Reppin' the Cement Squad.

Reppin’ the Cement Squad.

Group collaboration on the mural.

Group collaboration on the mural.

The creation of the Hope Project logo.

The creation of the Hope Project logo.

Edgar and Michelle present their work.

Edgar and Michelle present their work.

Music maestro DJ Will leaves his mark.

Music maestro DJ Will leaves his mark.

Edgar and his table.

Edgar and his table.

Jocelyn and her tree.

Jocelyn and her tree.

The creation of the sun.

The creation of the sun.

Jocelyn quoting Nicaraguan poet Rubén Darío.

Jocelyn quoting Nicaraguan poet Rubén Darío.

Cement Squad puttin' in work.

Cement Squad puttin’ in work.

Rebecca and her sun.

Rebecca and her sun.

 

Cole: I’ll  keep this concise, as at the time of writing, a celebratory dance party is occurring and I’m stuck inside writing. CAP Day 3. The final chapter of the Global Glimpse anthology, a work rich in culture and camaraderie. The day started at the unholy hour of 5:30 for Harmon and I. As if that wasn’t hard enough, we were then tasked to solve the Global Glimpse equivalent of the Enigma Code: waking up Minmyat. When pretending there was a fire and tickling his feet weren’t sufficient, more drastic measures were required. Harmon took it upon himself to pull him out the bed and held him upright while Minmyat went limp. It looked like a scene from Weekend at Bernie’s which ended on the cutting room floor. With that task accomplished, we split in two. One group headed to Sor Maria to get a jump start on the CAP, while a smaller group departed with Denis to buy some school supplies with our surplus funds. Regrouping later around 10:30 with a new whiteboard and a few new books in tow, we got to work on the CAP at full strength. While the Tile Group had come and gone in CAP Day 2, a new group was formed from their ashes: The Cement Squad. Tasked with finishing an incomplete cement walkway, they got to work mixing and smoothing. I’ll let Harmon, a member of the squad, finish the thought.

Harmon: The Cement Squad, at first glance, seemed like a rag tag group of amateurs who have not done a lick of manual labor in their lives. This impression would quickly fade as the squad ( Made up by Kenneth, Brandon, Joshua, Minmyat, and sometimes Osiel and Tony) attacked their first task like a pack of famished vultures. No one was slacking as we had to move dirt and rocks to a secluded area so it could be mixed with cement. Kenneth and Minyamat dug out rocks and dirt into buckets which the rest of us carried and poured out. As we finished our first task we sat eagerly awaiting further orders, which were to mix the dirt and rock with cement. There were only 3 shovels in the group, but that did not stop anyone in the Cement Squad from participating, as we used dust pans and even our hands to mix the substance when we did not have shovels. Eventually we found a better system of rotating out when people get tired. and we powered through the rest of the mixing. After thorough mixing, the next step was to add water and continue mixing. After all the mixing, we finally got to pour the mixture onto the walkway, which looked like a makeshift post-apocalyptic bunker. Unfortunately we were stopped by the lunch break at 11:45.

Cole: After a delicious lunch prepared generously by the staff of Hotel El Castillo, we returned to work. With the cement well taken care off by Harmon & Co., it was up to me to corral the artists. I don’t think there has been that many big personalities in one room at a time. For the uninitiated, artist have a grand vision in their head from which they work. When you try to assist them, you better share that vision or at least be aware of it, lest you end up like me. Tasked with painting a mountain a bit more brown to make it au naturel. But when I began to apply the brown paint, I was lambasted from left and right for it being “too brown.” I concluded that the safest bet for me was to stay out of their way. Wrapping up all the work around 3:30, we were greeted by some representatives of the Hope Project, an organization with whom we were partnering and the operators of the Sor Maria site. Upon seeing the work we had done, which was 5 murals, 3 rows of tiling, and the completed cement walkway, they were left in awe. The one person who was American in the group spoke in his Southern drawl, “This is incredible.” We took some photos with them, made our goodbyes with the school and the art we were never to see again, and departed from Sor Maria for the final time.

Harmon: After a few moments of reflection on the bus, the fatigue settled in and most of us, including me, fell asleep. The nap was interrupted by a sweet awakening, as we were taken to an ice cream shop as a treat for our hard work. We all enjoyed our ice cream, even Tony who dropped his scoop on the floor but picked it up and ate it anyways. After we enjoyed our ice cream, we took a field trip back to Hotel de Castillo where we had one hour of free time. People showered after the long day and got ready for dinner at 6:00. Because we were really ahead of schedule for the day, we decided to push the nightly meeting up, where we shared thorns and roses, pluses and wishes, big love, and we passed the torch to the Lider Del Dia for tomorrow which is Michelle. After the nightly meeting, we met up with our small groups for the final self reflection of the trip. My group got pretty emotional and we took pictures to immortalize our reflection groups.

Cole: With CAP day 3 under warps, a sudden realization dawned upon the entire group. We only had 2 days left. This trip which had been the fire which forged the relationships we shall cherish for years, if not decades, was on the home stretch. Those who know me know I’m not a emotional person, but upon reflection of that fact, I felt a bittersweet chord strike somewhere inside me, somewhere reserved for those I love. And I cannot express in enough words how grateful I am for each and every Glimpser who took this journey with me. We had a heck of ride, and I hope to see all you in M2A again. And in case I don’t see you, good afternoon, good evening, and good night. I love you guys.