The beauty of New Mexico takes your breath away. Students arrive in Albuquerque and take the scenic drive up to Taos, sandwiched between the Rio Grande River and the mountains. Our cherished and long-standing partner with Weyakpa Najin Win, Woman Stands Shining, one of GYLI’s Native American speakers, welcomed our group with a water ceremony. Weyakpa…
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Living on and learning on a Tallship is new for all us, and that is what we got to do o the Year 1 programs. We came together during our two sessions in Connecticut to learn about our ancestors, and to experience days and nights on the Long Island Sound. The beauty of the water…
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After starting our day with a fulfilling breakfast at EATH University, we managed to conquer the three hour bus ride back to United World College. There, we were given some free time in which many of us went into town to enjoy some of the things that Santa Ana has to offer such as the…
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After a super early wake-up, we said our last farewells to our homestay families. Then we made our way into a crowded bus and endured a rollercoaster of a car ride down to the river where we went whitewater rafting. Throughout the seventeen-mile expedition, we had many ups and downs, and even some splashes. Finally,…
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We spent the last two days visiting the students and chaperones at their respective homestays. While each homestay is special in its own way, we were pleased to find a common thread among them all— the students were having an absolute blast! Everyone was quick to share stories about life on the farm as soon…
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Today we got a first-hand look at peri-urban farming. Hillary and Jean-Claude, our Rwandan guides, explained various ways of cultivating crops in the absence of soil. Students were eager to eat everything they saw growing, including cilantro, lettuce, cacao, and mamonchinos. We also explored an organic farm on campus. In keeping with the ethos of…
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Tonight West Watch is posting! We had a very exciting day, starting off with tours at a Nature Reserve and Dairy Farm. While hiking through the jungle, we saw snakes, poisonous frogs, and even spider monkeys! At the Dairy Farm, we saw baby cows, pigs, and horses. After relaxing at Earth University, swimming, reading, and…
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Hello! We started our day off with breakfast at UWC, and left soon after for Earth University. We endured a 3 hour bus ride through traffic, driving up the beautiful, twisting mountain roads. We arrived at Earth University, and dropped our bags off in our rooms, and were guided around the campus by a current…
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Today we began by introducing the new members of the group that arrived late last night. We played ice breaker games as well as learned essential cultural communication skills to prepare us for homestays. We began planning our group led projects that are centered around the pillars at GYLI (multicultural identity, religious pluralism, collaborative leadership,…
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Having spent most of the day in airports, planes, and buses, we expected the GYLI participants and chaperones arriving to be pretty well exhausted. And they were. Nevertheless, everyone was eager to get reacquainted with friends and dive right into the Year 3 experience. Those that arrived in the afternoon got a brief view of…
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