After graduating from Louisiana State University with a B.A. in Communication Disorders in 2005, Nicole moved to Colorado to pursue adventure and traveling. Since then, she has traveled all over Europe, Southeast Asia, and South America. During her travels, she has taken Spanish classes, become an advanced scuba diver, and hiked the Inca trail. 
A Colorado native, Danny has spent the bulk of his life outside and on the sports field. For 6 years he worked high atop the Rocky Mountains at a summer camp and was able to enjoy the Colorado backcountry and life at 10,000ft. 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:
Hola from Puerto Rico!
As this is our first update we want to touch base and let you know of all the exciting things that our group has been up to. After joining one another in San Juan we made our way to our home in Vega Baja where we will be staying for six nights; the group shared their first impressions, expectations and excitement about our upcoming journey. A friendly game of Taboo and Scrabble certainly helped break the ice and filled the night with laughter and little bit of friendly competition.
Our first full day began with an adventure into the depths of Las Cavernas del Camuy; exploring the natural caves, hidden rivers and of course plenty of sleeping bats! The group basked in the cool air and shade provided, but looked forward to the upcoming workdays and being immersed in the local communities and culture. We then took a quick tour through the community we would be working in, and immediately the anticipation of making a difference spread through the air. The community greeted us with smiling faces and hand shakes. It helped give everyone a better idea of what the days ahead would be like. After we returned from to our home the “Finca” we spent some time in the pool and getting to know each other even more!
We woke up early on the 4th of July rearing to make a difference. A hearty pancake breakfast prepared by the one and only Tony got us off on the right foot. A day of mixing cement, partaking in the “bucket brigade”, and lots and lots of sweat concluded in the near completion of the floor of a family’s home! After mixing five (that’s right… FIVE!!) batches of cement and making up songs while we worked, we were re-nourished with a delicious Puerto Rican lunch cooked by the family we were helping. We then continued to mix two more batches to complete the floor. We then came back to have a cookout and a pool party to celebrate the holiday. We ate hot dogs, hamburgers (veggie burgers for the vegetarians J) and loads of potato salad. One of our GWers summed up the day best when she said, “Even though it was hard labor, I’m very excited for tomorrow and do it all over again!”
Happy 4th of July to all families and we hope that all is well at home and abroad, enjoy the pictures and a glimpse of our adventure. Look for another update soon.
And it’s already time for update #2… oh my, time is flying!
After our festive 4th of July celebrations, we woke up bright and early to get an energetic start on mixing cement to fill columns for a house’s foundation. With our amazing cement mixing skills we learned the day before, we filled seven columns in a mere 3 hours. Since we did such an incredible job in such a short amount of time, we headed for the beach. We swam in crystal clear water at Cerro Gordo washing all the cement away from our hard day’s work. After a trip to to the store, we headed back to the Finca to enjoy a relaxing evening of pool playing and bracelet making.
We arose early again on the morning of the 6th to head back to our beloved community and continue our community service. Everyone arrived ready and rearing to go at La Casa de Julio (Julio’s house). Here we would be mixing cement again and pouring the beginning foundation for his new house! Raindrops began to fall around noon and shortly after we took cover and enjoyed a traditional Puerto Rican lunch. The rain unfortunately cut our workday short, but left us with energy to be spent tomorrow. We ate an early dinner care of Chef Tony and treated ourselves to some A/C and popcorn… that’s right we headed to the MOVIES. It was an amazing retreat after three days of hard work!
Our last day of work in the community of Villa del Rio was July 7th. We put in a full workday and finished both Julio’s foundation and the beams in Limari’s house. As we cleaned our tools the reality of saying our good-bye’s set in. The group brought small gifts to give to our friends in the community; small tokens of gratitude for being welcomed so warmly into their homes and hearts. We hugged our friends said our good-byes with teary eyes and returned to the Finca for our last night. Our closing meeting allowed everyone to discuss what was gained from the work in the community. One of our Global Workers said, “I felt like I was able to walk in the community members’ shoes for a day.”
The next morning we packed up the Finca to move on to our next adventure. The day included doing our own laundry at a local laundromat, a tour of “El Morro” a fort in Old San Juan, and Salsa lessons. We arrived around dinnertime to Las Casas de La Selva, our new home! Trity, Patty, and Andres greeted us with smiling faces and a yummy burrito dinner. Here at Las Casas we will be doing environmental work including organic farming and helping with trail maintenance in areas where they are researching sustainable forestry!
We are certainly looking forward to the upcoming adventures and discovering what treasures a held in the Puerto Rican rainforest.
Best wishes to all,
Global Works PRX2
Update #3:
A lot has happened since we last update. Unfortunately our adventures in the rain forest had to end, but during our stay we were able to take part in a multitude of unique and wonderful service activities. On our first day we were acquainted with a local farmer named Raul who owned his own organic farm. We learned about the process of composting, how to maintain a garden and what makes something organic. Our day of work consisted of pulling weeds, cleaning the planting beds, spreading compost and planting various vegetables and herbs in the garden. The beauty of the rainforest captivated and amazed the group; we were gently soothed to sleep by the local frog called the Coqui (Named for the sound it makes… Co-kee!).
Over the next couple days we visited Raul once again and helped him move trees, clear a space for a garden and help build a small herb garden. While taking part in the service we took a break to explore the river behind his property and the majesty of the lush, green mountains nearby. On Sunday we were able to take part in one of two different service projects on the nearby property of our hosts, Las Casas de la Selva. One group split to learn about the trees and tag ones for research, while the other group helped dig out a trench that would allow for a smoother flowing of water.
On Monday we said goodbye to our new friends in the forest and began our journey back to the Northern part of the island. Before getting there we spent the better part of our day at local middle school, painting and beautifying the façade, ending with a fantastic mural designed by one of our Global Workers!
Upon arrival in Luquillo our group was stunned by the beauty and proximity to the ocean of our final destination. As we settled in we regrouped about our experiences and layed out the final days of our journey. The first full day in Luquillo was spent high atop El Yunque, the only rainforest part of the U.S. National Park system. The group put on their hiking shoes and gazed across the rolling hills of Puerto Rico high above the clouds. The final days here at our beach side paradise with be filled with surfing, swimming, night kayaking, and a sunset catamaran cruise.
As our journey comes to an end, we are looking forward to the many experiences that are upcoming and sharing in our new friendships and lessons learned.
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