Today, we had our first “free day”. We all got to sleep in, yay!! It energized us all since we got to sleep in and not be rushed. I noticed a huge increase in everyones energy and positive attitude. Breakfast was self serve and we ate fruit with cereal and yogurt. It made everyone satisfied because the fresh fruit was amazing and many students enjoyed trying a new part in breakfast, arroz con leche. After breakfast, we got to call home!! This made me feel happy and sad at the same time, because I miss my family but it was also fun to tell them about what we had been doing. We were finally able to do our laundry, which I felt was crucial to continuing since most of us are beginning to run out of clothes. Next, we got to prepare for our first free day. Sadly, we did not get to all go in the morning since the ambassadors did not come. Ms.Bittner was able to take 5 of us, which was an amazing experience. Walking through the community you could feel the essence of the people, whether it was through the food they were cooking on the street or the children dances. After stopping at a few stores, we head back to the accommodations, where we had lunch. It consisted of rice, meatballs, and vegetables. Then we all went on our next adventures, some went with Mr.Haffner and others with different ambassadors. On my walk, we found a shop that sold what we were looking for and bought many shirts and other touristy items. On the way home, Yesenia fell in a puddle, which was the highlight of the trip. Next, we got ready for English tutoring and ended up being much more successful this time. The students engaged and were learning a lot more than last time and this was most likely due to the fact that we were more prepared and had our lesson plan. This was extremely impactful because the last tutoring session for me personally did not go as well so seeing this success made me more hopeful and encouraged me to enjoy it more. We went home after and had a dinner of tomato, ham, cheese, and ketchup sandwiches. Seeing the energy of today was extremely impactful and it made me miss home less, since these people have become like another type of family. We all come from different backgrounds but going through these experiences together has bonded us and it’s something I’ll never forget. 🙂