¡Hola todos! KLK? (Que lo que) Today was our final day of our CAP project and was full of excitement, joy, and laughter. I was extremely lucky to be “Lider Del Dia” on this incredible day. This morning, I woke up everyone at 7am SHARP. After, we ate a delicious breakfast: ham, toast, scrambled eggs, and fruits. Then, we got ready to head to the beautiful community of Jinova which is surrounded by farmland and mountains.

Once there, we got straight to the grind because we all had the common wish of reaching our final goal today. Even though most of us were fighting our own battles, we pushed through. We had to transport water and cement blocks, mix more cement, and place the blocks on top of each other. However, today was different due to the fact that our friends and fellow glimpsers Lizzie and Yesenia were back with us after not participating yesterday because they did not feel the best. Lizzie took it easy and was our DJ! The energy throughout the day was incredibly positive and the music helped a ton. Everyone had a smile on their face as they sang along to the universal language: music. The vibe was just fantastic and made me feel, as a leader, incredibly happy.

At about noon we had lunch from our marvelous provider Charlie who never fails to ensure that we be eating good ;P Today on the menu, we had moro (a mixture of beans and rice), baked chicken with lime, and a tomato and avocado salad. Straight up scrumptious. After we ate, we took a minute to relax and discuss our final, yet most important project: the mural. Once we got back to work we had to wait a minute for the paint and other materials to arrive. We all decided on painting the world (with some slightly incorrect continents and a heart where the Dominican Republic would be) with our delegation name under and surround it was our handprints that we dipped in yellow paint.

When we were done we thanked the community for giving us this incredible opportunity and they expressed that they had a mutual feeling of gratefulness. I took the time to thank the leader of the whole organization, Sandy and expressed how thankful I was for making this life-changing project possible. The project opened all of our eyes because it showed us the difficulty of manual labor, but with limited tools and in the heat. Nevertheless, we all had fun and left feeling content.

Once we got back to the hostel, we had explore time! I took a group of my boiiz E-rron, Jose, Steven, and Frankie. We went souvenir shopping, ate at a local cafe, and went to the supermarket for some snacks because Dominican snacks be hitting different. Once back we had dinner; chicken burritos, fries, and passionfruit juice (told y’all we be eating good). Then, we had our nightly meeting follo where I was happy and eager to pass the torch to my boii/roommate Frankie where he will be leading us in our last day!

Overall, being leader of the day today gave me the opportunity to express myself with a group of people I had not formerly known. Despite the bucket showers, heat, and long bus rides, the one thing that kept us united was the common goal to make this trip one of the most memorable of our lives. That alone was enough to make me go above and beyond of what I normally go and for that I am incredibly thankful.