Day 11 –June 26
9:36am
This morning I woke up at five. I didn’t plan on it. I planned to wake up at 5:15. I just wanted to spend as much time as I could with my family. Mama even warmed up the chicken from last night and fed it to us for breakfast. It’s so amazing how little these people have but they want to give us as much as they can. I appreciate them and want to express the same compassion when I get home to the U.S. I hope everyone can take a lesson from them. In the U.S people just want materialistic things, but the people of Yale Cuatro are just satisfied with what they have. They offered all they could to us and I was so grateful for it. They didn’t have to but they wanted to. More people need to be like them. I know I want to change. I want to inspire others to change themselves and others. I am half way there. Before this experience I was just aware of people not living as well as others. This experience allowed me to see firsthand how positive people live even though they live on dirt floors, around bugs, eating the same food and waking up early because food has to be prepared in order to survive. That’s why I want to change myself because I never heard one complaint or one argument amongst the family.
They helped us take down our cots, mosquito nets and everything else that represented we were there. I just wanted each moment to last because it was almost over. While walking to the work site the family and I walked slowly. They carried my bag, although I didn’t want them to. They just offered and wouldn’t take no for an answer. We arrived at the work site, the trucks weren’t even there. We waited about an hour and a half before the trucks came. It was nice because I had a little more time with my family. It also made it that much harder to leave. We took a family photo and then waited. It started to become cold and Mama was shivering. I gave her hug and rubbed her arms so she would warm up. Then the trucks finally came. We loaded our bags in and I gave my final hugs to all of my family members. Mama started to cry. Tears rose to my eyes but I refused to let them fall down; I had to be strong for Mama. Katya and I told her we loved her. We got in the truck and my eyes became filled with more tears but I didn’t cry just yet. We kept yelling things to our family, like: we love you, be good, bye. When the trucks started pulling off all the kids and people of the community was waving. I saw Mama and Edwin crying. We waved at them and waved at all the other kids. That’s when the tears began to fall. Knowing that this is probably the only time I’ll see them. It breaks my heart. They have made such a huge impact on my life and I know I made an impact on their lives. In that truck as I was waving all I thought about was, all that has happened to me is now just a memory. It is no longer reality. I remembered exactly what happened the first day I came to Yale Cuatro. It’s all over now and I can only speak about it from my memory. It is in the past and it disappoints me a little. But I look at it as this past experience to better my life and my future. I don’t regret going away on this trip.
Jazzy
9:36am
This morning I woke up at five. I didn’t plan on it. I planned to wake up at 5:15. I just wanted to spend as much time as I could with my family. Mama even warmed up the chicken from last night and fed it to us for breakfast. It’s so amazing how little these people have but they want to give us as much as they can. I appreciate them and want to express the same compassion when I get home to the U.S. I hope everyone can take a lesson from them. In the U.S people just want materialistic things, but the people of Yale Cuatro are just satisfied with what they have. They offered all they could to us and I was so grateful for it. They didn’t have to but they wanted to. More people need to be like them. I know I want to change. I want to inspire others to change themselves and others. I am half way there. Before this experience I was just aware of people not living as well as others. This experience allowed me to see firsthand how positive people live even though they live on dirt floors, around bugs, eating the same food and waking up early because food has to be prepared in order to survive. That’s why I want to change myself because I never heard one complaint or one argument amongst the family.
They helped us take down our cots, mosquito nets and everything else that represented we were there. I just wanted each moment to last because it was almost over. While walking to the work site the family and I walked slowly. They carried my bag, although I didn’t want them to. They just offered and wouldn’t take no for an answer. We arrived at the work site, the trucks weren’t even there. We waited about an hour and a half before the trucks came. It was nice because I had a little more time with my family. It also made it that much harder to leave. We took a family photo and then waited. It started to become cold and Mama was shivering. I gave her hug and rubbed her arms so she would warm up. Then the trucks finally came. We loaded our bags in and I gave my final hugs to all of my family members. Mama started to cry. Tears rose to my eyes but I refused to let them fall down; I had to be strong for Mama. Katya and I told her we loved her. We got in the truck and my eyes became filled with more tears but I didn’t cry just yet. We kept yelling things to our family, like: we love you, be good, bye. When the trucks started pulling off all the kids and people of the community was waving. I saw Mama and Edwin crying. We waved at them and waved at all the other kids. That’s when the tears began to fall. Knowing that this is probably the only time I’ll see them. It breaks my heart. They have made such a huge impact on my life and I know I made an impact on their lives. In that truck as I was waving all I thought about was, all that has happened to me is now just a memory. It is no longer reality. I remembered exactly what happened the first day I came to Yale Cuatro. It’s all over now and I can only speak about it from my memory. It is in the past and it disappoints me a little. But I look at it as this past experience to better my life and my future. I don’t regret going away on this trip.
Jazzy
3:59 pm
We went shopping. You know me of course, cheap. All I wanted was postcards because my family collects them and salt. Okay I am not crazy let me explain the salt. In the village, that salt was just so delicious. It’s impossible to turn it down. It was strong with a powerful taste. It’s not like the salt in America. One grain of La Cocinera, the salt brand, and your entire mouth is covered with flavor. However I had to drink a lot of water every time I had the salt. I also bought earrings. That really wasn’t something I wanted. I just bought it because I had money left over and I didn’t want to take it back to the U.S. The coins I don’t mind but dollars are kind of pointless to bring back. Especially since it would only be around a dollar in the U.S I had a 10 córdoba bill left over so I gave it to Dantay. He wanted to buy a gift for a friend. I’m happy with the items I bought and it was very cheap. The salt was only $4.00 that’s less than a dollar in the U.S. Also I had to go to three different stores just to get the salt. The post cards were also less than a dollar. I’m an awesome shopper.
It’s almost 5:45 pm. At that time we are going to have our final dinner with everyone on the 2014 Trek team. We also will give our secret buddy gifts. When we picked names Monday we had to make something from the environment and I love this idea of a secret buddy. My secret buddy, Tamara, is my roommate again for the hotel. I made her a pot out of clay and put a flower with rocks in it. I also got her a rock, which she really liked when she saw it on the work site. She asked me to put it by her stuff but I kept it and never gave it back. I hope she likes it. Well I have to get ready soon. So I will write later.
Jazzy
We went shopping. You know me of course, cheap. All I wanted was postcards because my family collects them and salt. Okay I am not crazy let me explain the salt. In the village, that salt was just so delicious. It’s impossible to turn it down. It was strong with a powerful taste. It’s not like the salt in America. One grain of La Cocinera, the salt brand, and your entire mouth is covered with flavor. However I had to drink a lot of water every time I had the salt. I also bought earrings. That really wasn’t something I wanted. I just bought it because I had money left over and I didn’t want to take it back to the U.S. The coins I don’t mind but dollars are kind of pointless to bring back. Especially since it would only be around a dollar in the U.S I had a 10 córdoba bill left over so I gave it to Dantay. He wanted to buy a gift for a friend. I’m happy with the items I bought and it was very cheap. The salt was only $4.00 that’s less than a dollar in the U.S. Also I had to go to three different stores just to get the salt. The post cards were also less than a dollar. I’m an awesome shopper.
It’s almost 5:45 pm. At that time we are going to have our final dinner with everyone on the 2014 Trek team. We also will give our secret buddy gifts. When we picked names Monday we had to make something from the environment and I love this idea of a secret buddy. My secret buddy, Tamara, is my roommate again for the hotel. I made her a pot out of clay and put a flower with rocks in it. I also got her a rock, which she really liked when she saw it on the work site. She asked me to put it by her stuff but I kept it and never gave it back. I hope she likes it. Well I have to get ready soon. So I will write later.
Jazzy
8:35 pm
Overall the entire dinner was wonderful. The meal was good. We ate rice with chicken and steak. There was a salad and fried banana. We shared stories about our roommates and our secret buddy gifts. We took lots of pictures. It was just good to have a final dinner with everyone. Everyone is so awesome, sweet, and nice. I couldn’t ask for a better group of people to enjoy it with.
Overall the entire dinner was wonderful. The meal was good. We ate rice with chicken and steak. There was a salad and fried banana. We shared stories about our roommates and our secret buddy gifts. We took lots of pictures. It was just good to have a final dinner with everyone. Everyone is so awesome, sweet, and nice. I couldn’t ask for a better group of people to enjoy it with.