Today was all about experiencing a situation that many people in the world face, but not what many notice- “Living on $1 a day”. We started our experience with taking bucket showers, which we surprisingly enjoyed. Another big factor of the day was eating Gallo Pinto for almost every meal and limiting the food that we were eating. After a simple breakfast we started heading to the families. The drive to the community was about 15 minutes and only 6 blocks away from where we lived. Within a few blocks the neighborhood that we were surrounded in completely changed and that is something that not many tourists/travelers realize. Once we got to the community the families were very welcoming and all the family members were excited about having teenagers spend the day with them. The kids in some of the families were very excited to see us and the joy we saw in their faces made our day a 1000 times better. Although the kids didn’t have much, they wanted to share the little that they had and despite the language barrier that some of us had, we all somehow found a way to interact with the families and children. When lunch time came around, we had the opportunity to share our food and eat with the families. At the end of the day, after saying goodbye to the families that we grew attached to within a few ours, it made all of us realize that we need to put our lives in perspective and appreciate the little things in life. Being the leaders of the day taught us how to deal with responsibilities especially on an emotional day. The families that welcomed us into their homes were in a way inspiring because despite the fact that they live in poverty and have very tough living conditions they were appreciative and content with their lives.

Photos coming soon!