Hey everyone!  I was lucky enough to be the leader of the day today on our Culture Day!  Today was also Jackson’s birthday!!!

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Happy 17th Birthday Jackson! We were so lucky to celebrate with you!

Today was jam packed with awesome activities!  We started the day with a delicious breakfast of pancakes with bananas and watermelon.  Then, we had our first mental warm up of the trip, during which we talked about our ideas of culture, what stereotypes exist about culture, and if indigenous cultures should keep their traditions or conform to the modern, global culture.  I was blown away by the insights of our group.  After our workshop, we got on the bus and headed to Las Mujeres del Plomo.  They are a group of women who organized and created a jewelry workshop in order to raise money and help their children get a better education.  They make all of the jewelry from natural seeds they find in their community.  We were able to learn from them, create our own jewelry, and buy some beautiful pieces to bring home as souvenirs.

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Learning how to make jewelry.

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In front of the workshop at Las Mujeres del Plomo with some of our little helpers!

We had worked up an appetite by now, so we headed to the home of Dona Monisa to learn how to make a traditional Nicaraguan dish: Nacatamales!  After learning about the ingredients we assembled the nacatamales and then had a wonderful lunch.

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Finally, after a little bit of much needed rest, we had our final adventure of the day: Dance Classes!  This was really exciting for some, and really nerve-wracking for others.  However, I was truly impressed because every single Glimpser, including my terrified co-leader, jumped right in and tried out all of the dances!  We learned merengue and salsa as well as some traditional folklorico dances.  I will admit I was living a dream wearing the beautiful skirts and twirling around in them!

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Finally, we arrived back at our hostel for another seminar to prepare for our English classes that are coming up next week.  We then had a great chicken and rice dinner along with birthday cake to celebrate Jackson’s big day!

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I know this post is getting long, but I really can’t say enough how impressed by this group of young people I already am after three days together.  They have not only shown incredible perseverance and positivity, but they have also demonstrated an incredible depth of empathy, respect, a willingness to go outside of their comfort zones to try new things, and an overwhelming wealth of knowledge and insight into complex issues.  If our future is in the hands of these young leaders, I am confident and excited to see where they take us!

Now you can stop hearing from the adults, and look forward to tomorrow’s first student blog from our very first Lider del Dia, Thomas Martinez!