Though this was our last night in Nicaragua, our journey is not yet complete. Now we can use this post to give the chronological order of today’s events, but we want to focus more on our final takeaways.

As we all started our last day in the beautiful city of Matagalpa, a strengthened sense of unity came over the group. Shortly after breakfast we had the chance to reminisce on the ups and downs, the good and bads, and the trials and errors we each experienced throughout this trip. We were all given the opportunity to reflect, much like a movie reel, on the different aspects related to this journey; from the day we got nominated to the events we endured to where we are now. Throughout this reflection seminar, we sat and discovered things about ourselves that we didn’t know before.

We additionally made journey maps, visual representations of our most influential moments during this trip. Many of us included guest speakers, other glimpsers, other leaders and people we have met during our three weeks here who have made significant impacts on us.

After having reflected on all of this, we were given the chance to transfer our experience here to life back home. We all contemplated on things we should stop doing, continue doing and start doing upon our return. Reviewing the information shared within this activity, we discovered a common thread among each category. It was apparent that the common theme was related to that of apreciation and mindfulness regarding food consumption and showing an overall awareness of our surroundings.

We then moved on to our Big Love activity where each glimpser placed their name within a bubble on a blank sheet of paper which was then passed around and others wrote their most fondest memories, aspects, and qualities of each group member. We took this time to share our appreciation and growing fondness of each individual. This activity further cemented our bond with one another and reflected how much of a role each one of us played in the lives of one another. We then all read the heart felt comments left on our papers and shared laughs, a few tears, and hilarious memories.

Within a few hours we were ready to make our way to Managua and endulge on our last dinner together as a family at Pizza Hut and was also our last night in Nicaragua. The laughter that spread throughout the widely connected tables was infectious. With full bellies and happy hearts we made our way to our hotel for the night and prepared for our final nightly meeting.

We shared our final thoughts, take backs, life lessons, and first impressions/expectations when we were first told that we were traveling to Nicaragua. We also took this time to demonstrate our appreciation for the leaders and the coordinators. During which time, we also celebrated our PC Denis not only because it was his birthday but also because of the lengths he went to to make us feel at home and because of how much he inspired us on a day-to-day basis.

As the emotional performance came to a close, so did the final nightly meeting of this 2015 M2C delegation of Global Glimpse. Looking back, this experience has been absolutely amazing, and in the words of Nelson Mandela, “There is nothing like returning to a place that remains unchanged to find the ways in which you yourself have altered”. We are all so excited to return home and apply our experiences and newly learned leadership skills with Global Glimpse into our daily lives!