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June 4, 2014 by Brett Scuiletti Leave a Comment

COSTA RICA – Spanish Service Adventure – Coast – August 1 – August 14, 2014

Headed Home

All students are headed home!

The Weekend

While participating in Crossing the Line Friday night, we were told to cross the line if we had cried this year. Our mentor Christina shared with us that she had cried during the previous program. She described her tears of happiness when at Playa Naranjo, where she said, “…I saw the most beautiful sunset to the right and to the left the most brilliant, vibrant, rainbow and at that moment I was filled with so much love, it poured out of my eyes…” She described that she had never seen anything like that before and she just sat there and took in a sight that filled her with pure happiness.

The next day, we traveled to Playa Naranjo to learn to surf and camp on the beach. After we finished our lesson, we decided to take the surfboards out in the water to experience surfing at sunset. We were in complete awe of the beauty, wondering what we had done to deserve such an amazing experience while being in the presence of such unrealistic perfection. As we got out of the water, we noticed that there was a rainbow shining through the clouds on the right and the sunset filling the sky with orange and pink on the left. We talked about how beautiful it was and how lucky we were to experience the same moment Christina talked so highly about. But we then realized to take in the moment in silence, appreciating everything about the amazing scenery we got to live in. We were the only two lucky enough to see it, while it lasted for less than three minuets. Laurel & Lauren

SpokenWord

GLA !!! What Is It ? Yeah GLA !!!

Where does it come from ?

What’s the benefit of it ?

Global Leadership Adventures

3 Keys words that are combined

Strongly….

Such as a Huge Diverse Ethnic Background

Connecting within 2 weeks

In Costa Rica !!!! Pura Vida !!!!

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La Escuela Playa Hermosa

Today we all woke up at our regular time: 6:30am. After breakfast we split into our mentor groups and headed off to our service sites. At Jess’s team’s site we continued work on the principal’s office and sports court. The best part of the morning was definitely playing and spending time with the kids who attend La Escuela Playa Hermosa. They were very excited to spend time with us (or maybe it was just our iPhones!). After plenty of hard work and selfies with the kids, we headed back to our homebase for lunch. After the usual delicious lunch and a little free time, we broke into our Spanish groups. While one group took off to do pottery, the other group remained and did a Spanish lesson. Once the lesson was completed, we got a chance to explore the center of the town of El Coco, guided by our Spanish teachers. We stopped to by fresh fruit, smoothies and some souvenirs. In the afternoon, we all went down to the beach to lay in the sand of soak in the water. Once again there was an absolutely beautiful sunset, which was only the beginning of a relaxing evening. Once dinner had been finished the entire group took a trip down to the beach to meditate under the stars. The moon was out and lighting up the whole beach. After meditating we broke off into mentor groups to reflect. Now we’re all off to a well deserved night’s sleep.

Welcome to Playas del Coco!

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All of our happy students have arrived to their new home in El Coco, Costa Rica, where together we will experience SPANISH, SERVICE, and ADVENTURE to our maximum capacity!  Everyone is excited to explore this new paradise and get to know each other.  Our first day is focused on orientation to GLA and exploring this new place.  Already on our second day, we can expect an extra dose of adventure as we go horseback riding, tubing down rapid rivers and zip-lining through the forest canopy. Starting Monday we’ll get to begin work at our service sites and Spanish classes.  Everyone is ready for a thrilling and meaningful experience.
Pura vida!
Heather & Cristina –  Co-directors
Kassie, Philip, Jessica & Alex –  Mentors

We’ve Arrived!

All students have arrived in country and are ready for their program! Stay tuned for blog updates and photos!


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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