,

Today (for the groups first fun day) was to go on an extravagant boat ride to reach the island “San Juan Venado”;  after that we went to the beach.

The trip to the island was very fun and exotic because it felt very tropical. When we were traveling through the river we expected to encounter birds, crabs, iguanas, fish, alligators and some crocodiles. Don’t worry, we unfortunately didn’t see the alligators and crocodiles. The journey through the river was very scenic and beautiful because of the mangrove trees, or as the Nicaraguans call them, “
the walking trees”. Once we reached our destination, we walked to get through the other side of the island and we stopped at this tropical hut, like the ones you might see in Hawaii. The majority of us went to the beach and got wet, but we only got about 20 to 30 minutes of fun, but it was still cool. We returned back to the boat so that we can go to lunch. Finally, we reached the place that we were going to have lunch, which had very good food. The restaurant was very tropical; it was made out of wood as a base structure and of palm tree leaves as the roof. After having had waited thirty minutes, we went to the beach and played around. During those thirty minutes, it started to pour rain, so we were in the rain and in the beach playing volleyball with a soccer ball. After spending three hours in the beach, we came back to the hostel for dinner.

We did in fact learn about some history of the island, and I learned that there are deer in Central America. I’m proud that my peers and I  bonded even more today, even more than ever before. Being the leader of the day was fun for me because as the staff told me, I’m very comfortable and laid back, but this is only because I have bonded and shared a lot with my peers, so I was very comfortable. In order to be a more successful leader I learned that I have to be louder, create a more attention seeking group call, and not to look like I’m “serious” or “sassy” as Noel said it, and I like this feedback because it helps me become a better leader in the future.