TIME CAPSULE LETTER
Written by Austyn, Juan, RJ, Victor, Anna, Will, Amanda, Sarah and Danielle
Dear students,
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 bob down the river during river tubing, 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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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. As Ester reminded my group, your values are something you hold within you and you must strive to live them out. Miss you all! Just BE CHILL! And keep on keeping on! – Mentor Amanda
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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. Our time together was so special, and we learned so much from each and every one of you. Your impact on the community was incredible, and we hope you still carry all of the things you learned with you every day! We know you are out there working toward your goals, following your dreams, making new friends, being open to new experiences, and being a bright light in the world – we are so proud of you! Can’t wait to continue seeing the positive energy you continue to bring to those around you. We miss you and hope to cross paths with you again soon <3 – Sarah
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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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Hola amigos, I hope things have gone well for each of you the last six months. Time passes quickly so I hope you have made the most of your time and carried the lessons you learned at GLA into your lives wherever you are in the world. Thank you for all of your efforts during our 10 days together in Costa Rica. Seeing your group trust the program and buy into the curriculum is amazing to see. To my service group I truly appreciate all the hard work you put in and to my mentor group thank you for opening up and sharing. Continue to push your boundaries and challenge yourselves daily!
Best,
Will
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Pura Vida!
How is it going? Hope all is well! I just want to say that 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, our paths will cross again!
Love, RJ
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Deall all,
I hope you are doing well. I hope this letter finds you well and know that you were such a special group to me.
Tell me ! Have you achieved the amount of community service that you wanted to do? We in GLA would love to hear from you.
Did you get to teach the family the importance of separating solid waste from home ?
I remember our conversation and the key to get these goals is to start with the first step. The rest will come alone with consistency.
Wish you all the best
GLA and I are here to support you with ideas and also to cheer you up on your goals.
Kind regards
¡Gracias!
Thank you!
Obrigado !
KOB Khun!
–Víctor
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Hello again to my Beachside Service Adventure Leaders! It was six months ago now that you were in Costa Rica where you applied your best efforts in both your service and mentor groups, immersed yourself in the Tico culture, and enjoyed the sound of crashing waves and the sight of painted skies during every sunset at Playa Junquillal. I’m grateful that I got to meet you all and learn a little about you. I’d like you to know that you have all inspired me to be a better human, and I continue to wish for the very best for each of you. I’m so proud of the work you did while you were in Guanacaste, and I hope that you carry the memories with you forever! Remember to uphold what you value most in life, seek to understand and connect with others, and never stop learning. I hope to run into you again somewhere in the world, hopefully traveling and living your best life. Pura Vida! Good vibes always – Dani
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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
Click here to jump down to the most recent posts!
BLOG POST FOR JULY 7
Bienvenida a Costa Rica,
Welcome to Costa Rica the land of pura vida or pure life. Today was a busy day with 52/53 students arriving to home base. Students found their rooms, passed their swim tests, and were introduced to some of home base protocols.
We finished our evening watching the sunset, eating a traditional Costa Rican dinner, and playing some get to know you games. The last student will be arriving to home base later tonight. We are excited to continue our orientation tomorrow and to get to know each other over these next 10 days!!
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 Amanda
BLOG POST FOR JULY 8
Written by Rachel
Today we woke up to warm weather and positive mindset for our first day at home base! Breakfast began around 8:00 and consisted of rice and beans, eggs, cereal, and a cup of fresh fruit. After breakfast, we headed to orientation where we learned about the amazing family who own and run the resort. We then broke into groups for a fun game and some different safety activities.
After a bit of free time, we headed to lunch for a mix of rice, beans, chicken, and a mix of veggies. We then learned about all of the amazing opportunities and leadership experiences we will partake in. We were then introduced to the different service activities that this program offers. Verdiazul – helping out a sea turtle conservation organization, Uniendo Comunidades – service for local communities, Guanacaste Water Center – tree planting, and Grupo de Ecológio de Avellanas – beach cleanup and meeting people from a local school.
After a day full of orientation activities we sat down for dinner – mashed potatoes, pork chops, vegetables, and salad. After dinner we had some free time to visit the restaurant and have some of their amazing smoothies. We ended the day an intriguing debate about sea turtle conservation. Orientation day was full of fun learning activities!
Also, happiest 16th birthday to Harrison!
BLOG POST FOR JULY 9
After an early morning breakfast we started our first day of service. We split into groups of GLA students who served the Guanacaste community through beach cleanup, turtle conservation, planting trees, supporting a local school.
At the primary school we were able to see monkeys in the wild. The memorable experience was enriching as we learned that the monkeys shouts could travel 8 km!
After traveling back to the home base from our dedicated labor had a delicious lunch provided by our awesome host family. In the afternoon we learned more about Costa Rica and helping our community from our guest speaker. We danced through the rest of the afternoon learning about salsa dancing, Zumba dancing and a traditional Costa Rican dance using our “Shakira hips”.
After the hot Costa Rican sun we love to cool off in the pool and go to the beach for sunset. While the sun was setting we gathered in a huge game of beach volleyball and splashed in the surprisingly warm pacific water.
Even only after our first day of service this has been unforgettable experience and we can’t wait to see what the week will hold.
BLOG POST FOR JULY 10 (See BLOG POST FOR JULY 11 below)
We started off our day by having another great meal that the family prepared for us. We all headed out for our service projects bright and early. Many of our leaders are in the the Grupo Ecoligio de Avellanas service project, where we learned about plastics and were led to pick up trash on one of the beautiful beaches that Costa Rica has to offer. Other leaders partake in the Guanacaste Water Center project and Uniendo Communidaes project. The water center group spent the day planting 45 trees, while the other project continued to pick up and sort trash. They also learned about the importance of separating the trash and the effect it has on the environment. After service we had lunch.
We all then packed up for an afternoon full of the beach. We all got to experience our first full swim in the ocean and continued to play games, like volleyball and monkey in the middle. This was a great way to grow our bond as a group and enjoy Costa Rica. For dinner, we enjoyed Tacos. Unfortunately, no one was able to break the record of 17 tacos eaten! For night activity, we learned about the stereotypes of different people and places and how we can change our perspectives. We are all exhausted after another great day of service and are excited for an adventure day tomorrow!
BLOG POST FOR JULY 11
Written by: Harrison, Gabe, Maelie, Nate, Sloan, and Ava 🙂
Hey everyone! today was an early morning as we got ready to leave for our adventure day at 6:30 am!
we had empeñadas for breakfast and took a 2 hour bus ride to hotel hacienda guachipelín. we started our adventure by taking multiple ziplines through the jungle, repelling, and rock climbing.
then, we had a delicious lunch and continued our adventure with tubing through the river rapids. we had an amazing time conquering the rough rapids and floating together down the lazy river. some of us even got a chance to jump off a large rock into the beautiful water.
After returning from the river, we all hopped on the bus and headed back to home base. As we journeyed home, some of us raged to some killer music selections, while others had a competitive game of catchphrase.
Once we arrived home, we witnessed a breathtaking sunset at the beach. It was by far the best one yet! Then, we ate a scrumptious dinner of chicken, veggies, and rice.
To cap off our day full of fun and adventure we had a group karaoke session and jammed out to everything from Call Me Maybe to Sweet Caroline.
Today was full of memories to last a lifetime and made our group even tighter than before! We can’t for more adventures with this amazing group!
