Hola familia y amigos, my name is Sofia Escalante. Today I had the honor of being El Lider Del Dia for our fun day. Honestly, I signed up to be Leader of the Day today because I figured fun day would be the easiest. To my surprise, being Leader of the Day on “fun day” turned out being one of the most difficult days to lead. The day began with a wake up call at 7am. Soon after breakfast we headed out in the safari (a large pick-up truck) to the base of a mountain. We hiked a 2 mile route to the peak of the mountain where the monument El Divino Nino (Baby Jesus) stands. The hike up was treacherous, however, we had access to the safari to drive us up if needed and some people chose to ride. Being stubborn, I refused to get on the safari AND pushed one of our Global Glimpse Leaders (you’re welcome Sahar) all the way up. Once we reached the top, Drake’s “Views” had nothing on this mountain. El Divino Nino is a sacred religious monument to the people of Constanza. The monument was built by Antonio Camilo as a thank you to the son of God for curing his once said incurable cancer. Mr. Camilo spent nine months creating this statue as a means of hope and prayer for those in need. At the monument we took photos and purchased souvenirs before heading back down the mountain.

 

Upon returning to Dilenia’s Hotel (aka home) we ate a delicious lunch of arroz con habichuelas, pollo, y ensalada verde. After lunch we were exhausted from not only the hike but also over eating. FOOD COMA! Regardless, we wanted to continue our fun day, and took the guagua (bus) to a park where we played soccer, pool, and catch. Although our soccer game ended early due to our only ball popping, we had a great time. After spending a few hours at the park we had to head back home for English classes.

 

We wrote lesson plans in our teaching groups of two or three then headed to our school around the corner to begin teaching. English prep and class was especially difficult today due to the fact that we were all exhausted from the earlier activities. My two co-tutors, Grace and Cinthea, and I worked hard today to engage the students and make it a successful class period. Cinthea and I both have a grasp of the Spanish language and although Grace isn’t the strongest Spanish speaker, she also found a way to engage in the class and help the students expand their knowledge. We had such a great session today because Grace, Cinthea, and I work well with each other. Grace was more of the grammar savy tutor while Cinthea helped explain the lesson in Spanish. Our Global Glimpse Ambassador served as the translator while I worked one-on-one with the students that moved at a slower pace. I’ve come to realize, having four teachers is incredibly beneficial to the success of the classroom. We ended our day after English tutoring the way we always do with an appetizing dinner and our nightly meeting. Buenas noches from Constanza, hasta manana.

-Sofia Escalante

P.S. I encourage more parents to comment, it makes our night to read them 🙂