Today was our Living Like a Local Day, where we lived like the people of Bejuca Aplastado, the community we helped plant cacao beans the other day. This included having no running water or access to electricity, which began Saturday night. We woke up early and had a small breakfast of bread and hot chocolate. We immediately got on the bus to go to Bejuca Aplastado, and when we arrived we were divided up into groups to spend the day with host families in the community, doing house work and chores.

Some of us learned how to cook, other swept and mopped, and a couple of us planted different vegetables and fruits. We spent the majority of our morning doing this, and then  we all ate lunch as a whole group, where we celebrated Nicole’s birthday with the community.

We watched a softball game, and then we headed back to La Fundación. When we arrived, we immediately began working  on our presentation for our Community Action Project for Los Ninos con Esperanza. Then, we got dressed and went to present the project to the representatives of the organization. Our final project is going to be a multi sport court/field so the students can play soccer, volleyball or basketball in the same space. The representatives of the organization loved the idea, and we worked out the details with them and then began our free time, where we all played cards, read, talked about our days, etc.

We then had dinner and our nightly meeting, where we discussed the impacts today had on us, and how much we appreciated the experience of being a part of such a united and amazing community. Everyone loved how warm and welcoming these community members were, and we are so grateful to them for making today so special for us. Keep a look out later this week for updates about our CAP Project!