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Hey homesssss, it’s Bianey(BNA) out here giving you sight of today’s schedule, as you know today was living like a local day so it started last night (Friday night) of by with a “surprise” which was starting the night with showering buckets. Meaning everyone who wanted to shower needed to shower with a bucket but refilling it with the hose from the beautiful garden we have within the hostel. As one of the leaders I started by waking up all the Glimpsers at 6:00am which later caused riots, jk nothing happened it was the first time no one whined about being loud, besides our fellow leader Sahar who did lowkey whine about the wake up call not being loud enough but that’s not a big problem😂. Anyways we ate a very light breakfast which was Dominican hot chocolate with soft yet crunchy bread that went so well being dipped inside the chocolate (you can already imagine). After breakfast we had all the Glimpsers get their last minute resources to bring on the trip to Cañada de las palmas and Los Cahitos which were the colonies we were going to visit. Once we got there we were greeted by a woman who goes by the name of Nina, she had a big smile on her face once the bus parked and greeted everyone with a big tight momma bear hug to everyone once they came out the bus doors. When everyone was out of the bus we got stations with our working groups and got directed to their homes by our leaders who knew the colonies well enough. When I got there, I was with my other ELDD (El Leader Del Dia) and we got to wash clothes by hand in buckets, hang them, clean water gallons that store water for the locals, and also clean around and inside our moms’ home. Later on it reached 12:00pm which was lunch time, every family that the Glimpsers worked with went down to the community house to eat all together. We had locrio which is a much simpler version of paella and had every local who joined us ate as a community and had built a better and more stronger community with us Glimpsers creating more interactions with the locals there. After lunch we got free time in which Glimpsers got time to go play with the local kids. We learned many games in which they played, one being jump rope and the other being La Placa. We had so much fun just bonding with the kids and being around this energy that is not always present in our daily lives. Once the time hit 2:30pm we were sent back to our houses where we talked about CAP which most maybe have heard with is a community project in which we help the community with its physical needs. But we pretty much talked about what they need and what they would like to see happen in their community also we talked about their daily lives and how helping their community will help them out with their lives and everyone at the end just connected so well and I know we call all agree with have a idea on what to do for our project👍. We then came back to Delenia’s at 4:00pm and arrived at 4:15pm. We had break till 7:00pm which then  was dinner time and we had pasta with guineo which is whole green banana because of course we have to still eat like locals even if we are not physically at the colonies. After dinner we had our nightly meeting which was at 8:00pm and that’s where we had our thorns and roses and that concluded of by passing off the torch of leadership to the next leaders. After our meeting we had out reflection groups where we reflected our day and how it emotionally impacted us and how we can be the new change in ourselves and how that can impact our communities back at home:). 10:00pm to 10:30 was free time and at 11:00pm was now “lights out” but not really because we are still living like locals meaning no light the whole day or in general no electricity. Well that was it for the day, see you guys soon:). #missyoufam#monkey

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Hi, I’m Sally and I was the other Leader of the Day Today. I had the pleasure of meeting so many inspirational people today. However, by spending the day with my host mother, Justina, I’ve come to believe that the only just word one can use to describe her is ineffable. Justina became my mother away from home. From the time we had arrived, she welcomed my group, which consisted of Bianey, Marahya, Bijan, and myself, with open arms and a wonderful smile. Throughout the many chores she gave us to do such a washing and folding the clothes, in addition to sweeping the floor — indoors and out, all was accompanied with the most positive energy and love. Though she wasn’t made out of wealth, nevertheless she was gracious enough to take the time to buy us a snack in between  jobs, in which we had initially turned down, but she later place our hands in the bag to encourage us to take one. The moment in which had impacted me most from the day had to be when we went to visit a neighbor who was suffering with from a heart problem. When I had told them I’d pray for her, Justina led a prayer in which ended in many tears — not of pity, but of hope. I was enveloped in one of the most earnest moments in which I had experienced in a long time, and it had taught me a lot about the importance in a close sense of community and genuine sincerity. When it was finally time to part ways, Justina and her close friend were courteous enough to walk us down the steep hill. As we made our ways down, we found each other walking in one another’s arms as she wanted to make sure I wouldn’t fall — for the 10th time, and I wanted to show her my appreciation for the compassion and care she had gifted me. When it was time to board the bus back to Constanza, after many hugs circled around, Justina came back to us one last time and gave us each a tight hug in tears, explaining how she did not want us to leave and how we were like her children. In an embrace, we told her that she was like our home away from home and that we would be back soon for the community action project to see her again. As I am typically rather cynical about people, Justina had the power to teach me how to love. I had never known that I could find new family members in the matter of hours, and for that, I am grateful.