My name is John Melius, and my name is Helen On, and this is our story. Coming to you fairly late from the City of Mists in Northern Nicaragua, We bring news of the day they call “Work like a Local Day”.

(J) -The day started promptly at 4:20 a.m. with a wake up call from my fellow Lider del dia, Helen On. We headed out on our luxurious school bus to a road crossing where a truck waited to take us to La Bastilla, one of Nicaragua’s most prestigious agricultural schools. The bumpy uphill truck ride was straight from the movies, and is ingrained in our minds for forever. Upon our introductions, the group split into two groups, one which stayed up the “hill” to tend to the pigs and garden, and the other walking down to the dairy and chicken areas. My group, led by ecolodge manager Belkis, had the pleasure of being the first to milk the cows. As my group repeated,”it’s a texture I’ll never forget”. When we felt that we had collected enough milk, we headed to the sterilized facility where the school produced milk, cream, and cheese to support the college. We were lucky enough to finish off the making of a 20 pound block of morolique cheese, and even got to try some( thank you Jairo, our friendly technician). Later in the day, we cleaned off eggs to be sent to market, and headed up the hill (yay kilometers) for one of the most fresh meals I’ve ever had. Worn down from such an exhausting day, our group returned home to free time, which was for many, nap time.

(H) – As for the two groups who had the opportunity to work uphill, we had a fabulous time working within their lovely gardens and pig pens. For my group, we were the first ones to pick the weeds within the lettuce garden and were lucky enough to find a variety of unique insects that are not found within the United States. After that, we jabbed a few stakes into the group for their tomato garden and our tour guide was kind enough to let us eat their tomatoes from their garden. Then, she brought us to another garden that was filled with carrots, beets, and mint. It was definitely unforgettable to be able to eat some fresh vegetables straight from their well-cared for soil. After tending to the garden, we had the challenge of cleaning the pig pens of La Bastilla. The smell was nearly unbearable, but we pulled through and washed the pigs along with their pens with nothing but a shovel, broom, and a hose.

(H) – All of the Global Glimpsers had a fantastic time since most of us never even stood near a barn animal before. Even though it was fun, it was difficult. What stuck with me the most would be the fact that the students of La Bastilla had to do this work every single day. The people there were truly inspirational. Despite the fact that they had to do all this work, and even more that we were not able to do, amazes me. Even though we only worked for less than a day, I am proud of myself as well as my fellow peers for taking the challenge of working like a local.

Being El Lider del dia is one of the best things you can experience during Global Glimpse. Both of us collaborated the night before as well as in the morning when we were passing out breakfast to the other Glimpsers within the bus. For such an exhausting day, we discovered that collaboration and communication is the key to success when working with another fellow leader.