Buenos Noches from San Juan! Here is a recap of our amazing day as “El Lider Del Dia” (Leader of the Day) and the day was themed “Education Day.” This morning our group had a couple of early bird athletes and they ran about 4 miles. Next up we were at Onaney’s restaurant and it was breakfast. The food there never disappoints! We had a large club sandwich that was a huge portion. At 9:00 am we headed towards one of the many extensions of the oldest university in the Dominican Republic; the UASD. There we had a tour of the university. We saw the different classrooms and we also saw the oldest mummy in the Americas. Then Directora Elvira Corporan who was the director of the UASD spoke to our fellow Global Glimspers. After the very informative presentation by Directora Elvira Corporan, our amazing Global Glimpse Leaders, Matthew and Rosie lead us in a gallery with full of eye opening facts. Did you know the goal of the Dominican Republic Gov. in 1997 was spending 4% of their budget on education? It wasn’t until recently the goal was reached. After the gallery walk, Christino Comas who was in education reforms in Latin America gave us an insight on why there were so many education disparities.

We were treated with another meal created by the Onaney staff, brought in takeout containers and consumed in the University Cafeteria. We took a short break to play a group game of “detective,” which was quickly joined by some of the Dominican Ambassadors who attended the university. After the entertaining group activities, everyone sat in one of the classrooms to listen to a presentation about an education program known as Quisqueya Aprende Contigo which helps to improve the literacy in the Dominican Republic. Afterwards, Global Glimpse participants were grouped with Student Ambassadors from San Juan, and they participated in group discussions comparing different interests, hobbies, cultures, etc. We were given the opportunity to have fun with the ambassadors which included a pickup game of basketball and a large game of “Slurp” (which you can learn about from any of the Global Glimpse members). The trip to the University ended with an exciting group dance lesson where we were given the opportunity to learn different types of Dominican dances such as bachata and merengue. It was exciting to see everyone on the dance floor trying it out! The group returned to the hotel and enjoyed free time and seminar in preparation of “$1 a day” which will be on Tuesday. We followed the usual nightly routine ending with the leadership “torch” being passed on the Carlos and Reanna.

Adios from Nick S. and Jason C. 🙂