Aussie Aussie Aussie! Oi Oi Oi!

Hello family and friends! Today was Free Day #2 and I, Lorenzo Gonzalez III, was Leader of the Day. Before I get into this blog post, I would just like to say thank you for your kids, friends, or however you are related to them, for making this my favorite non-family trip to date; and thank you for being such open-hearted and easy-to-talk-to people. These people, that I now call close friends, made me being Lider del Día really simple and smooth, and they are continuing to make every day a memorable one.

Now for the day’s events: Wake Up Call was 8:30 a.m. for the budget team (Marvin, Jishnu, Richard, Mathieu, and me); this team had to wake up earlier than the rest to eat breakfast and then leave with our man Nelson in a taxi to the hardware store to purchase the materials and tools needed for the CAP project. And yes, to anyone wondering, we got everything! During the time the budget team was doing all that, everyone else was either eating breakfast or making their phone calls home. Their Wake Up Call was 9:00 a.m., the time in which I used my sound skills to wake everyone up by creating a loud alarm sound.

Eventually it reached 12:00 p.m., and it was lunch time; budget team pranked everyone by calling for an announcement and saying that we did not have enough money for the necessities of the CAP Project. Our chefs Juliana and Antonia made us salad, rice/beans, and chicken. As usual, the food was great and we all grubbed. After lunch, we all hurriedly freshened up for the day ahead of us. Our bus arrived, and we headed for the Festival de las Flores. On the way there we saw people completing their beautiful flower floats and people on their horses. We arrived, got dropped off, purchased our wristbands, and to keep it short, we loved it! There were beautiful flower arches, flower models, baskets, and it was basically a good ol’ American Fair (except the surroundings were the huge, green trees of the Dominican Republic). Many bought souvenirs from those who were selling jewelry, handmaded crafts, and other knickknacks. A lot of us also bought the delicious virgin piña colada drinks from the pineapple man: a pineapple as the cup filled with fresh, blended pineapple and coconut milk, topped with the spiky part of the pineapple and a cherry as decor. The time went on as we were all running around and listening to music, and we sadly had to leave…

Leave to the city! We bused back to our beloved city center and walked around in our groups of four or more. We already know this city like our own homes and made sure to complete the necessities: get snacks from the supermarket, get Nelson’s family ice cream, chill by the big tree at the center of the city, and for Alfredo, get his much-wanted haircut. We all headed back to our accommodations on foot before dinner time. We ended the day with our usual Nightly Meeting where I summarized the day, like this, received and gave feedback, and passed the Leader Torch to my boys Marrrrviinnnn and Alfreedoooooooo. As I’m finishing my blog task, everyone is either playing charades with Hannah and Emma, in our lovely common area, or losing to Christian or Ava in Slaps (it is a card game… it gets heated).

Goodnight and *monkey sounds*!

Flowers from the Festival de las Flores.

Group picture taken at the festival entrance.

GG Leaders Emma (left) and Hannah (right) sitting on benches.

Image of the Pineapple Man.

Jishnu (left) and Anjali (right) with their fresh coconut juice.

One of the floats in the town parade.

Alfredo getting his haircut in one of the local barbershops.

A woman statue decorated with flowers that was inside the festival.

Picture taken of the group on the bus with all of their souvenirs from the festival.