Hello family and friends!

Today was a very eventful day with a lot of unexpected twists. To start off, we had an amazing breakfast consisting of homemade tortas, delicious cucumbers, and mango smoothies. Yum! Then it was time to go visit a local strawberry farm, where we got to try many of the crops fresh off the vine they had grown and eat them right there. We tried things such as strawberries, raspberries, and even a new crop that came in called the guava fresa, which is a new Japanese mutation!

Since we had a lot of time on our hands after coming back from the farm, we relaxed for two hours and started a book club! “The Granny Book club” consists of many of us reading different books at the same time and sharing our thoughts. It was super peaceful for most of us, but Holli (our GGL) got sick and had to take a much needed rest. Drink your water, everyone!

Up next? Lunch time! We had sancocho, which is a Dominican stew consisting of yucca, sweet potato, chicken, and pork served with our FAVORITE side dish: RICE! After we devoured our plates, we prepared ourselves to go to the cucumber factory. We were NOT ready about what was about to happen next! Looking our best with the finest hair nets known to man, we got a tour on the process of how cucumbers are cleaned, packaged, and shipped out. Here’s the unexpected part: we were able to help out! We clipped the stems of the cucumbers and forcefully skid them across the cucumber wash basin. Ashley received a personal story from a young lady working there; she is 27 and has been working for this company for 9 years! Hearing from her that many workers work 8 hours a day to earn, in a year, what many people make in a month back home made us all realize the amount of effort it takes to produce the food we consume in the United states. As a matter of fact, we receive the largest amount of imports from the Dominican Republic.

That was the last planned excursion of the day. On our free time, we walked around the corner to the local “bakery.” Why quotations you may ask? Because this “bakery” was actually a really sweet cafe! There was a lot of different food options, from cheesecakes to cheeseballs, and we all had a great time! Right after that, we all returned for our first self-reflection of the trip. It was a very safe and vulnerable moment we all shared, with many emotions expressed. We all shed a few tears and shared a few laughs. For dinner we had mashed potatoes, fried cheese squares, and vegetables.

Afterwards, we led our nightly meeting, which was great. We accepted all the feedback, which we’ll be sure to apply for future leadership opportunities. We also passed on our LDD positions and duties to Jayla and Jessica! It was an amazing day, and we’re grateful for the opportunity to demonstrate leadership opportunity.

With love,
Yoanna and Xitlaly