Hi everyone!

Due to some very unfortunate circumstances, Jahred and I have gotten the chance to lead this group again.

Today was Poverty Day and it started as any other. We woke up early to have breakfast at Imabite, and returned back to the hostel to have an academic seminar about our day’s activities. Today we visited the local garbage dump and witnessed urban culture by meeting the workers. They we really excited and joyful, as were the Glimpsers to get to meet the workers and see what it was like to make a living at the dump. After our tour of the place, we invited some of the workers to play a game of futbol. My fellow leader Reggie and I and some other Glimpsers joined in on the game. As fun as the experience was I think we all truly realized that even though there was a plethora of things that divided us, such as cultural differences and a profound language barrier, there was one thing that united us and led to an amazing time. Soccer. Brayan called it a universal language because it brought those of different backgrounds together and it really was a unique experience. After a speech from the dump manager we all collected onto the bus and returned back to the hostel for much-needed shower time. Soon after, we all  went to eat lunch and came back to work on our English tutoring lessons. We were exhausted, and even debated not traveling to the orphanage as planned; however, our group prevailed and we all faced up to the challenge and went to the orphanage.

Unfortunately, Jahred didn’t have the pleasure of taking the public transit system, so he won’t be able to comment on in. In short, it was a rollercoaster. When the bus finally arrived at the stop, it was a mad rush for us to pack all of us into the thing (it was a yellow schoolbus-type thing, with doors that didn’t close). IMG_1942Once on, we were tossed in our respective positions like ragdolls in a crash test simulation. It had to be a foreign experience; the locals went with the flow and acted as if nothing was amiss.

 

 

 

Once at the orphanage, we had so much fun with the children. One would think that the task was complicated by the fact that not all of us knew Spanish, but children are children. A person can have fun with them regardless of any perceived barriers. Personally, I felt anger at myself during my time at the orphanage for not making more of an effort to learn Spanish. IMG_1935Being with them was better than I expected, but when reflecting on the experience, I knew it would’ve been better if I could communicate with them on my own, without help. [Editor’s note: There were so many absolutely adorable pictures from our trip to the orphanage that I couldn’t help but share a bunch more of them at the end of this post.  Enjoy!]

Dinner… was funny, to say the least. Not because of the meals or anything. The other Global Glimpse group (Leon 1) coincidentally was having dinner at the same time. It was their turn to experience “Live Like a Local” day, so they were having a delectable meal of rice, beans, and water. Once the other group saw what we were eating, they got jealous and asked for our food. Guess what we said…

Our excursions for the day concluded with us having our second day of English tutoring. All the groups got closer with their respective students (sadly, I feel as if my command of the English language has been rendered irrelevant because I made a mistake during the teaching session. Guess it’s a learning experience for all of us). IMG_1944Jahred was sad because one of his favorite students advanced in classes, leaving him with a metaphorical hole in his heart. Fortunately, unlike yesterday, no bats made an attempt to assault Derek tonight.

 

To end the day, we passed the torch to Nora and Christabel in the nightly meeting. Their talent was sketchy to say the least. I’ll let them tell you how everything transpired after they reach this point tomorrow.

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