“The world in which you are born is just one model of reality. Other cultures are not failed attempts at being.” – Anonymous
Greetings from Constanza!
Today we started off the day with waking up at 8:00am and by 8:30 we had some delicious scrambled eggs and toast with a FANTASTIC fruit smoothie. After breakfast, at 9:15, we had mental warm up engaging in a wonderful conversation discussing dominican music, bachata and meregue. For those of who dont know, Dominican music is rooted in African and Spaniard culture. We also discussed the hand-making of Carnaval masks. Students then took a a nice stroll down the road to our program manager’s home. Alyssa, graciously allowed us to use her gazebo to meet with a professional/award winning mask maker, Dario Victoriano a.k.a “El Gato” (because of his blue eyes). Students then were taught how to mold Carnaval masks using clay and water. He described step-by-step on how to shape and use the materials to create a Carnaval mask. After about two hours of solid work, students left their unfinished masterpieces to be prepped for the papier mâché (French spelling) and paint.
After that activity, we headed back to Dilenia’s for some delicious lunch. On the menu today we had yellow rice and corn, pasta salad and some scrumptious baked chicken with an tasty tangy sauce. After lunch we participated in a series of bonding activities with GG Ambassadors, GG Leaders and Program Coordinators. Despite not being able to head to the original location (the park), students and GG staff were still able to make the best of our time. Later in the day we took a walk to the dance studio where we learned bachata and meregue steps with professional dance teacher, Paul Rosado. Students had an incredible time dancing all together, bonding with one another and learning from Paul. Many students were also surprised to hear that bachata/merengue became more popular during the 80s and 90s when those generations of artists took the mostly country music and made it national and mainstream. After all the laughs and dance moves we learned with him, we headed back to Dilenia’s for our program seminar about English Tutoring. Students created a lesson plan to prepare for the first day of English tutoring tomorrow. Afterwards, students got to freshen up before dinner and prepare for the night ahead of them. After some downtime, we had a dinner consisting of mashed potatoes, fried cheese, and vegetables.
When dinner was finished, we then had our nightly meeting, where as leaders of the day myself and Luna gave a brief summary of our day with students. We discussed roses (positive highlights) and thorns (things that could have gone better) for the day, we gave the glimpsers a plus (something that was done well by students) and a wish (something that needs improvement), and we passed the torch to Brandon and Angie. Brandon, a high school wrestler, displayed his sheer strength by doing push ups and eventually doing push ups with Angie on his back. Students were very impressed and the torch was passed to them.
Please enjoy the blog and pictures. Don’t forget to leave a comment below, it is really nice for the students to hear their loved ones and friends dropped them a comment.
Love, Global Glimpser Amber Holland and GG Leader Jorge Luna
Love waking up to all those smiling faces and reading all about their new experiences. Gabriel so glad you are having this great experience with your peers.
So glad Gabriel that you are experiencing such a great time with your peers. Can’t wait for you to teach me to do the “bachata”.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO my soon Jose castillo…….i love you mijo…….????✌?
Hello Scarlette I hope you are having a Great time, please savor the experience! I Love You
✨????????✨ Wepaa, you guys look great! I hope you guys get to bring home the masks, I can’t wait to see yours Joe!! Loving all the pictures, keep up the good work?
Hay Amber, I love you. Noah says hi..
WOW
It’s the start of a wonderful adventure. You glimpsers look like you have having a great time.
To all enjoy the ride.
To my BAM I love you and miss you, see you soon.
Dad, Mom and Noah
Mi Hermana!
I am so happy that you are having a good time there. I miss and love you so much.
If you can say hi to Tio Anthony for me – if not that is fine too. I am so jealous that you get to go there again, but I am happy that you get to have this experience. I am so proud of you and I can’t wait to hear all about it when you get back home.
Love,
Andrew
Happy 4th of July Glimpsers ? looks like all of you got some dance moves! We miss and love you Joe.
Be safe❤
It was nice to see your beautiful smiles,We love you and miss you very much. We are very proud of you guys for choosing to go on this wonderful adventure with Global Glimpse. Happy 4th of July and stay safe. Love, Angie’s mom?
It was nice to see your beautiful smiles,We love you and miss you very much. We are very proud of you guys for choosing to go on this wonderful adventure with Global Glimpse. Happy 4th of July and stay safe. Love, Angie’s mom?
Sounds like a busy and exciting day! I’m loving the pictures. Hi Jessica! We saw the fireworks in Port Chester and all your cousins were asking for you. We taped some of it so you can see. They had a huge Neri sign lite up in red and white lights. ?We all miss you and your silliness so much! Can’t wait to hear about all your adventures. From what I’ve read so far it sounds amazing! Love and miss you Jess! ❤️
Hi Nina chan!!!
You must be loving the food!!! Sounds just like you want 🙂
Vo chan was terrified with the fireworks yesterday, he was trying so hard to find a safe place but of course there are none… I put him on my lap and surprisingly he stayed!!!! It was horrible for him but wonderful for me 🙂
Love you sooo much and enjoy your moment!!!
Hi Amir
Looks like you are having a blast I’m glad you’re having fun my love. Taylor says miss you sweety pie. Did you get a chance to do firecrackers this year. Ms.Betty had a barbecue birthday party for Brandon on the 4th of july. Kavi, with Mr.Niles that program sent Brandon cousin cant think of his name to ALASKA. Love and miss you much…
Amir looks like youre having a blast.
Hi Wayne Williams Jr.
I hope you are enjoying yourself. It’s nice to see your picture. Your father is progressing well. Love and miss you!!!!❤️❤️
Great seeing that you all are doing well.Love the pictures.Keep learning new things and making New friends. Shane we love and miss you.