Hello, im Patricia Rosendo and I was the leader today, July 13, 2015, which was  Politics Day. To start off the day, It was my responsibility to wake up everyone early for breakfast but unfortunately my watch was one hour behind, so i woke up everyone at 6:30. After breakfast, we had an Academic seminar about influential people who have spoken for others. In this seminar, we had a debate about either pro-gov or anti-gov. I was put into the pro-government group. We read and analyzed key topics about President Correa, who during his first term doubled the minimum wage, fixed the roads, rescued the culture of the indigenous people  by making them radio stations and their own newspaper in quichua (the native language),  and has caused Ecuador to be called the country of hope . Although on his second term, he started to get power hungry and started to take advantage like controlling the social media. This has made me realize how even someone trying to do good can do the wrong thing.

Later on, we went to parque Maldonado, where we had a special speaker, Aquiles. Aquiles had us walk  inside a circle, where he would randomly say stop, and look into the eyes of the person closet to you and see their life through their eyes. What impacted me the most here was that we all created this communication, this language through simple eye contact. Aquiles definition of communication meant that words are not the only way to express or feel emotion.  Then, he gave us a challenge, where on our own we walk arounf the park, stopping one person and politely asking them ‘ What does Riobamba mean to you?’ . I asked an 67 year old man, named Segundo Tolero. He  was very friendly and respectful and really emphasized how Riobamba is a place full of culture and history. He mentioned how he believes people who are migrating to here are ruining this culture and how all the answers to Ecuador’s problems are in the bible. This experience of  having 100% eyec ontact showed me this strong language through gestures. I thank Aquiles for his activity where we all learned that sometimes its not really easy to talk about how you feel so we can simply show these gestures to express our emotions.

After the talk and activity with Aquiles, right in front of the park was City Hall. Aquiles’s Girlfriend, who is Riobamba’s beauty queen, worked for the city hall, so she showed us around. We got a tour and learned and saw the different meeting rooms. At first, I was kind of bummed out finding out he mayor wasn’t present for the past three meetings, but fortunately we very lucky to actually be able to meet the mayor! It was AMAZING! He talked to us about his role and what he does. He is not involved in any political party, he is his own. He follows his heart and does what only he strongly believes. After his small talk, I, as the leader, presented him  with a small gift from global glimpse and a small recap of how we were genuinely grateful for his time. Surprisingly, he invited to his official office and the press came and recorded us saying “Riobamba”. I personally thanked him and talked to him about how I strongly believe about more women should be involved in politics. He told me how there is  3 women currently in his administration. As a leader I also translated for the Finance CAP (Community Action Project) committee to inform him about the project were doing on la communidad PASUCA. He had to leave for a meeting so he gave us his contact information and told us to send him more information about our CAP . This was the best surprise and experience I have ever had. It was a privillage to actually meet him and converse about so many things. At the end he remembered my name! I was sooo stoked.

Lastly, we went back to the hostel and walked to  a park near by and wrote an appreciation letter to the donors of global glimpse for around and hour and a half.  After this, we prepared and taught english class again. I was really proud because we gained 4 new students! We also gave them their first surprise quiz. They did great! Honestly, As a leader today I felt that I wasn’t as loud as I could be. The leaders were right in their feedback though; I should be more confident. That said, I do know where i stand as a leader. The most inspiring person today was obviously El Alcalde, the mayor.  Today was unforgettable and I cant thank Global Glimpse enough.

ps. Hey mom and dad and isa and kuky! i miss you guys and i love you very much!!!!

Also Ana wants to shout out to her mom and dad that she’s alive. Jannett wants to give a shout out to her family and misses her dog, whom she misses a lot!

Alejandro getting interviewed for TV

Behind the Mayor’s Desk

Anai and the Mayor

Patty and the Mayor

Aquiles talking to the group

Debating