the language barrier we communicated with the universal language of empathy, compassion, and kindness.

– Emma Roush (Leader of the Day)

On service day 4, Manuel’s group worked in Tempatal where we worked at an elementary school finishing up the fence we started on the first day. Before starting our service work, we were able to play with the kids for about half an hour, which is always the best part. After a heartfelt goodbye to the kids, we started our service. We made the concrete and finished putting up the three fence poles that will be used to protect the school from stray animals that could disrupt the school. Since we worked fast, we were able to finish with half an hour to spare. So we were able to go buy some food at a snack shack. After returning to home base, we ate lunch and had our siesta time. After, Jake and Regina/Alex’s group were able to go the island and either hike or swim. At 7, there was a fun dance lesson which concluded our day of fun activities. Overall, this was a very fine day and everyone is excited, but sad to finish our service in Costa Rica.

– Daniella Vo & Elia Levitin (Leaders of the Day)

Today, August 6th, our service group went with Alex to the beach located on the Ecoplaya property. Before we went to the beach we watched videos about The Pacific Gyre that made us think about how much trash is in the ocean and on the shore. Then we went to go collect trash on the beach. We found trash in the sand and in the branches. We were surprised by what trash we found, which inspired us to continue to pass on how much trash there really is in the oceans and how even picking up the littlest trash will make a difference somewhere.

– Jill Maisel, Maddi Frissora, and Paige Brala (Leaders of the Day)

Today my service group and I returned to el Jobo to continue our service projects. We finished painting and installing a local sight as well as taking the bark off the trees so that they can later be turned into a kiosk for some of the local women. The children didn’t have school today so a majority of them were down playing on the playground we were working on. This gave us an amazing opportunity to play with the local children.

We were also able to visit some local houses. This was such a unique experience to be able to physically see how the Costa Ricans live, which was amazing and simple. Once you stepped in their houses, you;d instantly feel more appreciative for the things you have, and you feel more at home and included with the community. We really wish to see them and their houses again.

– Leah Levin-Aznar and Rebekah Robinson (Leaders of the Day)

8/7/2015

Today was the last day of service at Tempatal. All of us had a great time playing tag, Sharks and minnows, and capture the flag with the children. After playing with the children we helped to make signs by stripping bark off of wood, sanding it, and painting it. Then, we filled more holes with cement at the front of the school. It was a great and productive week of service and we are very happy to help the kids at tempatal!

By Karlye Pinto, Michael Soto, Helen Frazer (Leaders of the Day)
Today, on our last day of service, Lisa’s service group continued our work on the sidewalk for the school. Our group made an extra round of cement and managed to complete almost one side of the school. We also got a chance to see a special event performed by the children at the school which included viewing their science projects and dancing with the kids. We are so thankful to have been a part of such a rewarding and meaningful experience which will be used by the children and locals for years to come.

Emily Jones

Today we gathered all of our strength to power through the last day of service. although it was really sad that we had to leave our site filled with hard work and relationships with the kids that we hadn’t had time to build, I feel satisfied knowing that I could help provide a better environment for the kids. today we got to join a dance party that the kids had. I noticed right away the difference between Our two cultures that was so prominent: while we have been taught to keep away from strangers, they have been taught to be welcoming to the people they don’t know yet. another difference I noticed was none of the girls were judging other girls while they danced, like what I am used to seeing at home. instead, the girls were just interested in having fun and dancing as much as possible. it was refreshing to see these positive changes that are small things, but make a big difference.

-Laura Swagmoney Hammer (Leader of the Day)
Today, sadly, was our last day of service, meaning we had to part with the many friends we had made at our service site. In spite of the inevitable goodbye we got a great deal of work done in the way of painting and nailing signs around the park as well as playing with the amazing kids that were there with us! With the morning over the afternoon featured a trip to the beach as well as a soccer game against the hotel staff, which ended in a predictable 5-2 loss. Talent show was an amazing success though we must get some early shut eye in order to make 5:30am breakfast for adventure day!

Conor Wight (Leader of the Day)
GLA took a trip into La Cruz today to help build benches at one of the two high schools. Our service group including me woke up for the 5th and last day of community service. Knowing it was the last day of service we all came ready and prepared to help. The past few days my group helped build a playground at a preschool. Although it was fun playing with the younger kids I’m glad we came to the high school today. It was fun and interesting seeing how much different their culture is from mine. I’m sad that the trip is almost over but I feel very good about the work that we’ve done so far. I feel confident that my work has helped the town of La Cruz and I hope my peers feel the same. Since our service is finished i am looking forward for all the adventures to come.

Jonah Mikkalson (Leader of the Day)
Today was a significant day for both GLA workers and the community surrounding ___ El Jobo. After coating the torn off tree bark in paint, we wrote directions and rules for the park and mounted them on the fences surrounding the park, thus completing a 3 week-long project that was started by a GLA group before us. Perhaps what was more moving to us, however, was the support of the children and locals. Men, women, and children were eager to help us out, and that is an understatement. In addition, throughout our service at ___, here was never a moment that local kids weren’t playing on the structure of enjoying a game of soccer. Having them there personally helped me understand why this work I’m doing is so meaningful. This is home to so many children and families, and we are able to forever change their experience at the park, for the better. While it was a bittersweet day (as it was our last day of service), it was definitely a sweet feeling to do some good to a community that truly deserved it.

-Rohit Rathor, 16, Sacramento CA (Leader of the Day)

8/10/2015

All students have departed and are on their way home!

7/20/2015

All students have arrived to the CR beach!

7/21/2015

What a great session it has been so far!!! We had an exciting first day filled with many great conversations, cow sightings, puppies, and of course pool time! We spent the morning getting to know each other and getting to know our surroundings. We went to the local town called La Cruz and explored the local grocery store, ate ice cream and visited a beautiful view point. Tonight we are doing a language exchange with the locals to help them learn a bit of English while also improving our Spanish skills. This is going to be a wonderful session!

The Beachside Service Team 🙂

7/22/2015

After a delicious breakfast, with of course beans and rice, all groups headed onto an over-crowded bus to their service site. Kath’s group went to Maria Jose’s nursery and helped to dig a hole around a playground for a future sand box. This ensures more safety for the 2-6 year olds during their recess time. While the work was difficult at the beginning, we created systems to make the process go faster, thanks to our great team work and bonding on the 50 minute bus ride. After two hours of work, we finally got to play with the kids. For some, it was easy as they are learning Spanish at school, but for others the language barrier made things challenging. We played tag, soccer and helped the little kids play in the jungle gym. I cannot wait to see what we will accomplish in the coming days!

Maggie Perlman (Leader of the Day)

After breakfast we left for our first day at service. At the primary school we are building a new sidewalk. To start, today we shoveled dirt and rocks into wheelbarrows and wheeled it around the school and over to the sidewalk. Halfway through, the bell rang and the kids came running out. They were so excited just to see us and laughed when we attempted to speak Spanish. In a matter of minutes we were all playing futbol. The Costa Rican students were so amazing and although the time we were able to play was short, it was definitely exciting! Everyone in Costa Rica is so happy and peaceful, but I guess that makes senses hence their motto…Pura Vida. After, we did some more work at our service site. Our mentor Lisa got stuck in the bathroom, but thankfully one of the teachers heard her shouting for help. When the service was over we headed back to home base for lunch then we had “You-do-You” time that included making empanadas. Then everyone headed to the beach at El Jobo. The view was picturesque and everyone had fun in the ocean, playing soccer and just relaxing. The first day of service was definitely a success.

Alexis Varano (Leader of the Day)

We woke up to some light rain. After a delicious breakfast we got on the bus to go to El Jobo. El Jobo was our first service project. For this project we were rebuilding a park for the kids in the town. This gave us the opportunity to practice our Spanish and give back to the community. After our service we had lunch. After lunch we were given the opportunity to a couple of activities. Empanada making was the most popular activity. We then headed to the beach. Some relaxed and some played an exciting game of soccer.

Nicholas Baker (Leader of the Day)

Service day number one was a great success! My group was blessed enough to work with the local high school students for the day. Throughout the day we visited English classrooms filled with students not only willing, but eager to learn and improve their speaking abilities. I was personally touched by the expressions plastered on their faces when we first walked into the room. Although service projects are often thought of as manual labor, today was a one-time adventure that helped students learn valuable life lesson of language development. I am so grateful for this amazing experience and am excited for the new opportunity that will present itself tomorrow.

Morgan Pfeffer (Leader of the Day)

Today, some of the GLA students got to visit the locals at the high school in La Cruz. The locals practiced their English with the GLA students while the GLA students practiced their Spanish. After multiple hours of bonding with the locals, the GLA students got a taste of how Costa Rica minors got an education, one much similar to the students schooling at home. Many students really got to befriend multiple locals as they were just as excited to meet us, and learn each other’s language and culture. We exchanged tongue twisters in each other’s languages and shared a great laugh!

Emmanuelle Aruta (Leader of the Day)
As my service team and I drove up to the school, there are plenty of eager children waiting for us! The second the gate was unlocked my hands were taken and immediately the two little girls pulled me and off we went to the tire playground. We plead for ac couple of hours and then we got to work! We painted fences and walls and dug holes and it was quite rewarding.

Jaymie Terbush (Leader of the Day)

7/23/2015

Our second day of service brought difficult but rewarding work. As the floater group, we are lucky enough to get to visit all of the service sites, rather than staying at a single one for the week. Today we were stationed at the kindergarten in La Cruz. We dug out the area around and under the playground so we can fill it with sand in order to be safer for the kids. It took the collaboration of pick axes, shovels, rakes and the infamous wheelbarrow trips to clear out the area. But once we had completed the task, we had the much-anticipated privilege of playing with the kids! Speaking and connecting with the local people (Ticos), especially the children has been the highlight of the trip for me so far. Practicing Spanish with the local people is always a unique and fun learning experience. After a morning of hard work, I feel accomplished and closer to the amazing people and culture of Cost Rica

-Nadia Parashkevova (Leader of the Day)

We started off the day getting into the bus to head towards Playa Soley. Once we arrived we instantly saw people and the work that past GLA students had accomplished, but also the world that was ahead of us. As the first as this particular place, it took a while to get going, but eventually we all found our places. Some of us painted trash cans and other sanded down the signs that would later be painted. Throughout our service, locals, including some children, surrounded us. Some of the locals worked along side of and other watched intently. The children, specifically a little boy wanted to play soccer so much that he brought out his own goalie net! There was also a young girl, disabled but she still wanted to talk with us. She wanted to know our names and in return told us her name along with some of the locals and children’s names. Everyone was smiling and friendly, along with willing to communicated despite the language barrier
At the end of our service, all our hands, covered in paint and arms sore from sanding, but overall we could definitely tell that we were making a dent in the amount of work to be done.

-Emily Groebner (Leader of the Day)

Frist we arrived at the school and were given a good 30-40 minutes to play with the kids. Without any hesitation the children approached us and led us over to their playground where we saw the GLA project from last session. Some of the younger boys played soccer with us in the front while others played pato pato tigre as a group and had their hair braiding session. Then we all said our goodbyes and split into two different groups; one to start with the painting at the women’s facility and the other to continue digging holes to place a fence. After about an hour or 2 the groups switched.

-Brook Scarry (Leader of the Day)

Jake’s service group took its first trip to El Jobo today to assist a women’s group in the construction of a local playground. Some of the jobs included painting and nailing the boards to the existing fence. While we were there many kids visited us and were exited to play futbol (soccer) and pato, pato, tigre (duck, duck, tiger), along with playing on the swing set and slides. Later in the day w were invited to one of the women’s homes to view their lifestyle. The lady Magdalena was especially keen on showing us her homemade outdoor oven. The one room household housed 5 members of her family as well as other sisters of relatives that lived on the same plot of land. After 4 hours we left for home base excited to see the kids tomorrow as well as the various friendly dogs that also joined us at the park.

-Emma Tuberty-Vaughan and Anthony DeLeon (Leaders of the Day)

As soon as we got to the primary school, the group got to work. Some people worked on clearing the ground to prep for the sidewalk, while others gathered dirt and rocks to fill the base for the concrete. After working for about an hour, the school children went on their break. They ran outside to greet us and started playing games. Some of the group started playing soccer while others played Frisbee. After 15 min, the kids went back to class and our group when back to work. Our service group made a lot of progress on the second day of the project.

-Brigitte Bayer (Leader of the Day)

While half of us were shoveling rock and dirt into wheelbarrows the other half were taking the dirt to where the sidewalk will be and evenly laying it down as a base of the concrete. We worked for 1 hour when the kids in the school were released for recess. During that time we played games and interacted with the kids for the duration of their recess. After that we contented our work for another hour and then left. Meeting the school kids gave everyone a feeling of bliss and joy. We all were abel to take something different away from the experience.

When we got back to the camp we ate lunch and then were given three and a half hours of You-do-You time. I am not really sure what happened next, because I took the time to catch up on sleep. Now we are gong into the local town to celebrate a holiday were there will be a large concert and festival

-Aaron Miller (Leader of the day)

7/25/2015

Today my service group and I had an eventful day at the local high school that around 200 students attend. It was such a cool experience because we got to interact with other students our own age. With our Spanish and their English, we were often able to communicate with them quite well. It was so amazing to be able to learn about the difference and similarities in their lives an in their school compared to ours/ we also played an intense game of handball with this (It’s a huge sport here). It was all in all a wonderful experience to take part in

Sara Sebba (Leader of the Day)

Today my service group headed back to the town of Tempetal in rural Guanacaste to continue working on the projects we started on yesterday. We arrived in the town just in time for the children’s recess and had the opportunity to play with the same children we got to know yesterday, The girls that I talked to were eager to practice their English while helping me work on my Spanish. I was very exited to see the children playing on the playground made of used tires that former GLA students created. During the recess, we talked with the school children and played games with them like monkey in the middle, soccer and duck duck good (or as they call it, “pato, pato, tigre”) Although we were having a lot of fun, I especially enjoyed seeing the use of a language as a way to connect people of different cultures. For example, when I told one of the girls about how I like to watch TV, she game me her bracelet that said, “Addicted to TV.”
When the kids went back to class, half of us headed over to a local center for women of the area. We worked on painting the building and staining some of the wood. A local woman helped us painting and showed us how to get the stain off of our skin.
Then we worked on digging holes to put up a fence around the school. The school is planning on expanding and adding new classrooms but wanted a secure perimeter to keep the area safe.
We left our service site feeling more connected with the community of Temptal and excited to return.

Claire Black (Leader of the Day)

We all piled onto the bus jostling each other with our elbows smiling and falling into the grey seats alongside the wide windows. As the bus started bouncing down the road the excited chatter grew in the air. We all began to theorize what the playground may look like once we had filled in the empty space with sand. The tall trees parted for our bus as the green leaves soared overhead against the blue sky. We hopped off the bus and immediately grabbed shovels, pick-axes and wheelbarrows. Today our service team focused on communication and began to adjust and improve our work technique as the day progressed. There were teams of two on wheelbarrow and sand duty and each time they rounded the corner to deliver the sand to fill the pit we all broke out into cheers and continually supported one another and kept the spirits high as the sun continued to climb and the clouds blossomed in the sky and gave way to a light rain. Our team began to devise a plan, which included the full team removing the large rocks surrounding the playground in the circular pit to provide a smooth layer for the sand to be poured and spread and more importantly ensure the playground was safe for the students. An hour later we developed a new plan to shovel sand into our wheelbarrows in the front of the day care center. The sand was then wheeled to the playground by our excellent wheelbarrow team. This team then poured the sand into the pit where the sand team began to spread it. We laughed at the squeaky wheelbarrow that could be heard from either end of the day care as the rain began to let up before it disappeared completely. The students ran out of their schoolhouse and after a few timid “holas” we began to play with the newly laid sand. The girls were dressed in the typical traditional dress of Costa Rica, which was adorned with white, red, and blue ruffles. The boys wore outfits that echoed the style of cowboys as they ran across the grass. We filled our hands with sand and let it run though our fingers and the students began to do the same. Breaking the ever-shrinking language gap we smiled and spoke Spanish the best we knew how. Others played Frisbee or tag as the sun finally broke through the billowing white clouds. The bus pulled up to the front of the day care and after returning the shovels, wheelbarrows and pick-axes we made our way to the bus yelling back “hasta luego.” As we climbed into the bus we fell into our seats and the bus hummed with the sound of satisfaction and tired voices alongside a quite and vibrant feeling of accomplishment and community. All in all it was another great day with GLA.

Laurel Clark (Leader of the Day)

7/26/2015

Yesterday Kath’s service group returned to Maria Jose’s daycare to continue our work on the sandbox. The children greeted us upon our arrival, lining up along the gate with some cheerful “hola’s.” We separated into three groups to keep the work moving efficiently. Some cleaned tires, others scooped up sand and carried it to the playground, and lastly some worked at filling the sand box. It was chaotic at times, but we were able to finish the sand and begin painting tires. Unfortunately we were unable to play with the children today, however we achieved so much and were all able to leave the sight with a smile on our face and a feeling of achievement.

-Maclaine Reemsnyder (Leader of the Day)

Today is Day 4 of service and unfortunately for our group it was our last day of manual labor. At 8 am our service group and awesome mentor Lisa left for the primary/elementary school to continue the sidewalk project. Our service group once again displayed amazing teamwork. We divided up into different jobs and everyone was extremely effiecient at their task. Rocks, sand, water, and the concrete mixture was put into the cement mixer and then the mix was poured into wheelbarrows. Some people pushed the wheelbarrows while others helped by guiding so they did not tip over. We then emptied the mixture into the developing sidewalk. Since the children were off of school today, after our work, we took a short walk to a small grocery store where we all bought ice cream. After we returned back to homebase we all ate a delicious lunch and then at2:30 Kath’s mentor group left to go snorkeling. We took a boat ride to a beautiful island only 15 minutes away. Once we got there we hiked to the top of the mountain and saw the beautiful view overlooking Nicaragua and Costa Rica. After slowly sliding down the mountain, we walked around and watched the little hermit crabs and other small sea animals between the little pools of the rocks. To end the adventures of the day, we took the last boat back to Ecoplaya ready to eat dinner and excited for the ice cream social later to come. This was another great day in Costa Rica

-NICOLE DEIGNAN (Leader of the Day)

On Monday, the weather was perfect, which made our very busy day quite enjoyable.  We accomplished many tasks. We made and poured concrete for the base of a fence. We had dug holes for the concrete earlier. We also continued painting the women’s shelter using bright, wonderful colors of paint. Although the children weren’t at school, we enjoyed a little time with several animals including goats, pigs, chickens, and a dog and cat. Dinner has been tasty but a favorite treat for many was the fruit smoothies that we enjoyed while in town during the souvenir shopping. Those smoothies were delicious!

-Maddie Morgan (Leader of the Day)

Dirty Hands are Helping Hands

I am covered in brown and red spots, which look like mud and blood. Today we sanded, stained, and painted tables (or in Spanish: mesas). We had the beautiful view of the sea and could even see the GLA home base across the water! Working on the beach was awesome. We got a great view and a nice breeze. We worked together to sand down benches/ tables for a community center in a small fishing town. Locals helped us and it was such a great experience to work with people who truly care about the community and to also share some language. Martine helped us speak Spanish with the woman and children and we taught them some words in English! In just 2 hours we finished 3 tables and help build a play structure with painted tires! One of the girls gave us some apples and after we finished working they taught us a fun teambuilding game. We ended service tired, sweating and completely filthy. I think that’s how every day should end! I am so glad I decided to do this grip. I’ve made so many new friends here and I’m sad I have to leave. GLA has been the best experience of my life!

-Jaiden Pavano (Leader of the Day)

On our 4^th day of service, Jake’s service group started a new project. Instead of working on the playground in El Jobo, we dug trenches at the recycling center. The local women’s group that helped us with the playground helped us again at the recycling center. Before leaving El Jobo, we stopped by the supermarket and talked to locals. In the afternoon we had You-do-You time while Jake, Kath and Haylies mentor groups went to the island. As the trip is coming to an end, our friendships are growing stronger and we are reluctant to say goodbye

-Alexis Liimatainen (Leader of the Day)

Today was the fourth day of service and my group, which usually goes to a fishing village called Puerto Soley, was dispersed into other groups since it was our mentor’s day off. I was in a group that went to both an elementary school and a women’s center that was across the street. We split up into two groups so half of us would be working at the school and half us us would be at the women’s center. First, at the women’s center we painted a bathroom white and also stained a wall and a table. One thing I particularly enjoyed was that there was several locals helping us paint, while talking to us. After that we switched with the group who was at the elementary school. At the school, we stuck poles in pre-dug holes and filled them up with several layers of rocks and cement to keep them in place. The poles were put in place as the start of a fence surrounding a field. The work was slow and tiring, especially in the sun, but it was satisfying at the end to see all of the progress we had made. On the bus ride back from service, we stopped at a grocery store and got ice cream as a reward for our hard work.

-Alya Kaira (Leader of the Day)