Hello everyone, Grace and Lila here as your blog writers for free day 2, but more importantly, Bijan’s birthday!

Today started off with a delicious breakfast of toast, eggs, and a variety of spreads. Following that was a seminar where we wrote rough drafts of thank you letters to Global Glimpse supporters. After that we finalized our Community Action Project plan which we begin tomorrow. (Stay tuned!)

Then our free day actually began! Some people went to get ice cream and souvenirs, while others went to the Internet cafe.  Following our free time, we enjoyed chicken, rice, beans, and salad for lunch. Then we had more free time! Most of us went and played basketball with some local girls (the Americans got crushed) while those remaining relaxed over churros at the nearby bakery. Then we had mashed plantains with cooked vegetables and salami for dinner. Following our meal was the nightly meeting, and then Bijan’s birthday celebration! It started with a surprise video made by Camilo compiled of clips of all of us wishing him happy birthday. Then we all had cake (with a sparkler candle) and formed an impromptu dance party complete with flashing disco lights.

Today was the second free day, and we definitely learned from our mistakes the previous week. We all came back to the hotel on time! 🙂 Even though we’re running out of time here, plans are still going strong for meeting up after the trip is done. We’ve all made long-lasting friendships over this trip, and though of course we’re excited to see all of you, we’ll miss each other: our family for the past 14 days.

See you soon and please keep commenting. Good night and happy birthday to Bijan!

Lila and Grace