Hey y’all, its Clemma here.
Unfortunately, we did not get to sleep in again, as today was Working Like a Local Day. As Lider del Dia (leaders of the day) we had to wake up at 5:30a, to wake up the other Glimpsers at 6:00a with the beautiful sound of a rubber chicken sneaking into their windows. As leaders of the day, we got to deal with lots of fun things. For example, in the morning, we were greeted with a fun visitor. A centipede crawling around in the bathroom! The critter was shortly annihilated by a brave chancla.
After a hearty breakfast another fun thing we did was visit a tomato farm, which was the whole reason we had to wake up so early in the first place. At the farm we were put to work; we harvested tomatoes, wrapped the tomato vines around ropes, and cleared leaves from the nether regions of the plants. We were able to share some Dominican snacks with the full-time workers and discuss what work on the farm was really like.
After quite literally earning our green thumbs, we got an awesome tour of the packaging process. Next time you’re buying cherry tomatoes, just know that the tomatoes you buy are handpicked from a line of thousands of tomatoes by about fifteen workers before you even see them. Through this experience, we were able to recognize all of the hard work and time poured into the products that we then nitpick in grocery stores. The fact that there are people who spend eight hours a day, for six days a week, just to get produce to our stores puts a whole new perspective how inconsequential the decision between this box or that box really is.
Following our time at the farm, we hopped onto that good old gua-gua back to Guanito, the community that we are working with to execute our community action project (CAP). We had some yummy yummy lunch and went to work on looking like pros, aka changing our shirts. After some pampering, we presented our proposal for our CAP to the community members, which was overall met with enthusiasm.
It’s important to mention here that because we are such a swag-alicious team, we were running very on schedule, to the point that we were about an hour ahead of schedule. Upon returning from Guanito, we were able to have some much needed rest time, in which we collected our laundry and dealt with currency. We then had another explore time [jazz hands]! Some went to the park to play volleyball and basketball, while others hit up a local carnival and bakery.
After returning to Onaney (mostly on time), we sat down for dinner with some ambassadors (which we now know is a no-no) and played some cards, talked about favorite movies, and just generally had a good time. Ensuing was the nightly meeting and of course, the writing of this blog.
Hope you enjoyed! We all miss you lots and can’t wait to see you again.
Im glad you’re having fun!!
And thank you Global Glimpse for sharing the pictures!!
Karina , I miss you and it was very difficult for me to be alone without you. I haven’t had a good week but just know I’m still here ❤️. See you soon and ask Angela for the pictures of my swollen eye :(“
Shannon I miss you!!! I’m happy that you are having. It’s been a week already and I’ve been really busy so it’s something. Then another week without you wow! Well I hope you are having fun and being safe. Hope to see you soon Shan! I miss and love you!
Hey Sahil,
Waking up early and working on project. Lots of busy days you are having. Can’t wait to hear lot more details. Missing you so much. Saw someone and thought it was you.
Lone,
Amma
Hey Shannon!
Great to hear about all of your new experiences and moments of learning. Especially experiencing the tomato picking process and realities of workers in other countries who labor intensively so we can can have things as innocuous as visually appealing produce.
I hope you continue to break out of your comfort zone and forge new connections with people from a wide variety of backgrounds. After all, that’s one of the most valuable aspects of GG.
Have a great rest of the trip and be ready to share stories and pics upon your return!
All the best,
Stegeman
Hey Em –
You Glimpsers are truly ‘swag-a-licious’ LOL! Sounds like another great day of meaningful experiences and learning and fun! These blogs are fantastic. You will never look at a box of tomatoes the same way again.
love ya! Dad
Love the combined: “Clemma”, very clever. Sounds like a packed and very interesting day. You are all doing so much. Love you and miss you!
Mom