Intro:
We ate a simple breakfast and immediately went on a 2-hour bus trip to Chimborazo. We stopped at the visitor center to discuss the final CAP (Community Action Project) Debrief which was a group reflection of the many things we accomplished at the school, Yarquíes. We then went up to the first safe house to begin the real hike. After two hard climbs, we were left satisfied and began our journey back to the hotel. Once there, we ate our long-awaited lunch and had free time until we wrote our final letters of appreciation. Dinner was smooth and we ended it off with an impactful discussion of the day in our nightly meeting.
Chris:
It was the morning once again, but oh no! I am the Líder del Día! I looked right in front of me, and there was Edwin standing up, then Lucas next to my right, calling me out that I’m 37 minutes late after the first wake-up call (so one hour and seven minutes late from when I was supposed to wake up). I ran out to knock on everyone’s door that I could think of. Meanwhile, my co-leader Dawn actually did most of the work already, but didn’t have access to my area with the boys, so I ran back up at around 6:57 am to do a second knock to the other boys’ dorm. Breakfast is at seven and then now we’re getting up, Welp! First major screwup of the day.
My roommates, Edwin, Lucas, and Evan (from Evanston) managed to be the first ones down to the cafeteria for breakfast, showered, and teeth brushed. Great job guys! Meanwhile, the other room was already about to slap me in the gut! They were the last ones to the table after my 25-minute grace period. Ultimately, they were chill about it even if they had only eaten two slices of plain bread for breakfast before we left for the highlight of the day, Chimborazo! (Breakfast was more than two slices that day in case you were wondering, we had eggs, fruit, and more.)
Before we left, I almost forgot the bag with the toilet paper, the water jugs, and lastly the scarlet striped poncho that the leader is supposed to wear before loading the bus to Chimborazo; but hey, we can’t just have one other major screwup yet, now can we?
The bus ride to Chimborazo was decent until I decided to close my eyes long enough where the entire landscape became a brown lunar surface. My ears were already comatose with my head fainted slightly by “Father Chimborazo’s” height and grandeur.
The first visit was logically, the visitor center, where I remember seeing a cartoon cut-off of a kid with a child’s foldable face happily under a cowboy hat. We sat down our entire delegation, to reflect on our CAP (Community Action Project), which was an insightful last recap. We discussed what we loved and what we could have done better with the two murals, as well as how we collaborated with each other. I particularly remember Elanor’s answer for their weakness as the leader of the classroom mural, where they did not designate breaks for their team. It made me reflect on my own contribution. How, on the first day of the CAP, I had a lot of free time because my role was to be the calligrapher, which was one of the last steps for the mural. I did not get to do the calligraphy for the mural at all since the next day I was terribly sleep deprived and sick to my stomach, and so I felt a distaste for myself when comparing my breaks to Elanor’s.
Back to Chimborazo;
I was very proud of myself and my fellow Glimpsers because even when faced with some altitude sickness, most of us managed to complete a rather short but difficult hike. I recall having to help one of my peers, aiding them in the steep climb and encouraging them to keep going. It was the least I could do as a leader.
On the bus ride back to the hotel, I had a conversation with my fellow Glimpsers, Carmen. Carmen told me about their revaluation and how this trip gave them perspective on the meaning of life, that “we live to exist.” I had similar thoughts on life and it was very enlightening to me hearing someone else share their own views on life. Later, fellow Glimpsers Fernando suggested that we thank Tayta Chimborazo (Father Chimborazo in Kichwa). I obliged. It was a clear and sunny day, perfect for the excursion and we have learned to respect nature by asking for permission to visit and thanking her for granting us safety.
Although lunch and dinner went smoothly, I felt sick and had to step out during letters of appreciation to donors that have supported Global Glimpse.
The nightly meeting went by and I was given feedback about my slacking from my good friend Cole and how Dawn should’ve put my feet more to the fire. I wasn’t expecting this since I felt I redeemed myself after the scattered morning. Later, Cole clarified that it was just a few blunders that day. I still was disappointed since I was trying to look better and better throughout the day. It hit close to home for me being seen as not giving my equal effort as a leader because I personally have a patchy record of acting too freelance sometimes, whether that is working for the elections or volunteering at school. I’ve tried to improve myself in work competence over time so to see someone was disappointed in me felt just awful.
In the grand scheme of this trip, I learned that being a leader means you have to first try hard until you can strike a balance of work & comfortability. I will apply that to my life from here on out.
Dawn:
Yesterday was hard for me. I took on the responsibilities and did the work of a leader. Although many people told me that I was a good Líder Del Día, I wasn’t able to internalize it. From the start, I was really nervous to lead a group of Glimpsers; since most of them same age as me, it felt odd that I had power over them. During my leadership meeting, I said that I wasn’t meant to be a leader. Despite saying that, I learned how good of a leader I was and that with even more confidence and self-worth, I could be so much better than I was. Something that made me go was when my peers listened to their bodies and decided not to hike. When hiking Chimborazo, climbing up the hills and upwards slopes was difficult and tiring. One of our two guides, Juan, and the Glimpsers really inspired me to take my time while climbing up. Juan told us how to climb without completely tiring ourselves out. The trick was to take a few steps and then breathe in through your nose and out your mouth. Because the altitude was so high, it was hard to get air into your lungs, especially while climbing. Many people, including myself, had headaches due to the elecation we were at. I was gladly surprised to see that others were listening to their own body and not pushing themselves too much and stopping down at the safe house to take care of themselves, instead of hiking Chimborazo. I was personally so proud that so many people, including myself, were so courageous, brave, and strong enough to climb the volcano.
I learned yesterday both how stressful and challenging but also beautiful and fun being a leader is. I was able to get a new perspective on how I take the leadership role, how the program looks like from a leading point of view, and how I need to acknowledge my achievements and successes. Yesterday was emotional and overwhelming because of my difficulty accepting the positives and solely focusing on the negatives. Yesterday, I learned that I need to work on accepting my positive actions and my confidence in positions of power. I plan to bring back a reflective mindset in order to be a better leader when I need it. I know that I will eventually need to be a good leader, so working on it now will only help me for future positions like this one.
Comments (1)
Delia Cosentino
This seems like pretty much the best way possible to bring your adventure to an end. What an experience, thank you so much to all the leaders of the group, including the teachers and all the local guides, with particular respect for these two glimpse “lideres del dia” for winding it all up with such a detailed and thoughtful blog post. Can’t wait to see and hug you, Dawn!!!