Today was the last day of the CAP project, which is very close to our hearts because we put all of our effort into it.  Because we worked efficiently the days before, we left more time to do a mural for the school in the younger students’ area. Our design director, Carson Cooper, came up with the idea for the mural, which was all of the Global Glimpsers hands in different colors around the quote “Siempre hay una mano que ayuda” or in Quichua “Tukuy pacha shuk maki yanapankapak,” or in English “There’s always a helping hand.” At Las Gradas, we split into two different groups; one to start the painting, and the other to do some heavy lifting by taking the leftover wood from the fence to the toolshed. After doing some heavy lifting, the group came back and was able to help leave an imprint on the school, not just by leaving our handprints, but by also helping the school protect their way of life with our fence. Although some paint was spilled on the concrete, everyone was trying their hardest to get rid of the blue hue that now stained on the floor. The spilled paint stained the concrete just like how Global Glimpse has stained Ecuador, and just like how the Ecuadorians stained us. We will forever remember the memories that we made here, especially the relationships we made with each other and the Global Glimpse partners. To end our CAP project, we presented a gift to Herman to show our appreciation for letting us into his school and being such a helping hand throughout the whole CAP project.

After completing our amazing CAP project, we went back to the hostel to clean ourselves up from the copious amount of paint on our arms and under our nails. We then spent time packing all of our stuff into our suitcases. From souvenirs to snacks, we made sure we had everything. We made sure our fragile keepsakes were protected well and that our dirty clothes from the CAP project were wrapped tight. The process was bittersweet – reliving every moment made us sad we were leaving, but happy for every moment we experienced. Afterwards, we had a CAP reflection meeting. We went over everything we accomplished and what we could have done better. Overall, we were proud of what we completed and felt that the CAP project was an amazing success! After lunch, we had free time. Some people stayed in and relaxed after three rigorous days of CAP project work – this included sleep, card games, good music and lots of snacks. Others decided to enjoy the beautiful city of Guaranda one last time by exploring and shopping in groups of 4. Taleya, Jalynn, and others came back with lots of ice cream! Destiny, Zoe, and Adelina went to a bakery with Anna to get some pastries and the grocery store to buy lots of quality confections. During our last dinner together, we all chatted, laughed, and made even more incredible memories. We danced to tons of songs and sang at the top of our lungs to “Love Story” by Taylor Swift. Our absolutely incredible PC Joshua created a game for us to play on our last night. He rapped a song about our trip using British words that we had to translate to the American counterparts! The winning team won by a landslide and got lots of sweets. Afterwards, the group showed their appreciation to Anna, our beautiful PCs Alex and Joshua, and our incredible GGLs Kim and Jess with personal cakes. It truly was a night to remember. After dinner, we had nightly meeting in which we reflected on the CAP project and our trip as a whole. We agreed that it is important to help others and that this trip has changed how we will act in the future. Lots of big love was shared and you could feel the friendship radiating around the room. To conclude the night, the Glimpers had free time that they spent playing cards and enjoying each other’s company.

Getting thanks from Anna.

Group hug!

Our GGLs and PCs!

We love La Estancia!

Personally, this trip has challenged me to do better and be better, and I am so grateful for every single person I have met. Lots of love for the Global Glimpse team and my fellow Glimpsers for making this trip more extraordinary than I ever could have thought possible. Lots of Big Love,  Zoe Rabin

I just want to say thank you all for living through this experience with us, Serena Munoz