Today, was full of the treasured arts in the Dominican Republic: starting with masks, to the traditional dances, and just being involved with the community. As the leader of the day, I made sure that everyone was safe, on task, and having fun during all of todays activities.
In the morning, we went over today’s agenda to make sure that everyone and everything was on track. Following that, we went outside and stretched to be ready for all of the activities. Shortly, we made our way towards the GG office to meet up with a local, “Gato”. Gato–who’s friendly and very passionate–helped us make cool masks…masks that are mostly used for Carnaval.
Our teacher, Gato, showing us how to make the mask molds.Â
 
An example of a dragon carnaval mask.Â
           
Our friendly ambassadors then met up with our group at the accommodation (our hostel) after lunch. From there, we headed to a park which was just a few blocks away from us. Assuring that it was safe for us to cross the street, our ambassadors would walk in the middle of the street before us while holding their hands to signal the cars and motorcycles (mostly motorcycles) to stop. As soon as we got there, a wave of beautiful, yet loud melodies hit us; making most of our hips move without our permission. We soon made a circle and began to play games like Sin el Capitan, & Down by the Banks.
 
With our local ambassadors in the park.Â
Soon we were able to intentionally move our hips since we had a dance class. Paul Rosado (our dance teacher) welcomed us with a very energetic but also, very polite smile. He is so passionate about dancing DR’s traditional dances. Which is why he was excited to also take time out of his day and teach us how to dance merengue and my personal favorite, bachata. Ironically, a class which many believed that was going to be tiring, turned into a mini dance party.
     
      
After finally freshening up–which was much needed–we met up in the meeting room to hear our English Tutoring Seminar. We had this seminar to prepare ourselves to become future teachers and teach many locals English. Of course with that, we had to take the responsibility of making our own lesson plan which was both exciting and hard…but of course, worth it!
Thanks for reading my blog.
-Tanya A.
Tanya, our Leader del Dia, dancing with our dance instructor!
Hi Isabel, Mom Dad Julia and Daisy miss you a ton and a half. Hope you’re having the best time.
Hi Isa, We miss you so much! ObstaCourse and Zumba aren’t the same without you! Love you a ton and a half!
Hi Stacy, It looks like you’re having a great time. Enjoy every moment of your trip. I can’t wait to see you and hear about all of your adventures. Love Mom
Hi mom, I am. I love and miss you guys! Hope you had a safe flight! See you soon. -Stacy
Hey Jess, glad to see you are having fun on your adventure. This is such a great learning and growing experience for you. Take it all in son. We all miss and love you very much.
Dad,mom, Gabe and sashie. Lol
Hi BG
Good moves on the dance floor! Looks like a fun time. Continue enjoying new experiences. Love, G & G Beach
Hey stacy, hope you’re having a great time! Keep enjoying your trip, I miss & love ya.
thank you! love you too
Hey Nolan!!! We all miss you including Sheldon! I hope you are having a blast. I like your dance moves!!!
Hi Neha , glad to see you are having adventurous time learning about DR culture. Pictures came out well. Miss your presence here though.
Take care. Brownie says Hi ?
Im having the time of my life, Ill tell you all about it when i come back. cant wait to see you. talk to you soon. Love you all.
Hi Neha , glad to see you are having adventurous time learning about the DR culture. That mask came out pretty nice. Pictures came out well .
Miss you . Brownie says Hi ?
Hi Nolan, We are excited that you are experiencing the wonderful culture of Constanza. You buddy Sheldon misses you. We love your dance moves! Love DAD
Hi Cami, Wow traditional DR dancing, game playing, carnaval mask making and preparing for English learning lesson plans. You are busy having fun. We really hope you are enjoying your self and learning and teaching and helping. We can’t wait to see your travel book. Hope you are making new friends. We love you mucho! Mom, Dad, Pip, Sop and Ferdie. : )
Hi Mom and Family!
Having a lot of fun on the trip! It is stressful but also rewarding and I am glad to hear that Rafael Nadal won the French Open. I want to know what happened with the Warriors. The country and city is absolutely beautiful. One more thing that I want to mention is that the camera stopped working and the lens won’t open. Luckily my roommate let me use her so that I can take pictures and still show you. Miss you a lot, and Ferdie very much too. Hope to speak to you soon!! Cameron
Hi Cami, We are so glad you are having a fun and rewarding time. Bummer about the camera. Maybe check and see if the battery is too weak and needs a charge? Also, check and see if the lens got bent in travel. If not maybe you can buy a disposable camera.
I checked out blog day 4, so cool hanging and interacting and teaching school children. Hope you had a chance to speak Spanish. I think you may be helping in creating a mural? The Warriors won the championship, they swept the Cavs 4-0 sorry Labron James. We miss you too and love you and Ferdie is happy especially when he sees your picture. Grandma says Hi and she hopes your having fun and loves you!
Hey Stacy, it looks like you had a lot of fun today I’m excited to see what you all do next!
Aw thank you Lydia!!! I miss you and everyone else so much!!! Talk to you soon! -Stacy
Hey Carmen, I hope you had fun today. You should teach me how to dance when you get back?. Sleep well carmen. We all miss you lots.
Hey Jacob! Thanks for commenting and checking up on me! i miss you lots!!!
Hey Nolan – We hope you are having an amazing time and meeting a lot of people. Sheldon misses you and we love your dancing photo!!!
Hi Max- hope you learned some new dance moves that you can show your brother. Ellie and Sam miss you so much- you have no idea. And Charlie too:) . We would all love to get a note back from you!
Leilani! So great to see your dance moves on this blog, as well as the mask workshop- those masks look awesome! It all looks fantastic- great job by the bloggers on your trip! Hope you’re having a wonderful time and meeting great people. Mr. Irish told me you knocked out the final exam that you missed lol. Big love!
Hey Nany,
Girl, I know you ain’t missed us on your third day there. I see you, look at you dancing and s***. At first I was like, why is she wearing that green thing. Correct me if I’m wrong, (which I won’t be) you got to wear that for being the best dancer there? Anyways you should know I went to Six Flags with Cami, Karol, and Nohe. Mind you, we’re going again when you come back. Mom and I got into a disagreement and we aren’t on speaking terms. I will let you know about the tea later. But besides that I had a good time at Six Flags. Anyways, I hope you are taking pictures. And girl tell me about the food and the drinks. How’s waking up early working out for you?
We’re going to love and miss you. <3
Hi Victoria,
Looks like you’re having a great time. So happy to see you out there having fun. Miss you but glad you’re having fun.
Hi Munkhdul,
How was the Pura Culture. I am glad you are making new friends and learning new dance. I was happy that you called and told your flight. I miss you. Your Mom.