IMG_2397Hi, my name is Chloe and I go to School of the Future in New York City. To start things off, being leader of the day wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. We were awoken by the sounds of band practice outside of our window as we proceeded to get ready for today’s activities. For breakfast we ate a wholesome plate of rice and beans which some of us liked more than others.

After eating we then got our stuff together and were on our way to Llano Grande, a community located outside of Matagalpa. The theme of our day was “Living on a $1 a day”. This was also called a reality challenge which tests our ability to assimilate into different situations. In this case, we were told that we would be spending time with individual families and learning about their story. When we arrived we were greeted by the families awaiting out arrival with open arms and smiling faces. After getting paired off with our fellow glimpsers we listened to our families explain their daily routine living in Llano Grande. Even though we were meeting for the first time, It felt like we were apart of the family already because they were so hospitable and and welcoming.

After hours of socializing, we gave individualized lunches to our families which they greatly appreciated. After lunch we explored the community by hiking to the nearby river and chasing chickens. Later we gathered all of the children from the different families and played a “competitive” game of hit the piñata. It was amazing to see the joy on the children’s faces when candy poured out of the star shaped figure. Sadly, the visit to Llano Grande had to come to an end so we said our emotional goodbyes to the the families that we stayed with.

On the bus ride back to the hostel we were accompanied by locals that were coming to our English tutoring session. When we arrived at the hostel we got into our self reflection groups and talked about what we experienced today. We discussed our first impressions about the families we saw and what similarities we shared. Later we prepared our lesson plan for English tutoring and prepared our materials. After English tutoring we had our nightly meeting and it was an end to a perfect day.

Although for some of us it was an emotional day, we still had the support from our Glimpse family and this experience will always be remembered as years go by.

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Isabel playing soccer with the kids.

Bobbi getting silly with the leftover piñata star piece by making it into a hat that she later gave it as a gift to one of the children of the neighborhood.

Bobbi getting silly with the leftover piñata star piece by making it into a hat that she later gave it as a gift to one of the children of the neighborhood.

Tati and Vanessa playing tag with the kids.

Tati and Vanessa playing tag with the kids.

Emily playing with Natalie's hair.

Emily playing with Natalie’s hair.

Such cuteness is so hard to resist.

Such cuteness is so hard to resist.

Walking down the dirt road to their homes.

Walking down the dirt road to their homes.

Maddie and Nataly being chased by the kids in a game of tag.

Maddie and Nataly being chased by the kids in a game of tag.

Leader of the day - Chloe sitting with Nikki watching the soccer game between the GG kids and the neighborhood kids.

Leader of the day – Chloe sitting with Nikki watching the soccer game between the GG kids and the neighborhood kids.

The neighborhood kids playing with the piñata.

The neighborhood kids playing with the piñata.

Daniel and Chase playing some soccer with the kids.

Daniel and Chase playing some soccer with the kids.

Damian and Eryka having fun.

Damian and Eryka having fun.

All smiles!

All smiles!

Connections made and happy moments felt...the time has come to finally make it back home.

Connections made and happy moments felt…the time has come to finally make it back home.