TIME CAPSULE LETTER
Written by Austyn, Juan, RJ, Victor, Anna, Will, Amanda, Sarah and Danielle
It’s hard to believe that so much time has passed since you all joined us in Playa Junquillal for your Beachside service adventure! You all truly impressed us with your grit, determination, and fun loving spirits. We enjoyed so many things about your session, including watching you all soak up on the sun on the catamaran, working hard and learning so much during service, and seeing your beautiful friendship bonds during our final Appreciation Circle activity. We hope you enjoy hearing from your favorite mentors below 🙂
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Friends! We hope that you are doing well. We have missed you so much since our time together in Costa Rica. The 10 days we spent together was so special, and we learned so much from each and every one of you. Your impact on the community in Playa Junquillal was truly felt, and we hope you still carry all of the things you learned with you every day! We know you are out there continuing to work toward your goals, follow your dreams, make new friends, be open to new experiences, and most of all, be a bright light in the world. Never forget that you are a leader everywhere you go and in every community you are a part of – don’t take that responsibility lightly. We are so proud of you, and can’t wait to continue seeing the positive energy you bring to those around you. We miss you and hope to cross paths with you again soon <3 – Sarah
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Muchachos y muchachas!! I hope you are all doing well and take the time today to remember the moments you spent in Costa Rica with us at BSA. There were many rewarding moments, moments of joy, moments of discomfort, and moments where you started to question. It is crazy how much you were able to grow in 10 days of service and adventure. I know I was very impressed and proud of you all. No matter where you are or what you are doing now, I hope you know you can always make a difference big or small and both are important. Your values are something you hold within you and you must strive to live them out. Miss you all! Pura Vida! – Mentor Amanda
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Hola mis amigos!!! Some time has passed since these 10 days you spent in Costa Rica. I miss and think about you guys often. I truly hope that you gained something from this experience even if you don’t realize it directly. I hope you make a constant effort everyday to be kind and to learn from the environment around you. I encourage you to do things because you want to, because they make you happy, and because you truly believe they are the right thing to do. I really believe each and every one of you are such great people and have the potential to change those around you. Words are powerful so use them wisely. I hope that you are a bit more comfortable with who you are and can see how much you have to offer the world.
Stay weird. Be kind. – Anna
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Pura Vida! Many moons have passed but we shall never forget the Summer of 23. 10 days of amazing Costa Rican sunset, 10 days of delicious gallo pinto, 10 days of Junquillal sand and waves. Days of service, days of fun and adventure, days of learning new culture, and days of discovering ourselves. Hope you’ll never forget how incredible this trip was, and it was only possible because you were here.
By now you should have decided which GLA programme you are going to do for next summer! Whether it’s Bali or Ghana or Thailand or maybe Costa Rica again, I hope that you would come with so much positive anticipation to seek change and learn more about the world we live in! Travel, travel, travel! And I hope someday, somewhere, our paths will cross again! Love, RJ
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Hey everyone I hope you have had a great six months since our time together. Thank you for all the hard work in service and mentor groups. Your energy kept us going and seeing you guys make such meaningful friendships along the way is an amazing thing to experience. Hopefully your time with GLA was a positive experience and you have continued to spread what you learned wherever you live. I encourage all of you to continue traveling the world and learning about yourselves by taking on new challenges.
Best, Will
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Hola chicos! Can you believe it’s been 6 months since your Beachside Service Adventure with GLA in Costa Rica? I hope you were able to take something special from the experience and carry it back with you to your life at home. Whether it be a special connection with a new friend, a deeper appreciation for our environment, a stronger sense of self, or an urge to continue exploring – may you apply what you have gained and be better people for it. You should be proud of the work you did while you were here and that you were able to persevere in times of discomfort. You’re capable of amazing things! Act kindly, stay curious, and be well.
Pura vida! – Dani <3
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Hello guys! Hola a todos! Hallo !
I hope you are doing great! It’s been six months since then and I still remember you and the great experience we shared in CR.
Do you remember the One Meaningful Goal activity? How is it going ? I’d like to hear How’s that Meaningful goal is going. Just to say the first step into it is the key to achieve what we dream of.
Sending you hugs,
-Víctor
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Our hope for you all is that you have taken your experiences from Beachside back to your home life and turned them into something meaningful in your own community. Remember those goals you set for yourself and as a mentor group? Check in with yourself about if you are working toward those goals, and how to sustain the energy and excitement from your time here back in your day to day life. If you learned anything with us, I hope it was that change is made one small, individual decision at a time. Keep making those brave daily choices, and know that we are always cheering you on.
-Austyn
Thanks for the checking out the blog for this Global Leadership Adventures program!
PROGRAM PHOTO ALBUM
Here are a few things you can expect:
- We typically receive 2-3 blog posts per week here at GLA Headquarters from our program staff and students, so please don’t be alarmed if you don’t see a blog post daily – that’s totally normal.
- Blog updates sent on weekends may not be posted until Monday.
- Due to many factors, including but not limited to internet accessibility, photos may not always be available to post onto the blog. Sometimes onsite program staff are only able to send text back to Headquarters, where our team updates the blog.
Thank you for your patience and understanding, and we hope you enjoy following along on these unforgettable adventures.
Cell Phone Policy: The GLA cell phone policy is currently in place this summer to help foster meaningful connections between students. This means your student’s phone will be collected every day and returned to them after activities are completed to have with them through the night. Actual tech times and regularity will vary greatly by program location and time zones. During designated ‘tech time’, your student may use their phones as they wish. Please note that your student may not always choose to use this time to get a hold of their parents. If you are not hearing directly from your student each day, you can assume that no news is good news! We strongly recommend you follow the blog to follow your students’ experience without talking to them every day. If you are a parent and would like to get in touch with your student directly, you can call us at +1-619-758-3031 and we can set up a formal time for you to connect with your student.
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 20
Pura Vida!
Today, we welcomed our 52 amazing young leaders to the beautiful country of Costa Rica! The first batch of students arrived around 9 in the morning at the Liberia Airport, followed by couple more groups by noon.
They went straight to the homebase where they found their rooms, had some initial health checks and swim test, and got to know one another. By afternoon, just as a new batch of students arrived at homebase, we went straight to see our first sunset here in Playa Junquillal! We finished the day with a delicious traditional meal of arroz, frijoles, pollo, y enselada and some icebreaker activities to get to know one another. We also celebrated Kenya’s birthday with a cake and songs!
We look forward to orientation day tomorrow and to learning more about the service projects we will be participating in.
Dear parents, family, and friends! Please keep supporting our leaders’ journey here in Costa Rica by following our blog and commenting below! Thank you so much!
Pura vida,
Mentor RJ
BLOG POST FOR JULY 22
Written by Miah, Sam, Lola, Zach, Connor, Sydney
Today was the first day of service. There were 4 service activities that peoples took part in. These activities included cleaning up the beach, working with turtles, and working with trees, plants, and locals. After these services and lunch, we took part in afternoon activities which involved traditional Costa Rican games, soccer, and a cooking class with our local chefs!
The daytime festivities were concluded with another amazing sunset. After another amazing meal, everyone got together and brought out some competitiveness for trivia night!
– Miah, Sam, Lola, Zach, Connor, Sydney
BLOG POST FOR JULY 23
Written by Leo, Julia, Elyse, Asha, Hugh
We had breakfast at 7 and left for our service at 7:30. We met up with a local fisherman at a beach close to his house to start service. We started off by collecting trash and micro plastics off of the beach. We went swimming in the beach with the fisherman and his very cute dog.
At 12 we made our way back to home base for lunch which was tacos. Then we went to a beach with our whole group, to swim and hang out. Around 5 we made our way back to home base to watch the sunset at the beach. For dinner we had chickpea and potato curry, which the host family kindly cooked for us. Since it was raining we couldn’t do our originally planned activity with our mentor groups, but we got to play board games and spend time with everyone!
– Leo, Julia, Elyse, Asha, Hugh
BLOG POST FOR JULY 24
Written by Austin
Today, we had breakfast at 7 and left for our service project at 7:30. We met with a local community worker and painted signs saying to protect the environment and the beaches. After we finished the signs we went swimming at the local beach and enjoyed our time together.
At 11:30, we made our way back to home base for lunch at 12. For lunch, we ate homemade curry made by Elizabeth with a side of salad. At 1:30, we had a special guest attend to discuss Costa Rica and the annexation of Guantacaste. She also discussed interesting facts about Costa Rica and the celebration of Guantacaste. After the guest speaker, we had dance class in which we learned some of the basic moves of the Salsa and a couple other traditional dances. After dance class we met back at 5:45 for the beautiful sunset along the beach of the country.
For dinner, we were fed chicken and fries, which the host family kindly cooked for us. At the end of the night we met back at 7:15 for our night activity but, instead we celebrated the birthday of 2 students and 1 GLA Staff. Our GLA Team set up a piñata for the students Jacob and Kenya and our Local Director Juan. The gift from the GLA staff was a pool night in which everyone enjoyed till 9. After that we went into our rooms for the lights out at 10!
BLOG POST FOR JULY 25
Written by Julianna and Sierra
This morning we all woke up and ate our usual rice, beans, and eggs. Later on we headed to our service group for a productive morning of volunteering. Luckily the weather was nice and a lot of work was completed.
After lunch, we took the bus to the chocolate factory. We got to taste lots of different local chocolates and learn about the process of making them. The day ended off with delicious garlic bread and pasta.
