The following post features student writing.

On our second day in Bonanza, we started early with a breakfast of homeade empanadas. After we finished breakfast, we split into work teams, mixing and laying concrete and painting the school. One of our group members, Cindy, started plans for a mural on the side of the school. Midway through our work day, we were served an amazing lunch of fried chicken by our wonderful chefs Mary Elsy and Yesenia.

After our day of work concluded, a group of us traveled to town to get supplies and milkshakes. The other group took a trip to the river with two locals, Carlos and Donald. After our swim/“shower,” we walked to the corner store for more delicious helados. Before dinner, we sat in the community center and shared stories from home, leading to major group bonding.

A dinner of flautas, rice, beans, and salad was served. After dinnner was cleaned up, we sat down for our nightly meeting, consisting of a game of “Psychiatrist” and a deep question about life’s most impactful moments, posed by our meeting facilitators, Ethan and Celia. Our night concluded with our Putney family tired, heading to our houses for a full night of rest to prepare for our full day of work tomorrow.

– Jessica & Joey