6:00 o’clock this morning the alarm on the watch around my wrist started beeping. I open my eyes looking up at the ceiling. Today was to be our first fun day. As I get out of bed, worries start form in my head. We were going to climb Devil’s staircase, which leads up to one of the most famous waterfalls in Ecuador. Diego, our program coordinator, had explained the day before that the stairs would be slippery, steep, narrow. He himself had even dislocated his shoulder during a previous trip. I feel a second of panic bubble up. What if someone else fell? What if someone else got hurt? It would all be on me, as leader of the group today. Then, I remember our group values that we had decided on the very first day. Perhaps the most important one had been: “Be courageous.” So, I decide to put my chin up, and start the day with a smile.

After waking everyone up… we had a really weird breakfast being that we ate it all in the middle of a bus ride, which the bus ride took at least 2 hours, in which in order to reach the Devil Staircase, we have to hike a long pathway and then we can climb the slippery Devil Staircase. We then arrived at the devils staircase, It’s was slippery and very close quarters, but it didn’t stop us from climbing and seeing the wonderful waterfall. With a smile on my face and facing the hardships of the climb, we made it and the scene was amazing, after that wonderful experience , we then went on and arrived at Banos city, in which we ate a wonderful lunch there and explored the city, lastly after the long ride we arrived at the hotel and continued with our nighty meeting.