Hello all! Today we, Cinque and Jasmine, lead the group to completing our Community Action Project (yayyyyy!)

We started off the day by waking up at 5:55 AM (6:30 for the rest of our lucky Glimpsers). We then had a breakfast of gallo pinto, quesadillas, and avocados (we’re fancy ya’ll). 30 minutes after breakfast we, August, and Sara took a quick trip to the paint shop to get some much needed supplies for the rest of the day. We made it back by 7:45. Our goal was to get the group on the bus by 8:00 and we were all accounted for by 8:02 (that’s very impressive around here).

After piling on the bus, we started on our way to Sor Maria Romero. We made a not-so-quick stop at the wood store which put dangerously behind schedule (some of us got a nap in at least šŸ™‚ ). We finally arrived at Sor Maria at 9:15. After dividing into the mural, tables, and sign groups, we all kicked into gear.

2 and a half hours of excruciating, grueling, strenuous, hard, child labor later we finally had a lunch break. Our lunch consisted of chicken, salad, macaroni, rice, and mango juice (some of us also bought some amazing popsicles from the paletero man/ice cream man). Some of us were so determined to finish the project that they returned back to work early (shout out to you Allison <3)!

We all gobbled up our food and got back to our project. By that time, the front two walls of the school had a coat of paint and the mural was mostly finished. The sign was also being finished and the two tables were complete (in only 3 hours!) and being varnished.

We were expected to finish the project at 5:00 PM, but actually finished at 3:00, surpassing everyone’s expectations. Our final project was: two sturdy tables, a gigantic bookshelf, the front of the school painted two colors, the gates and windows painted, an amazing hand painted sign for the church (that also takes place in the Sor Maria school), and a beautiful and original mural designed by Allison, Kierra, Sara, Ellis, and me (Cinque)!

We then started the cleaning up process, which was harder than it seems (thanks parents for always cleaning up after us). Some of the kids got their hands on the paint and added their own “creative” interpretations to the mural by adding paint in places where it was not supposed to be (gee, thanks). But they posed for really cute pictures, so it’s okay.

We took big group photos after cleaning up. Our Community Action Project was successfully completed! We even had time to fix some of the mistakes from prior delegations *cough cough, M2A*. Then we said our goodbyes to the community, hopped on the bus, and went back to El Castillo. We had a little downtime before dinner. We had a group self reflection afterwards about our project and its successes and shortcomings. Then, we had our nightly meeting where we passed the torch to our next leaders of the day (can’t reveal who they are though, sorry).

Today was amazing and full of success. Thanks to EVERYONE who helped out. Teamwork really makes the dream work.

Side Note

Jasmine: Buenas noches que suenes con los angelitos! I love you and miss you mom and dad!!

Cinque: Love you Mom, Dad, Czar, and turtle. I am enjoying and learning so much from this trip. See you bright and early on the 19th. <3

Allison in front of the sign.

Allison in front of the sign.

Finished tables and benches.

Finished tables and benches.

The group in front of the school.

The group in front of the school.

Anthony taking a leap of faith into Mr. O'Malley's arms.

Anthony taking a leap of faith into Mr. O’Malley’s arms.

Jasmine and Cinque, the leaders of the day!

Jasmine and Cinque, the leaders of the day!