Hey everyone, we hope this blog post finds you well. We are Mei and Arianna, today’s Leaders of the Day.
(That’s us!)
We started the day by waking everyone up to Disney sing-alongs at 7:00 AM sharp. We sang songs from Frozen’s Let It Go, to Phineas and Ferb’s theme song. Then we had a delicious breakfast of toast, eggs, fruit, and some warm hot chocolate (courtesy of Welly).
After breakfast, we noticed that energy was low so we decided as a team that it would be best to take a rest day. Instead of our original plans for the day, we played card games and Arianna taught us some team-building games. it was well worth it since we were able to bond and gain back energy.
After a hardy lunch of rice and stewed pork, we gathered as a collective to vote on going to the waterfall. It was important that we had this vote so everyone’s opinions were heard and validated, especially on a day when energy was so low. The majority voted to go to the waterfall, where we had a short ride to the location on the safari bus.
At first, the weather wasn’t cooperating with us and we got rained on, but once we reached the waterfall, it cleared up. We took in the breathtaking views of the waterfall and were introduced to our new friend, Turbo the dog (named by us). Turbo followed us to the waterfall and even started running after the bus when we were leaving. Going to the waterfall allowed us to get out of the hostel and spend some time in nature. It was so much fun!
We finished the night up with planning our CAP presentation for tomorrow (stay tuned to see how it goes with our new leaders Gabe and Brianna!!!), and then had a yummy edition of breakfast for dinner in the DR. We had solami, fried cheese, mashed potatoes, sweet plantains, and papaya (which is usually what we have for breakfast). After dinner, we had our nightly meeting where we summarized the day and passed the torch on to our next leaders. Today’s rest day was well needed and we are happy that we were able to save our energy to put it into the community and our project for tomorrow.
(CAP Meeting)
We want to thank you all for keeping up with our journey, we hope that you continue to check in to see what our final 5 days have in store!
With much love,
Ari and Mei
So glad the Team decided to get some R&R and recharge. I really like the pictures at the waterfall.
Excellent job, Ari and Mei!!!
Love all of these updates! So glad you all voted for a rest day because I was certainly tired just reading about all the adventures. Keep up the great work everyone. Miss you Ari!!
Thank you Mei and Arianna for recapping the day of relaxation. Happy everyone had an opportunity to rest and reenergize for the great work to be done over the remaining days.
Excited for you to be LDD tomorrow Brianna, looking forward to hearing all about the experience.
Hello all… what an excellent leadership choice to plan a day of rest! The waterfalls look beautiful and restorative. Salami fried cheese and mashed plantains is my favorite. Big Love to all!
Sam, it’s very nice to see you’re smiling but blurred face: it reminds me of our FaceTimes. Also, I got your letters a few days ago, and I can only say they had their intended effect and much more. I love you and can’t wait to hear all about the trip.
Looks like a fabulous day! Appreciate all the support given to Sam over the past few days. Thank you all!!!!
Hi Arianna and Mei!
What a beautiful day. Rest and relaxation is necessary to keep going and building. Enjoy the rest of your time there. Love all the pics and stories.
— Ari’s Tita
Hi cuz you and your friends look like you all are having a great time, I mean the waterfall, good food🍞🍳🍇☕, friends, and entertainment, meeting new scenery, (and the most fun part sounds like naming wild pets🐕). Anyways I will keep in tune for your next adventures
Much love Sydney 🥰
What a wonderful way to build community and allow all voices to be heard. The waterfall looks refreshing! And now I can’t get the Phineas and Ferb song out of my head. You’ve all been doing so much in a short period of time. Glad to hear that there is a collective effort to recognize the impact on yourselves and to team up to bring everyone along. (P.S. I miss you Arianna and I am thrilled you are having this experience!) 😉