This will be Jake's 6th adventure with Global Works and his first in Spain. He studied abroad in Sevilla, Spain in 2004 and is very excited to return to the land of tapas, flamenco and the world cup champions! 
Molly is a graduate in International Studies from the University of Colorado. Her many travels have taken her through Southern Africa and parts of Europe but mostly in Latin America where she has traveled extensively. 
Gabriela is a true ‘Tica,’ a native of Costa Rica! She is currently finishing an architecture degree, is a nature lover, and loves doing construction and hands on projects. 
Braden currently teaches Spanish to middle school students in Steamboat Springs, Colorado. He possesses an undergraduate degree in Anthropology and a Masters degree in Public Health. 
Crisley first met our students when he was working on his dissertation at the Poco Sol research station in the Monteverde Cloud Forest. Since then, he has traveled all over Costa Rica teaching students about the ecology of Costa Rica. Welcome Global Works travelers, parents and friends. We are excited to share with you trip updates from around the world. As our main office receives updates from the trips we will update the page as we receive news from the field.
Update 1 – Aug 1, 2010
We made it! We arrived in San Jose and were greeted by our leaders at the airport. We were a little quiet at first, but by the time we made it to our colorful hostel in San Rafael we were getting very excited. We sang feliz cumpleaños to our leader Gabi and then got some much needed rest.
We woke up at 7:30 am for a delicious breakfast of eggs, and gallo pinto (beans and rice) and started our orientation. We all decided that we want to improve our Spanish during the trip and played some games outside. Our lunch of Pollo (Chicken) and Pizza Tico style was delicious and we all tried new fruit drinks called batidos. We explored the town of San Rafael, completed a scavenger hunt and even played some soccer too!
For dinner we had a great BBQ and then we learned to dance Salsa, Merengue and Cumbia! We just finished parking for our rafting adventure and will be up with the roosters tomorrow!
Pura Vida, CRS3
Update 2- August 7, 2010
Rafting day 1: Colin
We all woke up bright and early at 5:30 AM and quickly got our stuff together and loaded the bus. After a 3 hour bus ride we stopped to have a delicious breakfast consisting of eggs, rice and beans, salchichas, yogurt, and fresh fruit. We loaded up the bus again for a quick 45 minute drive and then hiked a short ways until we reached the river. We got all of our gear on and departed down the river. The first rapids we hit were class 1 which means they were rather small, but after a few of those we moved on to class 2 rapids. These rapids were much larger and more exhilarating. At times we struggled to stay in the raft, we finished rafting at around 1:00 PM, right as it started to rain; we were showed to our tents and waited for the delicious lunch our raft guides were preparing. After a burrito lunch a few campers decided to play in an extremely wet and muddy pickup soccer game with another family staying at the campsite and a couple ticos. After the ticos beat us, we had a couple of group bonding games which were very fun. After playing at the field we went to the second floor of the main hut which had a bunch of chairs and three hammocks. Everybody hung out and shared stories and cool card tricks we knew. We had a delicious rice and chicken dinner and after dinner we got to together to talk and did a few roles plays to give us an idea of what the homestay will be like, and try to minimize the awkward situations we could encounter. It was a long day, but we had lots of fun and then went to sleep in the cool rainforest surrounded with all kinds of animal and forest sounds with the river sound in the background.
Rafting day 2: Ellen
We woke up this morning to the sounds of insects and waves of the river. The entire area around the river is one of the most beautiful places I’ve seen. Before rafting on the class 3 and 4 waves, we all had a delicious breakfast and got ready to ride. Riding on some of the bigger waves was tough, but so much fun and so exciting! The men form Exploradores were very goofy and nice. They took us to this beautiful waterfall with a deep swimming area underneath it. We all climbed the mossy rocks, and some of us even climbed a broken tree which went up and across the water and jumped from it. I was so happy to be surrounded by beautiful nature and the tranquillity of it all. I almost wished that I could just live there and live in the peacefulness. After eating lunch alongside the river, we did some more white water rafting and took a very long bus ride to our homestay community, where all the families were waiting for us in the salon. We were all excited and nervous at the same time, but looking at all those friendly faces made us feel very welcome!
Community day 1: Leah
After the very first and very awkward night in the homestay we were woken up at 7:30 AM and got right to work at 8 AM. Our projects consist of putting up the new doors of the church, start the foundations of the new comedor, the sidewalk around the church and the drainage for the new church bathrooms. Everyone was working very hard and at the end of the work day we were amazed by how much we had accomplished only in the first day. After a hard day at work, everyone met at the plaza for a welcoming soccer game with our families and kids from the community. The soccer game was a great activity to meet some of the locals and enjoy our free time. We all then went to our houses had a delicious dinner and came back to the salon, where we talked about our first day at the community, our experiences with the families and our thoughts on the work we did. The night finished with some games and volleyball at the salon.
Community day 2: Amanda and Paige
After being woken up at 4:30 AM by roaming chickens and roosters, we headed out for a full day of work at 8:00 AM. Upon meeting as a group outside of the iglesia, we were broken up into 4 groups, finishing the holes at the new comedor, ditch, drainage behind the church, sanding and painting window frames for the church and painting the changing rooms on the soccer field. By 11:30 we returned to our home for a freshly cooked lunch. As we walked back to our work sites at 1 PM, we were hit by a rainstorm, however that didn’t stop us! We continued working until 4 PM, arriving at our homes tired and covered with paint. At 7 PM we gathered at the salon again with our families and friends where we planned multiple English activities to teach the locals. Ending with a game of volleyball, everyone returned home and fell right asleep after a long day of work.
