Hola fam!
Today we woke up at 6am to a $1 breakfast: gallo pinto and a dinner roll. Following that, we drove down a bumpy road to Comunidad Llano Grande, a rural community. There, we experienced life as locals. We were all welcomed with open arms. Once we walked into our host family’s home, we were immediately met with the smell of hand-made tortillas and burning wood. It was like a home away from home. We even learned how to shape the tortillas (we can make it at home for you guys now)! There we explored their land and met all their animals: two dogs, a cat, a pig, the neighbor’s cow, and a bunch of chickens. We got pretty good at crawling through barbed wires. Julia, one of the daughters, bonded with us by painting and designing our nails.
We thought this was completely different from anything that we have seen so far. They were happy with the littlest things. It was really eye-opening for all of us, and made us realize that we should appreciate every little thing we have in life.
Other people were paired with families that had children and many kittens. 
Everyone bonded with their families one way or another. After having lunch with the families, everyone gathered together to watch children, including ourselves, chase a chicken and hit a pinata. Sadly, only the children got to hit the pinata 🙁 By the end of the experience, we all felt like we were part of our host families.
After getting back to the hostel, we had a quick discussion with Norman, a Hope Project representative, about the projects we will complete for Sor Maria school we visited a couple days ago. After the meeting, we had an hour to relax (no snacks or shopping to continue living like a local) before dinner which was gallo pinto and a bigger dinner roll (yay!).
After a two day break, we returned to Universidad San Luis for English tutoring which went really well for everyone. When we got back to the hostel, we had our nightly meeting to crown our dear Ellis as Miss Matagalpa (Leader of the Day).
Hasta la vista, fam!
Students smile with their host family.
First part of the living like a local challenge was a bucket shower.
Global glimpse with some of our host families.
As part of the challenge, we all tried to catch a chicken.
Thanks for the great write up Marlene and Sarah! Love the picture with the host families. Lee has definitely never chased a chicken before. Go Lee and all the Global Glimpsers!!!
Hola Cinque!
I see you & the GG group are livin “la Vida loca!” How gracious of the host family to welcome you all into their home & lives. That poor chicken, though, must have been like “Yikes,who let the teens out!” Now, you know how to make tortillas from scratch-you mostly definitely will be using that new skill back home. I wish there were some actual videos of some of these events so that we could have a 3-D experience with you. I guess we will just have to fill in the blanks with our imagination. Glad you had this wonderful, first hand adventure!We miss you! Stay prayerful & safe!
Much God & love,
Mom, Dad & Czar
Hi Sarah M.,
We love you, we are so happy you are enjoying time with the local residents. “It is so true” as you said, when we don’t have much of anything or possessions it makes life more simple and Family more tight together & the littlest things will make your day more joyful. We are looking forward to seeing you group’s next posting. We are so proud of all of you. Kisses from all of us!
Love, aunt W. uncle & Emily W.
Hola Alejo! Are you still on this trip? DON’T WORRY, I don’t want either a chicken or a kitten for my 50th birthday present that you totally blew off.
someone’s passive-aggressive
Hi Sarah – Very wonderful to hear from you about your journey. We are very proud of you reaching out your hands with the local residents, learning and sharing life experiences with them. We are looking forward to taste your home make tortillas. Enjoy your journey and stay-in-touch. We miss you and God is good!
Love you,
Aunt and Uncle Susan T.
Jasmine, living with the locals looks like such a wonderful experience. I totally agree with the blog, it teaches you how to appreciate everything you have. I like the Rizzo’s shirt, did you wear it in honor of the All-Star game Today? I’m so excited to see you when you get back, I can’t wait to hear about all the detail. I love you very much, I miss you too. Buenos noches mi hija!
Such a great opportunity to spend time with the local families. That’s very gracious of them to invite you in. Thanks for the wonderful and thorough posts keeping us in the loop. Continue to have fun and enjoy all of your adventures! Hugs to Alejandro!
You guys must had a very good times playing with the local kids, thank you for the pictures and enjoy the rest of the trip.
Jasmine, your day sounded really nice. I Especially like the part where you got to spend time with families. It’s a wonderful opportunity to look at the world through others eyes, the ability to to understand how lucky we are makes us appreciate what we have all the more. This is a wonderful opportunity for you. I can’t wait to see you, I miss you very much. I love you mi hija. -Dad
All of you are living an experience that I hope one day you can reflect upon as one of your major successes in life! All of you are impacting the lives you touch everyday! Awesome!
I want to say hi to my dear “Mamas.” Marisa, I hope you are learning a lot about yourself and how Tata Dios calls us all “To Serve.” Can’t wait to hear all your stories…Tudy and Nina Rosa say “Hi” and they send you love.
I leave you with this Mayan sentiment that you can share with everyone:
IN LAK’ECH:
TU ERES MI OTRO YOU,YOU ARE MY OTHER ME.
SI TE HAGO DANO A TI, IF I DO HARM TO YOU,
ME HAGO DANO A MI MISMO. I DO HARM TO MYELF.
SI TE AMO Y RESPETO, IF I LOVE AND RESPECT YOU,
ME AMO Y RESPETO YO.
I LOVE AND RESPECT MYSELF…
LOVE YOU MAMAS! NINO CHENTE
Sarah M.,
It sounds like you guys had a very eye opening day! It’s glad to hear you are still enjoying your time there and learning so much along the way. I expect to have those homemade tortillas when you get back!
Hi Mandy Lu. We are great godsisters. How is your camp. I cant wait to hear about it when I see you again. Whenever I see you I always know that I’m safe. You always cheer me up,You are a very sweet girl and you come to any of our parties we celebrate.
I love you,
Isela