Hello families and friends! Liya and Mathilde here! We had so much fun being the group leaders today!
Today was an extremely productive day as working in coffee fields as locals and developed an idea of how coffee was produced. After waking up early to the crow of the rooster, we ate a nutritious breakfast. We were educated on Miguel’s self managed coffee business and how locals on the fields worked, and then experienced this labor first hand. As volunteers, we were split into two groups: one group plucked weeds surrounding coffee plants while the others threw away defective plants. This was tedious and tiring work but by working in groups and with the help of music in the background (thanks Naldo), we were able to power through the work quickly and efficiently. This helped the glimpsers develop a deeper underunderstanding of how native Dominicans earned their living. Experiencing the creation of coffee led to dirt all over our clothes and hands, so we freshened up and had a hearty lunch. We learned about the background of Cafe Monte Alto, and then made our way to their factory to see where the magic was made. Coffee making is a long process, starting from the growing of coffee plants to the extraction, washing, sorting, and roasting of the beans. Kudos to everyone that’s a part of the production of the rich, dark beans that we find in our coffee every day! Our day was beautifully interrupted by the thundering skies and heavy rain, so we tried a hot cup of freshly brewed coffee at Cafe Monte Alto to warm ourselves up. After arriving home, we got free time, in which all the Glimpsers bonded over volleyball in the rain, dominos, and cheerleading! We all shared laughs over dinner, in which some of us were lucky enough to see the colorful sunset of orange, purple, and pinks! After an exhausting day, we ended with a lively nightly meeting and passed our torch over to the next leaders of the day 🙁
Everyone is so grateful for what we got to experience today, especially the coffee tasting! On a real note, it was amazing to have an insider perspective on the farming and production of coffee beans. We will definitely think of today every time we have a drink at Starbucks!
Parents please keep the comments coming as we love to read them out loud! Spread the love!
Liya: Hi Dada and Ryan, don’t have too much fun in India without me, and make sure to buy me a new dress 🙂 Hi Mama, hope you’re having a relaxing time without the ruckus and mess that me and Ryan create in the house (make the most of the next week)!
Mathilde: Bonjour Maman, Papa, et Thomas, je vous aimes beaucoup! J’ espere que vous passez des bons moments a la maison, vous me manquez beaucoup! J’ai hate de vous retrouver! I love you Berto <3
Bravo minette pour ce super post!!! Congrats everyone on such a productive day! Missing you tons but so happy you’re having fun!!!
Love you !
Great update and what an awesome day you all had. I hope everyone continues to enjoy their time in the DR. Note to my daughter: Ale, today should of reminded you of your summers in Mexico, instead of the harvasting of coffee, it’s the harvasting of agave plants for tequila. Oh! And the heavy rainnnn also! Disfruta cada día! We miss you lots! Hope you bring mom back some cafecito 🙂
Hope you’re enjoying yourself and having fun!! I know that food out there has to be good tooo. Can’t wait to hear all abt it when you get back, love you!
Bravo Mathilde pour ce super post !
Contrats everyone for a very productive day!
Missing you tons but so happy you’re having fun !
❤️❤️
Lieara I am so proud of you and the work you are doing! I hope you’re having a great time and creating and capturing memories! love you!
Hello sister Megan,
Hope you had a fun time harvesting and making coffee. It’s probably been a while since you’ve had some caffeine so hopefully you weren’t up all night. Just got back home from college, so I’ll see you when you get back, love you!
Great post Liya and Mathilde! Drinking freshly brewed coffee in the midst of a thunderstorm must have tasted amazing after a hard day’s work!
Thank you for the posts and pictures. So great to see all the interactions, with the community and within your group. It seems like such a variety of amazing learning experiences. I can’t believe it’s already been a week. Continue to embrace this unique opportunity with each other!
Loving all the write ups and pictures! This daily account gives us a nice perspective on what you are doing there. Thank you!
Thanks for the update. This looks like hard work. I love the photos and the details about your day.
Z – here is a message from your sister: I love you tons and miss you so much and can’t wait to see you Zo. I leave for NY in the morning.
From H – hello future farmer of America. Did you like the coffee? Enjoy your trip. Keep having fun. Do something everyday that you didn’t expect to do when you woke up.
From me: I hope you are drawing some beautiful images of your trip. I love you BTTU! Xoxo, mom
We love reading about your day and seeing the pictures. Looking at every picture and loving when we catch a glimpse of you. Then my allergies act up, causing my eyes to water.
Daddy keeps asking me when you’re coming home. He says you’ve been gone too long. I’m ready for you to be home already! We miss you soooo much!!!
I hope you are enjoying every part of this trip. Making memories, positively impacting the community and building new relationships. Let your food touch, try the juices that all the kids talked about in the meetings leading up to this trip and step out of your comfort zone. Exchange phone numbers, emails, IG user names, so you can stay in touch with your found friends.
Can’t wait for you to be home so I can catch you up on chisme from my old job and my new job. Plus…..SPOILER ALERT….I want to tell you what happened to Penelope Featherington!!!!!! Calm down, I’m just kidding, I didn’t watch it yet, even though I really want to!
We love you, miss you and can’t wait to have you home!!!
Love Mommy & Daddy
Helping others is such an easy thing to do but we don’t do it enough. Keep up the great work and have fun! House is not the same without you Esteban, we miss seeing you and hearing you!
Wow this looks like a lot of fun. And interesting to learn about a self ran coffee business. I love you Mathilde!
Hi Aaron. It’s mom. We all miss u here at home and everyone at PIYA program. Everyone sends their alofaz to u. I see u are having a blast. Soak everything in and just have fun experience how their life is there. Always remember son, put GOD first in anything u do.
To the staffs, thank u all for sharing with us.🙏🏽♥️
Te extaño mucho Esteban espero que te la estés pasando agusto te quiero mucho
Hi Yesenia, it’s Cousin. I hope you’re enjoying your time on the trip. Keep up the good work. I miss you and can’t wait for you to come back and tell me all about your trip.
Lieara, we are so proud of the woman you becoming being able to branch out and explore the world, on your own soaking up all the new experiences. Can’t wait for you to come back and tell us about your trip. We miss you a ton.
Hi baby! I hope you’re having an incredible time and I’m happy to see you all being productive & learning new things. I can’t wait to see you next week 😭🤍 love you!!
Happy to have some news of the group and to know you have fun. You are building some sweet memories . Kisses to you Mathilde .
Hi Matthew! We miss you lots. Have a great time, keep making memories. Love seeing you in these pictures.
Lieara, I love seeing all these updates and can’t wait to hear all about this adventure you’re having. I’m so proud of you for taking on this challenge and branching out on your own. Love you lots ❤️