Day 7: Wednesday, March 26, 2025
By Kieran and Jill
We started off the morning with breakfast at 8 a.m. After enjoying a lovely breakfast, we did some daily morning warm-up activities made by our instructor Johan. Our first one was kind of a mind game where we talked about how one side of the brain controls the opposite side of your body. We had a thumbs up in our right hand and our pointer finger out in our left. Our goal was to switch it without confusing them and make a smooth transition. The second activity was different than the usual. Our instructors handed out 17 cards each to three groups. The cards each had one of the 17 UN Global Goals. Our job was to make a list of what we thought was the most important. When everyone finished, we looked over the other groups while two leaders from each group shared why they had it in that specific way.
The previous night, we were informed that we would be split into two groups that day based on our familias. One group headed to Lake Epuyen and the other to the Labyrinth. Some of our friends hadn’t been feeling well that morning so our group (Kieran & Jill) welcomed Ali to substitute for one of our missing friends.
Once arriving to Lake Epuyen, we got introduced to our guides, Fernando and Pedro, who then took us out on the lake. We started off paddling along the coast due to the fact that the wind started to pick up. Even though the kayaking might have been physically challenging, the views made up for it. The lake water was crystal clear, you could practically see the bottom the whole time. After turning around and taking a five minute silent break to enjoy the serenity of the mountains, we made a decision to travel across the lake because the wind had slowed down. As we learned before, the weather in Argentina can change in an instant. High winds started to pick up and push us farther from our end point, but our group stayed strong and calm through it all, successfully making it across and back to shore. As we waited for the bus to arrive, we enjoyed cookies and bananas, which I know I was definitely grateful for since my hand was cramping all over.
After a short bus ride, we reached the biggest labyrinth in South America. We went to go eat lunch at this cute cafe overlooking the labyrinth and mountains. We all got sandwiches, many of which had ham, tomatoes, avocado, lettuce, and pickles, all in between some delicious bread.
After enjoying our meal, we got ready to take on the labyrinth. Our group was made up of 9 people so it was decided to split us up into three groups of three. The first group out was told they would win pins. Instructor Jeremy shared his idea of playing rock, paper, scissors to decide which group went in first. Jaya, Ella, and Kiki won so they went first followed shortly after by Kieran, Jack, and Ali. Jill, Charlotte, Sophia, and Ms. de la Torre went in after them. Jack’s group made it out of the first half of the labyrinth first, then Jaya’s, then Jill’s.
The second half was much harder since, in front of us, there were about 12 different pathways to choose from. Jack’s group went through the fourth gate (dead-end), the third gate ended up being a loop to the second gate, and the first gate was another dead-end.
Randomly taking a guess, I (Kieran) decided to take gate number seven, which in turn made us run into Jaya’s group. Meanwhile none of us have any idea where Jill’s group is. Over the span of this trip, we have become closer together and learned how to be more of a team. With this knowledge, we had the bright idea to become one larger team (Jack’s and Jaya’s). Together we worked to beat the labyrinth and ended up with a time of six minutes, which we later found out we had set the record for the fastest time at this labyrinth!
Jill’s group had come out 30 minutes later with Jeremy, who they found along the way. Even though the team that combined was supposed to get the pins for completing the labyrinth first, we as a collective decided to give our pins to Jill’s team as a token of appreciation for their perseverance.
Around 6-7 p.m., we headed back to the hostel to relax after a long day. After relaxing for a bit, we wanted to go shopping, so Ms. de la Torre, took a group of us to the local grocery shop where we bought some snacks and drinks for our later travels. We then went back to the hostel to meet back up with the other group. It was nice seeing them after not being with them all day. You never realize you miss something until it’s gone.
All together we went and visited the local shops to buy clothes, food, and some souvenirs. It was a really fun and enjoyable time to walk around with your friends and talk and shop. We came back to the hostel for dinner around 9 p.m. to enjoy some amazing food that was prepared for us. We are all so very grateful for the hospitality shown to us by the people volunteering there. We finished up the night with our nightly “anchor” session led by our leaders of the day (Jill, Jason, and Sarah). We spent the rest of the night hanging out and packing for the next day. At 11:30 p.m. everyone checked in for the night. It was a really awesome day and I am so glad we got to make these memories.