My name is Nicholas O’Brien, and I am a junior. Today was our second work day of week one. My goal for the day was to work as hard as I could to help the kids at the community center. 

The day started off great with a 0615 wake-up and a cup of coffee. After getting ready, we started heading over to Violeta’s for breakfast at 0650. Violeta is an amazing lady who is an outstanding cook. We had waffles with chocolate sauce and fruit on top. It was very tasty. She never fails to amaze me in the “Comida” department. 

We went back up to “Asociación Creando Oportunidades” which is the community center in San Antonio. Every day to get to the work sites, we take the public transportation which is called the chicken bus. The chicken bus ride was not as packed as I expected but still had to stand and hold on tight. As soon as we got there, we were greeted by William, the main contractor of the community center, and Coco – the cutest dog ever. Today, the work began with painting a classroom white because the paint had deteriorated from sun damage. After that, we varnished some bookshelves to improve their appearance and their resistance to mold. The final part of our workday was organizing books on the library’s bookshelves. Overall, it was an awesome experience, and I’m glad our work will enhance the community center’s ability to accomplish its mission.

It was then time for my favorite part of the day, Spanish class at 1330. My “maestra” (teacher) is named Paulina, and she is lovely. Once again, Spanish class was very productive. I learned about the distinction between “gustar” and “querer” (“like” and “want”). For the last hour, we played a group game called “Loteria,” a form of bingo with Spanish words. 

After our 1630 meeting with CAPT Lennon, it was time for some freedom from 1700 to 2100.  First, I got an authentic Guatemalan haircut, which I am glad I experienced. It included a hot towel and a spray mist finish. Following that, a few of my shipmates and I headed over for 2-for-1 tacos at Tacorazon. The best part of that was finding out the owner is actually from Marblehead – such a small world.   

Thank you for reading, and I’m excited to see what the rest of this trip holds!