Hello everyone! It’s late at night and I’m keeping Brittany up because we forgot to post on the blog!

Today was a long day! My day started off with my fellow glimpser, Andrea, waking me up and then me having to face the cold morning to wake everyone else up. Our energizer really pumped us up as we cheered on our table tennis players. Our amazing driver, Victor, drove us to the community of Cacha where we were led on a tour around the area. We learned about the indigenous community that lived there and their practices. They even shared tips on how to get married, the male can kidnap the female and force her to marry him! (Disclaimer: I do not recommend this method.) For lunch we ate Pambamesa, a Quechua word that means Community Meal. It consists of various foods set together on a table without any utensils. The way to eat it is by sharing it with everyone and eating it off your hand. It was a fun way to eat because we were able to break the laws of table manners. In your face, Society! Afterwards we met up with the best person in Ecuador (sorry Hector!), Cesar, at the RioGourmet Cooking School. Cesar is the chef that makes our delicious food at Nativa where we usually eat our lunch. He taught us how to make his own recipe of the Ecuadorian Empanada by giving us hands on lessons. I had volunteered to cut up the vegetables but I didn’t know that onions were gonna be part of it! After a few minutes, most glimpsers’ eyes were watering but we feared through it and got the job done. Then each of us moved on to help the others with flattening the dough or cleaning the mess. When all was done and right, we were eager to eat what we had cooked but….We had to travel to Nativa and bring the food with us. Some of us didn’t eat the appetizers because we desperately wanted to eat the empanadas. It turns out that they were for dessert! We filled ourselves up with them and hot chocolate. As our dinner came to an end, I remembered to ask Cesar for his lasagna recipe because I wanted to make it for my family back in the States. And because he is the best person, he said that he would give it to me! 😀 We all thanked Cesar for his kindness and his food before we went back to our hostel. The day was long and tiring but inspiring and wonderful. Instead of rushing to bed, we gathered our strength and met up once more for our nightly meeting. As the leader of the day I was nervous to see what were going to be my pluses and wishes. I knew that I tried my best but I wasn’t sure if my best was enough. That is why I was surprised when I was told that I was one of the best leaders they’ve had so far. I was relieved but I know that just because the glimpsers said that, I shouldn’t stop improving. The night was closed off by our new leader of the day with a self reflection about the day. It was a pretty full and enriching day. And dare I say, it was better than a free day.