Living on a Dollar a Day was challenging from the very beginning, especially waking up at 5:15 AM. We first realized the challenge when we had to take bucket showers and to refill our buckets we had to use the outdoor faucets. Following that we ate Gallo Pinto, which is just rice and beans which we will be eating all day. We were also barred from purchasing any snacks or soda. All of this combined made for some grumpy glimpsers. As expected, leading grumpy glimpsers would be no easy feat.

The main activity today and one of my favorites so far was that each of us was assigned to live with and be a part of a rural family. Being a part of the family meant that we also had to do any chores assigned to us, as a typical rural child does. The family that I was assigned was somewhat wealthier than the surrounding families. We had 10 cows, 3 horses, 5 pigs, 10 employees, and 100 acres of land. But their life was still humble. Many of us completed house chores, such as mopping, sweeping, and animal husbandry. With my father and brother, we took the cows to drink water. As we made our way to the river a cow ran off.  In Indiana Jones style, I sprinted after it and jumped in front of the cow. The cow jumped in the air turning around 180 degrees and eventually rejoined the rest of the herd. After that amazing experience, I spoke with my family about their life. My mother has been there for 50 years and lived there since she married my father. My father was a revolutionary back in the day with the Sandinistas. He told us about how they received training and guns from the Soviet Union. His battalion consisted of 100 men from the local region.

After we said our goodbyes, we left for the soccer field to play against fellow glimpsers and locals. My team won with a winning side kick from the bus driver who decided to play, which turned out to be a good decision. After the game, we hoisted a piñata for the local children and it was so interesting to see them go from loving children to vicious beasts that plundered the candy when the piñata broke. Afterward, we drove back to the hostel making sure to say our goodbyes to our families and the children we met.

Back at the hostel we started the CAP 2 seminar. The seminar proved to be the most difficult part of the day as the ELDD (El Lider Del Dia). My coordinators did warn me that this would be the toughest day to be ELDD. But I quickly realized that it was more of a challenge than I had expected. Being the only kid from my school, I didn’t know the other kids as well, so leading them was also a way to learn about them. During the CAP 2 seminar, glimpsers were very passionate about helping the community, but the “how to help the community” is what started the bickering. I believe this was good in its own way because we got different perspectives on how we think we should help the people and constructively reviewed each other’s’ ideas. Getting us glimpsers to listen to each other’s opinions was the biggest challenge of the day for me.  I learned that as a leader that it is ok to ask for help.  My amazing GG leaders(Jessica and Sarah)  not only gave me informed analysis on our project idea  so we can make better decisions as a group, they also spoke to me and gave great advice to help me better lead not only my glimpsers, but also in any other leadership role I may take on.