Monday June 11, 2018
Hello families!
The first night has come to an end, and what an exhausting and exciting first day it was! Your children just traveled the world by themselves and made it safely to Costa Rica. As we settled into the hostel, we played a game to learn each other’s names. We had lunch, which was delicious! It had rice, veggies, and chicken. The juice was pineapple, star fruit, and orange juice all mixed together.
Before dinner we played a game where we set goals for ourselves and tried to guess each other’s goals. We are excited to see how students work towards their goals of making friends, learning to surf, and service work. Then we grabbed some take out and had dinner in front of an old cathedral just up the street.
We are a small group of 9, but we have students from Colorado, California, Wisconsin, Kansas City, Texas, Boston, Oregon, Florida, and North Carolina. It’s quite diverse! The students are now getting into their rooms, and will soon be asleep. We are excited for the full day ahead! We will be leaving bright and early for the beach and the Bodhi camp.
Til next time,
Jen and Patrick
Here are some pictures from dinner.
Tuesday June 12, 2018
¡Pura vida!
After a nice and early breakfast at the hostel, we left San José for Bodhi with some stops along the way. We got out at the crocodile bridge and admired some crocodiles (from a comfortable distance) while some of us sipped on coconut water. Our driver, Wali, managed to spot a sloth along the way and pulled over to show us!
After we arrived to Bodhi and settled in a bit. We had lunch and a quick orientation while meeting the rest of the Bodhi team. One highlight of the day was the walk we took around the community. Through intermittent downpours, we learned how to spot different types of citrus trees, tried mangos and mangas (very different!), and checked out some important spots around town.
When we got back to Bodhi we had a discussion about service and what it means to us and talked about the upcoming projects in the community. After dinner, our surf instructor, Gibran, talked about the philosophy of surfing and got us all excited for the week of surfing ahead! We can’t wait to get to the beach and our first afternoon of service-learning at Forjando Alas tomorrow!
Moving forward, students will be writing the blog. We have started the “leaders of the day” part of the program, and one of their responsibilities will be to take pictures and write the daily blog. The leaders will write about what happened during the day and what they learned.
Thursday June 14, 2018 (Part 1)
*Blog is about yesterday (Wednesday June 13)
Hello parents and families of GLA kids,
Yesterday we started our day off at 6:30 with breakfast and started to get ready for surfing. We had a 20 minute walk down to the beach, learned how to surf some gnarly waves, and had some fresh pineapple during our break. All of us were pretty proud of catching some good waves. As the day went on we walked to the local market in which we bought some souvenirs and authentic Costa Rican food. Around 2:00 we went to Forjando Alas in which we did after school activities with the children. This included playing soccer, duck duck goose, and the telephone game. The kids were so friendly and energetic this really surprised us all. We started to create a bond with the children as the hours went on. At 6:00 we came back to the home base and had some dinner. Finally, we ended the night off with sharing all of our life stories. We learned about how much it means to feel apart of the community. Travis (one of the owners of Bodhi) had been very influential through out the service hours and was encouraging everyone to come together as a group. I learned about how important it is to create relationships with our peers as well as the community members. ¡Buenas noches!!
-Kya and Averey 🙂
Surfing and service made up the schedule for the Costa Rica GLA Kids. Learning to turn and slow down engrossed us in activity till noon. An energetic game of soccer was played on the hot beach while we took a break from the waves. Around 11, The crew then walked back from the beach and was happily surprised by hamburgers for lunch. After a period of resting time we began to plan a service outline for the children Forjando Alas, the organization we have been working with to help. We played fun games with the kids like duck duck goose and sharks and fishes, and also made slime. We then came back and ate dinner with a post-meal yoga session.
Missing American food,
Your children
Written by: Jena Leighton and Elias Blank
Thursday June 14, 2018 (Part 2)
Surfing and service made up the schedule for the Costa Rica GLA Kids. Learning to turn and slow down engrossed us in activity till noon. An energetic game of soccer was played on the hot beach while we took a break from the waves. Around 11, The crew then walked back from the beach and was happily surprised by hamburgers for lunch. After a period of resting time we began to plan a service outline for the children Forjando Alas, the organization we have been working with to help. We played fun games with the kids like duck duck goose and sharks and fishes, and also made slime. We then came back and ate dinner with a post-meal yoga session.
Written by: Jena Leighton and Elias Blank
Friday June 15, 2018
Hey parents!
Today is Friday, June 15. This morning we woke up at 630, had breakfast, and then quickly headed to surfing. Today in surfing we learned how to do turtle rolls and paddling out, while still practicing surfing waves. A turtle roll is when you are paddling out and flip your board and roll under a wave as to not get pushed back. After surfing, we came back to Bodhi to eat lunch and go swimming in the pool.
After a quick rest, we gathered our things, put on sunscreen, and headed to community service. During community service, we partnered with a Costa Rican youth group of students our age. With them, we made activities for the younger children and taught lessons for the younger children. During this, we were challenged to only speak Spanish, while they could only speak English.
It was very interesting to see people using creative ways to get around the language barrier. After the community service, we came back home for dinner and a late night game of celebrity. Overall in our opinion it was a very fun day. The most surprising thing was how kids as young as six who didn’t know any English found ways to speak to us through friends and body language.
We are very proud of our leadership and how people stepped up and led us to work well with the kids our age in Costa Rica to get work done. An inspirational person today was Yerleni. She is a mom of one of the kids at her after school program and finds a way as the only employee to deal with limited resources and still provide education, fun, and life skills for all these kids while keeping kids safe. She works very hard and was an inspiration to all of us. Finally, we all learned some more Spanish vocabulary and how to paddle out in big waves! Attached below are some pictures.
-Jake and Dietrich
Saturday June 16, 2018
Today we woke up to go white water rafting in a local river with us and some other fun people. We learned about local plant life and weather impacts near the river. While on the river we were thrown around like a rag doll in the boat. The river was strong and powerful enough to topple a boat. Everyone enjoyed the snacks and lunch we received from a local organization. Some of us learned how to white water raft for the first time today and we all had very much fun and look forward to the next day.
-Vido and Melissa
Sunday June 17, 2018
Today we woke up, had a quick breakfast and then headed out to catch some waves. Surfing today was full of “getting trucked”, according to Kya. A few people had some quick encounters with a jellyfish, but all is good now. After surfing we came back to Bodhi and enjoyed a nice lunch that consisted of chicken, vegetables, and of course rice and beans.
Our service today was all about understanding our relationship to the ocean and giving back to the environment. We helped pick up trash off of the local beaches with the assistance of some local Costa Rican teenagers. Afterwards we helped teach them how to surf, but also helped hype them up when they caught a wave. It was an overall fun time helping the community while also making a friend or two.
After service we came back and had some down time before our final yoga session. During this time many students called or FaceTimed their dads to wish them happy Father’s Day. Our yoga session was relaxing and much needed for our sore bodies. We did something called “partner yoga”, which is a fun way to gain a deeper stretch while also assisting someone else. It’s also good for a laugh or two. At the end we had a relaxing 10 minute cool down where we open our minds to the beautiful sounds of nature around us. A few people were so relaxed they actually fell asleep. We were all a little sad that this was our last yoga session in Costa Rica. We have all had an amazing time here and we will definitely be cherishing our final days here.
-Written by Allison and Avery
Monday June 18, 2018
¡Buenas Noches los padres!
Today we started our day off at 6:30 in which we had our regular eggs, beans, toast, and coffee for breakfast. We then got ready to go on our morning hike called “La Union”. We all struggled to walk up, but it was worth it as we had finished off seeing some great scenery of the town and beach. We were surprised by how long the hike was – It was 8 miles!! After coming back exhausted we all rested up before lunch. We were all excited to see that beef was on the menu along with rice and vegetable soup. Next we got ready for our last surf lesson at the beach. Today we paddled out to the green waves even thought it was pouring rain and most of us caught at least one or more waves.
We learned not to be in the water while it was raining and thundering. As we were walking, I realized that we had been inspiration for one another in different aspects. We walked back to the home base in the pouring rain and started to get dressed up for the dinner at Carlitos. Carlitos is a local restaurant that is just right across the street from us. At Carlitos we had some yummy food including spaghetti, meatballs, salad, bread, and fries. Throughout dinner we did a lollipop activity and gave a lollipop to a person who has impacted you in a positive way during the trip. I’m proud of all the compliments we gave to one another. We ended the night off with a dance party and watching a movie!! I learned that we need to live in the moment. That concludes our final night at Bodhi 🙁
-Kya and Elise
Wednesday June 20, 2018
We all just had a tough goodbye at the airport after an awesome week of surfing, service, and adventure. Yesterday was our last day of service at the Parquecito, where we painted benches and beautified the park alongside some local volunteers. We got to meet a retired professional soccer player who was helping organize the project and then enjoyed some popsicles at the end. Afterward we went back to Bodhi and packed up. Then we got in the shuttle to head back to San José. We had a nice pizza dinner and then did a final appreciation circle where we were able to anonymously share the positive impacts we had on one another. We’re so grateful to have gotten to know you all and hope that you reflect back on all of the leaders, learning, and good times together. Don’t forget to keep journaling! We already miss y’all.
¡Pura vida!
Patrick and Jen
