Today we visited the Penn Vet Working Dog Center. It is a research center that trains scent working dogs, including cancer detection dogs, diabetes detection dogs, search and rescue dogs, bomb detection dogs, and more. We got a tour of the facilities. We even got to help socialize the 8 week old German...
Continue readingSJ Service Day Four — Young at Heart at Collingswood Manor
Today we headed to Collingswood Manor, a retirement home in Collingswood, NJ. We started off the day by circling the building and parking lot looking for trash to pick up. At 10 we split up into groups. Some went to give a few of the residents manicures, while others played and called bingo. A...
Continue readingSevilla, Seen From on High
Today we started later than usual, which is unusual for this trip. Usually we woke up around 6/7 to get ready for breakfast at 8, but today we had the luxury of sleeping in until about 8:30/9. From the hostel we embarked on a walking tour of Sevilla, led by a local named José...
Continue readingGYLI: Knowing Yourself
Today we did some relaxing activities. First, we opened with a game of “Zip, Zap, Zop!” Then, we wrote in journals about the importance of knowing yourself as an individual and its correlation to being a leader. We followed that up with another personality test to determine our individual four letter codes. Then, we decorated t-shirts...
Continue readingLearning salsa and bachata at Estilo Dance Studio
A Magical Day in a Magical Place
After a quick breakfast at 6:30, we headed over to the Give Kids the World Village to work in the arcade and help serve breakfast. It was Lina’s birthday (a 12 year old wish kid), so we sang to her, gave her cake, and painted her nails. Before we knew it, breakfast was over, so...
Continue readingGYLI: Center for Environmental Transformation
Today was an exciting day. We started out by playing spoons again! While we were playing Blythe spilled hot chocolate all over herself, so we had to work as a team to find her some clothes and to clean up the mess. After Blythe was settled, we went on the bus to Center for...
Continue readingSJ Service Day Three: Mulch, Kids, and Community
Today we went to the Neighborhood Center in Camden, we started the day off with a goal of transporting a large pile of mulch across the yard to a playground. It was hard work, but it was totally worth it when we saw the hordes of children rush to the playground. When lunch time...
Continue readingLa Mezquita de Córdoba
Today we said goodbye to the community of FES. It was very sad and sweet at the same time, and all of us feel that we would not want to trade the experience for the world. Then we headed on the bus towards Córdoba, which took two hours. Once we arrived, we went to...
Continue readingNicaragua: Finishing Our Project in Solidarity
https://youtu.be/8eQR7nnnG0A...
Continue readingDay Three, Spanish Culture: ¡Fue un éxito!
Day 3 of MFS Spanish Culture was a success! As a continuation of yesterday’s activities, we accompanied the bilingual kindergarten and first grade classes of Southwark School to Philadelphia’s Please Touch Museum. The 10 of us divided into groups to guide the kids through the museum. The many exhibits provided them with opportunities...
Continue readingFrom Castle to Kitchen
3/29/16: After a good night’s sleep we had another early start today and ate breakfast at 6:30 AM. At about 7:00 AM we left the hotel and headed over to Give Kids the World. We all had new jobs like helping children to get their stars placed on the walls of the Castle and...
Continue readingXi’an: Ancient History and Dumpling Feasts
Today we woke up early in the morning. We got out of bed all packed and ready to go at 7 am. We left our hotel in Beijing and took a bus to the Beijing airport. While we were there several students bought Starbucks near our gate. A taste from home! We departed from...
Continue readingNicaragua: Sharing soccer, strength, skills
This morning we went to the Casa Del Niños art school. We did many different service projects, such as painting beams, shoveling old footings so that new foundation can be put down, cutting rebar, and then making them into squares for rebar foundations. Then we went to a women’s craft collective. There we learned the...
Continue readingExploring Art: Human Mandala
This morning, despite the chill in the air, we worked together as a group to design mandalas using our figures as inspiration. We created two designs on the oval blacktop by tracing the outlines of ourselves in various positions. It was a great opportunity to work together, communicate, and in the end create!...
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