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June 3, 2016 by Brett Scuiletti

COSTA RICA – Beachside Service Adventure – Coco – July 11 – July 20, 2016

Time Capsule Letter – October 2016

Hola students (+ Maggie and Sandy)! Kevin here. It’s August and we are just wrapping things up in Costa Rica. Rachel is still wowing us with her dance skills, Sushi is as loud and fun as ever, Lila is always smiling and positive, and Paz is organizing everything to perfection. While we only had ten days together, I can’t believe how close we all became and how much we learned. I know that in a month, a year, even five years from now, we’ll still be looking back on our GLA memories fondly. We experienced a new culture, served several communities, learned about ourselves, and went on some great adventures.
I think my favorite memory of the group is the talent show, which was probably the best we had all summer. Who could forget McKenna’s magical object-guessing and speed-changing? Or Emma’s incredible signing of a song? Not to mention the fun rendition of Miley Cyrus’ “The Climb” or Lenin joining in on “Vivir Mi Vida.” And just so you don’t forget – ¿Qué hace el pez aburrido? Nada.
Finally, some updates on service. The court at Escuela La Libertad was finished and looks phenomenal! The small children play soccer on it regularly, which is a great way for them to spend their never-ending energy. During longer breaks they head over to the play structure which your group painted so well. The bridge is aaaaalmost finished: the community is just waiting on some of the long metal cables that will span the river. It could never have been completed without your hard work scraping, painting, digging, water-tossing, etc.
¡Pura vida!
Quick recollections:
-Seeing several magnificent sunsets at Coco Beach 

-Eating fresh pineapple and mango at breakfast each day – gracias, Veronica!
-Playing soccer with the local youth group
-Painting a playground in vibrant colors (blue, green, red, yellow)
-Many games of pato-pato-ganzo with the local children
-Painting a beautiful “under-the-sea” mural on the bathrooms at Escuela Libertad
-Seeing (and touching) pufferfish, sea urchins, schools of thousands of fish, and more while snorkeling
Let me know if there’s anything I need to edit/change.
Thanks,
Kevin

 


Summer Blog Posts

7/13

Written by Alena and Charlotte
2016-07-13 17.19.11 2016-07-13 18.06.49

First day of service was amazing! We are painting a school and park and working on a bridge. We’re getting dirty with paint, wet cement, and sweat. The locals are super accepting and treated us like friends. We spent the afternoon building with clay and drinking yummy coffee! We then headed back home to watch the sunset on the beach. Everything is Pura Vida!

7/15

 

Written by our leaders of the day: Emily & Kirsten

Service Day 2 was very fulfilling. We began our very adventurous day with a refreshing breakfast with pinto, pineapple, and mango. We then continued our service work at the different sites around 8am. Despite the strong sun and humidity, all the groups accomplished amazing things.

One of the sites we worked on was the community bridge where one group worked on making cement while the other service group was able to connect with the amazing locals that were working on the bridge. At the other service site we continued creating the soccer field at one of the elementary schools. We also continued designing and painting a marine life mural for the school. One of our other service groups are continuing painting a playground for the school as well with bright colors.

2016-06-21 14.44.37 2016-07-15 08.18.24

After, we came back to the homebase for a delicious lunch of casado, we later headed over to a beach for snorkeling! It was so fun! The water was clear and a bright blue. There was an array of bright colored marine life and the instrucors found a puffer fish and a baby octopus. After our lovely adventure, we came back to homebase and ate tasty taco salad. We then reflected on the day in our (mentor) groups and later played some games.. to wrap up the day.

It was a great and impactful experience being leaders of the day because we were able to practice skills of leadership with the group.

July 20, 2016
As we say goodbye to this group, our last blog entry comes from Leaders of the Day Emily and Jazmin:

Before the actual day we led the group, I would watch other leaders and think that their job was super easy, and there was barely anything to it. When it was our turn to lead, I began to second-guess those preconceptions. Even simple things like picking a quote or figuring out what game to end the day with were tricky – I wondered if everyone would like the game or if the quote wouldn’t make sense or if I would embarrass myself. Once we began I was impressed by my lack of nerves in the moment. I enjoyed being up in front of the other students, and realized that all of the anxiety I had been experiencing dissipated. My favorite part of the day was telling and explaining the quote of the day to the students because it felt as though it was the most meaningful activity – it gave us a chance to motivate and enlighten the other students, and really exercise the true leadership skills of teaching and inspiration.

2016-07-17 11.35.14-2

2016-07-15 09.35.52

Photos: meeting and playing with the local children who will benefit from our two service projects in La Libertad as well as the finished product of one of our service projects: mural and refurbished play area at the school.


Global Leadership Adventures


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About Brett Scuiletti

Brett Scuiletti is the Editor of The Young Leader. He is passionate about young people having meaningful travel experiences and enjoys sharing their stories. Brett resides in San Diego but always has his passport handy!

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