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

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

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

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

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

Written by Mentor Rebecca Ottinger

It’s been a full three days!

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

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

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

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

We head back early tomorrow morning to Cedrela!

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

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

July 18, 2017

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

-Written by Steph Szuch, International Director

July 19

Written by Charlotte Olver

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

-charlito

July 20th, 2017

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

-Ben Anderson

July 21st 2017.

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

-Chris Boennighausen

July 24
By Hannah Boylan and Hannah Balda

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

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

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

The lodge in Turrialba

At the ecological coffee farm
Assembly line to fertilize coffee plants

Shoveling compost at service!

Cooking class in Providencia!

July 26, by Ashton Taylor

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

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

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

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

July 30

By Kate Thomas

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

July 31, 2017

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

MaryFrances Warner

August 1

By Della Levine

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

August 4

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

Wednesday July 12, 2017

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

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

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

July 15, 2017

Recent days!

Final Blog

Written by the Leader of the Day: Isaac Bendon

June 25 2017

Today was the first day of service. The group went to the “Bio Fabrica” which is the headquarters of the sustainable coffee farm. The Bio Fabrica is where we are working for the first two weeks. Today we split into two groups.  One group shoveled compost into bags so that they could be transported to the farms, and the other group moved rocks. We learned about the importance of sustainable and organic agricultural practices. The group also talked about the necessity of taking care of the earth. After the service project, the women of the community prepared pork and rice with black beans. During lunch we saw monkeys hanging out in the trees.  In the afternoon we teamed up with another volunteer group and some local community members to play baseball. During the game we got to bond with the kids through our lack of ability to play baseball (side note for my parents  I did not hurt anyone)*.  As leader of the day I decided on the word of the day which was “Mejorar” meaning to improve. I felt accomplished because nobody died or got sick while I was leader.  Additionally nobody was really sad and I kept the group motivated.  My favorite part so far has been getting to meet everybody and get to know them.  Also I am extremely thankful to have my cousin Lily here to help me with my Spanish and edit this blog.

Monday, June 26

Author: Natalie Reisman

Hola! I’m Natalie from New York and I was the Líder del Día, or Leader of the Day, today! Our fourth day of this adventure was incredible, and unlike most Mondays back home, we all looked forward to what this day would bring.

We woke up bright and early to the sound of the river and chirping birds outside of our cabanas. A beautiful breakfast was prepared by the amazing Juan. American food is a rarity at GLA, but today’s breakfast consisted of french toast, scrambled eggs, and bacon. Everyone loved the taste of home.

After a morning stretch led by Hannah, I told the group our word of the day (Aventura for adventure). After that it was off to the service sites! Half of us went with Jonathan, leader of Green Communities, and the other half went to a local coffee farm. The group that went with Juan spent half of the morning loading bags of compost onto his truck to transport to the coffee farm where the rest of the students were. We loaded over 95 bags!!! The smell of fresh brosa (fermented coffee bean skins) in the morning is surely something we will never forget!

Once the whole group was together on Juan’s farm, we worked in an assembly line with buckets to get the compost on the coffee plants. It was super interesting for everyone to see how coffee beans grow and how they tranform into red cherries when ready to harvest.

After a tiring three hours of work, we went to the river that runs through Providencia for a quick swim. The water was super cold, but the brave didn’t let the temperature stop them from enjoying the nature.

An amazing lunch was prepared for us by the local women of the community and we enjoyed the pasta, veggies, homemade breadsticks, and fresh blackberry juice. These kind women truly care for us without knowing much about us.

We were broken up into our levels for Spanish class after taking quick showers. My group, the advanced class, focused on brainstorming for our final project and planning a lesson for tomorrow.

Free time followed our class and we spent it reading, playing soccer with Gustavo and Diego, shopping in the pulpería, and napping.

Every part of this trip has been amazing, and this day was no different. Being leader of the day was super fun and I loved playing a role in ensuring that everybody’s day was fulfilling and successful.

Much love! – Natalie

June 27, 2017

Author: Graham Soofer

Today for service we shoveled compost. Some people worked in the assembly line and passed the buckets (baldes) to and from the compost to the coffee plants in order to fertilize the coffee plants. We had a break and ate mangos and pears.

We split up into different Spanish groups and some groups went into town and spoke to the locals while other groups learned the basics such as the alphabet, months, numbers and more.

For our three amazing meals our we ate corn flakes for breakfast (desayuno), rice, garbanzos, and salad for lunch, and finally we had rice and a mix of vegetables for dinner.

As leader of the day I encouraged the others to push limits and keep an upbeat personality all day. We also watched a TED talk about the sterotyping of different cultures and how close minded that makes people. So far my favorite part of being here was playing soccer with some of the local boys and my fellow students.

Shoutout to mi hermano Ben, mi mama, mi padre, y mi perro Winnie. Take care, Love Graham

The first is a group picture at our hotel in Turrialba for the excursion

Make a face like you’re about to get snacks!!

July 3, 2017

Written by Noah Stegman

¡Hola! I am Noah, and I was the Líder del Día today. Today was a long, but very fun day. We started off the morning with breakfast and morning stretching, which is always a relief. After that we had a long walk to some beautiful fresh water springs in the forest. There we carried out a group discussion about water, the wasting of it, and ways to conserve it. There we shared ideas on how to conserve water, and became more aware of the situation about a lack of water in countries around the world. After the talk we carried out our third day in a row of service in the park in downtown Providencia. The service included cementing and digging trenches for the foundation for an eventual basketball court.

As leader of the day I felt like myself, being leader of the day did not change the way I acted towards my friends in the group. Although, I felt like leading by example was the best way to carry out being a leader, so I worked very hard on encouraging my group, and working hard during service to express the amount of motivation we still had as a group. My favorite part about this trip so far has been interacting with the locals in our Adopt a Gringo groups, the best intercultural experience. In this part of the program a small group of us are invited into a local family’s house. It’s incredible being able to communicate with the locals in their native language, it helps me realize how much I actually know, and how well I can communicate in another language. ¡Buenas Noches!

July 6, 2017

I was leader on the end of the weekend so my adventure for today was driving on the bus back from our surfing adventure, and keeping everyone excited and ready for the day.

I learned that as a leader, even if you are tired, you need to keep a positive and excited attitude to share with all of the people you are leading.

I had intercultural experiences today in spanish class and buying snacks from the local store.

My experience as a leader today was great, I had a super great time talking to everyone, singing everyone a goodnight song, waking everyone up in the morning, and getting everyone through the day.

My favorite part of being a leader today was waking people up enthusiastically and singing my goodnight song to them. Shout out to mi familia and mama Julie!

– Carter Johnson

July 7, 2017

Hi. I’m Daniel Le Lorier. Today is July 7th, and I was leader of the day today. I’m usually quiet so I knew being leader would be interesting. I woke everyone up after a night of singing them Bohemian Rhapsody and headed to breakfast. I didn’t have too much time to eat, but it was enough.

Service today was brutal. We worked on building the park again today. This time, however, some kids had to haul wheelbarrows full of cement up a hill to the trenches. Of course, I had to lead by example by choosing to do the hard task. I’m tired. But I’m still here so it’s all good. Throughout service time I made sure I was more talkative and supportive than usual, even if it may have been a couple more sentences. I mean, I gotta get my snaps am I right?

After service I bought some more junk food and went to the last Spanish class. As a member of the Beginner class, I took part in the skit we were performing for our last day. Apparently my voice is good for narration, so that was my part. The whole play was in Spanish so that sure was an intercultural experience. Even if it WAS about Isaac in a waterfall playing the didgery doo. That was fun.

Later we had a group discussion about differing cultural views, and we did an activity that involved me staring at people’s feet. It was weird, but I see the point that was made about some customs in one culture being different to customs in another.

Then, we had dinner and my boy Kevin took Leader of the Day for tomorrow. This has been my blog. Daniel Le Lorier signing out.

Spanish graduation

July 8, 2017

Written by Gilson (Kevin) Dosouto

Hola mi nombre es Gilson (Kevin) Dosouto and today I was the leader of the day. Today our service project was at Geraldo’s farm. My adventure started a bit late. Usually the leader would go around at 6:30 in the morning and wake everyone up, and so I was waiting on that person to wake me up but at 6:35 I realized I was the leader and I had to wake everyone up! So I woke up everyone and at 7:00 am everyone was at breakfast. Then we did our usual stretches after breakfast and headed to the worksite about 8 am. At first we loaded the truck with compost bags and delivered it Geraldo’s farm. At the farm we unloaded the truck and began to fertilize the coffee plants. We would stand in line and pass the buckets of compost down the line to where it was needed. Communication played a huge part in our work. We communicated to inform to each other to move down or up the line and to make sure everyone is on the same page. We worked at the coffee farm until 12. In between we had a little break. We headed to lunch at Doña Flora’s. For our afternoon activities we played soccer with the Young Dreamers and people of the community. Young Dreamers are students in the local communities who are very passionate about learning . They get up at 5 in the morning and sits on the bus for 2 hours to go to school in the city, they would occasionaly get home at 7 pm. We had lots of fun during the game and talked a lot to the locals. My experience as a leader was a bit different. I checked in a lot with peers and tried to embrace leadership. I tried to lead by example and make sure everyone was doing great. My favorite experience in this trip so far is working at the playground because I like to work for something that will benefit the community and this playground is perfect. At the end of the day I feel so satisfied knowing that the littlest thing would make world better tomorrow.