Hello everyone! Today was our first free day and I think I speak for everyone when I say it was a very fun day. We were all happy that we got to sleep in this morning and the familiar breakfast of cereal. After a quick seminar on politics, we were able to split into groups and venture out into the city with one of the local youth ambassadors. These ambassadors are students around our age who volunteer to help with the Global Glimpse program. They are exceptional students and are at the top of the English classes, taught by our Program Coordinator. The ambassadors are eager to meet all these American students while improving their English skills.

Having the ambassadors as our guides makes the experience better because we get insight into the lives of the youth in Constanza. The ambassadors that I went out with today brought us to a restaurant with many video game consoles and huge trampolines. And using them was FREE! I was surprised at how nice the restaurant was because all the other parts of city are lacking in upkeep. My friend Jason described it as an oasis in a hot desert. Some of the other delegation went around town and tried some of the ice cream. Considering the fact that the ambassadors said that they get really bored here, we were all surprised at how much fun we had. But then again, they have to do the same things all the time.

After all the fun, we went back to our hostel and started to prep for our English tutoring classes with our ambassadors. Everyone was very pleased with the fact that the classes went so much smoother today. Personally, I really enjoyed this week’s class because my students were very engaged with the lesson and my teaching partners were a lot more prepared. At the end of class, one of the younger girls came up to me and gave me a hug right before she left. That made me happy and smile so hard. Overall, today was a really great day.

Lastly, I just want to wish a Happy Birthday to my Ninang Anna! And to the rest of the family, I love and miss you guys so much!!