Ariel’s Perspective
Today our day started at the glorious hour of 7:00am. We were all bright eyed and bushy tailed as we woke up, got ready and walked the 4 blocks we walk every breakfast, lunch and dinner to “Quiero Mas” to have breakfast. Our breakfast consisted of quesadillas, fruit and beans. After breakfast we had an hour bus ride to the volcano location. During the ride we saw many amazing sights such as baby pigs, a stampede of cows and a pony enjoying the sun with its mom. Once we got to the volcano location we gathered our sand boards and goggles and started to hike up and active volcano. The hike was about an hour and nothing but uphill. We walked over lava rocks and layers of sand. The wind was strong and the air smelled clean and fresh. I remember at one of our stopping points I looked to my left and saw nothing but bright green mountains, it was absolutely breathtaking. The mountains reminded me of Hawaii, that’s how green they were. Since the volcano comprised of only uphill hiking we had a few students who were afraid of how high we were. Being leader it was hard to find a way to comfort those students and push them to move beyond their comfort zone. Another challenge I faced as leader was making sure everyone drank enough water and didn’t get dehydrated in the hot 90+ degree weather of Leon, Nicaragua. I think the absolute highlight of the day was getting the opportunity to sandboard down an active volcano, I never ever dreamt that I would get that opportunity. I mean come on, how many people from California get to say they sandboarded down an active volcano in the beautiful city of Leon. Today I learned that a true leader is determined by how extroverted or outspoken you are but rather on how capable one is at leading their peers and those around them in changing the world in a positive way. After being leader of the day and my whole experience during Global Glimpse I want to really challenge myself to remember everything I learned during this life changing trip and apply it back home, even the little things such as turning off ALL my lights at night and consuming ALL the food on my plate during every meal. Today was an amazing day and I learned a tone. This trip was an amazing trip and I am ever so grateful for this opportunity I have had I feel very happy that I was able to embrace more people than I ever could have without the help of Global Glimpse.
Thank you for taking time to read my short synopsis of my journey here in Nicaragua. It’s been real but I can’t wait to come home!
–Ariel Fry Demetria
Carley’s Perspective
Hola! Today was our second and final fun day- VOLCANO DAY!!! Mine and Ariel’s day 🙂
We started our journey to Cerro Negro packed in a bus traveling on a tiny uneven dirt road that was barley big enough for my little car back home let alone our huge bus. At one point on the roller coaster of a ride to the volcano we met a heard of cattle traveling in the oppisite direction so we stopped the bus and watched as they tried to squeze past us.
Once we arrived at the base of the volcano and got our goggles and sand boards we comenced our journey up the hill. The rocks and gusts of wind made for a difficult hike up, but the view was breath taking. The black of the volcano contrasted the surrounding green mountains and everything seemed to pop.
The whole group was able to make it up the mountain with only a few scratches despite the fatigue of the hike and some fears of heights. Finally it was time to board down the volcano! We all waited for Juju’s signal and then it was time. At first we had to use our feet to scoot down the hill and then it seemed to take off out of no where. The ride down was exsilerating. All of us were covered in black dust once we were done and had little rocks in places little rocks shouldn’t be. Farima went last and ened up tumbling off her board , but she kept a smile the whole time like the rest of the group.
We all hiked up an active volcano without complaining and some even concured their fear of heights and it was awesome to see everyone enjoy this once in a life time experience.
After a bumpy ride back to the lovely hostel we had a bit of free time which some used to either phone home or begin packing their luggage.
Once it was time to head out to Quero Mas for dinner it began pouring rain. The sky lite up with lightning and thunder- it was beautiful. Everyone got exsited to use their rain gear and play in the rain on the way to Quero Mas. However the GG leaders didn’t feel it was safe for such a huge group to be traveling in the fast paced streets in that kind of weather. So Juju, Ariel, and I made the trek to Querro Mas to get the dinner. The water went past our ankles as we walked through the rain in shorts and flats. It was really fun.
After the lovely dinner back at the hostel and our usual nightly meeting we all stayed up late writing letters to donners and working on our packing. It’s almost time to go home and we all cant wait to see our famillies.
Adios- Carley G. Olund 🙂