PROGRAM PHOTO ALBUM
Thanks for the checking out the blog for this Global Leadership Adventures program!
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.
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 throughout the program during designated spaces of time we call ‘tech time’. Actual tech times and regularity will vary greatly by program location. 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.
Thank you for your patience and understanding, and we hope you enjoy following along on these unforgettable adventures.
For frequently asked questions about the blogs, please visit our Program Blog FAQ page.
-The Global Leadership Adventures HQ Team
Click here to jump down to the most recent posts!
BLOG POST FOR JULY 7
Today was orientation day. it was a long but enlightening day. We finally received the entire student group and spent the day getting to know each other. most of us have done our swim tests and are ready for beach and pool time. food was delicious and we got to know our mentor and service groups. We are excited to start our service days tomorrow.
BLOG POST FOR JULY 8
Written by multiple students:
Today was our first service day today! We started the community service with collecting trash around parts of the town and then we started painting logos and murals for the local recycling community group. We then went home and had lunch and then headed to the beach after. We played volleyball, football, and swam as a group! Then we went back to the home base and had a costa rican dance lesson in the rain! After dance we enjoyed a spaghetti dinner, and then finished off the day with TECH TIME!!!!!
-Sophia
It was our first day off home base and we had a blast! We started the day early and then headed to our service sites. We picked up over 400 pounds of trash from around the ocean. Then, we came back and enjoyed some really good chicken tenders. It was also our first beach day! We swam, played volleyball, and tanned. After that, we came back to home base to an awesome dance lesson. We learned to samba, salsa, merengue, and more. We then ended the night with a chow circle, an awesome dinner, tech time, and then a meaningful conversation with our mentor groups about our personal values.
-Alexis
This was our first day of home base so there is a lot of stuff to mention. I will not be mentioning most things, but know that your kid/kids did a lot today! First off, tech time! We love tech time- an hour daily where we can use our phones. My group today ventured into a local community and helped with fixing and painting signs, as well as painting murals! Three of my group mates were designated as tommorrow’s leaders of the day (I cant spell their name)! Later we had great Alfredo for dinner (no rice), and moved onto tech time, mentor groups, and Chow cirlce. Bye!
-Cassius
Made it out of bed today, so proud of myself. Breakfast was rice and beans πππ, yum, with pancakes had to go for seconds. Hung with the turts for service and dug some holes. Even saw a turt egg today πππ . Lunch was some fried chicken πππ. Dancing was an absolute bop and dinner was legendary. Shout out to other GLAers.
-Andrew
For my first day as a leader of day I kinda arrived late for breakfast. We led the breakfast and talked about some of the schedule for the day. After breakfast we started our first service day and I dug holes in order to plant trees in the next few days. After service we ended up having our first beach day and had a quick football game, my team lost…… I then got to show my amazing moves when we learned costa rican dancing (I was the best one). After that we had supper with an amazing sunset!
-Rafael
BLOG POST FOR JULY 9
Written by Leaders of the Day: Max, Jaylen, Eli, Ryn, Lily, Scarlett
Today was filled with exciting activities and bonding as each group contributed to the community in various ways.
Max and his GWC teammates cut bamboo to replant bamboo roots as an objective to reforestation.
Jaylen and his VA teammates walked miles along the beaches, collecting more than 8 full bags of garbage. The overall goal of this activity was to clean up the beach, make a cleaner environment, and save the sea turtles.
ΛΛI miss you mom and dad and I hope you guys are doing well and miss me much. Cya Friday!Β΄
Members of the Blue Flag committee including Elise filled our day with painting washed up pieces of surfboard with inspiring messages for the community. Each of the individuals added their own twist of creativity and passion onto the surfboards which later turned into powerful works of art, reminding us all about the importance of caring for the well-being of the planet we all share.
Day two of UC entailed creativity on all parts, from painting landscape murals with animals, to the logo of the organization, and helpful signs to remind people to keep our oceans clean. Each member added their own ideas and inspiring words to the project making them unique. We worked side by side with children from the local community who are consistently working to keep their home clean.
The members of the GEA group worked with local environmentalists to paint signs reminding community members to keep their beach and trees safe. Signs were made specifically to help protect the mangrove trees which are essential to this ecosystem. Students also removed micro plastics and other garbage from the sand to provide a cleaner beach that will keep the animals safe.
In the afternoon we headed to the beach where we bonded as a group as we swam in the ocean, played flag football and relaxed.
We were also honored to be able to have a local guest speaker who spoke with such passion and joy about this incredible country we are honored to call our temporary home.
Thatβs all for now folks!
Pura Vida!
BLOG POST FOR JULY 10
Written by Ruby B-H, Noah P, Lily S, Sofia T, Emily H
Today was an adventure day! First we woke up bright and early at 5:30! Breakfast was empanadas with cereal.
Then we went on the bus for two hours to our adventure park. We started off with zip lining with all kinds of activities like tarzaning, dropping into a canyon, going upside down, and rock climbing.
We then went for a short walk to a beautiful lookout where we took photos with all our friends and mentors. We sat down for a delicious buffet lunch and then a longer hike to this gorgeous waterfall where we all went swimming and some tried to climb a waterfall.
Afterwards the leaders led everyone back to the buses to go tubing 5km down the river. It was filled with sharp turns, rocks, and exciting rapids. We all had a blast! Then we headed over to a souvenir shop where we immersed ourselves in the rich Costa Rican culture. Some people got ice cream while others enjoyed Costa Rican chocolate.
We then headed home and had a wonderful dinner followed by our nightly chow circle. Overall today was filled with adventures and we all had a great time!
Pura Vida!
From the best leaders of the summer!βοΈπββοΈ
Lots of love from the campers
BLOG POST FOR JULY 11
Today was another day of service and filled with fun activities in Costa Rica!
Lizzie and the rest of the VA service group worked hard restoring the turtle hatchery with clean sand along with releasing one of our new hatchlings into the ocean.
Gigi and UC service group used their creative skills to paint beautiful landscapes on benches and posters, and putting up signs with messages spreading awareness. Today was a special day because we had the Rodriguez Lopez family who drove over an hour to come help us.
Olivier and the GWC found creative ways to plant trees to simplify the hard manual labor that we did under the blazing sun during the day.
Emerson and GEA walked down the beach hanging signs from the previous service days efforts for the first half of service. The group continued down the beach collecting trash and solved problems associated with collecting heavy or hard to reach trash. In all, a really great day for GEA, Greta, Frank, Emerson and Candy.
Melrose and the blue flag team planted Almond trees by the sea shore and post to stop cars to park in front of the beach and damage the ecosystem for the sea turtles, after we did a beach clean up and had fresh fruit before heading back to home base.
We then headed back to home base for lunch. Afterwards, the group headed to a chocolate workshop where we learned how to make chocolate and taste tested several types of chocolate. Ranging from habanero, white vanilla, roasted caramel, 60-90% dark chocolate.
It rained for the rest of the night, but we still made the most of the night by finishing it off with some Scottish dancing taught by our fabulous mentor Ryan. The group left sweaty, tired, satisfied, and definitely ready for bed.
We had a long but very productive day!
Stay tuned for more adventure.
BLOG POST FOR JULY 12
Hi family and friends,
Today we stared off with breakfast, which was French toast and gallo pinto! After that, each group headed of to our fourth day of work at our service sites. After lunch, we traveled to the local town of Rio Seco where we learned to make Bunuelos, a traditional Costa Rican snack made with fried corn and cheese with honey syrup along with a traditional sweet drink called Agua Dulce. We also participated in various team building games that brought us closer together as a group. During our free time, many of us enjoyed a swim in the pool while listening to music. We continued our evening with dinner followed by a thought-provoking debate about sea turtle conservation and the effects itβs has on the Costa Rican economy. After our mentally engaging debate, each student went off to bed for a well-deserved sleep. Tomorrow we will have our last day of service and will be looking forward to beach Olympics. Look forward to seeing you all in three days and telling you all about our fun adventure here in Costa Rica.
Leaders of the Day,
Sabrina, Mila, Ellie, Pearl W, Andy, Zander, Aine, and Joshua
BLOG POST FOR JULY 13
Leaders of the day: Afton, Arden, Eli, Jacob, Lila, Eddie, Sophia, Sienna
We had another great day in Costa Rica. It was filled with service, great food, and fun activities throughout the day. Today was beach side Olympics and our last day of service!
The blue flag service group placed more awareness raising signs on the beach to protect them and more posts to create parking lots. Then, we picked up micro plastics on the beach!
The Guanacaste water center learned about the importance of sustainable water usage and continued planting experimental βplant cookies.β
At the GEA, the group learned about the importance of the bio diverse mangrove ecosystem, ecotourism, and they also went to avellanas beach and picked up micro plastics.
At Verdi azul, the turtle hatchery, they continued the hatchery building of turtle nests. They also beat the previous record of a hole dug and completed in 15 minutes, with a new record of 12 minutes.
At Uniendo Comunidades, the group finished painting the mural and creating different signs to raise awareness about the importance of sustainable ecological procedures.
After service and a wonderful lunch of arroz con pollo y Ensalada, we had the beach side Olympics where we played Rock Paper Scissors tag and a water cup relay. It was filled with a lot of fun competition but unfortunately cut short due to thunder and lightning.
Finally, we had a meaningful mentor group session about personal and group life goals using the SMART technique: Sustainable, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, Timeable.
While we are sad that tomorrow is our last day, we are beyond excited to go on the catamaran trip before the talent show.
Hasta maΓ±ana!
