We're Ready To Go

We just finished our final meeting before heading out for our trip on Monday. We are all very excited to finally be going. The packing materials are strewn about my living room for our various projects, ready to be organized into the suitcases. The Global Voice 2011 shirts are ready to go as well as our bracelets, which we ordered to give while we are down there. Our projects are coming together and everything is falling into place.

Each member of our group has planned a workshop to do with the kids. We have projects ranging from book making with paper bags and crafts to juggling, to cooking and making button bracelets, to guitar music songs and an obstacle course.

We also plan to have conversation partners so that we can learn Spanish and teach English through vocab cards, pictures and walking around pointing to stuff! It should be a blast and we are eager to learn more about ourselves, our group and our new friends. (I'm really excited about this part!!!)

Larger projects that we will work on in Mexico will be building a bike trail! This project will be a huge endeavor, but well worth the effort. Painting and sports are also on the agenda for our time. And whatever else pops up. :)

We can't wait to start our Loreto adventure.

Hasta pronto!

Youth Leadership Institute

Tonight is our first night at the Youth Leadership Institute in Sierraville Hotsprings. This marks the official beginning of our Global Voice 2011 trip. We will be traveling to Loreto, Mexico and are eagerly planning our trip. This year we have decided to keep and update our blog as we plan our trip, instead of just updating it while we are there.

Joining us tonight are Darren, Rachel, Josh, Jake, Peter, Donovan, and Brooke. We're a lively bunch and can't wait to have Sophie's presence tomorrow. Unfortunately we will be missing Cambria for this retreat, but we will surely make up for lost time in the future!

After getting settled and eating a delicious pasta, garlic bread, and salad dinner, we sat down to get to know the each other better.

As part of the group activities of the night each person took turns writing their expectations for a group culture on a balloon.

Some of the things we added to the balloon are:
Group Journal
Jump into the unknown
Enjoy the food
super ninja
Big smiles
Never settle for less than your best
Learn to Dance
Enjoy all the
Saludar (greetings)
SIAWPSTWARAAPMOMNKWWATA (longest acronym ever) ((thanks Jake and Josh!))
Music Fest
Add colors (randomly)
Hot Seat
Fun
Respect personal time and space
Spot Backs
Love
Family Hikes
Cosmic Yumm

These were great starter suggestions and we are looking forward to adding more things to our group as we grow!

We ended our nights journey with a few fun activities and some guitar serenades by Peter.

We are all looking forward for another great day tomorrow!

hasta pronto