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 updates 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 late in the evening or overnight will be posted the following day.
- 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
Click here to jump down to the most recent post!
BLOG POST FOR JUNE 12
Sawadee from Thailand!
Today we truly begin our Elephant Education Initiative in Thailand!
Upon arrival, the students ate a traditional Thai lunch at a local restaurant and made their way to our hotel! We played some get-to-know-you games, relaxed by the pool, and ate delicious Thai food for dinner.
We are also very excited to welcome the rest of the students who arrived this evening, including Akmal, whose birthday we are celebrating today and tomorrow!
Tomorrow we will take a tour of the city, visiting multiple temples, and ending our day with a Thai cooking course.
Due to delays and missed flights, some students will not be present in our first blog photos. However, tomorrow’s blog will feature all students who will have arrived!
Keep an eye out for upcoming updates!
Emily, Shreya, and Jorge (the Thailand International Team!)
BLOG POST FOR JUNE 13
Sawadee, everyone! It’s Kate and Kai, student leaders for the day, reporting back on all of today’s activities!
We started the day with a yummy breakfast, followed by an overview of the policies and rules of the trip in the form of games and skits.
Shortly after, we made our way to tour some temples in Chiang Mai. We went to 3 different temples in which we received blessings in the form of bracelets from monks, got sprinkled with holy water, and respected the buddhist culture.
We then got to explore a local coffee restaurant before starting our personal favorite activity of the day: a cooking class involving 4 separate courses. In order to achieve the full experience, tasting each individual ingredient (including maybe THE hottest peppers we’ve ever tasted) was absolutely essential.
Finally, we are thrilled to announce that the newest of our arrivals, Ines, Gala, Jasper, and Silvia, have arrived safely! We are very excited to get to know them and welcome them into our community.
Overall, we had a great first full day of the trip and are more than excited to see what the rest of our Thailand exploration has to offer!
BLOG POST FOR JUNE 14
Sawasdee from Thailand! Our names are Eliana and Maverick and we were selected as the students leaders of the day. Our role as student leaders was to guide the rest of the group through our activities and make sure everyone was included. This day was very full so we said lots of thank you’s in Thai (Khap kun ka/krup)!
We woke up to a yummy breakfast consisting of pork and eggs for some and yogurt and granola for others. We then piled into the vans and drove an hour away to an elephant hospital. This elephant hospital is the first in the world and there we met their permanent care resident elephant. One of whom is the most famous Thai elephant and is named Mosha!
Then we drove to the nextdoor elephant conservation center where we walked through their exhibit about the evolution of elephants and took a short trolley ride over to the elephants in their care. There, we got to feed them all sorts of goodies like corn and sugarcane! After, we ate lunch at the cafe in the sanctuary and stopped at the coffee hut for ice creams and Thai teas.
Finally, we headed over to an arts and craft place dedicated to the elephant Mosha we had met earlier. We sat down and painted small elephant figurines after learning about what the organization stands for and we had a lot of fun.
To end the day, we headed back to our home base and ate a delicious dinner provided by a nearby restaurant. We played some final get to know you games before we headed off to bed!
Can’t wait to see what fun activities tomorrow holds!
Sincerely,
Eliana and Maverick
BLOG POST FOR JUNE 15
Sawadwe families!!
Today we has relaxing day full of yummy food and lots planning.
After a delicious breakfast we met up with Todd who is our programs local coordinator. Todd is a local teacher here in thialand who works as a counselor in one of the two schools we’ll be teaching in next week! Once we finished our lesson plans we visited the elementary school and examined the classrooms we’ll be teaching in.
On our way back to home-base we stopped at a beautiful local coffee shop where we listened to live music and drank good coffee. Once we made it back to the hotel we finalized our lesson plans, swam in the pool, played soccer and had a great end to the night with our yummy dinner!
We can’t wait for the rest of our week and to officially start our teaching!
Love, Carson W and Sophia L
BLOG POST FOR JUNE 16
Today we had the pleasure of visiting Wat Suan Dok, and be given a presentation by a senior Buddhist monk on Buddhism and Thai culture.
The senior monk ( Ajahn KK) began by presenting the fundamentals of Buddhism and how it can be more of a way of life and a principle for living rather than a religion. He continued with a Q&A, which resulted in him explaining the differences between Buddhist sects and their beliefs. He concluded his enlightened lecture by leading the group through a mantra intended to cleanse the mind, spirit, and body. While leaving the temple we explored the royal cemetery, the final resting place of the past Thai royalty. After a tasty stop for ice cream. We began the journey (by van) through the mountains to a coffee shop located at the top of a mountain village where we were able to enjoy delicious snacks and beverages in front of a once in a lifetime view.
Dai Suthep; where we climbed 300 stairs to reach the gold embellished mountain temple. The temple was filled with rich history and incredibly complex tapestries, beautiful Buddha’s, and various gold covered art pieces. We were then able to enjoy the breathtaking views while driving down the mountain.
Finally, we visited the Sunday Night Walking Street Market! While there, we tried new foods, bought souvenirs, and drank smoothies!
BLOG POST FOR JUNE 17
Sawadee Everyone! Today was an exciting day, filled with a handful of new experiences.
We started with an early morning as it was our very first day of teaching! We took our vans to the Thai elementary and middle school where we taught ESL (English as a second language) to the Thai kids. After meeting with the staff in charge we attended an assembly, where we met and introduced ourselves to the Thai kids. And soon after we moved to our assigned classes where we had our first experience teaching a class! Everyone’s classes were filled with laughter and games, both the kids and us had a great time! After we finished teaching we had a wonderful lunch prepared near the school where we also got to hang out with many of the (very cute) Thai kids.
We finished the day by going to a beautiful coffee shop, eating another excellent dinner and taking part in more leadership activities!
All in all, it was another great day and we are excited for the rest of the week!
Sincerely,
Addie and Caden
BLOG POST FOR JUNE 18
Today we woke up bright and early for day 2 of teaching young Thai elementary students. We left at 8:00 for the school after a Thai breakfast and arrived to teach at 8:30. For the next 3 hours we taught the Thai students English with games activities we previously planned.
After we finished teaching we all gave autographs to the kids and hung out with them before leaving for a market nearby. The market had an assortment of dried fruits as well and traditional clothing. Then we walked to a Cafe and hung their for 30 minutes before heading back to the hotel. When we got back we all enjoyed a a fruit party with exotic Thai fruits.
After we practiced our presentation for are cultural exchange students tomorrow (cotten eyed joe). We then ate a good Thai dinner that included fried shrimp and rice. Then we finally finished the day with our mentor groups headed to bed.
From,
Dylan & Rylie
BLOG POST FOR JUNE 19
Today we started out the day by eating a yummy breakfast at our home base and piling into the vans to teach at our home school. We got there and taught 2 classes before tasting some new Thai snacks and eating lunch. After that, we headed over to a nearby coffee shop and got some bevs. Then, we headed to a private school called SISB for a student-led tour and engaged in a cultural exchange with games. We ended the day by hosting the SISB students at our hotel with pizza and karaoke. The night was filled with lots of food, fun, and laughter!! Now, we are headed to bed for another early morning of teaching! Goodnight!!!
From Katia and Addy (and Ellie and Addie for their support in the creation of this blog)
BLOG POST FOR JUNE 20
Hey everyone! Gala and Zach here! Our day started with a visit to a local school where we have been teaching for the past few days. Each GLA group taught an English lesson to a different group of students from the school. Then, we all went together and watched a wonderful, traditional performance from the students, followed by some local games (as well as some of our own).
After a quick lunch, we said our heartfelt goodbyes to everyone at the school and headed to the Chiang Mai Muay Thai Gym to learn the famous Thai traditional martial art. There, we all went through an exciting lesson in the art of Muay Thai, learning how to throw proper kicks, jabs, knees, and elbows. After our training lessons, we all headed back to our hotel to rest. There, we had a wonderful meal followed by a great movie night which rounded out an amazing day of service, adventure, and plain old fun.
Until next time!
Gala and Zach
BLOG POST FOR JUNE 21
This morning, we woke up and left our hotel in the city for the elephant sanctuary. We ate a yummy lunch at the sanctuary while watching a herd of elephants take a bath just a few yards away! Then, we attended a talk on elephant behaviour from one of the Sanctuary’s veterinarians and had the amazing opportunity to assist in an Elephant checkup and banana feeding led by the “Mahout” (Thai elephant Caretakers) before heading back to our new lodgings for the remaining of the afternoon. After a great dinner and board games, we all participated in an eye opening debate on the Ethics of Elephant Tourism in Thailand.
-Neve and Silvia
BLOG POST FOR JUNE 22
Hello parents! We started our morning with a yummy breakfast at the hotel before heading to the elephant sanctuary for our second day of elephant service! when we arrived, the mahouts told us how to safely behave with the elephants, the best ways to feed them, and overall how to have the best experience. We spent a few hours feeding, hugging, watching, and photographing the elephants before we followed them on a 45 minute walk around the sanctuary. our personal highlight of the day was seeing them give each other mud baths. We went back to the base location for lunch and a power nap and then walked to the garden area where we planted food for the elephants to eat in the coming months/years. some of us spent our time hoeing to prepare for banana trees, while others planted grass stalks. We came back to the hotel for dinner and activities, and overall had a great, exhausting day.
Until next time,
Aki and Ines
BLOG POST FOR JUNE 23
Sawaadee from Mae Wang!
Today was, in my opinion, our best day yet. We started our day with another incredible breakfast and headed off to the sanctuary to hangout with our new elephant friends.
We said hello, fed them, and took photos before we learned how to make their favorite treats: banana, grass, probiotics, tamarind, and salt balls! we fed them yet again, and joined them for a swim in the river. we got plastic bowls and splashed them with water while they rolled around in the river. it was SO cool.
We followed the river bath with a mud bath! we moved to a pond a few feet away and picked up mud to help them out rubbing their face, trunk and body with mud. once again, it was so so cool.
We said goodbye to the elephants for the day and took a short 20 minute walk to a waterfall! we got to swim around and hangout for awhile before we ended our day and went home to the hotel.
Today was such a great day, and such a great almost end to our trip. we’re excited to see you!!
