Spain Middle School Service Adventure 2024
July 20, 2024
¡Buenas tardes a las familias de los chicos de Global Works!
To start our trip, we all met up at the airport and got through TSA smoothly. We had some time to spare before our flight boarded so we took a stroll around the terminal and got some food, then we eventually ended up boarding and headed off to the beginning of our adventure.
After we landed, it was smooth sailing through customs and baggage claim, then we hopped on a bus to our hostal only to realize that we still had some time before until checkin. So we dropped our bags off and played some icebreaker games before taking off and heading for some lunch. On our way to lunch, we visited the 0km marker to show where the center of Spain is officially mapped and from where all the distances in the country are measured. After, we took an hour and a half nap at our hostel during the afternoon “siesta” which translates to nap/rest time in English. Afterwards, we took the metro to Parque El Retiro, the biggest park in all of Madrid, and walked around in it, got some ice cream, then eventually we ended up finding a ball and played volleyball with it as a team and reached a high record of 26 collective passes! Then, we all talked about Global Works policies, and proceeded to make goals to set for ourselves and share values that we have and fears that may come up. Later, we took the metro to dinner and had a LOT of tapas (appetizers to share) and tried traditional Spanish food such as pulpo (octopus), Papas Bravas (potatoes and tomato sauce), and more delicious and different foods that were a mix of vegetables and meats.
After dinner we made our way back to the hostel. We wrapped up our evening in reflection sharing a single word of how we felt about the day, and then we got ready for bed. At the end of the day, the general consensus was that today felt like 3 incredible days, and we all need to get our much needed sleep for an even busier tomorrow. ¡Hasta mañana!
– Jaiden and Struan
July 21, 2024
We started the day at around 7 AM and had breakfast at eight together. We then made it to la Plaza Mayor and played a game where we tossed around our pet mascot, a stuffed dog yet to be named, to get to know one another better. Later, we met up with our incredible tour guide, Sebastian. He took us to a bunch of different places in and around Madrid, such as the oldest official restaurant in the world and many historic monuments. We learned so much about the history, the buildings, and the battles and bloodlines that brought Spain to where it is today.
We ate a great lunch and, like yesterday, we had a much needed siesta after that lasted about an hour. We then made our way to El Museo Prado, Madrid‘s most famous museum, to meet back up with Sebastian for yet another amazing tour through art history. While walking to dinner we realized that someone had left their backpack on the museum lawn, and one of the counselors raced back to look for it. We were all so happy to see that she found it when she met up with us at the restaurant for our first tortilla español! As a surprise, we decorated the space and all celebrated Kolya’s birthday together. He picked out delicious lemon tarts and macaroons as desert for everyone! We made our way back to the hotel for another good nights sleep because tomorrow we leave Madrid and head north. Stay tuned. ¡Adios!
– Vale & Kolya
July 22, 2024
Queridas Familias,
Today we had our last breakfast in Madrid and then boarded our bus to Segovia. We started at the historic Roman aqueduct, ancient technology still standing tall today! We made our way to the Alcazar Palace and passed by the Segovia Cathedral on the way. Before going into the palace, we finally officially named our group mascot: El Señor D.D. Pigeon.
We explored the centuries old palace that is said to have inspired the iconic Disney castle. we saw ancient armor, artillery, and even climbed the tallest tower to see incredible views in all directions. After some fun in the park, we had a delicious lunch and even had time to do some shopping.
Then we got back on the bus to have a fun and eventful two hour drive where we really got to know each other better. We arrived in the small village of Amayuelas and were welcomed by our very kind guests, Melitón y María José. Melitón then took us to la Palomera, an old building used to house pigeons, where they now store all of their seeds. We learned the history of the town and about their mission around sustainability in the community. Amayuelas only has about 30 residents, but is right next to other similar villages and surrounded by a lot of fields and farm land.
We then settled down for an amazing fish dinner with homegrown, homemade pan (bread) and calabacín (squash) soup and sweet bananas for dessert. We walked to a nearby soccer field and played a funny/intense game with lots of action and surprisingly many goals on both sides. The walk back to the house was filled with a beautiful sunset. We are all looking forward to the days ahead!
¡Buenas noches!
-Maddie & Mack
July 23, 2024
The day started out at 8 am. When we woke up we went downstairs for a delicious meal that included bread, cake, cereal, milk and juice. Then we all went up to get ready for a long hard-working day. Once we were all ready we walked to the farm and started our work. We collected green beans and pulled the vines off a net they use to grown them. We did this because taking down the net would have been bad for the environment and this way it can be reused. The we had a quick water break and ate nectarines. Soon after we filled up buckets of water and passed them down a human made line to water the plants. Once the plants were watered we went to collect seeds from branches and collected the beans out of the green beans. Then we finished. A scrumptious meal that consisted of a lamb potato soup and juicy watermelons. Then we began our siesta which was one hour. During the time we played a competitive game of cards. Then we got back to work in the kitchen and made some organic loafs of sourdough bread. We had a break while we waited for them to rise. During this break some students got to call home. When that was done we went back to the kitchen and made yummy cookies and pizza, which we enjoyed afterwards. Cheers to another adventurous day!
-Mikaela and Brooke
July 24, 2024
Today we woke up at 8, had a delicious breakfast and started our working day at 9:15. First, we picked red ripe tomatoes off the vine, and collected them all in some boxes. Then we went over to where the worms were being held and eat the cucumbers and eat the cucumbers vertically. We then placed them facing down, so it was easier for the worms to eat them. Then we rolled up the net we cleaned yesterday, and went over to “La Nave”, and used some a Roman system for weight device to measure the weight of some products. After, we went back to the mountains and we started to make mermalade with some golden prunes that were picked by Kolya and Jaiden yesterday. Everyone was opening them, and taking the seeds out while the juicy prunes sprayed all of us. Soon after that, Meliton boiled the golden prune mush and he added apples because they have pectin, which helps thicken the mixture, then we used a device that lets the juice through and mixes everything together. Then we weighted the mermalade to 5680 grams, and put the equivalent 30% of sugar in. We boiled it so the water would evaporate in the end we have a total of 19 jars of mermalade. Then we had an hour of siesta where we all played BS. We then went outside and played some team building games and old school games form Meliton with basic props like bottle caps, a metal hoop, horseshoes, wooden cubes. We also played some energizing games in a circle. We finished with a little bit of volleyball before having tortilla española and what we thought where chicken noodles but ended being some vegetable for dinner. We played a bit of foosball and went to bed.
By Jaiden and Julian
July 25, 2024
After our final breakfast in Amayuelas, prepared by the great chef, Javi, we headed to the farm to make adobe bricks. This ancient building method needs only earth, water, and hay all mixed up really well. The crazy thing is that to give it a good stir, we marched into the mixture barefooted all together!
Last night we discovered an owl that was injured. We tried saving the majestic creature, but after sometime it sadly took its final breath. Today at the farm, we had a special moment altogether and buried it in a beautiful spot at the edge of the field.
To wrap up our work for the morning, we used the remaining adobe mixture to repair some holes in the chicken coop while the geese watched from afar.
We returned to the house for lunch and finished packing up and said our final goodbyes to our kind hosts, Melitón & Maria Jose. We got on board our bus and road south for two hours to arrive at Cantalejo. We finished off the night, settling into our cabins and having a delicious dinner as the sun was setting with a nice breeze. We have a big adventure tomorrow so time to hit the sack.
¡Que tengan una buena noche!
By Mack & Kolya
July 26, 2024
Hola, we started our day by waking up at 8:30 for the day. At 9:00 we had breakfast that consists of bread eggs and pan con tomate. After our breakfast we waited for our car to arrive to take us to the canyon. Once we got there we waited for the rest of the group to arrive then we hiked down the canyon of Rio Duraton. After our beautiful hike we arrived at a beach where we grabbed our kayaks and started our adventure down the canyon. With the help of our tour guide Ismael we learned about the history of the canyon and the people who have lived there. We learned about the many vultures that live there and we also witnessed a young vulture’s first flight but it sadly failed and had to swim back to shore.
After our first part of the trip we headed to a beautiful swimming spot with an ancient monastery overlooking the canyon. After a small dip we headed back to the beach and started our hike up. Once we arrived back at the cabins we had lunch consisting of a traditional Spanish dish Paella. After lunch we had our daily siesta. After our siesta we walked to the local pool and swam and played games for an hour. After the pool we walked back to the cabins where we got ready for our dinner reservation. We walked 10 minutes into town to a Spanish fast food place. After dinner we walked back and once we arrived we discussed our plan for the following day as we head to Barcelona and we also requested songs for a playlist on our way to Madrid. Get ready for more tomorrow.
– Struan & Julian
July 27, 2024
Coming soon!
July 28, 2024
Dear families, today we started at around 7:30 am with a hotel breakfast. From there we caught the public bus to our first stop, Park Güell. This beautiful park, designed by famous Catalan architect Antoni Gaudí, consisted of buildings inspired by nature surrounding it. It also had one of the longest benches viewing an amazing view of Barcelona. The experience taught us about the imperfections of nature, but also the world through through imperfect pillars reflecting trees and forests, for example. After that we took a quick metro ride to where Sagrada Familia was. There we found a delicious lunch from an Italian family owned restaurant. There we walked to the cathedral. This well known building was also built by Gaudí. The outside was full big statues made with small purposeful details while the inside was big and full of beautiful stained glass windows. On one side the windows brought it light showing the colors of the sunset while the others reflected the sunrise. After exploring the many beauties of it we walked to grab ice cream. From there we took a break to rest before heading out for a walk around the town and dinner. Finally we ended the night by listening to an amazing opera singer. Excited for tomorrow!
By Brooke and Maddie
July 29, 2024
¡Buenos dias, familias! It’s the final countdown!! The time has come and today will be our last full day together. After a delicious breakfast, we walked a bit through the city to our destination at the bike shop. We played at a nearby park while we waited to get fitted for our bicycles. We had two separate tour guides so we split into two groups, Las Papas Fritas y Las Palomitas Ricas.
With our separate guides, we took the pedal to the metal all around the city, stopping at different destinations to learn about Spain’s history both distant and recent. We saw more sculptures in buildings by the great architect Gaüdí and learned about his tragic death. We cruised along the boardwalk near the beach and even peddled all the way up to the famous statue of Christopher Columbus.
Once we wrapped up our bike ride, we navigated our way to la Boquería, a type of market with many different kinds of vendors. There we each were able to pick what we wanted to have for lunch. We saw all different types of delicacies from all around the world, from empanadas to turrón to seafood and more.
After our daily siesta, we got ready for beach day! We walked and bussed down to the beach and found a good spot to set up our umbrellas. There we all swam in this Mediterranean Sea, covered some of our friends in sand like a mermaid, and played volleyball in the sun. We made our way back to the hotel to clean up and get ready for a fancy dinner.
Everyone is looking great as we made our way to our final evening meal together in what used to be a bullfighting ring now converted to a shopping center and restaurants. It was one of the best meals we’ve had all trip and from the top of the building it was a fantastic view of the city. We enjoyed the food and laughed a lot and even played telephone around the table altogether. After sharing some desserts, we made our way back to the hotel for final closing ceremony.
We played a few games to recognize one another and then shared what we would like to leave behind from this trip and what will stick with us forever. We even picked out our favorite friendship bracelet and unknowingly then dedicated it to the person next to us. We all said adios to one another, and then blew out the candle as one. Tomorrow will be our final breakfast before we head to the airport to begin our journey back home. ¡Hasta pronto!
By Jaiden & Struan
