Day 12 – Fun Day !! (No. 2)

Hi everyone!!! I’m Sachi, a rising senior at Dougherty Valley High School in San Ramon, California. Today I was leader of the day, along with my roommate, Monica. I was nervous at first to be the LDD because I was unsure of what to expect on our fun day. Although I had some preconceived notions, I ended up learning a lot more about myself than I thought I would.

Hi Guys!! I’m Monica, a rising senior at Pittsburg Senior High School, in Pittsburg, California. Finally being leader of the day was exciting as much as it was nerve wracking. I enjoyed leading a team of great people. I expected there to be lots of responsibility and work, which there was, but it was a little bit more chill than I thought.

Today was our fun day, meaning we got to relax and swim at the beach! We got to sleep in till 8, after three hard days of CAP. Ilka, the hotel chef, made us a breakfast of eggs, bread, fruit, juice, sausage, and pancakes. As always, the food was bomb.com and we licked our plates clean. After breakfast, we had our daily health check-in and soon got on the bus to the beach. We ended up being a little late due to last minute beach packing, but we eventually made it.

Once we arrived at the beach, Rincon del Faro, we went over the protocols with the two lifeguards on hand, Jose and Luis. We also took some pictures and applied a healthy heaping of sunscreen. Rincon del Faro is a hotel with a private beach, and it also had a shallow pool that we could swim in. Some of us hit up the pool first, and even learned how to swim with one of the lifeguards. Others went straight to the ocean which had warm water, chill waves, and many seashells, unlike the beaches in California. In the ocean, we played a long game of tag and attempted to body surf on the waves, while discovering just how salty the water was. When it was time for lunch, we rinsed off in the outside showers and got in the pool while we waited for our food. For lunch, the hotel provided us with either vegetarian pasta, grilled chicken, chicken strips, fish sticks, and grilled fish. Most of us found a bench around the pool to eat and socialize, and some ate on the bar seating in the pool. Although it started raining while we were eating, we were lucky enough that the rain stopped as we were about to go back in the water.

After lunch we decided to go to the pool and play some volleyball in the water. We also had a small handstand contest and played hot potato with the ball. Those who didn’t get in the pool went back to the beach to play soccer with the lifeguard. After about an hour, we all ended up back in the ocean, or looking for shells in the sand. Monica and Amy picked up shells, and Monica let everyone take a couple of the cool shells she found. The ocean was deeper than in the morning, and the tides were higher so we could not go as far out. After chilling in the ocean for an hour we packed up our stuff and headed out.

Once we got back to the hotel we had free time to start packing our stuff for Panama City. Many of us also wanted to explore the city for one last time, and decided to hit up La Paulina. At 6 we had our last dinner prepared by Ilka, which consisted of hot dogs, tacos, and corn on the cob. Finally at our nightly meeting, we passed the torch to the last student leader of the day, Simonetta!

This day of relaxation and excitement was really rewarding, especially after all our hard work at Nutre Hogar. As leaders of the day, we learned the importance of responsibility, safety, timeliness, and communication. This experience of being LDD will guide us in the future to lead with conviction and strong voices. I hope you all enjoyed reading this blog! – Love from Sachi and Monica <3

P.S. From Sachi: To all my friends and family, I love you and miss you lots, and I can’t wait to see you in two days!

P.S. From Monica: To my whole famm love you guys!! I will see yall soon, cant wait for yall to read the blog! I am doing well and enjoying my stayy. Bye guysss love yall!