Hola from Jarabacoa!
Today was our first time venturing outside of our accommodation, and our focus was on the culture and getting to know Jarabacoa and the surrounding area. After breakfast, we kicked off our day with a tour of the town, led by one of our wonderful PCs, Jean Carlos. We got to visit the only fire station in town, hear about the daily routines and responsibilities of the firefighters (or “bomberos”), and even slide down the pole in the station! We visited Parque Juan Pablo Duarte, which is the park at the city center, and then cooled off with some delicious ice cream.
Then, we headed up to Los Bohios Campos Añil, which is a tourist destination that aims to preserve the traditions of Dominican cultural identity, including maintaining the ways that the Taino (an indigenous people group) lived. Alba Iris, the founder and owner of Los Bohios, demonstrated how coffee and chocolate is made in the countryside and how casabe (or bread made from yucca) was made by the Taino people. We ate a delicious lunch there and enjoyed the views, the breeze, and the beautiful plants.
Finally, we came back to our accommodation and had a dance lesson to learn the styles of merengue, bachata, and salsa–both merengue and bachata originate in the Dominican Republic. Students got a good workout in!
We finished the night with dinner and our nightly meeting, which included the “passing of the torch” to our first student Leaders of the Day/Lider del Dia (LDDs). We have a packed day tomorrow, and we look forward to supporting our first pair of LDDs, Soraya and Gio, as they step up to lead tomorrow in partnership with the Adult Leadership Team!
So exciting!
What a great agenda—so much to see and learn! Love all the photos, feels like we are right there with you!
How wonderful
Wow! This tour of the town looks amazing. Im sure you guys are learning a lot about the city(town). Have a wonderful, exciting adventure. So happy to see you Bernijah,.. Mommy sure misses you. Lots of love, hugs and kisses😘❤️
Beautiful to see our younger generation learning and giving back at the same time. Awesome organization. Be safe. Be well. Continue to be good to the planet and She will be good to us. Proud of you Micah and all your friends.
Thanks for the great write up Chloe & Pam! On dang, ice cream, dance lessons, and a chance to slide down a firefighter pole? That’s a heckuva day right there! Super cool to see the photos to see what you all experienced and also great to hear that you are really diving into multiple facets of the culture. We’re looking forward to reading LDD blogs in the coming days!
You guys look to be having a great time. And the weather seems to be excellent I see.
Enjoy !!!