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 JUNE 24
Students safely got to their homebase at Beachside Service Adventure! We are looking forward to unplugging and spending time on the beautiful beaches of Guanacaste. Once students arrived on homebase, students began to unpack and spend some time enjoying homebase and our first, dry sunset in almost two weeks!
For dinner this evening, students ate casados. A famous dish of Costa Rica with rice, beans, and salad. Students were also able to meet all of their roommates, spend time with mentors during mentor time, and establish connections with one another during dinner. We are excited to get programming started tomorrow as we begin our orientation and hit the ball rolling on Sunday for our first Adventure Day of the session!
Update: here is a photo of all the students at home base! Stay tuned for more blog posts coming soon!
-Joselin (GLA Staff)
BLOG POST FOR JUNE 25
Today was our first full day in Playa Junquillal at our Beachside Service Adventure program! We started the day off with a delicious and traditional Costa Rican breakfast called Gallo Pinto. Although the weather was pretty rainy today, we still got to visit the beach right next door to our home base for a while and discover what it has to offer! It is a beautiful black sand beach with tons of cool shells and lots of space to play beach games!
After breakfast we started our program Orientation. During Orientation we learned all about what the next 8 days have in store! We also learned more about GLA, Costa Rica, and the service projects that we will be starting on Monday. We also learned more about each other by doing some active icebreakers and games with the leadership team. We finished the day by having some free time and a yummy dinner! We did our first leadership activity with our mentor groups and learned more about our personal values and how to identify them. The night wrapped up with some tech time to touch base with our families and friends and then a bit more free time to wind down. We are excited for our adventure day tomorrow going zip lining and tubing! Stay tuned for what’s next…
BLOG POST FOR JUNE 26
Our first adventure day was full of fun and risk taking. With a fun energetic wake up call from our Mentor Greta, we started off with a delicious breakfast. Then heading out on the bus, our first activity was zip lining. Through the beautiful trees and rivers with some additional rock climbing. Then we headed out to a sight seeing and captured photos of the view. We had a delicious lunch buffet, before heading out to the waterfall where we walked to and swam. From there we took the bus to head to tubing. We took tubes through a 5 kilometer river with strong currents and fun. We ended out the day with a yummy dinner and discussing our services for tomorrow and talked about our amazing day. -Alex
Today was a great day everybody enjoyed it so much including me. It started off with some really great empanadas and fruit loops, shortly after we hopped on the bus taken to a beautiful zip line the best lines were in the canyon over the water, after this we got to go to a cascading beautiful waterfall and swam underneath it next we went down some rough rapids in a tube. SO MUCH FUN!-Sawyer
The first adventure day was so much fun! Everybody woke up early and we embarked on a long two hour drive to the site. We started off with zip lining in the morning and tubing in the evening. We had lunch in between the two adventures and it was so delicious. Overall this day was so incredible and I am very excited for future activities! – Annalise
Today was an adventure day and we went zip lining and tubing. I went zip lining twice and it’s was so much fun. The drive there with everyone was so much fun getting to know everyone, listening to music and just being in such a positive welcoming environment. It was such an amazing day and I made so many amazing memories!-Neve
BLOG POST FOR JUNE 28
Today, the service projects underwent new developments in their work. The volunteers at Verdiazul replaced two contaminated nests in under 30 minutes which is was a big accomplishment for them. They then went to the warehouse to clean the nets used for the hatchery nests. The work done at the hatchery is very important to the turtles as their natural habitat is at risk due to climate change.
At the water treatment & agriculture department the volunteers faced introductions to the projects that would be have to be done. They also were introduced to necessary information and trivia based of water, biodiversity, and vegetation. Afterwards they started their reforestation efforts by preparing soil bags for seed growth. The act included the shoveling, stuffing, and transferring of dirt into small black bags that had to be folded. There was also the preparation of a fresh liquid concoction ripe with microorganisms that would be used to enable fertilization. There was also a surprising amount of cleaning some materials like buckets.
At GEA, the beach cleanup service, we drove down to a beach to make signs and pick up trash. We began by sanding the wood planks down to get them ready to paint. Then, we wrote messages such as pick up trash or protect the beach. Once we finished the signs, we walked throughout the beach and picked up trash. We learned about micro plastics and how they affect the animals and environment.
Today At UC we painted signs that spread awareness about pollution, global warming, and the importance of helping the environment. Afterwards we drove to am area near by to participate in a Rally Day. We got to play fun games like quittage and did a t–Shirt relay. We also got the opportunity to visit some locals and learned how to make homemade corn tortillas in a cooking class. And we played soccer and volleyball in the rain. We ended the day with delicious pasta and garlic bread. Everyone put in a ton of effort in their service group and through enjoyed themselves in the rally day festivities.
BLOG POST FOR JUNE 29
Written by Eleanor S, Maggie D, Connor W, Saby IB😊
Waking up to the sounds of shrieking birds and monkeys really isn’t as bad as it seems. There are many benefits to it actually. You’ll never need an alarm clock again as long as you’re okay with waking up when the sun rises. Today, the best one was being woken up for Twoga with one of the mentors Brian. Honestly a brutal morning workout wasn’t what I was expecting when I heard it was a combination of dancing and yoga. But I was drenched, sore, and eager to learn more by the end of the session. It was really great to see the variety of people attend a class like that. That was only the beginning of another fantastic day.
After our morning workout, we all attended a great breakfast of French toast and fruit, which was amazing as always. Next, we all separated into our rewarding yet difficult service groups with the ultimate goal of helping the community. One of the most important factors of the Costa Rican community is the health and beautification of the local beaches. Two of the service groups today focused on the removal of trash and micro-plastics from the beaches in order to benefit the marine life and local residents. Another service group worked closely with the sea turtle hatchery with the goal to clean the nests of future baby sea turtles. Lastly, the service group working with the Guanacaste Water Center planted experimental fruit trees which are very beneficial for the growing ecosystems in Costa Rica.
After our service groups, and a lunch of crispy chicken tenders, we were split into teams based on our service groups to compete in the Beach Olympics. The energy and excitement was through the roof, with each team dressing up and representing their team color. The teams played in four different games; they were all amazing. We are now shattering the silence of the Costa Rican night with a dance party by the pool.
BLOG POST FOR JUNE 30
Written by Griffin Benson, Diego Irizarry, Kennedy Martinez, Sofia Larranaga
Today We woke up and participated in yoga with one of the mentors. After this We proceeded to wake up everyone around camp as instructed to do as a leader of the day responsibility, we did this by singing good morning songs. We ate breakfast and then headed to our service sites where we painted tables with unique designs for tourists eating close to the beach. Some groups walked along the beach and other areas collecting micro plastics and other trashes to protect the environment. We then came back, ate lunch, and headed off to our evening activity, the chocolate factory. At the chocolate factory we tasted different types of chocolates and learned about the history of chocolate making and the process of doing so. Afterwards we had a bus ride home where we all sang songs and had fun. We ate dinner, then our day was concluded by a simulated discussion activity.
BLOG POST FOR JULY 1
Written by Charley M, Cayden, Amelia, Sophia N, and Dylan
Hey Family and friends. We started day 9 with a early wake up call and a delicious breakfast consisting of oatmeal, fresh fruit and banana bread. After breakfast we hopped on the buses for 40 minutes to the marina where we got on the catamaran. On the boat we swam, tanned, and drank virgin strawberry daiquiris. We enjoyed jumping off the boat and swimming to a near by island, followed by lunch made by the crew of the catamaran. Our boat trip had come to an end and the bus ride back was full of energy which we transferred to our Costa Rican dance lesson. Dance artist came to home base and taught us how to make our hips not lie like Shakira. After dancing we started to wind down the afternoon with our daily chow circle and we got to see a family of spider monkeys hanging in the tree next to the ranchito. After dinner was served, we all walked to the beach and watched the sunset. We gathered again for our final OMG workshop and finally we ended the day with a group game of uno and got ready for bed.
