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Monday June 18, 2018
Hello GLA Families! Greetings from Alajuela, Costa Rica, the first stop in our summer adventure! Twenty-four young ladies have arrived throughout the day to participate in the fourteen-day Animal Rescue Project. The earliest breezed through at 7:00 AM and the last touched down at 10:00PM, local time. We spent the day resting, getting to know one another, and eating the fine food. We are tired, but well-fed, and excited about the next two weeks.
Pura Vida!
Friday June 22, 2018
Lily here!
As the days go by, we continue to grow both as individuals and friends. Our service trip began with a little rest time and soon after, the fun began. The first day of work started in Manuel Antonio National Park where we separated into groups and spent the morning improving the condition of the parks. It was hard work but we really made a difference. We then headed to the beach in the afternoon, where we soaked up the sun and enjoyed the beautiful view. That night we came back and took a Zumba class. It was pretty intense and at the end of the day we were completely exhausted but excited for the next day.
Our clinic day began bright and early. We first set up the clinic and then went right into our work. It was such an exciting experience for all of us to watch and even aid in the surgery, pre-surgery, and recovery operations. We spayed and neutered eight dogs in the day. We was hot but we made it!
Next, we headed to a local supermarket where we bought yummy food and then to the community park where we watched local children rehearsing a traditional Costa Rican dance. We even enjoyed a game of soccer with some of the local children.
Today, we visited a local school and talked to second and fifth graders about the importance of animal treatment and veterinarians. Overall, the beginning of our trip has been very full and exciting for all of us. We can’t wait for more!
Sunday June 24, 2018
Sydney here!
June 24 we got to wake up later and it was storming really hard so we got to rest another hour, which was lovely. When the rain went away we set off to go into the community. We split into groups and went to talk with families in their homes about their pets’ health. The people were very nice and their pets were adorable!
If they had children, some of the girls from a group would go color with the kids. It was a great day for bonding with the community and learning more about animal welfare. We finished around lunchtime and headed back to the hotel where we were able to rest for a couple hours, which was very nice. Then the counselors surprised us with a scavenger hunt in the park, finding a lizard to take selfies with and dancing with people in the park! We got ice cream and did some shopping before heading back to the hotel for dinner.
Today we had our last clinic day, and everyone had a really positive attitude! We spayed/neutered seven animals, both dogs and cats. Then we said our goodbyes to the vets we’ve been working with and went back to the hotel to rest and do leadership activities.
Hi everyone! This is Zoe!
Our time here has been going by so fast. Just today we were all talking about the first day when we didn’t know each other—today, we feel like we’ve known each other forever.
Yesterday afternoon we came back from our second clinic day and had free time. We were able to go in the pool and rest. We then played a great leadership activity that revolved around Aboriginal groups in Australia having their land fought over between themselves, Wet Tropics Management, The Australian Logging Company, and The Australian Nature Conservation. We were split into groups and researched our agency’s role in the conflict. Each group was assigned a role to play and then researched their opinions on the conflict. We then debated the issue while thinking from the perspective of each of our agencies. I was part of a group called CREATE that mediated the debate and set the frame for the discussion. It was challenging because we didn’t always agree with the agency we had to represent. It also helped us speak and share our values.
Our last activity of the night was a bonding game where we formed a circle and faced outward with our eyes closed. Then a few people were picked to go into the circle and tap people who made them happy and did well in the debate.
We went to bed early because we set out for Orosi very early this morning, at six thirty. We drove to Orosi, which took about five hours. We arrived at our beautiful hotel, Hotel Tapanti, around one. Here we have a great view of the mountains and even some active volcanoes. But there hasn’t been an eruption since 1968!
We then had a group discussion about the debate and how the skills we used can help us in the future. We split into mentor groups and talked about what makes as a good leader. We just had a delicious dinner and now we are watching the movie Coco.
Bye for now!
-by Zoe