Greetings! I’m John, one of the Global Glimpse Leaders here in Esteli! We have just finished up our second full day in Esteli, and we had a super successful day. Shannon, one of our Global Glimpse Leaders, was our Lider del Dia (LDD) and did a fantastic job modeling for us the 3 C’s of Global Glimpse: Compassion, Commitment, and Courage.
Our day started out by learning more about the history of Nicaragua, of Esteli, and specifically about the 1979 Revolution by the Sandinistas. We spent time thinking about the importance of learning about the history of places we visit, and the places we live. We embarked on a city tour of Esteli led by our Program Coordinators, Erik and Tonia. We got to see lots of shops, the central park in Esteli, as well as the beautiful Catedral. We then all stopped in the afternoon sun for some delicious Eskimo (ice cream)!
When we returned to our hostel, we were visited by a very special guest, Don Ivan. Don Ivan was active in the 1979 Revolution and now works in Esteli, speaking with citizens and visitors about the many different people who helped win the revolution. These many different people were of all ages and included both and women. Don Ivan spoke about the power of a people united, and how Nicaragua is working towards a unified Latin America in the years to come. Several of our students showed tremendous courage by jumping in and helping translate for some of the group that need more practice with our Spanish!
Next, we spent time planning for our English class we are teaching starting on Thursday, and we appreciated how difficult planning lessons really can be! We each got our individual roles and responsibilities, and we will spend time tomorrow getting more prepared.
Then we had dinner at Coffee & Cocktails, a famous restaurant in Esteli, and had delicious steak!
We closed out the day by celebrating the 4th of July in style, with some sparklers on the street. When we talked about what it means to be American today, some of us said:
“To be outspoken”
“To be angry – so many Americans seem to be angry.”
“To be materialistic”
“To be influential”
Hello everyone! Thank you for sharing your adventures so far. It looks like you are having a wonderful time. Please say hi to Mikayla Davis and tell her Forest misses her. We look forward to hearing about the rest of your trip. Take care Global Glimpsers. Kim
Sounds like a busy day! I’m loving all of these pictures and that you took some time to celebrate the 4th and reflect on the meaning of being American today! Thank you for sharing.