Hey everyone –

This is Grover (GG leader from IHS in SJ). Today was my turn to model student leader of the day before we turn it over to one of our fantastic students! Today was extremely busy – we focused on history and culture and since I teach history and geography – I was in heaven.

We started our day with an academic seminar on culture and DR history…..the students were very engaged and had great comments and questions. Our agenda for the day included art and dance as well as a local walking tour.

Our first visit was was the local cathedral….it was closed but our friend Simon that works at the cathedral let us in and took us on a private tour! He explained what the murals meant and showed us the meditation garden. The stained glass and paintings were beautiful, but I think everyone’s favorite part was going on the roof and up the spiral stairs to the top of the cathedral! What a view…….a few students already worked through a fear of heights as we encouraged everyone to participate in this once in a life opportunity!

Later in the day we went to visit a local art teacher that showed us how to draw and work with charcoal. His methods were very interesting as he had us draw some still life with our feet!! Everyone had a blast and some of the drawings were actually really cool.

In the evening we were able to watch the local folkloric dancing group perform! They were soooooo cool and talented! The students were impressed and also had an opportunity to interact with the dancers….which they embraced big time! No one was shy! The students had so much fun that the dance group offered to set up lessons for the students on Saturday!

All in all it was a fantastic day filled with art, a walking tour to see the local monuments and important buildings, and of course – traditional dances! We finished the night with our nightly meeting where we turned the leader of the day over to the students…..so now it is their job to keep our family and friends informed about our awesome adventures!!

All our well and having a great time!
Grover