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Hello parents, relatives, and friends! Seline here – I am greatly pleased to have been the El Lider Del Dias for today: Global Business Day; during which we Glimpsers immersed ourselves in learning about Nicaraguan economics.

We began the day at a slightly later time than usual, awakening at 7:45 and at 8:30 trekking our daily route to the Comedor for a breakfast of Nicaraguan Frosted Flakes, whole-fat milk, and bananas. The Global Business Seminar afterwards was thoroughly informative in terms of preparation for a day of learning; it briefed us on Nicaragua’s long-term political and economical entanglement.

image7Afterwards, we visited a grain factory; one which produced seeds of all different kinds of sorts for shipment to Europe and Asia (namely Sweden and Japan). The factory employees introduced their work schedules in warm benevolence (when will we Americans ever accustom ourselves to all this Nicaraguan cheek-kissing and tactile interaction? Hint: We try.) We learned of the production process, glad to hear of the workers’ receiving a daily compensation (as opposed to a monthly or even more lengthly pay interval). They were kind enough to gift us three sandwich bags of edible, purified grains ranging from the color of white bread to the color of toffee. The ride back to the hostel was a blast; Katy Perry’s “Roar” was the official anthem.

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For lunch – oh, the Comedor fed us well today; the variety and coloring of the foods were mouthwatering. We were served our usual rice and beans, but in addition to it all were chicken, salad, kebabs, pasta, and fries!

Afterwards, many of the girls and the boys went out to shop and purchase necessities at the corner store during free time (during which Josette, Thanh, and I participated in a Leadership meeting).

Next up, the Queztaltrekkers seminar! Queztaltrekkers is a Nicaraguan NGO non-profit travel organization which supports a variety of charities and funds (domestic abuse, orphanages, etc.). They lead tours over the great, prolific volcanoes and lakes of Nicaragua, donating the money to said organizations. Queztaltrekkers highlighted the focus of NGOs on profit, as the prime goal of such organizations is to earn for the needy.image4 (2)

Jessica led our CAP (Community Action Project) 2 Seminar, in which our group focused on designing the project, brainstorming ideas such as gardens, water management, and murals for the rural community of Los Pocitos (much more news to come this weekend and next Monday!) 🙂

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Dinner was a dream once again; rice and beans, fried bananas, stir-fried beef, pasta, and chicken. A couple of us girls and guys went to the dress shop to pick up our beautiful, personalized Nicaraguan dresses and shirts (and also for a bite of ice cream). The rose of our day was yet to come, though –

image5 (1)Two of my dear students, Alexander and Mario, brought their guitars – and one of the most festive and touching jam-out sessions followed. Daniel was kind enough to put on a beautiful show of musical skill; we sang and snapped to John Legend’s “All of Me”, “Hey There Delilah”, “Hey Jude”, and David Guetta’s Titanium”. I cannot wait for them to bring their guitars once again on Monday; they are such wonderfully enthusiastic and dedicated students.

And now it comes time to pass the torch. Josette and Thanh are to lead us in “Working Like a Local Day” tomorrow, and I know they will do wonderfully; Josette’s sweet nature and Thanh’s ability to make us all laugh will make the day one to behold. I would write much more, but the Internet lag here is real – until next time! Thank you, Global Glimpse, for opening my eyes these past days to a wealth of sights I will always remember.