Hola everyone!

My name is Fatou and I was the first student leader of the day. The leader of the day has many responsibilities throughout the entire day. Some of these responsibilities consist of making sure everyone is up on time. This morning, I had to wake everyone up at 6:00 so we can get ready to have breakfast and start our day. After breakfast we went on a hike to El Jalacate. it took us an hour bus ride to get there. When we arrived we met Don Alberto, a 78 years old craft man. He gave us a quick history of himself and how he became motivated to do what he does. We then got the chance to look around and see all the beautiful art he carved out on the mountain side. On our way back, we had to climb up the mountain which was a big challenge for many of us but we were able to push ourselves and push each other to accomplish our goal. One of my fellow glimpsers stated “I’m proud of myself because I conquered a mountain today”.

When we were driving up the hill today on our way to the hike, we could see houses in the countryside and see kids and young people outside working. It made me think back to the US and how some people take things for granted and they don’t really see this part of the world so it’s harder to appreciate what they have. This trip makes me appreciate what I have and makes me want to learn more about Nicaragua and the rest of the world. Also, it is very clean here compared to New York City! NYC is in an “advanced” city but we don’t keep things clean like they do here.

After our hike, we had lunch and then spent about an hour preparing for our English lesson

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This afternoon we went to Centro de Cultura to learn more about Nicaraguan culture. We met Don Julio, a local artist known for expressing himself and the history of the country through his artwork. We spent an hour and a half expressing ourselves and our first impressions of Nicaragua through painting. Don Julio helped us with our drawings and was very generous and caring. Next, we went to a dance workshop with Hugo! Hugo is a dance teacher and he taught us Salsa, Bachata, and a couple of native Nicaraguan dances.

Then, we took a little trip to the supermarket to buy some munchies! When we came back, we ate dinner and gathered around for our nightly meeting. During our nightly meeting we reflected on what went on during the day and what we learned. Together, we reflected on the quote of the day: “The world in which you were born in is just one model of reality. Other cultures are not failed attempts at being you: they are unique manifestations of the human spirit.” – Wade Davis

Quote from a Glimpser: “Today made me realize that different cultures view “success” differently – in the US its all about making money, but here Don Julio and Hugo get to live their passion and they don’t care about what they have, but they care about what they bring to their society and their people” 

After our reflection, we discussed what to expect for tomorrow, shared some big love and ended our day with our unity clap!