Hi, I’m Eryka, and today I was the leader of the day. Wake up call was late this morning, 8:30 am, but over half of the group was awake by then. Last night, we all decided I should wake everyone up by singing Opera, and so I did :). I walked through the hall singing and woke up everyone except Tati, who instead woke up from a gentle shake. Everyone then got ready and had a yummy breakfast: jam, toast, and large fruit cups. After everyone finished eating we went inside and had our Poverty Seminar. In the seminar we defined what poverty is and the five P’s of poverty: People, Place, Past, Politics, and Peace. We learned a lot of facts about poverty in Nicaragua and poverty around the world. Our Global Glimpse Leaders also told us a couple of stories about their experiences with poverty, specifically in Nicaragua, that were very eye opening.

After our Seminar, we had Free Time, which everyone was excited for. Everyone formed groups of at least four and at most seven to explore the neighborhood. One of our main focuses was to make sure no one was left out of free time, even if they decided to stay home (in the hostel) they would not be alone. Many of the groups went shopping and bought food and/or drinks. My group (DENT SQUAD!) stood inside for a little while and played chess, which we enjoyed thoroughly. After playing chess we went to the cyber café and spoke to our family members, which was definitely needed (I love you guys <3). Everyone was back at the hostel by 12:45 and ready for lunch. Lunch was a yummy salad and chicken :). Once lunch reached its end we surprised Allie with a cake, since it was her birthday :D! We sang happy birthday to her in both English and Spanish.

After lunch was more Free Time! Groups were again formed, but some people decided to stay home and relax. My group grew in size, reaching the person limit. We evolved from DENT to DENTCAV (we’re working on the name.). We had many missions for our expedition, one of which sadly was not completed (we could not find Tati a jersey, we shall try again soon.). However, we successfully dropped off laundry, returned to the internet café, went shopping, and bought drinks (one of which was for Tabitha.). We returned to the hostel early and discovered a snack jam session with our new group radio.

At five we began our Program Seminar, which was led by Chelsea and Dennis, who returned from their day off. In the seminar we learned more about tomorrow’s activities entitled “Living on a $1 a Day”, including the rules we have to follow, (which were put into effect right after the nightly meeting), how the day will be run, and how to interact with the people we will meet. One rule that shocked everyone was Bucket Showers. We are not to take regular showers until $1.00 day is over, we must only take bucket showers to help experience how life is for those who are poor in Nicaragua.

After the seminar we had dinner which was spaghetti with chicken and bread :). Once that was done we had English Tutoring Prep, where we planned our lessons for tomorrow’s tutoring session. At eight we had the nightly meeting and I passed the torch to Allie and Chloe, who did a step routine for us. Throughout the day I reminded everyone of the Question of the Day, which was “ What can I do to take advantage of today and spend my time wisely?” Everyone agreed that to do that you must plan ahead and be flexible with your plans because you never know what will happen. We should prioritize what we want to do and that’s exactly what we did! It was an awesome day for us all!