Hello everyone!

Today we had a really fun time exploring the culture of Constanza. We started off learning how to make masks in the morning, learned bachata and merengue in the afternoon, and then learned about English tutoring and planned our first English lessons this evening.

I know some of you must be wondering about the food, so I’m going to describe some highlights to you. This morning we got to try mangu for breakfast which is mashed plantains. I don’t think any of us had tried mangu before, and it was a challenge for some! I enjoyed mine topped with some onions marinated in vinegar, and a little of Ester’s siracha sauce on the side. We also got carrot and tamarind juice, which were both delicious. If you’re wondering what mangu looks like, a picture of Ester’s breakfast is at the end. At lunch, everyone raved about the rice! It was rice with some corn and spices in it, and almost everyone ended up getting seconds. Most of us also had stewed chicken, while the vegetarian and vegan option was beans. We all got salad and veggies. The veggies we have at almost every meal are really unique, because they are steamed and they are vinegary as well. I like vinegar, so I’m all about them, but some of us are taking a while to warm up to it. For dinner, we got spaghetti with a Dominican flair, and we ate so much that we ran out! Most people went back for seconds because they loved it. I wished I could have tried our vegetarian option tonight, because it was spaghetti sauce made with chickpeas.

Our morning activity was making máscaras with Gato. The process of making máscaras is to first make a clay mold, then cover that mold with something like Vaseline, create a laker mache mask from that, and then decorate the paper mache mask with paint. Today, we made the clay molds, and Gato is going to complete our masks before we leave. I personally don’t feel like I work with clay very well, but I embraced my growth mindset and with Gato’s help, I made a dog mask that I’m really proud of. I was so impressed with everyone in our group for embracing the activity no matter how comfortable they were with molding clay. Everyone made amazing masks! Big Love to Gato for taking the time to teach us, and for having really funny jokes too. The featured picture on this post is our group with Gato

We spent an amazing high energy afternoon with Paul at the dance studio learning bachata and merengue. Paul took us through some steps individually and it felt kind of like a workout class with more hip swaying, and then he showed us how to put those steps together and dance with a partner. We did that for both merengue and bachata, and then we did a whole bunch more where Paul led us through some dances. Personally, I feel like I caught only about 50% of the steps, but I definitely had 100% of the fun! I’m really proud of our group for dancing the whole time with some short water breaks. A lot of us got out of our comfort zones, laughed a lot, and had a great time. Big Love to Paul for being the most enthusiastic person ever. He has such an affectionate smile! I’m putting a few dance class pictures at the end of the blog, including a picture of the group with Paul.

Before dinner the Glimpsers learned tips for how to teach English, and then they spent some time planning their first lesson. They get to execute the lesson on Monday, and I’m excited to see them put their plans into action.

Today’s experiences sparked some thoughtful and productive conversation in our nightly meeting around culture. I can’t say I’m surprised because I am here with an amazing group of Glimpsers, but I was impressed with the level of dialogue we had this evening. Big Love to the entire delegation for being so fabulous in those discussions today.

I am the last adult Líder Del Dia until the end of the trip, so you can look forward to blog posts from the Glimpsers for the next 12 days. I feel like I keep saying I’m excited, but it continues to be true. I’m excited to see tomorrow’s leaders of the day step up, and excited for you all to read their blog tomorrow. When I passed the torch to them this evening, they had a really entertaining talent, and they showed a strong and organized front!

We have an early wake up call tomorrow for Working Like a Local and Global Business Day, so I’m going to get some sleep. Goodnight everyone!

Big Love to you all,

-Colleen