Austin, that kid from Hayward California’s blog:

It all started with a bang. I woke up at 5 believing that I was late for wake up call, but I wasn’t. Two hours later, wake up call began and I pounded on the doors of my fellow delegates much to their displeasure. After waking everyone, we ate breakfast together as is the norm. Breakfast consisted of eggs, gallo pinto, rice and fried plantains which for breakfast was kind of unusual. After breakfast, my GG leader said, “You’re in charge of pizza planning.” Julie explained, “we have to find out what everybody wants.” The night before, we had decided to plan a pizza party for the delegation in commemoration of our hard work and persistence in the CAP project. I decided that making a tally would be the best way to accurately see what people wanted. After the tally which went relatively quickly, it was time for free time. I personally accompanied a group of 6 others from the delegation.

While walking I thought about my initial thoughts on being Lider del Día. I imagined myself as someone loud and who knew what to do. The reality was that I was firm but soft spoken; I was persistent but often unheard. The thought frustrated me, being a leader is so much harder then it looks. I also forgot some aspects of being leader del dia such as water reminders and setting the table. The fact that I had to be reminded disappointed me. “A real leader would’ve remembered all parts of the job.” I thought to myself. “I guess all I can do is try harder” I sighed. My group and I went through Esteli visiting artisan shops and cyber cafes, our last chance to explore. Around 12, we headed back to the hostel for lunch and I collected funds for the pizza. After lunch, things got blurry as I had taken a nap but after I woke up, I checked on RJ and chatted with my friends.

We ate dinner after this and finally ordered the pizza for the night, after which we began writing thank you letters for our donors. Writing was easy and in no time it was nightly meeting. The meeting went by without a hitch and as we ate pizza I passed the torch to Tara, our final Lider del dia. After the meeting, we finished the letters and now here I am writing this blog. I’ve learned a lot about the challenges of being a leader and about my owns strengths and weaknesses as one. I can’t wait to get home and see my family and best friend Juls, and I wish any reading this a goodnight.

(photos to come!)

E1C over and out!