PROGRAM PHOTO ALBUM
Thanks for the checking out the blog for this Global Leadership Adventures program!
Here are a few things to know and expect:
- Blog posts are written by onsite program staff and/or students and sent to our Headquarters team who will post the blog on this page.
- We typically receive 2-3 blog posts per week from each program, so please don’t be alarmed if you don’t see a blog post every day – that’s totally normal.
- Blog updates received on weekends may not be posted until Monday.
- Due to many factors such as internet accessibility, program staff aren’t always able to send photos, so some blog posts may contain text only.
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
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BLOG POST FOR JULY 23
Written by: GLA Staff
Hola familia y amigos, bienvenidos a República Dominicana!
We welcomed our young leaders willing to take on the challenge of new experiences that demonstrate what true leadership is. During the arrival day we picked up the students at the Las Américas airport in Santo Domingo. They showed very excited and curious for this new experience making questions during our ride to the Novus hotel.
We had a first group that had lunch near to the hotel and walked through the colonial zone. A second group arrived during the afternoon directly to settled at the hotel and they were all able to had dinner together. They enjoyed the food, had time to know each other, rest and recover from their flights.
We are waiting for Ryan M. who will join us at our home base in Bayahibe, due a delay on her flight she couldn’t be with us. But don’t worry, she is fine and we are ready to give her a warm welcome.
We have an amazing group filled with lots of good vibes. Excited to begin, tomorrow our first stop will be the Los Tres Ojos National Park and then head to our home base. Where we can talk about the basic details and rules of our new home. So, dear family and friends, please continue to support our leaders on this journey by checking out our daily blogs and showing your love by commenting below.
BLOG POST FOR JULY 24
Buenos días!
We woke up this morning after a goodnight’s sleep, we were greeted with a scrumptious breakfast buffet composed of scrambled eggs, local fruits and more. From there we began our journey to our home base with a stop at las tres ojos national park, where we saw everything from freshwater cave lakes to spiders and bats. After some group photos we continued on to home base, but not without a quick stop at the market.
During the afternoon, we arrived at home base in the beachside town of Bayahibe where we were greeted by kind and welcoming people. We all got unpacked and enjoyed the scenery surrounding us. After a delicious lunch, we sat for orientation and later played a game of jeopardy, we’re we talked about code of conduct and basic rules for the next days in our new home. Once we finished with that, we had swim tests & then took the time to get settled.
At the beginning of the evening we all gathered for a sunset circle to discuss the highlights, takeaways, and shoutouts of our day. We do this to bring all of the students together and create a tighter community. For example, the highlight of the day was visiting the beautiful national park and riding on the Dominican titanic. We then ate a magnificent dinner and went on to listen to a culture presentation by our local director, Gipsy,introducing us to the wonders of Dominican culture including dancing and Dominican catch phrases. Finally, we all were knocked out asleep after a long day.
– Jadon, Maya, Georgia-May
BLOG POST FOR JULY 25
Hi family!
We started the morning by eating a great breakfast, then headed to Dominicus beach to help clean up garbage for the locals in the areas, there we met Lidia who was our guide during the service. After all that hard work, we got to enjoy the ocean. Swimming in the clear, blue water was so much fun! We laughed, splashed around, and enjoyed the beautiful scenery. It was a perfect way to relax and appreciate the beauty around us. It also reminded us why it’s important to keep places like this clean. We also met Juan who gave us coconuts for the whole group.
The best part of the day was playing baseball with the local kids. Baseball is a big deal in the Dominican Republic, and the kids were really good at it. We all had a blast running, hitting, and cheering each other on. Even though we didn’t speak the same language, we connected through the game. It showed us how sports can bring people together and create awesome memories. After that we went back to home base, We had a moment to relax, play volleyball in the pool and of course bond as a team and get to know each other. Then finished the day having a sunset circle, some great Sancocho with rice for dinner. And by the end of the day met with are mentor groups. And at the end of the day we meet with our mentor groups. We share what we learned today and talk about the goals we want to achieve in the following days of the program. Finally, lights out at 10 pm to rest and recover energy for another day of service.
Hasta mañana!
BLOG POST FOR JULY 26
¡Que lo que!
Today we got up early again at 7:30 for breakfast. After breakfast, we walked over to Padre Nuestro which means “Our Father”. This was a beautiful path inside Cotubanamá natural park We were greeted by Lydia, who manages the Park and Isaac, Lydia’s 9 year old grandson. Though he doesn’t speak English, he quickly became a beloved star among the GLA students for his enthusiasm. We ate mangos straight from Lydia’s garden along with limomcillos which Isaac picked from the top branches of a tree just for us. We talked some about our debate later and each group wrote our opening statements Then, we got into the service which consisted of painting signs for the park. We were all appreciative of the shade that the limoncillo trees provided which was much preferred to the relentless heat of yesterday’s service.
After we finished up painting, we followed Isaac, who led us to the much anticipated underwater cave. We hiked for 20 minutes until we finally descended the steps into Chicho Cave. The water was really clear but the cave itself was very dark. Nonetheless, the cave was definitely a favorite of the day and will definitely be something we will all remember. We stayed for an hour, swimming, exploring, and getting some much needed rest in the shade. We said goodbye to Lydia and Isaac, left Padre Nuestro, and walked back to home base, but not without making some friends along the way.
In our home base we took the opportunity to dip into the pool. This break from the heat was well deserved and well appreciated. Moments like these allow us to bond closer and be more comfortable around each other.
Following, we started the second half of the debate, our leadership activity, and taught us that in important situations, it can be complicated to come to an agreement, especially with a lot on the line, but talking it out respectfully and intelligently can help reach effective middle ground.
Wrapping up our long and passionate debate, we met for sunset circle and reflected on what went well, who we wanted to shout out, and what we wanted to take away from our experience today. Sunset Circle is always a great opportunity to appreciate highs and lows, but also who helped us throughout the day.
After sunset circle, we were able to enjoy a delicious rice and plantain dinner. Dinner is another great time for bonding, sharing different parts of ourselves and being vulnerable.
By the end we had our mentor groups, we engaged in a passionate, heartfelt conversation about our values. We started with our ten most representative values of ourselves, then narrowing it down to five that we think we can improve at GLA. Then we narrowed it down again to 2 major values that we feel that we need to develop in our lives. This activity allowed us to share parts of ourselves and experiences that helped us understand our different ways of thinking and personalities.
Finally, we did our health checks and got ready for bed!
– Parker and Rafe
BLOG POST FOR JULY 27
Buenos días familia!
The day started by knocking on everyone’s door to wake them up. We were
all eating a delicious spread of eggs bread and fresh fruit. Before the bus arrived we had time to bond as our new playlist bumped on background. After a quick ride we arrived at Benerito, a town next to Bayahíbe, at the Kids Camp consisting of young children ranging from ages 3 to 11 years, was an incredible experience.
After introductions and smiles, we started with our first activity which consisted of teaching them numbers and colors in english. after hard efforts and giggles, we moved on to something a little more fun. We showed them our favorite music genres and they played us authentic Dominican music. We danced and sang until we dropped. By 12:30 lunch was generously prepared by those who led the camp. We feasted on deliciously seasoned rice and salami served with a tasty side salad.
After lunch, we continue to play with the children and learn and dance with them while expressing ourselves with our music and outgoing personalities, we got the opportunity to make bracelets with the kids, and we also got led by the local jewelers who had their shop right downstairs. This time of the day was very great and helped us bond with the kids even more on a different level with patience, and attention to detail when making our bracelets.
Before at our return we were able to stop back at the store for any essentials or snacks that we needed or wanted for the rest of our trip here because we are halfway through our program. At the home base we got time to relax, and then we had a leadership activity called social sync and was a series of questions where we got into groups depending on if we agreed or disagreed with the statement about social media.
After we headed downstairs until time for Sunset Circle where we were able to reflect upon our day and talk about our highs for the day our shoutouts to other students and our takeaways for our daily adventure. With the day almost over we headed down to had an a delicious dinner that consisted of chicken rice and potato salad.
The last activity it was pulse check, were we was able to share anonymously our experience about the whole program and lights out.
The last activity was pulse check, where we were able to anonymously share our experience of the entire program, as we are halfway through (time flies!). And finally lights out, ready to rest for our next day.
Hasta mañana!
BLOG POST FOR JULY 28
Good morning family and friends!
We started our day eating breakfast and our plan was to visited a lake called “Hoyo Claro”. After a bus ride of about 45 Minutes we arrived and after just 5 Minutes of walking found ourselves in the middle of a forest, we walked around 25 minutes to arrived and a lovely clear waterhole that is about 25 feet deep was waiting for us, there was a big tree spanning from one side of the lake to the other, water was filled with little fish that were nibbling on your feet.
It was a great experience and we ate some Sandwiches afterwards. After visiting the Lagoon, we returned to Bayahíbe and went to Magallanes beach, got a view of how the locals enjoy the beach themselves. While at the beach we ran into some of the kids we played baseball with and reconnected with them.
We went back to home base to do some leadership activities to try and find out what kind of leaders we might be. Everyone found the server very enlightening because it forced us to think about what we are genuinely like as a leader.
After leadership activities, we had dinner which was a little bit different today, Chicken and Fries. It was refreshing to have a little bit of a more American taste since being here.
We ended the day with our mentor groups were we learned about the different aspects of culture, some hidden and some visible. Visible values are what we see as a culture like clothing or art, but the hidden ones we can’t know until we dig a little deeper and venture into local community. For the first time we get to sleep in until 8:00 so everyone is very excited for that, enough time to pack and rest for our next adventure!
Tomorrow we go to Saona which is the Island so wait to hear more about that tomorrow family!
Eli and Lucas
BLOG POST FOR JULY 29
Buenos días!
We started our day sleeping in and then traveling by boat to the island of Saona. While on our boat ride, we stopped to swim in the ocean and enjoy the turtles within the mangroves.
After we arrived on the island, we played beach volleyball and ate an amazing lunch. This included marinated chicken, rice, eggplant, and a cabbage salad. We then took a walk to visit Negro who taught us all about sea turtle endangerment. Since 2003, Negro has dedicated his life to sea turtle rescue and is his passion, also he will be our guide for Tuesday morning’s turtle walk.
On our way back to the house, we took a detour through the community and saw the solar panels which act as the island’s main energy source. When we finished our walk, many of us jumped off of the pier to cool down. We spent the rest of the afternoon with the locals playing beach volleyball, soccer, and swimming in the ocean. We learned that the language barrier doesn’t play a role in how we interact with others and people from different cultures.
Between activities, we had an a “merienda” consisting in fresh fruit, cake and some chips. For the evening, we did our usual sunset circle discussion and then ate dinner. We ended the night a little sooner today to prepare for our very early turtle walk tomorrow morning.
– Leah, Maeve and Claire
BLOG POST FOR JULY 30
Que lo qué!
Today we started our morning bright and early at 4:45 ready to head out on an hour walk! our guide, negro, and local islander Darling, lead us to all the spots around the island where negro found baby turtle nests. The reason why he goes is to check up on the turtle nests and protect them from dangerous environments and human poachers. We walked through the jungle, sand, and a bunch of rocky ground but our energy stayed high as the sun began to rise. After our walk we got picked up in sailboats and were dropped off back home to take some well deserved naps. Our breakfast of fruit, eggs, and bread started at 8:30 and our downtime, which included swimming and volleyball, lasted til 12. we got back on board and sailed back to the main land!
Lunch was at a main land restaurant El Patio, which consisted of rice, chicken, and yummy burgers.
After we headed to get some delicious gelato. It was an amazing way to cool off after a long afternoon in the sun. Once we got back we had some free time which we spend packing our bags as we descend back to Santo Domingo tomorrow morning. The rest of the evening was spent as a group doing our mentor group session which we discussed our final goal as a group and how we can put in practice at home. This goal of our was made based on what we had learned during our community service which was the reduction of waste as it can help community’s in many ways. We also had are last leadership activity where we recognized each other’s strengths and accomplishments during our time together.
Our last night in Bayahibe finished up with lots of music, singing, dancing, laughter, and memories that will last a lifetime.
Hasta mañana familia.
– Emma I. and Danielle
BLOG POST FOR JULY 31
Hi family!
On the last full day for the GLA program, we woke up around 8:20 to go and get ready for breakfast. Soon after, we had to finish packing for our long trip to Santo Domingo. As we started our departure, we listened to music and bonded one last time before leaving. We officially left around 10:30, as time went on, we sung karaoke, played car games, etc. As we arrived, we grabbed our luggage and found our rooms. Around 2, we went around the colonial zone. We walked with our guide named Tony who showed us different monuments around the town, while exploring the streets of Santo Domingo, we encountered a couple of tourist shops and some of the crew purchased a few accessories. After that, we got ice cream at a shop in town. We got home around 5, and were in our rooms for an hour until 6 when we filled out a survey about our trip.
At 6:30, we left for the restaurant, el conuco. We shared our highlights, shoutouts, and takeaways of the trip, before eating. The food was really good, we ate different and tasty local dishes. At the end, music turned on and everyone danced and have fun.
In general this GLA trip has been a whirlwind of learning, experiencing, and connecting with other people of different backgrounds and, of course, how to be the change when returning to our homes.
We got home around 9:00. At 10:00, we went to sleep, ready for rest and prepare for tomorrow at the airport and our returns.
Adios!
– Ryan and Caiden