Today we were able to experience another amazing Free Day! We got to wake up a little later today around 7:45. We went to our wonderful food provider Onaney once again for a delicious breakfast of pancakes with honey. We then came back to the hotel for laundry and calls back home, which I was unfortunately not able to make because of a connection error. But as a result of us making the calls comfortably in our hotel this time with many less dropped calls, a lot of the Glimpsers were able to have much more in depth conversations with their families which was great to see as leader of the day.

 

However, that time was also supposed to be used to send three members of our group, Lucky, DJ, and Whitney to go shopping for supplies for our CAP project. Due to the difficulties of planning our budget we were unable to get that done in the morning. Because of this, these three had to sacrifice their time at the pool party to shop for the materials. Nonetheless, they were still able to enjoy their time together.

 

The rest of us had an amazing time as well, thanks to the Mayor of San Juan de la Maguana and her wonderful daughter Ana-Silvia, everyone enjoyed playing some intense matches of volleyball in her violin shaped pool! And they exemplified the natural hospitality that seems to present in Dominican culture. They fed us some delicious snacks and drinks, despite the Mayors very busy schedule. We were also lucky enough to meet her husband who was also very nice.

 

After our great day at the pool, we came back to the hotel to lesson plan, and then we were off to our last English class of the trip. It turned out to be much more emotional than expected, as it was clear we had made a real connection with our students despite the language barrier some of us struggled with. Overall teaching was an amazing experience that I will never forget. Although it wasn’t easy, it helped us continue to develop our leadership skills, and it was clear that we were really able to help each student on their way to mastery of English. The English classes were the conclusion of yet another extremely fun, yet productive day in the D.R.

 

 

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