Dia 5: Manual Labor and Monopoly

Buenos días chicas! We are Akiyah, Madeline, Lauren, and Kaylin, your day 5 leaders del dia! Today was a big day for the chicas and chicos, but we all had different experiences. Let us walk you through it. 

In the morning at 7 am, we went around and woke up the clan. We had to do a second round since some people are not necessarily morning people. Once everyone was up and ready, we had an amazing breakfast, courtesy of our absolute queens Ursula and Aurellia. We had a little bit of free time before leaving for our CAP (Community Action Project), so we hung out for a little while. 

Then we split into two groups: the healthy ones and the sickly ones. The healthy ones drove to the site and got to work. There we split into three groups: digging a trench under a bridge, gardening, and digging under several sign posts to cement and reinforce them. We used pickaxes and shovels (it’s giving minecraft) to break the ground and clear out any rocks. It was hard but we made sure that everyone had water, sunscreen, and bugspray to prevent any more casualties. 

Each leader split into one of each of the groups, and made sure people took breaks and drank water when needed. We made sure everyone had a chance to do each job by rotating through. At 12pm, we left our tools and headed back to the villa for a tasty lunch. We needed to fuel up for an afternoon of hard work. 

At 2pm, we were back at it again! Digging and pickaxing until we finished the garden, painted the foot green, mixed the cement, and secured the posts. Our german GOAT Luka (from the german embassy) helped us with these tasks. 

At 3:30, it started pouring rain, so we picked up our tools and ran to the bus. We IMMEDIATELY showered to get the grime off our bodies. 

As leaders, we really enjoyed getting the chance to bring everyone together and getting to see everyone work really hard and harmoniously. We got a lot done together, and we are so proud of our group. We’ve learned the importance of teamwork, being there for each other, looking out for each other, and communication. 

We received great reviews of our performance today! Notably:

“The bar has been set very high!” – Luis
“Y’all are so beautiful and you worked cohesively!” – Kacie 
“Talk to the German GOAT more, and utilize your Spanish speaking peers more.” – Luis

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Hi all! This is Kaylin speaking on behalf of the “sickly ones” that stayed behind today at our compound. While most of the group was out and about working on the CAP, slugging away at dirt and mixing concrete, we were back at the villa learning how to play Monopoly (the card version)! For the entire morning, myself and three others played numerous rounds of some intense Monopoly, ultimately crowning Jeske as the winner!

Although we unfortunately missed out on the first day of our CAP, the quality time us sickly ones spent together in the villa was very special and allowed for all of us to converse and get to know each other more as we start nearing the end of our trip. While I wish I was able to be more hands-on and help guide the group, it was important for me and the few others to rest up and get healthy before throwing ourselves into some arduous work. 

As of now, it’s currently pouring down rain in Jarabacoa (with signs of lightning and thunderstorms), so we are unsure as to if we’ll be able to continue with our CAP tomorrow. However, we’ve all learned a lot regardless, and hope to get back to work soon! Thanks!

For more photos, visit our Google Drive where our GGL’s post more daily highlights.