Aloha familia y amigos, Tim and Cristian here and it was our day today to be the lideres del dia, and our day to lead was the start of the CAP project. Today started as usual, brisk wake up at 6:15 for us, we were supposed to wake up at 6:30 but we felt like going above and beyond today. AKA we were nervous as pigs getting ready for slaughter. We wasted 45 minutes of our morning pacing and going over what we were supposed to finish today, making plans and finalizing details. Soon after it was time to wake the others, and then head to breakfast not too long after. We really underestimated our task of presenting… sandwiches. We really should have come up with better winds to blow everyone (food line game) to breakfast line beforehand. The day was just starting and we were already flailing.

Soon after breakfast the gang got ready to head out to Las Cuevas Del Pomier HQ/Community Center to begin our Community Action Project, aka CAP. On the way we started cheering for Nick while on the bus, said cheers also turned into nominations for president, better choice for the future of our country than the choices we currently have if I do say so myself. (Cough, Cough, Toupee, Cough.). After sending him back to the US for the elections (not really), we went to pick up our ambassadors and then arrived at the Community Center. Once there, we quickly split up into our separate CAP teams, each with a unique task. Bookshelf building, social media promotion, and brochure translation.

First off the bookshelf group, lider del dia member, Tim. To say the least our original plan for today was blown out the window, but it worked for the better. As soon as we split up we had a carpenter member of the community already there with all the tools and wood needed to build the shelf and really went to work. At almost breakneck speed we began to assemble the bookshelf. Putting pieces in place, screwing in screws, attaching shelves, nailing in the backboard, and before lunch we had the bulk of the construction complete. The only downside today was that the group as a whole didn’t get to do as much work as we had anticipated, but we still did plenty of work and I got the blisters to prove it. After lunch we really went to work on the sanding portion of the construction. After sealing it, sanding it, sealing it, sanding it, sealing it again, and sanding it again, and one last sealing, and one last sanding, we hoped we were done with the sanding. That part took up the bulk of our time, and we saved the painting we had planned for the next day. We were left with a very well-constructed bookcase we had built together, showing great promise for having one hell of a bookcase for the community members once we are done. We all really put in any effort we could today whenever the opportunity showed itself. Whether it was using, or handing others tools, holding wood in place, or an absurd amount of sanding, everyone participated today and really worked hard today.

Next we have the social media promotion team, with yours truly, Cristian. Surprisingly we got a looooooot done in just one day. With the help of a few community members, our Facebook page came out much better than expected. Because we were getting great feedback, it made the process much easier, and more effective. Our secret weapon was the amount of fun we were having, because it made the project much more enjoyable. It is also gave us the opportunity to really connect with the community members helping us. We found a great spot up on the roof in the shade of a giant tree that shielded us from the beating sun and the sweltering humidity. The only downside for us today was that the internet was acting like an angry baby and refused to obey. With some discipline we were able to set it straight from time to time and we got our work done. We also taught a few of the community staff how to use the page, but our goal tomorrow is to teach the rest of the community members as well. And lastly with Zellie’s help, we were also able to get the flyer done just before we left which was really great because it was unexpected for us to have the time to do so. It came out really awesome and we couldn’t have been more proud of ourselves.

Lastly we have the translation group. They were given a brochure for the caves that was only in Spanish and a monumental task to translate it all to English and French. With the help of our awesome bilingual glimpsers, they were able to translate the entire brochure into English. Our French translation team put all their effort into translating it to the best of their ability. But while they did their best, translating an entire brochure into a language they started studying for high school, was no easy task. But unlike the French, our translators do not give up easy and kept persevering until the end of day 1, despite their limited knowledge of the language.

After a long hard day of work we headed home to CONAMUCA for a bit of free time at arrival, aka time for showers, card games, and dominoes. After that short amount of free time, we had another amazing dinner, and another set of failed winds. The dinner was a lovely salad, bread, spaghetti and tostones. (Tim here, quick shout out to my mom, no offense to CONAMUCA, but they got nothing on your spaghetti.) After our amazing dinner, we headed to our nightly meeting and handed our Lider Del Dia capa to the next set of leaders, who are also very fancy dancers, Kareem and Bryan. We ended our night sitting out of all the fun games and dancing typing this report.

Buenas noches to all you loving family members and friends out there, pretty sure we are all counting down the last few days till our return trip home. We are all equally happy and sad to soon be leaving the Dominican Republic and coming home to all you guys out there waiting for us. Looking forward to tomorrow, this is Tim and Cris signing off.

PS: What is Pokémon Go exactly?