Special Leader Post, Families

Two days before leaving for Costa Rica, I ran into a Lakeside colleague who is an alum who participated in the GSL Senegal program decades ago.  She excitedly shared the news that she was planning on spending her Spring Break traveling to Senegal to visit her host family from her time in high school.

The most impactful, memorable, and meaningful component of the GSL experience for students is quite often the deep relationship that is forged with their host family.  Our students in Costa Rica are blessed with the distinct advantage of being able to communicate with their families since they are in an advanced Spanish class together.  Their high level of language allows them to go beyond basic conversations and salutations; they can delve into deeper conversations about culture, hopes and dreams, how life has changed in the village in their lifetimes, and they can also share more about themselves with their host families.  Our host village hosts many groups of tourists but ours is the only one that is staying for 3 weeks with host families.  Our students appreciate and understand what a gift this is, allowing them a window into a rich and multi layered culture.

 

During our daily morning meetings, we start with “shout outs”, moments of appreciation we each feel for something that occurred the day before.  Our students regularly share an anecdote about their host mom’s cooking, a card game they shared with a younger sibling, or a conversation about politics in both countries with a parent of grandparent.  The leaders look forward to hearing more about these vital cultural connections, and we encourage you all to ask your student about what they learned from their host families when they return.  We hope you enjoy the enclosed photos of each student with members of their host families!

 

Debby, Jay, and Mara















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