Hello family and friends,

This is Sean and Sophia. Today we had the honor bestowed upon us to become los lideres del día. The day was a learning experience about teamwork and compassion. This was the first day of the Community Action Project (CAP) which presented the group with many obstacles. To begin with, shopping lists had to be heavily edited to fit our demanding budget. While some went shopping for the supplies, the majority stayed behind to chill and work on prepping for english tutoring. Once we collected all of our CAP supplies, we departed for Imabite to eat lunch. Lunch was the normal buffet and gallo pinto was offered as usual.

After lunch we went to La Association of Los Ninas y Ninos del Fortín to start on our Community Action Project. As we arrived there, the reality of the task at hand finally sunk in. We started off slow, not knowing exactly what to do. For example, the group in charge of painting the benches and walls (“The Bench Warmers”) took a while to get organized. They all began by painting the exact same pillar as each other. Luckily, the group was able to divide tasks amongst themselves. Another challenge of the day was the insects which both the gardening and tree planting groups experienced. While clearing out rocks in the garden, the group discovered a massive cockroach nest. The cockroaches swarmed out in a steady stream for a solid three seconds before hiding once again. The tree planting group had a less traumatic experience but were nonetheless surprised to find a nest of termites chilling in the roots of one of the trees they were planting (which they had named Lil Carlitos). After watching some ants kick the termites’ butts, we cleaned up for the day and headed back to the hostel.

For dinner, we enjoyed a special and much appreciated treat of hamburgers and french fries. The day showed us the importance of communication in group projects and to not take hamburgers for granted. After the nightly meeting, Daniel was kind enough to play the Pixar short film, Lava on his computer for us. This was because the song was partially stuck in our heads after volcano boarding yesterday. Today was long and helped us both to improve our leadership skills. #SaveLilCarlitos #TeamAnts #TeamTermites

[Editor’s Note: We were able to upload a photo of our students when they visited a local public high school. They’re in uniform–navy blue bottoms, white tops. The photo is under Day 9: Education.]

 

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