June 24, 2017

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

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

July 2, 2017

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

-Jasmine L.

Arriving to China!

Friday, July 28th: The Forbidden City

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

Saturday, July 29th: The Great Wall of China

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

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

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

Monday, July 31st: Kunming

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

Wednesday, August 2nd: First Day in Shaxi

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

By: Bryce, Andrew, Rahul, Kimberly and Darren

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

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

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

Experience awaits.

Published on July 8, 2017

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

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

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

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

Day 4:
Saturday: Shilong Village

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

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

Day 5
Sunday: Shibao Mountain/ Baoxiang Temple

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

Day 6:
Monday: Community Service at Temple

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

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

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

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

Day 7
Tuesday

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

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

Wednesday, July 12

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

Thursday, July 13

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

Friday, July 14

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

Saturday, July 15

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

Sunday, July 16

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

Final Days- A page from Theo’s journal

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

How fun.

• Theo

8/1/17

Breakfast this morning was a combination of scrambled eggs, beans, papayas, and friend jacks (a kind of deep fried dough). We spent the morning getting to know everyone a little better and beginning our mentor groups. The mentor groups are a kind of way to discuss goals, expectations, and our home lives with a smaller group. A short break later and we sat down for lunch. Our lunch consisted of delicious rice and grilled chicken with sauce and a cabbage salad. Everyone went up for seconds :). After lunch we headed for the Belize Zoo! It was not like most zoos, since all of their animals were native to Belize. We split into groups and got an interactive tour with a staff member. Some of us had the opportunity to feed toucans, parrots, tapirs (the Belizean nation animal), and everyone held the boa constrictor! A majority of the animals were rescues such as the jaguar, pelicans, harpy eagle and others were taken from being illegally kept as pets. We came back to came around 4:30 and took some free time where people showered, played volleyball, and sat on the bridge enjoying their surroundings. Right before dinner we played some group games then proceeded to eat a wonderful meal including pasta, grilled chicken, steamed vegetables and for desert some banana bread. In the evening, we had two group speakers from the school we will be working with. The vice principal and one of the teachers sat with us for about an hour and talked about the curriculum, Belizean school standards, the melting pot of cultures and introduced their school. Our plan for tomorrow is the head into the school for the first time and prep the classrooms for our individual age groups. Later in the day, we’ll be hiking around some Mayan ruins.

Special hello to Macey and Sophia!! 🙂 <3

From,

Francesca C. and Emily M.

 8/2/17

At the crack of dawn we awoke to the sound of a loud bird chirping, sausage frying, and shuffling on the pebble pathways. Mentors encouraged us to eat a hardy breakfast to prepare ourselves for the busy day ahead. Following breakfast we hopped on our bus and to St Joseph’s, the school we will be teaching over the course of our trip. There we helped clean and set up our classrooms, moving desks and getting our materials ready for the next day. Next stop was the Mayan ruins of Xunantunich. We hopped on the bus where we had chicken sandwiches for lunch.When we arrived at our destination we immediately noticed the brightly colored shops and the river we would be crossing by ferry. Some of us were lucky enough to get a chance to steer the ferry across. Then we trekked up a mile to meet our tour guide. After a short distance we had finally come the breathtaking beauty that is Xunantunich. After a few quick pictures our guide began delving into the history of the magnificent structures and the civilization behind them. His enthusiasm attracted the attention to all the rich culture of the Mayans. Then we climbed up the king’s palace, the tallest of the buildings. The view from the top was too beautiful for words [insert inspirational song here]. Once we had captured more than a few pictures, we headed back to the ground to explore more of what the site had to offer.  We learned the story and purpose behind each building, and were even taught about an ancient Mayan game with associations to the gods and ancient rituals. In relation to the Mayan culture and ways of survival we were each given the opportunity to feast on the flesh of the termites. It was explained that termites are an abundance source of food full of protein and can be used in dire circumstances as a natural bug spray. After a full informational day at Xunantunich we purchased at some of the local gift shops and rode ferry back to the bus. We arrived back at home arrived back at home base to eat a dinner consisting of beans and rice with stewed beef. Following dinner we had guest speaker named Emily Martinez. She is a member of numerous leadership and educational organizations. Her discussion inspired us to adopt a new way of thinking and to appreciate multiculturalism and its relevance in the world. Martinez’s mantra of “Peace, Love, Hope, Joy” wasn’t the only lesson she imparted onto us. She said, “If you don’t know yourself then someone else will define you.” Her lessons boosted our energy for the final task of the day which was to create lesson plans for the first day of summer camp. We can’t wait to meet the kids tomorrow and learn from them, as they will from us.

Shoutout to Momma Marquis, Paul, Grace, Amanda and Nona.

8/3/17

Today we started our day a little earlier than the last few days. We had breakfast at 7:30 (biscuits, ham, and fruit) and then headed over for our first day of teaching! All the GLA students were split into small groups and assigned to different age groups ranging from Infant One to Standard 5 (kindergarten to 7th grade). School started at 9 o’clock and we welcomed 60 students into our clean and decorated classrooms. The GLA students were in charge with coming up with our own lesson plans to teach to our grades. For example, Delaney and Valentina, who taught Infant One, did character building arts and crafts, introduction games, and duck duck goose. Others such as Shelby, Franny, Jenny, and Ashley in Standard Three decorated handprint name tags, spelling contests, and played educational games. After a 30-minute recess and afternoon classes, the school was dismissed at 12. We packed up and headed back to base for a quick lunch and regrouping then boarded the bus and returned to the school. Once there we painted the bathrooms and set up white boards in classrooms that previously had blackboards. After a few hours of redecorating, we returned to base for dinner and lesson planning. We are ready for a long day of fun tomorrow!

Shoutout to Devin. Hope your teeth are feeling better! (Ily mom/mami and dad/papi).

Day five has for sure been wiiild!!

8/7/17

We woke up and ate breakfast at 7:30 as usual.  We had beans, eggs, and toast for breakfast.  We then returned to our dorms to get prepared to teach.  Our handsome bus driver, Windell, drove us to the school to begin the week.  We had a student arrive to school on a horse. Overall, it was a pretty calm day. We did not have students run away like last week. After a successful day, we returned to home base and consumed some phenomenal empanadas. After lunch, we split into two groups and did separate activities. One group went to “Cheers” to eat the traditional American cuisine of saturated fat. They ate cheddar bacon burgers and milkshakes. The other group participated in a cooking class. They made the traditional Belizean meal of chicken, rice, and beans. After two consecutive meals, we ate dinner. For dinner, we ate the food that was made by the cooking class. After dinner, we had a group jeopardy game and planned for the big day of education tomorrow. We hope tomorrow goes as well as today did.

Evan and Alex

July 7, 2017

The 21-day Belize program is off and running!

It was a very smooth travel day for 24 of our new global citizens who arrived in Belize! Our program, comprised of all young women, came from almost all corners of the country with a shared goal to grow as leaders and to be of service in Belize.

All flights arrived by 12:30p, and we were well on our way to our home base, the Tropical Education Center. After a quick shop at the store to grab snacks, we were to our new home for three weeks by mid-afternoon. Students dropped their bags in their rooms, met their new roommates, and we were briefed by Diana, the Office Manager at the TEC, on safety and any other necessary information about our stay. We quickly dove into a a variety of fun name games, and of course, one that included dancing!

After our first dinner together, which concluded with a very tasty tres leches birthday cake for our Mentor, Elise, we headed back up to our classroom and asked the GLA Alumni to share their words of wisdom and advice for the new GLA travelers. We have five alumni who shared wonderful feedback to all of us: be present, enjoy every moment, don’t make any judgments, be open, and be mindful that 3-weeks will fly!

Before we called it a day, each room got together and made creative door signs for their dorms. To close, we had everyone say their first impression of Belize, this program, and this experience in one word. We heard everything from “hopeful” to “friendship!”

We are definitely off to a wonderful start and we are looking forward to spending these busy and meaningful three weeks with each of these young travelers!

Here we go!

Best,
Kelli, Elise, and John
Belize Team

July 8, 2017

Hello! My name is Madeleine Campbell, and I am the leader of the day!
Today is a blog of my personal adventure while on Day 2 of their Belizean experience!

Today was day 2 of our trip! I woke up this morning to the sound of the birds chirping and sweat dripping. It has been excruciatingly hot and we are all still trying to acclimate to the temperature here! So this morning I thought it would be a wonderful idea to do yoga outside with my new friend Hope! We didn’t make it through a full set, on account of we were slipping and sliding all over the wood from our sweatiness. After attempting to do yoga we both went for a nice cold shower this morning and then headed to breakfast! This morning we were served fried dough cakes, eggs, beans, and a little fruit. After we were sent to our classroom on the second floor to go to a meeting! We talked about safety precautions, rules of GLA, and got to know each other a little more. We played a riveting game of never have a I ever, chair style, and then went for a little lunch! Lunch was delicious with, buffet style, man made tacos. We were allowed free time after lunch, and a group of us started playing cards and got to know our mentor, Jon. We played all the way until it was time for our special guest, Minerva, ( the woman who helped started the belize trip all together) to talk about what she excepts from us as volunteers. She explained many of the kids learn english at the age of 5, so much of our job is going to being teaching the children about Literature. We want them to learn how to read, think critically, learn how to speak english, and give these children some tools for success. Education is so important here because if they don’t pass a standardized test at the end of their Eighth Grade they are not welcome to go to any high school. It is a very serious test that determines the fate of these children, and it is so important for us to help these children as much as we can before we leave. After learning about all the activities we are going to being doing with the kids we were allowed more free time. As. Everyone scattered around and went exploring, played more cards, and talked in Groups, I racked my brain for a game that we could all play before dinner. I decided on a game of Mafia, and it was very fun! We played a little bit before being shipped off to dinner where we had Tostadas. Again very delicious. Later that night we all made peace flags and gathered around a campfire and learned more about each other! It was a very productive day learning about all of my colleagues and mentors! Tomorrow will be even more excited, but as for now I am off to bed.

Sweet dreams!

July 9, 2017

After a day of lounging around home base yesterday everyone was itching to get out and explore Belize. The opportunity arose and once we had eaten a delicious breakfast made by the kind people here, we made our way to the bus and after a short drive we arrived at the Belize Zoo. We split into two groups, each of which had a keeper from the zoo to lead us. Emmanuel, leader of my group and zoo keeper to the monkeys, then told us the zoo was opened in 1982 when the original animals were gathered for a documentary, now the zoo serves as a sanctuary and rehabilitation center. While there we learned about animals native to Belize along with some introduced, we got to hold a nine foot boa constrictor, we met Junior, a Jaguar they trained to do tricks after his mom rejected him, we even got to feed a tapir, the national animal of Belize. It was truly unlike any zoo I have ever been to, not only were the keepers happy, the animals seemed to be as well. We finished the morning off at the gift shop and with ice cream.

When we returned we had a lunch of mashed potatoes and chopped stew beef along with delicious homemade fruit punch before heading back out to see the school for the first time! We split into groups of four, each with a different grade and began to clean and sort the classrooms we were going to be using. Planning the classes is also up to us, we have a book to base our lessons on but most grades we have to tailor them to. Some kids gathered by the back fence and called us over. They were all so excited for camp and they told us all of their friends were coming, too! They also learned our names very fast, faster then we learned each others names. After setting up our classrooms for the next day and meeting the principal who is kind enough to let us use her school we once again returned to home base.
Our speaker today was a very nice woman named Miss Emily, she’s been a teacher for her whole adult life and along with telling us about her culture and the mixed culture of Belize she gave us a few tips on teaching. She told us the kids are very excited to learn and even though they may occasionally need encouragement they are all quite happy to be at summer camp, Miss Emily also told us that the kids will be very cuddly which everyone is looking forward too.
With three days under our belts we are all excited to see what the future has in hold for us.

With love from Belize,
Cody Gondella

July 10, 2017

Today was our first day of service and we all had an amazing time getting to know the children. We started off the day with delicious Johnnycakes, ham, cheese, and papaya. We then all loaded up on the bus to St. Mathews. The bus first dropped us off and then went to mile 39 and 40 to pick up some of the children. At about 9:30 we got to work with our classes. The children were very excited to learn and meet us and they automatically stole our hearts. After service, we returned back to home base for lunch where we had curry chicken and rice. We ate quickly and got ready for our next adventure at Blue Hole National Park. We loaded up and drove an hour to the springs. We spent an hour splashing and swinging from vines into the water. The cool water was such a nice break from the hot climate. After we got tired of swimming, we loaded back into the bus and went to a local supermarket to pick up snacks.

We were all starving by the time dinner rolled around and happily enjoyed chicken stir-fry and celebrated Hope’s sixteenth birthday with an amazing strawberry cake. Right after dinner we made our way up to the classroom above the dining hall to play a game of Buddha. The game is played by one person standing in the middle of a circle formed by the other players, this person is called the Buddha. The other players would be in pairs, one in front of the other. When the person closest to the Buddha’s name is called they have ten seconds to touch the Buddha with the player behind you trying to hold you back. We played for an hour and had such a fun time – everyone got so into the game and by the end we were all clapping and cheering. After Buddha, we sat and discussed our lesson plan for the next day. We had a blast with each other and our students and we are even more excited to return to St. Matthew’s tomorrow and afterwards learn to make chocolate!

-Azure

July 11, 2017

Today we started off the day with another delicious meal that prepped us for our second day of school. We continued to teach and develop relationships with the kids and it was a lot of fun. After the fun filled morning of learning and play we headed back for lunch. We had some fabulous quesadillas and headed off to our next adventure at a authentic chocolate factory. We learned how the process of making chocolate is conducted. This was really interesting and also opened up a conversation about different work ethics in Belize. We headed back to home base to talk about our day and eat some good old spaghetti. Finally, we finished off the night with a fun group game and service prep for tomorrow. Overall, it was a great day and anxiously awaiting to see what tomorrow holds!

– Azure
July 12, 2017

We woke up to many birds that were excited for the morning, getting ready for service gets easier every day. Today’s breakfast was slices of bread, eggs, beans, and fresh fruit and orange juice. Everyone was eager to get on the bus and head to the school to teach, we have all started bonding with our students and started to become close. After a long and fun morning of teaching we headed back to the base for lunch, where we had chicken and bean empanadas with coleslaw and pineapple juice, everyone was so happy to be eating and made sure they were full.

For our afternoon activities, we spilt up into three groups and all went our separate ways. My group had a cooking class at the base with Sandra. We had so much fun learning about how to prepare dinner for everyone, multitasking laughing so hard and peeling potatoes. We made chicken stew, potato salad, and fried plantains. This meal was then eaten by the group and thankfully they enjoyed the meal and had no complaints. After dinner we enjoyed a game of Mafia, which seems to be everyone’s favorite game. We concluded the night with service prep for the day with writing letters and making worksheets for the students who are so eager to learn more and more everyday.

– Madison

July 13, 2017

This morning we went to St. Matthews School to teach. After our initial stop to drop our group off, a couple of us stayed on the bus to go pick up the children. Getting on the bus, the kids were so excited and happy to get the opportunity to learn and go to school, even though it’s their summer break already. When we arrived at the school again with the added children, they ran off the bus to go see their friends and hug their teachers. As the week is coming to a close, the kids were more energetic and pushed their limits in the class, but by noontime they’ve learned their share of English and were ready for lunchtime, just like us. After saying our goodbyes and cleaning up the classrooms, we got back to home base for lunch and free time before splitting up for our next adventures. One group went to a local restaurant for discussion, the next to the jaguar encounter, and the last stayed here to make a dinner of stew beef, coconut rice, salad, and bread pudding. After dinner, we played jeopardy about Belize and made groups for our painting project at the school tomorrow. Overall, a tiring but successful day in Belize. J

-Sonia

July 14, 2017

Hey families!

Today was super fun and FILLED with service. In the morning, we did our daily service working with the Belizean children who were very playful and excited to learn (like always). All in all, it was a really great end to a full week of teaching. Everyone has already made such strong bonds with the kids that will last a lifetime. For lunch, we had MAC AND CHEESE!!!!! We love the food here, but some American food was much appreciated. After lunch, we went back to St. Matthew’s School to do some hard core painting! We split up into groups: some people repainted the hopscotch lines on the side walk, some people painted a multiplication chart and others painted the walls of the school. Seeing all of our hard work when it was finished was extremely rewarding and worth all the sweat. When we got back to home base we had some chicken and mashed potatoes for dinner and then played a competitive yet fun game of Heads Up. It was an exciting day but we are all ready for the weekend break and the adventures ahead of us!

-Jessica Savage

July 15, 2017

Hey friends and families!! Today the group kicked off our second week of life in Belize with an incredible trip to the ATM caves!! Before we could set out for our journey, we had a delicious breakfast of pancakes! Unfortunately we were not allowed to take pictures at the caves but believe me when I say the views were breath taking. Essentially, we drove about an hour away from Home Base and then hiked a mile and a half to get to the mouth of the cave. We were split into 3 groups of 8 and set off with our tour guides. In my group, our tour guide, Jam-Jam, was not only extremely educational but also extremely kind and funny. All the people we’ve met here in Belize are so nice! The hike itself was beautiful as it was through the jungle and we had to cross three rivers. Once we reached the cave, the first half of our trip was swimming through the parts of the cave that were under water and the second half was climbing through the dry parts of the cave to see the Mayan artifacts. The ATM cave was a very sacred place for the Mayan people, it was where they would do sacrifices and rituals. During the first part of the cave tour, we swam through tiny passageways and climbed from boulder to boulder. Once we climbed up to the dry area, we found ourselves in a room the size of a football field. Here we saw broken pots and human and animals remains. Jam-Jam explained to us the significance of all the pots and the sacrifices that took place in the Mayan culture. We then climbed up a ladder into a tiny room to see more artifacts. After that we returned back through the caves the way we came, but still completely awestruck by their natural beauty. The ATM caves themselves stretch for around 4 miles and Jam-Jam said it would take about 15 hours to explore. On the hike back from these beautiful caves, Jam-Jam picked us a naturally grown papaya and showed us the plant that the Mayan’s used as insect repellent. Once we got to the last river, he let us cool down and go for a little swim. We then met up with the rest of the group for a yummy sandwich lunch and headed back to home base. At home base we relaxed and had a delicious dinner of grilled chicken and rice with our all time favorite dessert, banana bread! After dinner we played some fun games as a group and then parted ways to hit the showers and go to sleep. It has been an exhausting and exciting day and we’ve got another big one in front of us tomorrow! The fun never ends! Goodnight!

-Hannah Seinfeld

July 18, 2017

July 18, 2017

Tuesday’s in the US may not be the most interesting, or the most fun, but here in Belize, things sure are different!

Our day started with breakfast; we had amazing biscuits, (four inches in diameter!), smothered with our choice of peanut butter, jelly, or ham, along with fresh fruit, so we were more than ready to take on the crazy, energetic, wonderful children we are teaching. Today’s main activity, in most classes, was a music lesson, learning different genres, as well as dancing along to some tunes! So classes today were blowing up with music of all sorts, and along the way we found some talented dancers, singers, and even rappers! Each day we are with the kids we grow closer, learn more about their lives, and enjoy them even more, which seems impossible!

Our afternoon today was jam packed! First we made an ATM stop for those of us who needed withdrawals. Then we walked across the street, to the Belmopan Market. Belmopan is Belize’s capital, and often we drive through it, going to different excursions, but today was the first time we were able to spend time there. Tuesday’s and Friday’s are the days that Belmopan’s market is at it’s fullest; so we got the full experience. The market included all sorts of goods, from fruits and veggies, to clothing and jewelry, to random trinkets of all sorts. Some of us even got gifts for loved ones at home, so get ready GLA families. 😉 After the market, we made a stop at a general store to get anything we’ve run out of, or want to snack on. And from there, we made a snack stop at our favorite restaurant Cheers! Most of us got American snacks we are missing, i.e. Milkshakes and french fries.

Our day concluded with a wonderfully prepared dinner of baked potatoes, chicken, and for dessert, vanilla cake! We then got into groups and watched a TED Talk, followed by a group discussion about the differences we wish to make in the world. It was an interesting and intriguing talk, that really made us think.

Overall, it was a wonderful day here in Belize! Pretty good for a Tuesday if you ask me. We learn more and more each day, and grow closer with our students, as well as our fellow teachers. Here’s to another great day of service! Ya mon!

–  Carley Kormanis

July 19, 2017

It’s hump day! Our Wednesday morning started off with a delicious breakfast that included bread with jam and peanut butter, eggs, ham, and some melon and pineapple. After breakfast we went to the school for our usual service, but today the kids had more than enough energy!!! We spent time in our workbooks, but took breaks having dance parties and playing football to get some of our excitement out. Some of the teachers got their nails painted by their students during recess while others took part in games such as tag. After service we had a HUGE lunch of burritos, they were the size of our face! This is actually fairly common, because lunch here in Belize is the largest meal of the day. After lunch, Celso, one of the heads at the Belize Zoo, and a passionate tapir enthusiast, came to speak to us about tapir endangerment and their preservation. It was interesting since many of us had no clue what a tapir even was until we got here, so we encourage everyone to google them! (They’re relatives to both horses and rhinos, so they are quite unique! …and so ugly they’re cuteJ) The rest of our afternoon included free time: relaxing with face masks, taking naps, and friendship bracelet making. It was nice to have a calm afternoon after the children being so wild this morning! Before dinner we played a game of charades. Dinner was rice with either chicken or fish and yummy vegetables! After our meal we had a discussion about our service and our impact on the students along with the school. None of us are ready to say goodbye to the sweet faces we’re greeted by every morning; but we are soaking up every second of them we can get! A Wednesday for the books, for sure.

– Courtney

July 20, 2017

It’s the day after hump day, and it started out like any other typical service day. We woke up to the sounds of birds chirping at 5 am and heavy rain against our roofs. We had a breakfast that consisted of biscuits, oatmeal, and local fruits, and then we set out to St. Matthews to begin our service for the day. We taught our students the importance of striving to reach their goals and during recess engaged in some intense games of football (soccer). After a delicious lunch of tacos at home base, which we all ate too many of, we headed back to St. Matthews to complete painting the school from the previous week, but today we were assisted by some of our students! Though it was debatable whether the walls or we received more paint… After finishing we came back to the Tropical Education Center for a traditional Central American dinner of spinach tamales and chicken with coconut tarts for dessert and later a brief crocodile sighting in the pond. Then we all sat down and played a quick game before beginning to write letters to our students. This quickly became very sentimental as we all prepared for our last day with the kids. Overall, it has been an emotional, but great day in Belize!

– Lily Wielar

July 21st, 2017

Can you Belize this day has finally come? It’s hard to describe the emotions we’ve all been feeling, as today our two week summer camp drew to a bittersweet close. Beginning the morning with games and pictures, by the time 12:00 rolled around, there wasn’t a dry eye in the house. It was amazing to see the difference we’ve made in the students’ lives, but more importantly the difference that they’ve made in ours. Out of all the adventures we’ve had here in Belize, saying goodbye to our kids was undoubtedly the hardest. Concluding our morning at St. Matthews, we headed back to our home base for lunch, only to quickly turn back around and head to Marie Sharp’s Hot Sauce Factory. The scenic two hour drive gave us time to recuperate from our emotional morning while surrounded by luscious green mountains. The tour was short but interesting and ended with samples of all of their jams and hottest sauces. When we returned to the Tropical Education Center, we played a quick game of volleyball then headed to the dining room for a dinner of Pasta Alfredo. We finished the day with a quick group game then wrote letters to our future selves, which Kelli will send to us next summer. Overall, today had its ups and downs, but we all feel very accomplished with the work we have achieved and are looking forward to our cave tubing adventure tomorrow!

–  Elisa Membreno

July 25, 2017

Hey readers,

Today we had another beautiful day on Caye Caulker. We started our day with a yummy breakfast at a cute café in town. Some of us got waffles with nutella and fruit on them while others got sandwiches. Then we did some swimming and shopping… The water was so clear and blue! Then we all re-grouped and sat down for a yummy lunch of chicken and rice on the beach. After we all stuffed ourselves full, we got onto the ferry for a ride back to Belize City and a bus ride back to the TEC. We were all very tired after 3 days of fun on the island, so we took a nap before dinner. The island was so beautiful and peaceful, a place all of us want to return to in the future! It was a perfect closing trip to our wonderful adventure in Belize! Dinner was mashed potatoes, chicken and roasted veggies and salad. For dessert we had homemade banana bread! We then ended the night with activities and discussions with the mentor groups. All and all a great day, but very tiring! J

-Hope Adler

July 26, 2017

Today was a pretty relaxing day compared to everything else we have been doing these past two weeks. We split into our two mentor groups – half of us went cave tubing while the other half stayed behind, packed for our trip to Caye Caulker and did a scavenger hunt. I was in the first group to go cave tubing so we had breakfast and headed to the cave tubing spot. We put on helmets and life jackets and carried our tubes for about one hour until we reached the mouth of the cave. We jumped into the water and floated into the cave. The current carried us for most of the way so we just got to sit back and relax. Some of us jumped into the water and swam for part of the way. We floated all the way down the river until we made it back to our starting point so we did not have to hike anymore. We put our equipment back and climbed on the bus. Then we got back, had lunch and then it was onto our next activity. We packed our day bags because tomorrow we are leaving for our weekend trip to the island of Caye Caulker. After we finished packing we split into teams and did a scavenger hunt. Some of the items included learning the chorus of the Belizean national anthem, taking a picture of an iguana, and writing thank you letters to our driver and the kitchen staff at the TEC. After that we had some break time, did the leader of the day activity and then had dinner. Besides hiking to the cave, the whole day was pretty calm. Everyone is super excited to head to Caye Caulker tomorrow. We are going to be snorkeling and shopping around the island which will be a nice change of pace. I am super excited to experience the island life!

-Abigail Botschka

July 26, 2017

Hello friends! We woke up today and had yummy banana muffins with oatmeal and fruit. We all eat a ton and then from 9-12 we finished up all of our packing and did our final evaluations of the whole GLA program. It’s amazing how much this place feels like home after living here for 3 weeks, which made packing really hard. We then all went to lunch and had pasta salad and meatballs with fresh watermelon. After lunch we drove to a beautiful gift store called The Art Box which had so much of everything. It was nice to go to one last place to get last minute gifts and one last ice cream stop. Almost all of us came out of the store with beautiful gifts for our family and friends! Then, we played beach volleyball while blasting music and dancing. We all played until dinner was ready which was an awesome surprise of home made pizza and ice cream for dessert!! It was definitely an awesome last day, which lots of time to reflect on the trip (we did an activity about reverse culture shock) and its many adventures. We ended the night with a very unique and upbeat drumming performance by natives, while we all danced and laughed around the fire. There are definitely mixed emotions among us all as we prepare to leave beautiful Belize tomorrow. We miss family and friends back home, but we will all be crying at the airport as we say our final goodbyes. It is safe to say all 24 of us had some of the BEST weeks of our lives!

– Carmen Boll