Hello again!
Today was another incredible day in Constanza as our students got to see what it is like to work like a local and learn about one of the Dominican Republic’s main exports. Can you guess what it is?? CUCUMBER!
We started our day early (6:00 am wake up call!) with a little breakfast before heading out to Alberto’s farm! He welcomed our delegation onto his property so that our students could experience firsthand what it is like to work as the locals do and be farmers! Students planted seedlings, weeded, harvested cucumbers, planted corn seeds in seedling trays, and removed the husks from harvested corn. After a little lunch back at the hotel, we then headed to Natural Fields, a cucumber processing and shipping facility. Alberto is a local farmer and only sells his crops here in the DR, but most farmers sell their cucumbers to Natural Fields to then be sold to other countries. And who do you think they export to the most? You guessed it! The United States! Students were able to see firsthand how much food is wasted and thrown away simply because it is not cosmetically acceptable to be sold in American supermarkets. They also learned more about how the cucumbers are prepared to be shipped! They are first washed with water, sprayed with chlorine, and finally coated with a thin layer of wax to preserve them for the long journey to America. So, lesson learned: always scrub your veggies before eating them! Afterwards, students washed up, got dressed up, and showed up for their first day of English tutoring! Most of them were extremely nervous, but definitely excited for their first day and they ROCKED it! I was so proud to see all of them own their role as teachers and I can’t wait to see how they grow over the next 6 classes.
I had the privilege of being Leader Del Dia and, to be honest, it was a little challenging! The Leader Del Dia has multiple responsibilities throughout the day, but I can see how this experience can be extremely rewarding for students. They will have the opportunity to take charge while showing a little bit of their personality to the group.They will also receive feedback at lunch and at the nightly meeting about their performance as leaders! At tonight’s nightly meeting, I received some feedback about my leadership. I learned that I did a great job keeping my energy and enthusiasm high, but could improve on more effective ways to get the attention of the whole group quickly. I plan to take this feedback and apply it throughout the remainder of the trip. Tomorrow our Leaders Del Dia will be TK and Pranab! So look out for their blog tomorrow night!
Overall, the trip is going extremely well so far! Everyone is enjoying themselves and are excited for the days to come! We have all learned so much about this wonderful place and can’t wait to learn more tomorrow on our culture day! Stay tuned!
Best, Alex Swanson
That sure sounds like a great experience !
Reetu Babbo .. I am sure you are having a great time ! Neet raha – Love you very much – Mom, Dad, N, M, Ajju 🙂
Hi Alex, this is Jasmin’s mom. It sounds that you had a very busy day full of learning activities and very interesting facts that I’m sure everyone is enjoying. Jasmin enjoy this trip to the fullest, and remember that your family is very proud of you and everyone on this trip. “MOSO” says that he misses you a lot.
Mom this is jasmin and i miss you guys sooooo much im home sick now but im having fun and the food is good so im eating alot like always love u guys and give las bollas a big hug and a even bigger one to pinky. and tell manny i miss him if u see him.
Hi Jaqui you know that we missed you so much but we are proud of you keep enjoying this new adventure and be safe along with all glimsers we love you
Angie, exciting to see you in the picture. Hope you have great time.
Love you-Dad
Awesome! Have a wonderful time learning and seeing new cultures. Angie (Dao) have a great trip sweety . Love mom and dad
Hey little sis looks like your having a great time over there be safe comming home we all miss u
This is such a blessing, and a life time Experience. Showing this blog to all his family members. Have a good time and we love you ?
Great pictures! Sounds like a fun day. Miss you Lizzy? Can’t wait to talk to you
Mom
Great pics ,proud of you Leo:) learn And enjoy this awesome experience.
Good Morning this is Millesja Mom this a great oppurtunity for all the kids, I see evetyone is javing a great time, Millesha im proud of you taking apart of another culture mommy loves you with all my heart.
Gracelyn,
The trip looks really cool so far! Not many people get to travel to other countries and experience different cultures like you are. Enjoy this trip and learn from it as much as you can!
GG leaders, thank you for taking these nice pictures! It looks like they’ve had a full day packed with fun activities.
Enjoy it, Melody! Mom & Dad
Ally! We are all thinking of you and hoping that you’re having a blast. Can’t wait to hear about your adventures in DR when you come back!
I think I saw our beloved TK? 🙂
dad, do you even love me anymore? that’s all you put??????? (just kidding XD) call you tomorrow maybe!!! 🙂 -TK
Gracelyn, I know that you will find this hard to believe, but I have become obsessed with this blog! LOL! Like you guys will be posting all day long or something. Love the pictures! Keep them coming! I hope you are able to take a lot of pictures too! Miss you!
Love Mom
call you tomorrow mom at like 7am! 🙂 -Tk, writing for Gracelyn! (she said love you!!)
Dear PG,
This is Big Head Red writing you…you remember me, right? 4 legs, tail, short reddish coat…I live downstairs, you live upstairs…
Just thought I’d keep you up-to-date on what’s happening here in your absence.
But first, have you seen any of my brothers or sisters in the DR? Seems to me Big Head Rachel, one of my step-sisters, caught a Maersk container ship from LA to Panama where she chased an undesirable off the ship (at the Canal) but couldn’t find her way back! Anyway, I digress…
It’s over 100 degrees again (I take offense at the whole “dog days of summer” expression, BTW). The boss man planted some new flowers in the backyard. Gets more colorful every week — my favorite place from early morning till about 11 am.
Hope you are well — looks like you are plenty busy from what I have been able to gather from your mom and boss man. You are farming and teaching English! Two “woofs” from me — you go girl!
Well, good luck…I’m watching all your stuff for you while you are gone — no worries there, you know what I mean?
BHR
Jasmine I miss you so much hope your are have a great time can’t wait to hear about your trip