Day 6: Cap execution day 1

Hey guys!! Today’s blog is brought to you by Cynthia, Devon, and Nancy!!!!! Today we officially started our CAP project bright and early at 6:30 AM. It was a lot of hard work, but we were determined and pushed through. As the LDDs, we got up super early at 6 to wake everyone up on time. For breakfast, we embraced our adopted Panamanian culture and ate delicious chicken and cheese empanadas, scrambled eggs, and side of fresh fruit including mangos, pineapple, and papaya. After we consumed our energy, we were ready to start our long day of hard work.

We left the hotel later than expected, and we arrived at the Santa Ana Elementary school at 9:30 to begin our three main tasks. The boys, with the exception of a few girls, got started on mixing the cement for the concrete floor that we installed. It took so much time, energy, and sweat that no one wanted to do anything else after.

Our second task involved a smaller group of girls to varnish tables and benches. This task was pretty simple. We were under the shade, jammin’ out to our Spanish music thanks to Jose, and we finished up all our layers before lunch! Our third, and final task was equally as grueling as mixing the concrete. A much smaller group of about 5 people were working on sanding and filing any patches on the garden bed curbs. Even after just minutes, everyone was sweating so much that our clothes were no longer wearable. For this task, we made a lot of progress, but we didn’t finish, so we’ll have to continue it tomorrow. We even needed more supplies.

Around 10 AM it was time for a snack break. We had a few options for snacks, both salty and sweet. Our salty options were potato and plantain chips, and our sweet options were Oreos! Cynthia also made sure everyone was hydrated by filling water bottles and adding electrolytes.

After three and a half hours of hard work, our well-deserved lunch had finally arrived. We ate delicious beef and rice with a side of salad. During this lunch break, the students from Santa Ana had their dismissal and the guys and Camellia played soccer with the kids! Camellia also gave them stickers, temporary tattoos, and the toys that she brought for them.

After this much-needed lunch break, we all headed back to our stations. Our varnishing and sanding down the curbs were pretty much done, but our concrete mixers needed a lot of work! We decided to all join the concrete team, allowing them to give themselves a break. First, we had to bring in the sand, gravel, and concrete in our wheelbarrows. After gathering these materials, we put the water in the center and started mixing with our shovels! The mixture was VERY heavy and took a lot of practice before we could get into it. After repeating this process three times, we finally finished up at around 4:30 PM. SHOUT-OUT to Nico, Sammy, Myles, and Xavi for working really hard and rolling in so many wheelbarrows.

We all got back on the bus and headed back to the hotel. Going in the bus felt AMAZING. It was so fresh and cooled us off after being out in the hot Panama weather for a good 6 hours. It is currently winter in Panama, but it is still hot and humid. As we arrived at the hotel, we had our free time before dinner. Some headed to the local coffee shop, others to the bakery, and many took this time to freshen up and shower.

Dinner was served at 6:00 PM. Today we had chicken soup with rice and pineapple juice. We finally faced our fears and ordered something from the hotel’s actual restaurant. Myles was the first to order, and others soon followed. The fan favorite is the papas Piggy (piggy fries). This delicious dish includes French fries, bacon, cheese, and pico de gallo. To end off our night and time as leaders of the day, we had our nightly meeting and handed off our role to the next leaders. As we are writing this blog, we are enjoying our last moments as leaders. From first-day roommates to being leaders of the day together. We have enjoyed every day together and were glad to be able to work together.

Cynthia: HIII!! I am having sooo much fun but I do miss all of you (mom, dad, Sara, Jacqui, and Jazmin). I have met so many fun people, and we all have had a great time together. I have made so many fun new memories in these last couple of days and I’ve been taking so many pictures and can’t wait to show you guys my trip. I actually had to buy a memory card because my camera’s storage got full. There are only a couple days left and I am sad that this trip is going by so fast but I am excited to see all of you again. Sending lots of love and can’t wait to see and talk to you guys about everything!! Los quiero mucho!!

Devon: Hi, family and everyone else! I’m falling asleep as I’m writing this. I had such a fun day as a leader, and I’ve been able to find what I want to improve on. I think that I can improve on my communication of my instructions more clearly to my team next time, but otherwise I think I did pretty well. I miss everyone, especially Wispy. My only request right now is to please bring her to the airport so I can see her when I get in the car. I’m ready for bed, so I’m signing out.

Nancy: Heyyy family and friends! I’m having so much fun on my trip, but I definitely miss telling you guys all about my days! I’m journaling every day, so I WILL be telling you allll about it. OH, and don’t forget about the photos. I brought my adapter so best believe I will be getting all my photos to my phone as soon as I get it back! I’ve learned so much so far, and I’ve made so many new friends that I can’t wait to tell you all about! Not only have I learned about the culture and life here, but I’ve also learned about myself as a leader. Being a leader requires drive, patience, and initiative. There’s not one day that I go without thinking each and every one of you guys and I love you all so much! See you soon!

P.S. Jaymie, if you’re seeing this, Camellia misses you and is asking you to please comment on our blogs.

P.S. Liloooo, thank you so much for helping me while I’m away. I really appreciate it, and I pinky promise I won’t forget your magnet. Please keep reminding me though 🙂