The following post features student writing.

The first morning in Cabanas, we met as a group at 6:50 AM and collectively walked to breakfast. For every meal a local woman named Elda cooks for us. After breakfast we started working on the church (our community service project). We started working at 8 AM. First, we rubbed stones on the wall to smooth the cement. Then\ we filled in the cracks, moving from low to high, using benches to reach the top. As we continued, we moved to using repello (thin cement) to cover up the walls, a long and tedious process with a learning curve — but we got better as we continued. At noon we broke for lunch. After we ate we started to work again at 1 PM. In the afternoon we continued applying repello to the church walls. We worked until about 4 PM. Following work we had free time (for chores and rest) until 6 PM, at which point we met up and walked to Elda’s for dinner. When we arrived back at the “cheese factory” (our living space), we played games as a group until 9:30. We then went to sleep and rested for the work day ahead!

Hasta luego,

Gracie & Jake