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Hello family and friends! My name is Elaina Cox, a 16 year-old student at Abraham Lincoln High School in San Francisco, California. Today was Day 2 of our CAP project, with the main goal to paint the walls inside and outside of the bathroom, as well as installing the faucets for cleaner water. The day began with a wake up call at an early 6:30 in the morning and a typical, delicious breakfast at Don Carlos’ diner. After a quick, energizing game, we immediately headed down to the school in Las Prusias and continued on with the project. When some people, including myself, heard the idea of painting the walls and placing in the faucets, we were so excited and confident that it would be finished in no time. It was only when we started that some challenges came to light. It began to rain as soon as we put paint on the walls.  A door was placed on the wrong door frame and one of the pipes burst open, spewing water everywhere. Much of what we accomplished today came as a surprise to me, but the one thing that has never ceased to amaze me on this trip is the drive and spirit of the group to keep going and never stopping until the job is done, no matter how challenging the feat. Despite some of us having minor injuries and having to bear the smell of paint fumes, nobody wanted to stop until their share of the work was done. Even after being tuckered and tired out from the project, more so than the day before, we still managed to have such an engaging day of English tutoring with our students. Overall, I learned that it takes a lot of teamwork to get the job done on a large project like this, but if everyone keeps the same mindset and strives to reach the same goal, that makes the quality of the work effective and the bond of the group stronger than ever. I honestly cannot wait for the third and final day of our CAP project, and I have never been more proud of any group project I have ever worked on like this one.

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