Coming soon!

Time Capsule Letter – October 2016

Hello to Session 2 of Thailand: Cultural Kaleidoscope at the Tianna Home Base!!! We hope you are all doing well! Time has flown by and it has somehow been over two months since we last said our goodbyes at the Chiang Mai airport. While we all eventually made it back to our homes and returned to our normal lives, we will always have the memories from an incredible three weeks together in Chiang Mai. This ‘Time Capsule Letter’ is a great way to look back on the people we met, the places we saw, and the experiences we shared during our time together. Hopefully all of you are able to think back to your time walking through one of the many temples we visited, or one of the classes you taught at either Wat Kha Jao School or Baan Don Kaew School, or the relationships you built with the kids from the Nimit Foundation, the Wildflower shelter, the local community, the Thai school children, and each other, and you are able to smile, laugh, and appreciate our experiences in Thailand this past summer.

Your group will always hold a special place in our collective hearts since we were able to spend a full three weeks together. Being thrown into a situation where you spend so much time with a group of people that were mostly strangers before coming together as a group means you learn a lot about the other people on your trip in a very short time. It happens on 10-day trips and 14-day trips, but spending a whopping 21 days together in Thailand in the middle of July is a whole different level. We were incredibly fortunate to have such an interesting group of people that supported each other and got along so well. You guys were all awesome and it made the experience so much more rewarding to have been able to share it with so many other great people. That’s not to say everything was wonderful sunshine and rainbows all day, every day. There were mosquitos (lots of them); there were classes where students didn’t listen; there were upset stomachs and other illnesses; there was a whole lot of rice; there were literally rainy days; there were schedule changes and long van rides and nightly curfew checks. But that’s all part of what makes traveling to new countries and experiencing new cultures such a rewarding experience: you never know exactly what you will get. It’s all about making the most of those experiences while you are there, and you guys all made that happen.

GLA programs can be exciting, a little overwhelming, and a whole lot of fun, but one thing GLA hopes to stress is how the experiences you have while in Thailand, Peru, Tanzania, or wherever else you may travel with GLA can be an opportunity to learn about a new culture, become more informed about how interconnected the world has become, and reflect on ways you can make a positive impact on the world around you. In addition to being an opportunity to travel and learn about what life is like in a different place and culture, a GLA trip can also be a valuable opportunity to grow and learn more about yourself, about your strengths and values, and about what motivates you to be the best person you can be. So as you make your way through your high school classes, or as you settle in to your new surroundings on a college campus, or wherever life takes you this fall, winter, and beyond, remember to think back to your experiences and the relationships you built last summer in Chiang Mai, to cherish them, and to use them as a part of what makes each of you unique. And then go out there and keep being awesome!

Before we wrap this up, here are a few of our favorite memories from Session 2:

• Bergen’s Shiny shoes
• Chasing little frogs in the rain at Wat Chedi Luang
• Everyone getting braids by Lauren each morning
• Ryan getting a shout out during the Thai dance class for being very feminine
• Peter, Adele, and Sydney N. pounding gravel at Wildflower
• The little boy at Wildflower home who helped spread countless loads of stone with Adele… adorable!
• Chelsea’s van playing Justin Bieber in every van ride
• Stella and her love for ice cream
• Adele’s laugh
• Aidan and Lena’s Dance moves at Nimit
• The leaf snail crawling across Tianna Home base
• Dancing while working at the orphanage and teaching Ryan and Keith
• Xinyi being surprised every time she saw a bug in Thailand
• Peter’s excellent pouncing abilities during birdie on a perch and while swimming — there goes ‘Cannonball Peter’!
• Ryan and Keith’s epic pool party swag and jumping hand clap
• Battening down the hatches at dinner time on the Ping River during the rain storm
• Harper and Aidan being just a little late!
• The never ending toque giggles – uh-ehhhh. Thanks, Giovanna!
• All of the school children pouring into the GLA students ‘resting room’ jumping on top of everything like little monkeys
• Claire sacrificing her leg to win balloon stomp
• Harper dancing around elephants
• Keith’s Muay Thai match with a praying mantis. Keith running away because he lost.
• “Hello my name is Pennsylvania and I’m from Thomas”
• Katie’s accent on cultural exchange day
• Nailing the ‘We’re all in this Together’ High School Musical dance routine.
• Eating hot Thai peppers in the middle of a pepper field while mountain biking.
• Wearing lifejackets like diapers for a more comfortable floating experience on kayak day
• The ‘We Love Chiang Mai!’ Football match
• Holding hands, swaying and singing (and crying), while closing our English camp at Don Kaew School…

Finally, from all of us that had the pleasure of meeting you this past summer – P’ Aey, Orn, Prae, Ton, Kaye, Ryan, Chelsea, Kaitlyn, and Keith – Thank you again for being such a great group and we wish you all the best in wherever your future takes you! Like we said on the last day, keep in touch, we love hearing what you guys are up to now and keep doing amazing things!!!

-Keith

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Summer Blog Posts

July 9 – Arrival Day!

Greetings from Chiang Mai, Thailand! After making their way around world, through airports, layovers, and many long flights, all 29 of our students for Session 2 (July 9-July 29) have arrived safely! It has been a long day of making trips to and from the airport, but after taking some time to settle in to Tianna Garden Village (our GLA Home Base and our home away from home for the next three weeks) students were given their first taste of local Thai food, including fried rice and some exotic Thai fruit before heading to their rooms for some much needed rest.

The GLA staff team at Tianna Home Base has been working hard preparing for the students’ arrival and trying to fine tune our schedule for the next couple weeks, and we are all very excited to have everyone here with us now. We will be going through an Orientation tomorrow morning after breakfast that will include an introduction to Thai culture, safety and security protocols, highlights of our service learning activities and adventure excursions, and a few other minor details (like staying hydrated in sunny Thailand!). After our orientation, we will be heading to the Chiang Mai Grand View Hotel for a lunch buffet full of more delicious Thai food, which should be a fantastic introduction to the culinary delights Thailand has to offer.

We’ll be getting an early start tomorrow morning so we’ll wrap up this first blog post here. Future blog posts will be authored by our student leaders and will include pictures from our busy days as well so be sure to check back often for updates on all the amazing adventures we are having together in the Land of Smiles! As they say here in Thailand, Khob Khun Krap!

Author: Keith Wingeard (International Director)

Sunday, July 10, 2016

Title: Getting started

We have had a great first day! We started off with orientation. We learned about some Thai culture, language, and history from the local Thai staff. After that we began our fun day by visiting the beautiful Buddhist temples. While we were there, we were taught how to act when entering a temple. The first temple we visited was Chiang Mun. We all thought it was breath taking. After that, we went to the second temple called Chedi Luang where the weather wasn’t on our side. It was down pouring, but we found coverage in the temple, the largest in Chiang Mai. While we were there, a Buddhist monk blessed all of us. It was a great experience for the entire group.

After exploring the temples, we made our way to the food markets in order to learn about the ingredients we would be using during our cooking class. We all got to get a look at different ingredients such as fish sauce, Thai basil, and Kaffir lime. We were then brought to the cooking school and started to prepare our main 3 meals. They were delicious and consisted of stir fry, curry, and another type of soup. It was a very cool experience for all of us to cook our own Thai food and get a taste of what it has to offer. At the end the local Thai cooks gave us our very own cook book. It included multiple recipes that we can make at home. After a long day we finally made our way back to the home base. We gathered together in our mentor groups to share and discuss our thoughts from the long day. Everyone here so far is having a great time growing bonds and making memories. We love it here!!!!

Author: Aidan Purdy & Giovanna de Moura

July 11, 2016

Title: Dancing and Crafting and a Whole Lot of Packing

We started off the day learning about Thai dance and crafts. We bared the heat and saw a martial arts inspired dance, a northern Thailand finger dance, and a central Thailand circle dance. Our skills were tested when we weaved bamboo to create horses. We had lunch in a mall, and went off to service. The groups split in half as one group went to the orphanage and the other to a woman’s shelter.
At the orphanage, the supplies weren’t ready for us to begin working with just yet. We took the time as an opportunity to bond and played various games together. At the women’s shelter, we learned about Wildflower house and its purpose in Thailand. Their mission is to provide for women so that one day they can provide for themselves. They needed help building a usable walkway/driveway so the group got their hands dirty and shoveled a ton of gravel to cover the muddy ground. They shoveled and packed and made a whole lot of progress. Afterwards, they played with the mothers’ kids and had a lot of fun chasing and laughing with them.

Overall, the day was a lot of fun. It was eye opening to learn the dance and craft of a different country. Although it was difficult, we persevered and had a great time. The Thai staff thought we did an amazing job at the end! Service at the shelter was definitely hard and stressful but we pushed through and completed a large portion of the yard. All our sweat and tiredness paid off in the end when we saw how much the paved roads will help the women.

Author: Xinyi Yuan and Victoria Guevara

July 12, 2016

Umbrella Factory and Service

Today we had a very exciting and challenging day. We explored the umbrella factory as well as challenging service work. When we arrived at the umbrella factory we could already see that the umbrellas were hand made. There were different stations with diligent Thai workers using hand tools to make their biodegradable umbrellas. The whole amazing process was narrated by Robert the owner of the facility. He was crazy nice and help described the whole process to us. Once we finished the tour of the umbrella process we walked to the hall of painters. There were 12 painters on both sides who painted magnificent designs of various objects and scenes on to anything you put in front of them! Everyone got different spiritually important objects of theirs painted, including water bottles, phone cases as well as journal notebooks. As we were having our paintings dried we did some painting of our own. We received mini umbrellas and were able to design them however our hearts desired. We concluded the fun with smoothies and our fantastic paintings.
After lunch we split up into two groups and went to our service sites, one is Wild Flower which is a women’s center and the other is an orphanage, Nimit 2. At Nimit 2 we worked on constructing a cement pathway. In order to construct the cement pathway we had to mix cement which included having an assembly line which made it easier for everyone. We had some people shoveling the dirt and gravel into buckets while the rest of us passed the buckets along to where the cement was being mixed. We made a lot of progress today which made all of us happy.
The second group when to the Wild Flower where we helped lay gravel to pave a road. This was probably the sweatiest any of us every gotten. You could tell we were working as hard as we could. There were three jobs, the first was to load the gravel into our buckets and wheelbarrows, the second was to transport the wheelbarrows and buckets to where they were to be dumped and then bring the containers back and the third was to even out the gravel. The work was all worth while because it would have taken them weeks for what we did in hours. We all were very satisfied and happy to have been there.

Author: Jami Tuch and Thomas Carpenito

 

July 13

Wat U-Mong Temple and Service

Today we started the day off as we do everyday day, with chow circle and a delicious breakfast. Followed by visiting an extremely historic and significant temple by the name of Wat U-Mong. It was composed of underground tunnels, active vegetation, skylights, and a breathtaking and large pagoda. We then went further past the temple to visit the mediation center with a large amount of birds and catfish in the pond. We then went to a pair of nearby coffee shops and gained access to the Wi-Fi and connected with friends and family. With a quick trip across the street we were provided a delicious lunch at a restaurant called the boat. Then the group split up into their mentor groups and traveled to their respective service sites both at Nimit 2 and Wildflower.

At Nimit 2 we enjoyed a very productive and fun day laying down cement for the children living there. We spent our time dancing and listening to music all day long. At that point we were happy to enjoy our time as we worked together and made a great amount of progress from the last few days’ minor setbacks. Unfortunately though we spent less time than usual and had to leave early and were unable to play with the kids before they got back from school. Great progress was made at the Wildflower Women’s Shelter, not only is the hard work liberating, but beyond rewarding to see the size of the smiles on these women’s faces. Not to mention that it is so important to them that they are right up there shoveling, carrying, and flattening with the rest of us; of course I have no doubt that they enjoy our company as much as we enjoy theirs. In addition, their children are as fun to play with as they are adorable. The process as a whole is enjoyable, and well worth the while; it is an honor to play my part in it. Despite what site an individual was present at, I believe I can speak for everyone when I say that it is well worth our time and effort to participate in.

Author: Aidan Rupert and Sidney Neuman

July 14, 2016

Todd Talk, School and Service tours, and Khao Soi

We started off a very eventful day with chow circle and breakfast. After breakfast, we met in the conference room where Todd gave us teaching tips to use while teaching English to the children. Following the seminar, the group was split into two smaller groups and were sent off to two separate elementary schools. When we arrived, we were surprised to see how polite and social the children were. We had a small tour of the schools and were given a chance to introduce ourselves to the administration and various students. After our visitation, we had a very special lunch at the family restaurant of P.A., one of our local staff members. Most of us had their restaurant famous Thai dish, Khao Soi, which was a curry soup with chicken and noodles. After a delicious lunch, we all visited the Wild Flower Women’s Shelter, which gave the Nimit group a chance to see the progress of their peers. After a tour, the Nimit group left and went to Nimit where they continued their service as did the group at Wildflower. At the end of the day, the Wildflower group was given a chance to tour the Nimit orphanage and talk to the children and staff as well as see the progress that the other group made. Once all of that was done, we all returned to our home base, where we showered, had mentor groups, and a delicious dinner that consisted of egg rolls, fried rice, veggies, fruit, and pork. After a nutritious dinner, the group began to learn a dance that we will perform in front of a local Thai high school for a cultural exchange program. Once we finished for the night, we all went back to our separate rooms where we fell quickly asleep.

Author: Juliette Chandler and Camryn Simon

New Photos:

July 15, 2016

Title: Pottery and Summing up a motivating experience

Today we started off our morning by visiting the Muang Kung Pottery Village in which we took a tour of the many families in the village who have been creating various types of pottery there for generations. After the tour we created our own hand-spun pottery and were given a beautiful handmade pot as a parting gift from the village. Following that, we went to Big C shopping center, and were each given 100 baht to buy our own lunch and explore. After lunch we went to our last day of service at either the Wildflower Women’s Shelter or the Nimit 2 Orphanage. The group at Wildflower worked with the women to make keffir lime shampoo that they sell in the market, which was really fun to see how they had been taught to make supplies that they can sell. The Nimit group finished up their concrete pathway and with all their gravel material gone they felt very accomplished and spent the rest of the day playing with the kids. After a long day we went back to home base and had mentor groups to discuss how our last day summed up the work we did at Wildflower and Nimit 2. Then we all watched inspiring videos to see how leadership and kindness can have an effect on anyone even in the smallest of ways.

Author: Hannah Schilling, Harper Branch

July 16, 2016

Title: Our Day at Art in Paradise and a Walk in the Park

All through the week we had been working at our service sites, but today was finally our day to have fun with our new friends. We met up as a group at a perspective art museum called “Art in Paradise.” With our friends from Wildflower and Nimit we posed with the art to take creative photos. After our art adventure we split up to a lunch treat at Pizza Hut and KFC. We conversed over the food and learned so many new things about the children at the orphanage and the women’s shelter. We then traveled to the local city park to play and interact more. There were many things to do at the park, whether it was grabbing ice cream, or feeding pigeons.
At the end of a really fun afternoon, there were many hugs and a couple tears saying goodbye. For the Nimit troop we had to sadly part ways at the park. For the Wildflower group we returned to the site and purchased soaps and goods we had made with the mothers to fund and support their future endeavors.
For our evening we went to the Saturday market at the Saturday Walking Street., where for some you could say they “shopped till they dropped.” There were many sites and new sounds and smells that were amazing. We could smell strong durian fruit, see so many intricate trinkets, and so many wonderful street performers. It was the best market for our first evening expedition.

Authors: Olivia Mann-Dial, and Sidney Ammons

July 17, 2016

Title: Biking, Kayaking and Games

This morning we woke up bright and early for a 7am breakfast. After chow circle and a nutritious meal we got in the vans and left at 8:30. After an hour bus ride we arrived at the starting spot for our biking tour. We biked 12 miles with a beautiful view of rice fields. We then headed to the lake where we kayaked to a floating restaurant. There we had time to eat, swim, and jump on the water trampoline. After a couple hours enjoying the area, we got in the kayaks and raced back to the buses. When we got back to the home base we had some down time followed by chow circle wrapping up the day and dinner. After the usual mentor groups we began our evening activity consisting of 2 games. The first was a traditional Thai game called the wedding game where a lot of screaming and running was involved. The second was a game called birdie on a perch which involved jumping and screaming. We personally came in second place but we should’ve been 1^st J. That concludes our action packed day.  With love, yours truly, Lena and Stella.

Author: Lena Wencker & Stella Garland

July 18, 2016

Title: Doi Suthep Temple and the Hmong Hill Tribe Village

After a busy day of biking and Kayaking on Sunday, we got to enjoy and chill all morning at Huay Tuang Tao. We played group bonding games, relaxed, and had a picnic lunch. Some of us participated in a Thai snack tasting contest where we had to identify various snacks while blindfolded. We were also offered silkworms, but only a few were up to the challenge.

After a long and winding van ride, we arrived at Doi Suthep, the most famous temple of the city. We climbed up 308 steps, and the view was definitely worth the effort. There was a large golden pagoda in the main part of the temple. Many Thai people were visiting because it was a national holiday, but we heard many other languages such as Chinese and Russian.

Once we were finished at Doi Suthep we made our way to Hmong Village where we got to see how a hill tribe lived. We visited a coffee shop there where there was a beautiful view. All in all, it was a relaxing and fulfilling day.

Authors: Bergen Hart and Claire Jutabha

July 19, 2016
Title: Niti Day and Muay Thai Boxing

We started our day with an early 7 am breakfast overlooking the Ping River and the beautiful Chiang Mai mountain range. Then we got a brief introduction from Niti (GLA’s local Thai friend) about the Akha hill tribe before we set out. Once at the village, Niti introduced us to her grandmother and gave us a tour of her village and explained the history of the Akha tribe and their traditional dress (see Aidan pictured with Niti’s grandma… awww…). Next, we stopped at a cute coffee shop overlooking rice paddy fields where we had a variety of fresh fruit smoothies before eating an all natural lunch of lettuce wraps with rice, eggplant, and tomato salsa on a bed of bamboo. We then met back up with the other group and embarked to our Muay Thai lesson where we learned how to box from world-class Thai boxers. Though the exercise was hard and we worked up a sweat, the delicious meal waiting for us at Home Base made it all worth it.

Authors: Carli Casteel and Lauren Kanter

 

Day 11

After breakfast this morning, we split up into two groups. One group went to the Akha Hill Tribe Village, and the other went to a market. At the Akha village, we were able to experience the lifestyle of a hill tribe person. An informative tour was given by a local. We were able to try on traditional head dresses for ourselves. After a refreshing drink from a lovely café, we had a home cooked meal provided by the grandmother of an Akha hill tribe grandmother. The group that went to the market was able to see, and smell, a local market. We ate some Thai snacks provided by our Thai mentors. From there everyone headed to Home Base and we had a POOL PARTY!! Everyone got a coconut to enjoy! We spent the entire afternoon in the pool, playing games, and relaxing. We had dinner prepared by Thai staff. Then we did some nighttime activities, which included practicing our High School Musical that we will be preforming at a High School Cultural exchange. At the end of the night, everyone went to bed to get some rest for the first day of teaching in the morning.

 

Day 12

Start of teaching, talking with a monk, and American food

An unfortunate early 6:30 am wake-up call turned out to be an exciting and enjoyable day. We started our first day of teaching at either Wat Kha Jao School or Ban Don Kaew School. They greeted us with smiling faces, followed by the daily morning flag ceremonies and they passed out Jasmine flower garlands to us. All of us on the trip were assigned one class from grade P. 1 to P. 6. We teach one period, observe one period, and have a break period. During our break, we work extremely hard on lesson planning for the following day. We all felt relief once we finished our first day and then received an amazing Thai lunch at the school.

Following lunch we went to another temple, Wat Suan Dok. This time we went for something special, a group chat with a monk. The monk, KK, taught us about Buddhism and the life of a monk. We then were able to ask him any questions, concluded by a blessing from him. We then toured the temple and we came across the graveyard of the Lanna Kingdom’s past Royal Families. After seeing another stunning temple we saw even more stunning food. We had dinner at Duke’s, a Chiang Mai restaurant with AMERICAN FOOD!! Everyone was extremely stuffed after the meal consisting of pizza, ribs, onion rings, salad, and brownies for dessert.

We then were able to walk off our food at a night market, the Night Bazaar. Many people chose to have a ‘fish massage’. It was a very funny reaction to see for all the first-timers. After the night market, we headed back to Home Base. Our evening activity was finishing planning for tomorrow’s day of teaching. We then all headed to bed exhausted, but ready for another fun-filled day tomorrow. With much love, Aria Laskin and Kelly Marx.

Author: Aria Laskin and Kelly Marx

Friday, July 22, 2016
Title: Day 2 of teaching and Cultural Exchange

After an amazing breakfast, we headed out to our schools for the second day of teaching. Each group of teachers had one hour of teaching, one hour of observing, and a one hour planning period. We ate lunch at the schools and were able to play with the kids a little bit before we all went to the Regina Coeli College, which is a Catholic girl’s school. There we watched their video of their school and their cultural presentation, a beautiful traditional Thai dance. We also shared our presentation of where we are all from and a dance to “We’re All in this Together” from High School Musical as a fun representation of our own culture. We also got to know the high schoolers through a fun coconut relay race and making jasmine garlands. At the end we were able to go on a tour of the school and talk a little bit more with the students about themselves. Finally we came back to Home Base for dinner, and had an optional movie night where we watched “Mrs. Doubtfire”!

Author: Sophie von Muench and Adele Hinkle

July 23, 2016
Title: Elephant Day

Today was the day we had all been looking forward to! With so many excited faces, we met for an early 7 a.m. breakfast. After a bit of a winding drive, we finally arrived to the elephant home. Plenty of friendly faces and two beautiful elephants greeted us. We fed them sugar cane, which the elephants loved! We went through a quick orientation and we were then assigned our elephants for the day.
There were 11 elephants, one of which was a male, the rest females. About half of the female elephants were pregnant. There were about two or three people assigned to each elephant. There was also a mahut for each elephant: people who train the elephants for the majority of their lives. We hiked up a beautiful mountain covered in greenery, lots of bugs, and plenty of bamboo and plants for the elephants to snack on on the way up. At the top of the hill, we had a sticky rice snack while the elephants rested and scratched their backs on the trees.
After we made it back down the hill, we had Pad Thai for lunch. We found our elephants again and walked through a rural area surrounded by rice patties and a beautiful view. Then we took the elephants to the river which they LOVED. Some people rode on their backs for a minute while others were lifted by the elephants’ trunks. After walking back to the camp, we said our final goodbyes to our elephants and headed home.
Finally, we ended the night by going to a Chiang Mai v Bangkok soccer game. Chiang Mai won 2 to 1 and we all celebrated. We went back to home base and went to bed early for yet again, another 7 a.m. breakfast.

Author: Katie Johansen and Peter Gray

July 23, 2016
Title: Zip-lining and Sunday Night Market

This past Sunday was such an adventure. After an early breakfast at 7am, we quickly got changed and headed to Eagle Track, which was the zip-line course we would be completing. Everyone was so incredibly excited. For some people it was their first time zip-lining and other were ready to zip-line in a new beautiful location. The course we went through was WILD (don’t worry friends and family, we were harnessed in at all times). Not only was there zip-lining, there was other obstacles too. For example, drops. The drop platforms are where we were harnessed and would literally jump off the platform. Other included stepping on suspended platforms, walking across suspended bridges, and ladders. In total there were 35 different obstacles that we all completed. After we finished the Eagle track, we stayed for lunch, which consisted of many delicious items including, egg, noodles, vegetables and soup. The last thing we did before leaving was we got to all plant a tree to help with the deforestation that is currently happening here in Thailand.

After zip-lining, we went back to home base and did a quick change before going to the much anticipated Sunday Night Market. The markets are always such a blast because there is so much to explore. We got to eat dinner there too, which is fun because there is a lot to choose. After close to 2 hours we met back up at our meeting place with bags filled with our purchases. Then we rode in our vans to the home base and called it a night.

Author: August Feinstein-Hillsman

July 25, 2016
Title: Monday: Massages, Math, and Mentor Groups

After an extremely jam-packed weekend of elephants and ziplines, we were tired but ready to teach our beautiful pupils. In our third lesson, we went over various topics such as numbers, animals, and clothing. We ate lunch at our schools prepared by the school’s staff. Then, we hopped in our vans and headed to massages and an internet cafe. Groups 3 and 4 had their massages first, and as a general consensus, it felt good. Everyone was relaxed and enjoyed hot tea afterwards. At the internet café, people contacted home. We came back to Home Base and ate a delicious dinner by the Ping River. That evening, we did the True Colors Personality Test. It was interesting to gain a new insight into ourselves. Then we refueled with a GOOD night’s sleep. ;)))

Author: Claire Jutabha and Juliette Chandler

July 27, 2016
Title: English Camp
Today was the final day of service at the schools. We woke up, ate breakfast and headed over to the schools. Each school group planned out a full day of English activities for the children at the schools. Some of these activities included sports, relays, arts and crafts, “at the market”, and other fun games. The kids loved it and everyone had a great time! There were welcoming ceremonies at each of the schools. Each GLA student received a certificate of completion. From the schools, everyone headed back to home base to enjoy root beer floats and a delicious dinner!

Author: Camryn Simon and Emma Mellon

Time Capsule Letter – October 2016

It is hard to begin remembering such an eventful Summer when a look at a picture of any one of our more than thirty participants brings back so many memories at once. We would go off in an air conditioned van and plug in an aux chord to someone’s phone and jam out on our way around the moats and traffic and gazillion temples of Chiang Mai. And we came back to dinners that were sometimes so spicy and squidy that most of us had to supplement them with creamy Jiff peanut butter sandwiches and we had deep dreams and sometimes very vocal demands for dinners entirely composed of french fries and Heinz Ketchup.

There are a lot of moments that stand out most of all: Our time at the Dukes where we couldn’t stand how full we were but kept on eating, that time that Hannah killed a snail (those times…many lives taken), that time we played “Honey I Love You” and Lee told Javin he loved him too convincingly and also that time that Lee picked Javin up by the torso during the Don’t Stop Believing performance and the Thai staff commented on Javin’s six-pack abs and re-watched the video of the performance to point out the abs to the other staff who missed it, when Caitlin named Javin “Javin the Savage” or “Jav the Sav” for short, and I told her she looked like a fox with freckles. That time that Lee danced to that French EDM song in the van and accidentally broke his AC unit, when Caitlin made Ryan an Instagram with a photo of him at the pool party with flowers in his hair (or rather tucked behind both ears, because his hair is gone), that time Kira looked like a young mother with her kids at Nimmit Asia and when she took a class solo when her team was sick, and when all of the girls—especially Kira and Caitlin and Hannah and I—cried our eyes out when we screened the movie Up at the hotel because it was just soooo beautiful! That time that Selin didn’t say that much and was adorable and cuddled best, and Katie was the only one who read voraciously at night in secret, and Sam sassed somebody, and we played so many slap card games and variations of Green Glass Door, and Andrew did hard work harder than the people around him and with a great spirit, and Jane freaked out at all the pigeons, Wa wore her hair in braids and looked seventeen, and Rut was just. always. there.

What an amazing time it was and thanks to everyone who was a part of it!

-Nicole

 

Memories from Ryan:

·         Jav da Sav

·         Cali the social media manager

·         Peyton’s fear of bugs

·         Sam playing soccer with all the kids

·         Ryan giving a double piggy back

·         Unleashing THE playlist

·         Brett Dennen! –Comeback kid

·         Cheering on Chiang Mai FC!

·         Fernanda developing an American accent in Thailand

·         Mentor Emely’s little slip

·         Ryan’s tear jerking acapella singing on departure day

·         Lee playing king of the hill at the reservoir

·         Dani’s epic hiding skills

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Summer Blog Posts

Time Capsule Letter – October 2016

Hi everyone! To all of the fantastic individuals that made up our first Thailand: Cultural Kaleidoscope group at the Tianna Home Base, we hope you are all doing well! It is a little crazy to realize three months have already flown by since we were fortunate enough to spend an incredibly memorable two weeks together in Chiang Mai. This ‘Time Capsule Letter’ is a great way to look back on the people we met, the places we saw, and the experiences we shared together. Hopefully all of you are able to think back to your time walking through one of the many temples we visited, or one of the classes you taught at Rongaor School or Pakoitai School, or the relationships you built with the local community, the Thai school children, and each other, and you are able to smile, laugh, and appreciate what a wild ride we had together in Thailand.

As you all probably know, your group was the first of the summer for our Tianna staff team, and we couldn’t have been happier with how great it turned out! We were incredibly fortunate to have such an interesting group of people that supported each other and got along so well from the very beginning of our time together. You guys were all awesome and it made the experience so much more rewarding to have been able to share it with so many other great people, and it made our job that much easier. That’s not to say everything was wonderful sunshine and rainbows all day, every day. There were mosquitos (lots of them); there were cold showers; there were upset stomachs and other various illnesses; there were schedule changes and long van rides and nightly curfew checks. But that’s all part of what makes traveling to new countries and experiencing new cultures such a rewarding experience: you never know exactly what you will get. It’s all about making the most of those experiences while you are there, and you guys all did a great job of embodying that.

GLA programs can be exciting, a little overwhelming, and a whole lot of fun, but one thing GLA hopes to stress is how the experiences you have while in Thailand, Ghana, Argentina or wherever else you may travel with GLA can be an opportunity to learn about a new culture, become more informed about how interconnected the world has become, and reflect on ways you can make a positive impact on the world around you. In addition to being an opportunity to travel and learn about what life is like in a different place and culture, a GLA trip can also be a valuable opportunity to grow and learn more about yourself, about your strengths and values, and about what motivates you to be the best person you can be. So as you make your way through your high school classes, or as you settle in to your new surroundings on a college campus, or wherever life takes you this fall, winter, and beyond, remember to think back to your experiences and the relationships you built last summer in Chiang Mai, to cherish them, and to use them as a part of what makes each of you unique. And then go out there and keep being awesome!

Before we wrap this up, here are a few of our favorite memories from Session 1:

At the airport: “Hi, my name is Astrid and I’m from Chicago.”
The chills we all received when Aria sang the national anthem for the first time in our meeting area – and every time after!
Dancing in the rain in our ponchos, taking photos, and being in the moment at Doi Suthep while everyone else was taking shelter
Everything about ROT SAAM!!!
Seeing all the students cheer and go wild, especially when they saw Sophia and Ahnna
Playing soccer or tag or playing on the little playground at Pakoitai School
The cupid shuffle!
Getting kissed by an elephant!
THE MUD FIGHT! — Instigated by sweet Ananya (of course)
‘Head shoulders knees and toes’ every day in Jack and Mackenzie’s classroom
Eating bugs with Chelsea, Olivia, and a few other brave souls
Singing/screaming in the vans and our incredibly patient van drivers allowing it
Root Beer floats
Tommy’s teary heartfelt good-byes
Cruising the Ping River in style and on a boat!
The greatest surprise Fourth of July firework show ever!!!

Finally, from all of us that had the pleasure of meeting you this past summer – P’ Aey, Orn, Prae, Ton, Kaitlyn, Chelsea, Kaye, and Keith – Thank you again for being such a great group and we wish you all the best in wherever your future takes you! We miss you and you are all superstars!!!

-Keith

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Summer Blog Posts

June 22, 2016 – Arrival Day!
Greetings from Chiang Mai, Thailand! After traveling from both near and far, all 31 of our students that were scheduled to arrive on June 22nd have arrived safely! It has been a long day of making trips to and from the airport, but after taking some time to settle in to Tianna Garden Village (our GLA Home Base and our home away from home for the next two weeks) students were given their first taste of local Thai food, including fried rice and some exotic Thai fruit before heading to their rooms for some much needed rest.

The GLA staff team at Tianna Home Base has been working hard preparing for the students’ arrival and trying to fine tune our schedule for the next couple weeks, and we are all very excited to have everyone here with us now. We will be going through an Orientation tomorrow morning after breakfast that will include an introduction to Thai culture, safety and security protocols, highlights of our service learning activities and adventure excursions, and a few other minor details (like staying hydrated in sunny Thailand!). After our orientation, we will be heading to the Sriri Panna Hotel for a lunch buffet full of more delicious Thai food, which should be a fantastic introduction to the culinary delights Thailand has to offer.

Also, a quick note: we have included a few pictures from our airport greetings, but three students are scheduled to arrive a day late on June 23rd and are not pictured. Newara Faltas, Erin O’Connor, and Jayden Kraizel will be arriving tomorrow afternoon and we will be sure to include their smiling faces in pictures from our next blog post tomorrow. We also want to reassure everyone that the first 31 students out of our group of 34 have in fact arrived and they are safe and sound, and we will be sure to post a full group picture with everyone pictured for tomorrow’s blog update as well.

We’ll be getting an early start tomorrow morning so we’ll wrap up this first blog post here. Future blog posts will be authored by our student leaders and will include pictures from our busy days as well so be sure to check back often for updates on all the amazing adventures we are having together in the Land of Smiles! As they say here in Thailand, Khob Khun Krap!

-Keith Wingeard (International Director)

 

Day 1 – It’s a Buddha-ful Country

Sa-wa-dee-kha! After a much needed rest, we started the day with breakfast next to the Ping River. We then headed to an orientation at the home base where we were immersed into the colorful world of Thai culture, etiquette, and language. We learned how important the tone and pronunciation of the language is (ex: “pa” can mean five different things) and how to properly behave out in the city.
Then we headed to Wat Chedi Luang and Wat Chiang Mun (two popular temples in Chiang Mai) to learn the key points of Buddhism and how to pray to Buddha correctly. At Wat Chedi Luang, we were lucky enough to be blessed by a monk. It was an amazing experience.
After exploring the temples, we were dropped off at the market where we taught about the ingredients that go into Pad Thai, green curry, and sticky rice and mango. We then were able to test our skills and make these dishes for ourselves and eat them! We were given a cookbook as well to be able to make these foods back at home.
We came back to the home base to cool down and split into our mentor groups where we discussed what we expected to get out of this trip on a deeper level. We will meet with these groups every night and talk about how we’re feeling for the day and get to know each other better.
It was a long first full day, but it was amazing to experience these things and we are all excited for all the amazing activities and experiences to come.

Authors: Kathryn Foster, Genevieve Duran, and Annia Ramos

June 24, 2016 

Today was unbe-weave-able *wink wink*

Sa-wah-dee-kha! Today was full of learning and adventure as promised. We started the day by going on a tour of Pakoitai and Rong Aor, the schools we will be teaching English in. All the Thai children were smiling from ear to ear and waved as we passed. Their inviting demeanors calmed any nerves we might have had, and now we can’t wait to begin teaching on Monday!
After the warm welcome from the Thai kiddies, we made our way to Kao Soi Lamduan, a restaurant owned and run by one of our lovely Thai staff member’s family, Pii Aey (“pii”, meaning ‘big brother’, because in Thailand, we are family). Our lunch consisted of eggrolls, Chicken Satay, and a type of noodle soup; the meal was yummy.
Following our meal, we piled in the GLA vans, and went to the Baan Mon Fai Thai culture center. The culture center was a representation of traditional Thai architecture and arts. We were shown, and later taught, a few time-honored Thai dances that may or may not have involved swords…sadly, we were not given any swords. Maybe next time J. After some freestyle, we were schooled in the art of bamboo weaving and made some interesting creations.
Back at the home base, we spent some time with our mentors and each other, who discussed with us what it means to be a leader and led a discussion on what we were looking forward to, and what we wish to get out of this experience.
It was a beautiful day spent with beautiful people and we are grateful to get to know each other in such a wonderful country! More experiences to be shared soon xoxo.

Authors: Erin O’Connor, Harnidh Singh, Aria Critchley
Date Written: June 24, 2016

June 25, 2016

Title: Today was a-lana-fun! *wink wink*

Sa-wah-dee-kha! In reference to our title, in translation, ‘Lanna’ means one million rice fields! Earlier in the program we learned about Lanna Kingdom and its culture. Today the GLA group was split into two groups, with one group visiting a village in the mountains, while the other group visited a large market. Each group enjoyed very unique experiences; the events throughout the day exposed the travelers to various cultural aspects.
As for the group that traveled to the small village, we were greeted by a 78-year-old woman, who had the warmest smile! The group that visited the market were surprised by the interesting new smells and sights.
Later in the day, the two groups were able to reunite and continue the day as a whole. We had the privilege of being able to walk around an umbrella factory, where we observed and learned about how umbrellas were made. After our tour, we were given the opportunity to paint our very own umbrella, with each final painting being as unique as each painter themselves.

Authors: Macy O’Rourke, Paige Busacker, Megan Ussery

June 26,2016

A “Thai” between City and Country

Deja-vu! Today the two groups flip-flopped! Half of us went to the Akha Community while the others visited very common markets and a mall in the city. Both places represented different, yet important aspects in the Thai culture.
In the Akha village we were greeted by some the friendliest people in all of South East Asia. We were fortunate enough to tour the inside of an actual home which helped us understand the way of life in the hillside of Thailand. After the tour around the village we were welcomed into our tour guide’s house for a delicious, home-cooked meal.
On the other side of Chiang Mai, we were enveloped in the aroma of Thai spices available at the market. We tried many traditional Thai snacks along with an authentic cuisine for lunch in the mall. We later shopped for the infamous elephant pants and various knickknacks to take home.
Between the Akha Village and the Chiang Mai markets, we were able to compare and contrast the lives of the city folk and the country residents. We then came back to home base to a pleasant pool party with fresh coconut drinks, fruit slices, and fun games. We wrapped up our day with fun and group bonding games that helped create a tie between Thai and American activities.

Authors: Ananya Murthy, Annia Ramos, Katherine O’Neal
Date Written: June 26, 2016

June 27, 2016

Title: A Doi To Remember

WOW! What a day! While Mondays tend to have a bad reputation, this fun-filled and adventurous day included our first attempts at teaching, a visit to Doi Suthep, and the beautiful Hmong Village. With many twists and turns in our schedule (and the road), we accomplished some of the best experiences of this trip so far!

We started off bright and early anxiously waiting to start our first lessons with our Thai students. We watched their school opening ceremonies and made our way to the classrooms. Here we were eagerly greeted by our new pupils who overly stress the “er” of Teacher (which is absolutely adorable). Many English lessons later we found ourselves running and playing with the students during their recess and we even learned some new Thai playground games! (You would be impressed with that these kids can do with a bunch of rubber bands).  We can’t wait to get to know the kids better and keep on teaching!

Next off we were on our way to Doi Suthep, a gorgeous golden temple built on very sacred grounds. This is one of the most important temples in Chiang Mai,   and you can get to it one of two ways. 1) The original hiking trail up the side of the mountain built by a Hermit Monk, which still exists from when the Temple was first created. Or 2) A more modern staircase consisting of exactly 365 steps. We took the second, and the number of steps is true, we counted. After conquering this mighty task we were cooled down by a down pour of rain! While this may have been a bummer for most, we all embraced the cool, wet, goodness, got absolutely soaked, and managed to get in some poncho pics with the temple without ruining our cameras (which may be more impressive than climbing the steps.) Luckily it cleared up quickly and we were on to our next adventure.

One twisty turny road later, we arrived at the Hmong Village, which is built up in the majestic mountains overlooking the most breathtaking scene you’ve ever seen in your life. Rows and rows of exotic plants and flowers blanketed the mountainside, as you followed up the path they lined, the sight of far off mountains with the sun shining over them came into view. We sat and admired for a very long time, though it could never be long enough no matter what amount of time we were given. At the very peak sat a little coffee shop completely open to the view; here we admired some more, enjoyed some Thai goodies, and tried to soak it all in. As the time came to depart our mentors had to basically drag us away because no one wanted to leave, but then they surprised us by taking us to yet another phenomenal view! The day came to a close reflecting as we gazed over the great city of Chiang Mai which now contains so many of our best memories. Eager to plan for school the next day, eat dinner, and rest our burning calves, we were on our way. Another amazing, successful day: Check!

Authors: Genevieve Duran, Astrid Weinstein, Jiawen Zhu

June 28, 2016

Title: We need “Muay” Time in Thailand

Today was our second day teaching in the schools, and we are beginning to feel more comfortable with our lesson plans and teaching as a whole. In the classes, we played games and sang songs to teach the kids English words in a fun and engaging way. The kids are really starting to understand our lessons and they love to learn.
After a long morning of teaching, we had the opportunity to relieve any stress in a Muay Thai Boxing class, taught at a very well-known boxing gym. Along with learning how to kick and punch properly, we got to witness Thai customs in the ring, like the ceremony that takes place before a round to honor the boxer’s teacher. It was nice to exercise and relieve any tension we might have from all of our other activities by diving even deeper into the Thai culture.

-Skylar Davey, Elle Summerfield, Kathryn Foster

Wednesday, June 29
Title: A ‘Massage’ from Thailand

Today was our third day teaching at the schools. It was really fun and we enjoyed playing and taking pictures with the children at recess. After we finished teaching at the schools, we split into two groups and went to either the art museum or had a Thai massage.
The art museum we went to was called Art in Paradise and it was located in downtown Chiang Mai. It featured many 3D paintings that were good for taking interactive, fun photos. One of the favorites was the upside down room. Another great part of the museum was a delicious coffee shop on the first floor. Many of us got fruit smoothies or delicious deserts. Meanwhile, the other group was at the Thai Massage place. Most experienced a one hour full body massage. Some people found it more relaxing than others, but we all enjoyed a nice hot tea at the end.
After the museum and the massage, we were very eager to eat at the western restaurant called Dukes. Although Thai food is amazing, many of us were craving our favorite American foods such as pizza, pasta, ribs and dessert. At Dukes we received around 10 courses of family styles dishes. We were all very full after dinner, but we still had time to shop around at the local night market. After an hour of looking around and buying beautiful bracelets, post cards, and gifts for our family members, we headed back to get a good nights rest at Tianna Garden. Overall it was a very eventful and exciting day.

Authors: Jackie Connors, Anya Nutakki, Divya Narayanan

June 30
Title: Thai School Musical

Today was our last official day of teaching. The classes consisted of dance parties, arm wrestling, origami, and many other games. The best part of teaching is not only the fact that we are able to spend time with the children but also being able to see the progress the kids made in learning English after a few days. By the end of our teaching both us and the children learned a lot from each other. While the kids did make progress in learning English, we learned that even though we may not be able to communicate, a smile can go a long way.
After a long day of teaching we had the once in a lifetime opportunity to see a Thai high school. The high school gave us the opportunity to talk to kids our own age and begin to comprehend what going to high school in Thailand would be like. The things that we experienced at the cultural exchange included watching a traditional Thai dance. In exchange we were able to teach them a little bit of American culture by showing them the Cupid Shuffle. We are very grateful for the opportunity and can’t wait to see what else we have left to experience in Thailand!

Authors: Olivia Urich, Tommy Donavon, Jack Kyle

July 1

Title: Thai English Camp

Today we ran an English Camp at both the schools for the entire day. It was our official last day with all the kids and everyone was very emotional. We had different stations at each school including song and dance, food, sports, and carnival games. The kids had so much fun and it was amazing to see how much we had taught them in the past week. The day ended with a goodbye ceremony from both the schools and we were so glad to see how much they appreciated our service. We were presented with certificates of appreciation and given presents showing their gratitude. All the hours of stressful lesson planning and teaching was worth it when we saw the smiles on the kids’ faces.
The goodbye was difficult for both us and the kids. As we stood outside the school for the last time we were overwhelmed by the love of the kids shown by hugs and handwritten love letters. We were so grateful to have had the opportunity to make such a huge difference in the lives of all these kids. Although it was a sad goodbye, we will always remember the time we spent with them and the impact they made on us.

Authors: Aamani Ponnekanti, Sophia Bersani, and Ethan Bakal

July 2

Title: Zip Zip Hooray! It Was A Wonderful Day

Tunten – meaning adrenaline in Thai – perfectly describes our day today. We all experienced the greatest thrill of our stay here in Thailand today in the form of a zip lining adventure, as a reward for our 5 hard days of community service at the schools. After a long bus ride, we made it to mountains of northern Chiang Mai, and split into 3 groups to begin our journey. The course was composed of 35 separate obstacles and zip lines, each more exhilarating than the last. The Thai instructors entertained us with practical jokes while guiding us along the course. Our zip lining experience ended with a dramatic vertical drop of around 40 m (131 feet).
After lunch and refreshing ice cream, we proceeded to a grassy area near a beautiful waterfall to plant trees. We got down and dirty as we each planted a small sapling, and contributed to the welfare of the environment in our own way. Worn out from zip lining and planting, we were all relieved to finally be able to relax at home base with a rare 2 hour nap. Concluding a joyous day we reflect on the memories we created and how even though some of us were nervous or afraid, we all managed to conquer our fears and thoroughly enjoy our day. As Oprah Winfrey stated, “The biggest adventure you can take is to live the life of your dreams.”

Authors: Erika Pe, Tony Carver, Kathy Zhang

July 3

Title: Let’s address the elephant in the room

Wow! What a day. Our group started the day ready for the much anticipated elephant day and the elephant camp. After listening to an orientation slide show focusing on elephant facts and commands, we headed out to meet our elephants. There were 13 elephants, so we got lots of one on one time with the animals. We hiked up a beautiful lush jungle mountain to lunch and the mud pit, where we got to bathe a few of the elephants. Lunch was Pad Thai and a dessert of Sticky Rice, served on banana leaves. After the delicious food, we had a mud bath/fight. It was so much fun! The animals loved it. Then we trekked back down the mountain and made it to the Ping River. We all had a nice swim. We got to ride the elephants backs and trunks. What an incredible experience, and the best part of the trip so far!
Next, we got to go to the Sunday night walking street, a busy market. There we got to buy dinner and go shopping!!! We bought our final gifts and souvenirs. Overall it was such an exciting and fantastic day. Such an awesome place and culture.

Authors: Ahnna Richmond, Newara Faltas, Maddy Sargent

 

 

Time Capsule Letter – October 2016

Mambo!!!!!

I cannot believe that I am back in the United States after spending an AMAZING summer in Tanzania with Global Leadership Adventures! I am now into the routine of work and school here and I hope that all of you are fully immersed and enjoying your next adventure whether that be another year of high school or your first year in college.

Every day I was amazed at how well you bonded with each other and fully immersed yourselves into the program.  I will not forgot the times spent doing service, debating during discussions, relaxing at the home base, and adventuring on safari.

I want to take this opportunity to once again express my heartfelt gratitude and appreciation for everyone who worked at and participated in the GLA Tanzania Moshi program this summer.  All of you took an incredibly brave step by traveling halfway around the world to a foreign country to experience a different culture with strangers who turned into friends and you all succeeded in fully immersing yourselves into the GLA experience.  Most importantly, all of the hard work that you did for the students at Himo and Korona has had a positive impact on their lives.  I hope the GLA experience has been life changing for you as well and that your experiences in Tanzania continues to positively impact your life as you continue to grow both as individuals and future leaders.

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Summer Blog Posts

July 19, 2016

Today was our first full day spent in Tanzania. We all woke up at crazy times in the middle of the night because of time change. We had a delicious breakfast and then spent the morning going over things to know for the rest for the trip. Also, we had a short Swahili lesson to learn some of the basics for the trip. After lunch, we went into the town to the local market. Most of us bought fabric for the tailor to make different things for us with. There were tons of different and cool patterns to choose from and it was awesome to see the locals around the market. Some of us got to try the roasted corn, which we decided to compare to popcorn on a cob? It was delicious. After shopping, we headed back to the home base and had an educational speaker talk to us about the history of Tanzania and the educational systems here. Being educated a little more about the country has helped us all to have better idea of how to have a lasting impact on people here. We then had dinner and watched some videos on volunteering abroad. We are all very tired and ready to go to bed and have another amazing day tomorrow.

-Rachel Longust (PS HBD MOM!!!!)

July 20, 2016

Today was an extremely eye opening day. We started the day with a local tailor visiting us at our home base. We brought out the cloth we purchased the day before at the shops, and after we chose what articles of clothing we wanted to have made, he took our measurements and notes for our clothes while the rest of us studied and discussed multiple topics. We were split into groups of three and each got a different article to read and discuss. We then had a large group discussion on each talking about voluntourism and orphanage tourism. These were extremely eye opening topics that made us all think about the organizations we had volunteered for in the past and the service work we have done. We then met our host families who took us to their homes and showed us their village and introduced us to their families. This was extremely eye opening and I know I personally realized how materialistic the USA is and how much constant stimulation we as a generation and country need to stay entertained. Most groups ventured through local markets and explored the banks of a near by river. Several of us saw monkeys and other wildlife. We all returned before dinner and talked all about our experiences with our host families. After dinner we discussed the controversial topic of female genital cutting. Everyone was very engaged as workshops and discussions like this help us better understand the culture we are surrounded by.

Joey and Sean

21st July 2016

We began the day by visiting the school we will be working in this
following week. The school was roughly an hour away and we took the
bus to get there. The headmistress welcomed us and explained the
history and structure of the school. We were also shown the classrooms
that we are going to repaint and fix, they were significantly run
down, making us realize the challenge we are going to face. The
students were extremely excited to see us and after seeing the
contribution that past GLA students have made to the school, such as
planting trees, we could understand why.

In the afternoon we were divided into two groups. One group went to a
local batic workshop, where we made our own batic painting in that
style. It was an extremely long process that took over two hours to
complete. The results were pleasing and everyone enjoyed the
experience, as it really made us familiar with the Tanzanian culture.
Meanwhile, the other group stayed in the home base where a guest
speaker came to talk about female genital mutation. He was the
coordinator of NAFGM, the Tanzanian organization that is fighting for
human rights and encouraging tribes to stop the practice.

– Noa and Virginia

Friday, July 22

Today was another great day. We woke up at 7 and had breakfast. After breakfast we drove 45 minutes to the school. We each went into different classrooms and taught the students an English lesson for an hour. When we finished teaching we had half an hour to play with the kids at recess. They taught us all of the games they play and we had a lot of fun! Afterwards, we began sanding the classrooms to prepare to paint. We went back to the home base to eat lunch and shower, then we drove to another market and to the Internet cafe. The wifi didn’t work as well as we had hoped, but we got some milkshakes and pizza and we were on our way. We came home and had dinner then began prepping for our safari. We were in bed pretty early because we had to get up at 6 on Saturday. Such an amazing day with lots of great memories to take back home.

Meg & Katie

Safari weekend July 23 & 24

SAFARI WEEKEND! We woke up really early Saturday morning to begin our unforgettable adventure. There was a lot of driving to get there, but it was definitely worth it! Around noon, we arrived at Terengire National Park. The weather was amazing and we were able to see a large variety of animals. Elephants were so close to our jeeps, we could see every wrinkle it had. Saturday night, we stayed at a hostel. After an eventful night that included showers flooding rooms and the expected power outages, we woke up at 5:00 am to begin our second safari trip of the weekend. We went to Ngorongoro Crater, which was absolutely unbelievable. There were many breathtaking views and unforgettable moments that we made sure to capture with our cameras. In all, we saw cheetahs, elephants, giraffes, zebras, wildebeests, gazelles, flamingos, a rhino, hippos, and lions. We also learned a lot about the wildlife and local culture. We will definitely never forget this safari weekend!

-Moira, Gwen & Nicole

July 26, 2016

Today was an insightful and productive day. We woke up at 7 to shower, get ready, and eat breakfast before heading to school. We revised our lesson plans the night before to cater to the needs of what the teachers asked of us and what they want the students to learn. Due to the extensive lesson planning the night before, we found that the period went by smother and time was spent more efficiently. The students seemed to be more comfortable with talking and were more responsive. After our class, we get a 30 minute recess with all of the students. When I say all, I truly mean all 637 of them. While it can be overwhelming at times, nothing beats the feeling of hundreds of little kids wanting to hold your hand and talk to you. Usually after recess we all hop back on the bus and change into our work clothes to paint the school but today the staff and mentors decided to head back home and do a group bonding activity. We arrived back at the home base with an hour and a half until lunch time. We all sat as a big group and each received two sheets of paper. On one of them we wrote something positive about our experience thus far and something we like about the dynamic of our group. On the other, we wrote something that we could work to improve on either as a group or the program as a whole. We all had lots of positive things to say considering this trip has been absolutely amazing. However, there was a big frustration among the group regarding a lack of the community service aspect to the program. We all felt that we could do more with our time here and wanted to take more initiative and take a step further with helping the community more. After giving our feedback, our leaders and mentors met together to devise a plan that would be a best fit for everyone. They saw where we were coming from, appreciated our honesty, and took the actions necessary to help make our time here in Africa the most useful. They took out some other activities such as shopping to make room for more community service such as helping the local womens group. We are all excited to see how the rest of the week plays out. After the much needed discussion, we had an amazing lunch courtesy of our awesome kitchen staff. After lunch we split into two groups. My group stayed at the home base and listened to a guest speaker, a representative from NAFGM who talked about the pressing issue of female genital mutilation and how it affects a larger part of the world than we thought. The presentation was extremely educational and we learned a lot about how this issue impacts women across the world, including America. After this, we headed to the local orphanage just a 10 minute walk from our home base. We brought a gift of sugar and listened as Mama Faraji told us her story and the story of the orphanage. She then gave us a tour as we waited for the children to arrive back from school. The orphanage currently has 96 children. 36 of them stay at the home base we visited and some stay at the other home base or are away at boarding school. It was quite a small space and it was amazing to see how they were able to work with what they had and fit all of the kids in there. We got to play kick ball and soccer with some of the kids before we had to leave for dinner. The children were so energetic and full of life and it was so humbling to witness all of it. After dinner, we all met for a workshop and discussed the danger of stereotyping and the damage it can cause. We talked about what our thoughts of Africa were before we actually saw it for ourselves and how those thoughts came to us. We then expressed our thoughts about Africa after what we’ve seen so far. A lot of what we expressed second didn’t match up with our first impressions. I think it’s important to not judge a place or a culture before you’ve been there to witness it; especially a Continent like Africa, which does in fact have 54 countries. While Africa is full and heavy with culture, different places harbor different kinds. We then talked about the importance of not falling into the “white savior” mind set and thinking that everyone here needs saving. We are here to work with them and build beside them, not to save them. We are just a puzzle piece in the bigger picture that is helping to build up this developing world. We aren’t “saving” anyone, especially over night. I think this was a much needed lesson and discussion. After this, we received an educational presentation about the native tribal group known as the Maasai from our leader Allison. This was super educational and insightful to some of the native culture. Finally after a long and action packed day, we called it a night and got dressed for bed. Each day we continue to learn more and more as we lend our helping hands out to the community. It’s a give and take. As we help by teaching and painting classrooms, we receive a cultural experience and another place to call home. To me and to everyone on this trip, that’s something we will carry with us for the rest of our lives. Words can’t express all of our gratitude to all of our parents, grandparents, or to anyone who made it possible for us to come on this trip. We love and miss you all.
– Jaylene Sperry

 

July 26

Today we woke up at 7am, we had breakfast and we left for Himo and Korona primary schools. We taught English for 45mins. We then as usual participated with the student’s recess. After this, we started to paint two classes, the windows were painted in light blue and the walls in yellow. When we came back at the home base, we had lunch, it was delicious like always. We ate rice with vegetables and beef. We started our afternoon by a leadership activity in a field. The aim of this activity was to learn about the different types of leaders. After answering several questions all of us found out which type of leader we were. Then we went to the market and did a scavenger hunt. We had to find different items on a list such as sweet potatoes or coconuts which were written in Swahili. After dinner we watched a film on albino people in Tanzania. We learned that Albinos population was very high for Tanzania 1 for 14 000, compared to the usual rate 1 for 20 000 in the world. Albinos are murdered for their body parts and blood. It is used by witchcraft to cure people or by fishermen in their nets for good luck. Their body parts are believed to bring people good fortune, usually by consuming them. This issue was for all of us completely unknown. After this film, we planned our lesson for next day.

Wednesday, July 26

Today we woke up early, had breakfast and headed to the school. When we arrived, we all went to our classrooms to teach our English lessons to the students. Since it was the fourth day of teaching, all the kids were getting a lot more comfortable participating in class and answering our questions. After teaching, we played with the kids during recess. The girls love to teach us their playground games and songs and the boys love to run around and play soccer. After recess was over and the kids gave us big goodbye hugs, they had to go back to class while we headed to the classrooms we have been working on restoring. It was our second day of painting, and the classrooms are already looking a lot better. It was very exciting to see this progress! After painting the classrooms and picking up trash outside the school (“beautifying the campus”), we headed back to the compound. We were delighted with the sight of burgers and fries for lunch. After lunch and some free time, we drove to a nearby hotel, drank sodas, and ate some barbecue while we listened to Mama Simba’s amazing life story and her advice to us as leaders. We left this informal talk feeling not only impressed by Mama Simba’s journey, but also inspired to be strong leaders ourselves. After, we went to a field where the Kilimanjaro Wizards, a local and traditional dance group, performed for us. They played instruments like drums, danced, and sang their traditional songs. They even pulled us students up in front of the circle to try to dance like them. Needless to say, we were not as talented dancers as they were and we all looked a little silly, but it was an experience none of us will forget. After, we walked back to the home base and had dinner. We had some free time before Sarah gave us a gender empowerment seminar and inspired us with statistics, videos, and her own personal stories. We also touched on Microfinancing and watched a Vice Haiti video about government aid (USAID) during this talk. To end the night we lesson planned for teaching in the schools the next day, had some more free time, and went to bed. Another great day in Tanzania!

-Halle Mogk, Rachel Longust, & Virginia Schaus

Thursday, July 28

On Thursday, July 28th, it was Rachel’s Birthday! We woke up at 6:50
and woke up everyone by screaming wake up and turning on the lights in
each room. We ate breakfast and then left for the school. We took the
bus ride to the Himo-Corona School where we all divided up into our
teaching groups and taught a variety of lessons including time, letter
writing and prepositions. After we taught, we had recess with all the
kids where we were shocked to see a little boy holding a bottle with a
mouse on a leash inside. It was frightening and disgusting. On the
contrary, we played a game of soccer, played hand games, sang songs
and ran races. After recess we went to the classrooms that we were
working on and painted the bottom border black and finished painting
the windows blue. We also picked up trash around the school and play
area. We went back to the home base where we ate lunch and then we
went to the Moshi Primary Lunch where we visited the special education
classroom. In the classroom the ages ranged from 5 years old to 35
years old. We listened to the head teacher where she talked about the
special education program in their school and also programs in
Tanzania. After that we went to the coffee planation where we picked
red berries, grinded them, mashed them and then roasted them to make
coffee beans. Everyone enjoyed the end product of delicious coffee.
While people were drinking on their coffee, some people went and
danced with the women dancers who preformed for us multiple times.
After dinner, we surprised Rachel with a birthday cake and we also
sang her Happy Birthday along with the staff. Our workshop of the
night was about the AIDS/HIV epidemic not only in Tanzania but all
over the world. At the end of the night everyone went outside and
watched the stars and some people even saw the shooting star!

Allie and Danielle

Friday, July 29th

We started our morning with our heartwarming final words to tell our students. The school appreciated our time with their wonderful speeches. To finalize our service, we completed the making of our classrooms and cleared away as much litter around the campus possible. Upon our return to the home base, we received our rad gifts from the seamstress and the majority of GLA students got their ever so fabulous corn rows. Later, we shared unforgettable memories with the students from the Moshi Secondary School. The true bae, Mama Simba gave her final goodbye. We then ended the night with our workshop on the underrated ways of being a leader as well as being a follower, and the mentors discussed reverse culture shock and different ways to utilize our newly gained insight on the world for good.

❤️Amanda and Lance

Saturday, July 30

Today we went to Mount Kilimanjaro, and took a hike in its foothills. Everyone had been looking forward to this day for the past week. Upon arrival we were given a set of rules to make the hike successful and safe. We divided into two groups, as not everyone was able to complete the full hike. The hike was about three hours long and extremely beautiful. We had the opportunity to stop at three waterfalls, enjoy the scenery, and take photos. We also had the chance to interact with some local people who live around the mountain on the hike. They were playing with chameleons and allowed us to hold them. Shortly after interacting with the locals we took a detour to visit one of the local staff member, Novellia’s house. We then walked to one of the entrances of the mountain, where we ate lunch, met up with the other group, and learned about some of the paths you could take while hiking.
Due to certain circumstances, some of the students could not participate on the hike. The staff brought those students to a Chugga tribe museum to learn about how they lived. Then, they visited a blacksmith and got to see how all of the tools and weapons were made for the village. The group then met up with the hikers for lunch.
After arriving back at the compound our host families came to say goodbye. Some students went back to their host families house where they were given gifts and farewell hugs. Others decided to stay at the compound and thank their host families for their generosity. All the host families were eager to wish us safe travels, and the GLA students were very appreciative to have been welcomed into their homes.
Later that night we had a goodbye bonfire. We all gathered around the fire and went over our highs and lows of the trip, laughing and reminiscing about the memories we’d all shared these past two weeks. Following that we went around complimenting one person who’d made the trip better for us, or someone we really enjoyed having on the trip. This slowly transformed into everyone talking about the trip in general, and enjoying our last night together while stargazing before bed.

-Lia, Sabrina, & Haley