PROGRAM PHOTO ALBUM
TIME CAPSULE LETTER
Justin here!
It’s now been a while since our adventures together in Costa Rica, and I just wanted to check in with you and let you know how your work impacted the local community here.
At Escuela Santa Teresa Norte, they have finished painting the buildings we started and they look beautiful! A special shout out to everyone who worked with the students in the cafeteria. Your work has not gone unnoticed and Doña Marta and all of the students we got to work with are grateful for all of the hard work we put in this summer. In addition, the Escuela La Cajeta has completed painting the floors and the playground. The projects came out excellent and were much easier to paint when it wasn’t raining.
I really am proud of you all. Your efforts to integrate yourselves in the community in Costa Rica with our cultural events and the ways that you pushed your boundaries during the adventure activities was exceptional.
Please take a look at our One Major Goal that we all committed to while you were here, and reflect on where you are at in your endeavor to be more active in your communities. I know each of you has the ability to become someone who can be trusted with the responsibility of leadership.
All of your unique personalities had an impact and created special moments for our group as a whole. Although we can think of endless such moments, here are some of our favorites:
• Empanada making
• Endless hugs at the school
• So many games of pool
• Paint everywhere
• Pineapple popsicles
• Trivia and Movie night
• Baldi Hot Springs
• Baby cows
• Fishing for lunch
• Infamous Tubing Day
• The sweaty dance class
• Water slides
• Our quick zipline through the treetops
• Our extremely heartwarming appreciation circle, and the feelings that come with recognizing others and being recognized ourselves
We hope you know that you each made a lasting impression on all of us. You showed heart in your friendships with one another, embraced the challenges of the program with humor and poise, and showed your commitment to service and leadership. We’re excited for what is in store for each of you. We wish you a bright future filled with joy and delight.
All the best,
Justin, Marbella, Liz, Emily, and Toasty
Thanks for the checking out the blog for this Global Leadership Adventures program!
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- Blog posts are written by onsite program staff and/or students and sent to our Headquarters team who will post the blog on this page.
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For frequently asked questions about the blogs, please visit our Program Blog FAQ page.
-The Global Leadership Adventures HQ Team
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BLOG POST FOR JULY 21
Good Evening to our GLA Family and Friends!
I’m Justin Nichols, the International Director for Global Leadership Adventure’s Initiative for Children Program. We are very excited to get started on our program, serve our community, and grow and develop as leaders.
Our students have made it safely to home base at Finca los Corales in San Carlos, and should have access to the internet fairly frequently in the evenings throughout the coming weeks, keeping in mind our cell phone policy and our rural location.
We are looking forward to having our final two students join us over the next few days as they arrive.
A look at the next few days:
– Orientation and swim tests are tomorrow.
– There’s an exciting coffee workshop on Tuesday run by our Home Base host, Don Alfredo.
– Wednesday has us visiting an Organic Pineapple farm to learn more about one of Costa Ricas most important agricultural products.
There are so many more exciting events to come, not to mention a good amount of community service and leadership programming!
Starting tomorrow our leaders of the day will be writing these blog posts, so keep an eye out!
Thank you so much for sending your students on this amazing program, we are excited to have them and we are sure to have incredible adventures together!
Be the change,
Justin Nichols
BLOG POST FOR JULY 22
We started off the day with a delicious breakfast of eggs, sausage, salad, orange juice, and of course, very delicious beans and rice!!! We then went straight into orientation where we discussed rules and boundaries and also played a plethora of games such as Ninja, Pterodactyl, and Elephant Ball, learning each other’s names in the process. Everyone targeted our Director, Justin. Subsequently we had free time until lunch began. Our lunch consisted of shrimp fried rice, refried beans, salad, and blackberry juice to drink. Everything was greatly prepared! Students split off into groups for card games, soccer, and general socialization.
Soon after lunch was over we began the swim test, which was made up of a standard swim test, treading water for one minute, then lastly floating on our back for ten seconds. Each of our peers passed tremendously! We spent a few hours swimming around in the lake, played volleyball in the water, had a few canoe/paddle board trips, and it was overall an amazing time! During free time we played spoons, uno, yankee/skittles, as well as a lot of restime time due to our exhausting day so far. A value tree was soon held as an activity where we talked about community rules and new ideas of how we can be respecting and helping other peers and ourselves.
After that we had a dinner of pasta with tomato sauce, salad, beans, rice, and strawberry juice. We also celebrated the homebase owner’s(Don Alfredo) son’s (Leandro) birthday with some delicious cake! Then, as today’s student leaders, we got the opportunity to wash the dishes of our peers. Finally, we attended Marbella’s presentation on Costa Rican culture and the ways we’ll be participating in service learning. Overall we had a wonderful first day and hope that the rest continues to be as positive and eventful as today was!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
BLOG POST FOR JULY 23
Today we awoke to the sound of pouring rain after a night of thunderstorms- a common occurrence in Costa Rica since we are here during the rainy season. We started off the day with breakfast, consisting of rice, beans, fruit, and sausage, before heading off to our first day of service! For the next few days we’ll be repainting the walls and getting to know the students each morning. It was a highlight for many today and we’re excited to continue our work tomorrow!
After service we returned to home base for lunch where we continue to discover the abundance of rice and beans in our Costa Rican diet! We also enjoyed fresh fruit juices which have been with every meal!
The schedule this afternoon granted lots of free time that has been filled with rest, bonding, and many, many games. Some highlights include Soccer, cards, and “skittles”- a game that definitely involves some dives across the pool table! We also welcomed an interesting culture presentation about coffee beans grown in Costa Rica and enjoyed some samples!
This evening we began mentor groups where we reflect and discuss our day as well as participate in small group activities. Tomorrow we will continue our service and take a tour of a local pineapple farm!
BLOG POST FOR JULY 24
By Coco and Gabby
We were awoken peacefully this morning to the sound of the cows in the pasture mooing.Then, we started our day off with more rice and beans, plátano, eggs, and organice juice etc. Then we were off to our service at the local school of Santa Theresa. There, we continued painting the school which we started the day before, in addition to spending time with the kids and watching their performances in celebration of the Anexion de partido de Guanacaste. These performances consisted of dancing in traditional Costa Rican attire and the recital of “bombas”, a type of poem.A lucky few got to try traditional meals prepared for the celebration by the schools faculty.
After service, we returned to home base where we had lunch, which was chicken, rice, beans and salad.
Shortly after lunch we left for the much anticipated pineapple farm tour, where we learned the ropes of organic pineapple farming in Costa Rica, one of the world’s leading pineapple producers! (Disclaimer: plucking the leaves of the pineapple in not an effective or accurate form of testing a pineapples ripeness).
We discussed in depth the social, economic and environmental impacts of conventional versus organic farming and the importance of implementing more friendly farming practices in this day and age.
With bellies full of freshly machetied pineapple and piña colada, we started our journey home, with a stop to Walmart on the way to satisfy everyone’s yearning for a taste of home.
We then ate a late dinner which was rice and beans, hamburgers, fries and salad. The leaders of the day did dishes at a record speed, (probably faster than any team of leaders of the day) while maintaining the quality and standard of cleanliness.
BLOG POST FOR JULY 25
By Dani and Sahej
The day started around 8 officially with gallo pinto, eggs, toast, and natural orange juice. Soon after that we had our morning announcements which our phrase of the day “vamos a la escuela!” meaning “lets go to to the school!” After we went to “la escuela” upon arriving we realized we we barely had enough paint to finish the school. We then proceeded to play soccer with the kids and have ice cream. The flavors included strawberry, vanilla with the chocolate outside and condensed milk.
Once we returned from our service it was scorching hot outside so we proceeded to go to the lake, and play some pool, and card games. An hour after we arrived we had lunch, which included a variety of fried rices, salad, garlic bread and pineapple juice.
After lunch we had lots of free time to recover from the long couple days of service. To unwind, many of us took long naps then swam in the lake. We then did a discussion activity revolving around sustainable pineapple farming and ate lechón (roast pork leg), with rice ,beans, and salad. Later we had our mentor groups and enjoyed some time on our phones with friends before bed.
BLOG POST FOR JULY 26
By Lily and Gonzalo
After having breakfast we presented the word of the day, “catarata” meaning “waterfall”. One short bus ride later, and we arrived at La Fortuna to see a beautiful “catarata” in person. We went on a short but steep hike before reaching the waterfall. Due to recent rains, the waterfall was too intense to swim, however, we had fun taking pictures and enjoying the view. We hiked back and cooled down with delicious fruit smoothies and ice cream. We returned to the bus and after 20 minute bus ride, arrived at Baldi Hot Springs. There, we enjoyed an extensive buffet with fresh fruit, pasta, chicken, and much more mouth watering food. Comfortably full, we split into small groups to explore the Hot Springs. We raced down waterslides, relaxed in the sauna, and rested in the Hot Springs. We traveled back to home base where we had fried fish for dinner with salad, fries, rice, and beans, washed down with sweet guanabana juice. Overall, it was a fun adventure day where we got to explore and appreciate the beautiful nature of Costa Rica and have some much needed relaxation after three days of hard work.
BLOG POST FOR JULY 27
By Chloe and Lexi
Today we were surprised to start our day off with pancakes and a wide variety of delicious fruits – it was extremely good! After breakfast we all loaded on to the bus to head over to the Juan Castro Blanco National Park. First, we watched a few of our fellow students fish for their lunch in the nearby pond. Next, we took a hike through the park along with an educational portion where we learned about the indigenous plants and a few of the animals that feed on them. After our beautiful hike, we took a pleasant lunch break that the park had made for us, and a quick look at the geodes and rocks that the owner had collected (Shoutout to our amazing translators!)
Once we had finished at the park we took a nice detour into the town La Fortuna to shop for ourselves (and get a few gifts for family and friends), stopping at many fun shops and a small art market where vendors were selling everything from glass blown items, to skin and body products, like jewelry, body lotions and more! We were able to walk arround, have local food, like empanadas and continue to peruse the colorful shops. Once we had finished in town we boarded back on to the bus for a calming ride back to camp.
We were met back at camp by the delicious smell of chicken, rice, and beans. After dinner we moved into our activity for the evening, which involved a deeper reflection of what our purpose is on this trip. We finally finished off the day with card games and free time.
BLOG POST FOR JULY 29
Written by: Zane and Sasha
Starting out the day out we had a delicious meal consisting of fresh fruits, gallo pinto, and eggs. Then we headed off to a new school with grades 1-6 splitting into groups of three, one assisting with the construction of a treehouse, another cleaning the floors, and finally one playing music for the kids while teaching them English. After a few rounds of soccer we were exasperated and head back to home base to heave chicken along with gallo pinto. After an exquisite lunch some of us went to take naps while others went down to the docks to play pool and swim. Then Justin hosted trivia and Linden and Sasha won two out of three rounds crowning them the champions. Afterwards we learned how to make empanadas using beef, cheese, beans, and a special Justin empanada filling (egg and potato). Then the empanadas were then fried and enjoyed them with rice and fruit salad. We ended the day off with mentor groups and spending time with our friends.
BLOG POST FOR JULY 30
By Emilia and Avery
We started the day off with a classic Costa Rican dish of gallo pinto, alongside eggs, fruit, cereal, bread, and the fruit juice of the day. Afterwards we headed on to the bus to head for our adventure of the day, tubing down a river. After our hour drive we arrived to the tubing place, where we then received a helmet and a tube, starting our adventure. We all had to go down the rapids one at a time, with guides helping us along the way. The journey took about an hour long, and even though it was raining it was definitely a highlight of the trip. By the end of our adventure just about every single person had flipped out of the tube, yet we all left with bright smiles. Before we started our journey back we were also able to stop at a market, where we bought snacks for the road, and rest of the trip. Next we started our journey back to home base, many of us napping on the way back.
Then we had lunch, we ate rice with seafood, beans and potatoes. We then had free time for 3 hours. Some watched a movie, others took a nap and others hung out on the dock. We then took the bus for 20 minutes to get ice cream in a shop. We saw an iguana who was sleeping. After eating our ice cream we took the bus back and arrived at the lodge to eat. We ate a classic rice with garbanzo beans, chicken and potato soup. After there was a karaoke session where everyone was able to exploit their singing talents. The curfew being at 9:30 p.m., everyone had to go back to their rooms to sleep.
BLOG POST FOR JULY 31
Written by Ariel and Fiona
Today, July 31st, we began our day with the lovely surprise of pancakes and fresh fruit for breakfast, as opposed to the usual Costa Rican breakfast foods. After the meal, we prepared for our second day of service at the second school we’ve visited. Once there, some of us assisted in painting the outdoor pathways, while others spent time entertaining and getting to know the students of the school. Some of the games played with them were freeze-dance, hot potato, duck duck goose, and fútbol. After the service, and a long few hours of the school kids beating us at our own games, we arrived back at home base to rest, eat lunch, and spend quality time together.
Following the service and lunch was a nice short break of resting and showering of all the sweat put into the school. At around 2:30, we traveled to a small abode that was quite colorful and was filled with cultural decorations. There we learned from a Zumba dancer three or more types of dancing such as merengue, bachata, and salsa. Some found it quite difficult to catch on to different steps, while others had the spirit of dancing within them. On the outside of the room where we danced, thermometers were found which proves that it was a sauna dance workshop. It was quite a workout!! Coming to the home base we played some activities like pool and uno. Some enjoyed their time at the lake swimming, more specifically front flipping off paddle boards. This whole day concludes with a nice American style meal consisting of burgers and of course rice and beans. We are looking forward to our last but not least day of service tomorrow.
BLOG POST FOR AUGUST 1
We started the day by eating a delicious breakfast. This consisted of gallo pinto, eggs, toast, and orange juice. We then left for community service at 9am. As we arrived to the school, there were different groups painting and helping kids in class. The group that was painting had to sand, wipe down, and paint over the original paint of the school playground. The group working with the kids helped them with math and social studies.
Once the community service was over, we came back to the cabins for a much needed lunch. The lunch included chicken, rice, refried beans, and salad. After lunch, everyone split into their mentor groups and completed leadership activities. We worked on goal setting and played a game with our group. We then had free time until dinner. For dinner, we had pasta with meatballs, sauce, cheese, garlic bread, and pineapple juice.
Instead of mentor groups, we celebrated Linden’s birthday. To do this, we hung up the piñata and took turns hitting it until it fell. It was filled with candy!! After this, we brought out a cake for Linden and everyone enjoyed sharing an enjoyable evening fiesta. Overall, today was very productive and we can’t wait for the next day.
Linden, Ava, and Quique
BLOG POST FOR AUGUST 2
By Bella and Viola
Today was the last day of our 14-day immersive service learning trip to Costa Rica. As usual, at 8am there was breakfast.
We left at 8:45 to go zip lining. It was seven stations with a beautiful view of the park, and the volcano Arenal . There was also a rappelling, but that was optional for the people daring enough to get their feet wet. After unclipping from our harnesses, we piled into a tractor and heading back to the buses. We stopped at the mini mart adjacent to the zip lining service. Then, we boarded the buses for an hour long ride back to camp, and promptly headed to the tables for lunch.
After lunch, we had free time. Most of us spent time packing our suitcases to prepare for our flights tomorrow. Afterwards, some people went down to the dock to swim and play pool. There were other games, such as chess and BS, that were played as well. People got ready for the formal dinner, and at around 6, everyone met on the front lawn and took photos. Dinner was the typical meal of rice and beans, steak fajitas, and other appetizers.
Our last mentor group was spent doing an anonymous appreciation circle, in which prompts were said and people would tap the people who they believe fit the prompt. It was a super fun and emotional moment. As we wait for lights out, we say our final appreciations and goodbyes. We will all miss one another and always remember the memories we made along these two weeks.
Love you all and thank you for an amazing two weeks! Signing out.
