This is Sarb and Jason, your Day 7 GG Leaders. Today, we had an amazing adventure taking on one of the hardest days of this entire trip.

Our morning started off with us having one of our earliest wake up calls at 4 am and continued with a 45 minute bus ride to “La Garnacha” where we had a fruit breakfast. At this location, it was extremely foggy and rainy due to the high elevation, so we were a bit “under the weather”. Greeted by Don Pablo, our community host, we were introduced to a variety of activities which included milking goats and cows and cleaning up their manure. We challenged and overcame our fears and inexperience and filled up each of our pitchers. Adrianna may have even had a mid-morning drink straight from the cow. 😉

From there, we had to hike to the fields, bag grass, and carry the heavy sacks back to the pens to feed the animals. Their manure was used as fertilizer for the coffee plants. It was rainy and muddy, so major props are given to the group who cultivated each individual plant including to Maricela who slipped down the hill and picked herself right up. Finally, we put in some serious labor clearing a field for a future plot. It was hard work, but no one complained. We finished the morning at the farm’s artisanal shops and bought gifts for our people back home (if you’re lucky!).

At our next destination, La Casa de Algeria (a cigar factory) awaited us with a set table of delicious refreshments. Ralph, the owner, talked about the history and process of making cigars in Nicaragua and how he had built his well-established, niche company. Not only did he tell us about the procedural details, but he gave us a tour of the actual factory. A few of us even helped rolling cigars! As we exited, we gave him the signature Global Glimpse mug and took another great group picture.

Later, as we walked four blocks to our fourth night in a row of English tutoring, there were not many students lined up due to the rain, but it still turned into a totally productive, fun educational night. We are growing very close to our amazing students. The walk back to the hostel seemed as if it was never getting closer because we had been up for what seemed like days. There may have been a sing-a-long to get us through the final stretch. Although it was extremely difficult, everyone managed to pull through (barely) for the nightly reflection, and we passed on the torch to Brendan and Bernardo.

We will continue to update you on the daily adventures and hope you stick around for more stories of our time in this beautiful, developing country. Adios!