The First Day

Author: travis Strickland
Location: Piedades And La Carpio
The firs day started off with a bang as I fell flat on my face while trying to navigate my way to the door for the 7:15 wake up call. Everyone gathered together for our first breakfast together and we then met soon after for an orientation and discussion. At first everything seemed slightly awkward due to the fact that I had not memorized anyone's name, but that feeling of strangeness would soon start to dissipate through the day. Meeting people has never been a strong aspect of my personality, but after only one day I already feel more comfortable with my fellow lifeworks members. After a 2'ish hour orientation, which included some fun activities, we had lunch and prepared for our departure into la Carpio.
This was the first time I had ever been immersed into real poverty, and it was a real shock to see how theses people lived. One thing I will never forget is when 3 small children entered the school we were in; completely beaming and happy. This small gesture gave me insight into how strong these people really are, and how they are happy and thankful even though they have next to nothing. We also went to view the site for the playground that we would be constructing over the next few weeks.
Once we returned to the hotel we were given some free time, everyone gathered together to make bracelets. After this time we all gathered together and stood on a small carpet for 25 minutes as we had to figure out how we could flip it over while standing on it. All together this was a good start to a very exciting adventure!!



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