Arrival and First Full Day!

Hello from Constanza! After several flight delays, a busy airport, and luggage conveyor belts breaking, our group touched down in Santiago and finally met with our program coordinators (PCs) Ruth and Jean Carlos at 5:30 am (local DR time)! Even though we suffered delays and were traveling an entire day, we made it safely with all of our fabulous students (and ALMOST all of our luggage…?). We then made it to Hotel Aloha, and by the time we got to our rooms, it was around 6:30 am. We weren’t expecting to catch a sunrise on our first day, but the skies lightened as we made our way to sleep. We napped a good 3 hours before having breakfast (potatoes, salame, eggs, toast, and juice) and hopped onto our bus for the 3.5hr ride to Constanza. Big love to our amazing bus driver, who navigated the winding – and incredibly scenic – route with ease and got us safely to our home away from home for the next two weeks, Hotel Dilenia.

We ate a delicious lunch of rice, beans, fritos (fried smashed plantains), and chicken. We then had our first program seminar where we reviewed the expectations about the trip and created our group agreements. Then, the Glimpsers got a chance to call home (hi families!) and exchange money. We finally had some free time for some much-needed rest, but many of the Glimpsers chose to continue hanging out by playing card games, chatting, and exploring the hotel. After a fantastic dinner, we had our first nightly meeting, where we passed the torch to me (Sam) and I shared my dance moves with the group to earn the next Leader of the Day. I went over the itinerary for tomorrow – and we are SO excited (and busy).

Big love to Ruth and JC for being such welcoming and enthusiastic PCs. I am incredibly grateful to our students for showing resilience in a long, tiring travel day while still maintaining a smile, big energy, and getting out of their comfort zones. I’m happy to report that we are all finally showered, fed, and ready for bed. Onward to Day 3!