July 4, 2014

Tio Antonio’s speech.

Shirt being weaved from plastic bags.

Lunch where everyone was too distracted by their food to actually eat it.

Dinner provided by el comedor.

Today, the group had the opportunity to sleep in after the previous day’s early wake up. Once dressed and ready, we headed off to breakfast at the comedor which consisted of gallo pinto casado (which had added ground meat), a fried tortilla, cheese on the side, and a banana and iced tea to drink. After our delicious meal, we headed back home and read an article on Fair Trade and the Starbucks campaign and discussed globalization of businesses and the impacts they have on local and international communities. Then we walked to the local panaderia to sample various Nicaraguan sweet breads. Once our tasty treats were gobbled down, we walked to a more high end bakery named Pan de Vida. There, the owner described the impact he is trying to make on Granada by introducing healthier bread options to the local people. We walked back to the hostel where the leaders of the day facilitated a discussion comparing the two bakeries, their prices, and quality of product they produced.

After some free time, we took a short stroll to the Cafe de las Sonrisas and heard from the founder, Tio Antonio about the origins of his vision for the world and more about his hammock business and local restaurant in which he hires many deaf and blind workers to prove to people that disabilities do not hinder people’s ability to thrive in the work environment. Tio Antonio invited us to lunch served by his deaf employees, and challeneged us in the middle to wear ear plugs for 4 minutes to experience the life of a person who cannot hear. Then we went and each added a row to the Never Ending Hammock and also got a certificate and a picture for our accomplishment. We also got to learn how to make real hammocks and worked side by side with the inspiring workers. We all got so wrapped up in our fun at the workshop that we stayed an hour later than we were supposed to!

When we finally pulled ourselves away from the fun at the workshop, we headed back to the hostel and participated in a seminar to learn how to tutor the locals in English,   After our seminar, the money exchange man, “El Gato,” came to the hostel and exchanged our US dollars for Nicaraguan cordobas. After a little bit of free time, we all headed out to the comedor and were very surprised to find a huge banquet table in the owners house set up with table cloths, decorations, and a delicious spread of BBQ chicken, rice, salad, and a tortilla.

During the nightly meeting the leaders, Delaney and Alejandro passed the torch to Alejandra to be our first solo El LDD.

From all of the Global Glimpsers, we wanted to wish everyone back home a very happy 4th of July!

Love,

Delaney and Alejandro <3 (=