Hola, blog readers!
My name is Christina and I was today’s Lider Del Dia (Leader of the Day). Today’s theme was culture, so we learned about the role that art and dance play in preserving local customs and traditions.
We started the day by a lovely breakfast cooked by the cooks here at Global Glimpse. Thanks to them, we have a variety of foods to choose from at every meal, all served in a buffet fashion! After the delicious meal, we had our culture seminar. We learned about all the aspects that make up one’s culture, such as food, music, art, religion, and even sports. After our insightful daily seminar, we took a walk down to Piro’s workshop in order to learn about a local tradition called Carnaval. Piro is known nationally for his creative Carnaval costumes. To the Dominicans, Carnaval is not only a way for them to have fun, but it is also used to express their religion or feelings. The Carnaval costumes made by Piro are unique in that he designs them himself. We watched his comparsa (troupe) demonstrate a Carnaval performance involving a chocolate soldier. We were then told that he chose to create a chocolate soldier because soldiers are usually seen as negative while chocolate is seen as a good thing. After we said our goodbyes to Piro, we had lunch and then walked to an art museum, where we were given a tour on art created by local artists. The most important artist there was Candido Bido, who the museum was named after. We learned to tell which art pieces were by Candido Bido because his art pieces portray women with no eyes and there is often a sun somewhere in the painting. Throughout the museum, the local customs and traditions of Bonao were immortalized into paintings and sculptures which were put on display for all to see. After the museum tour, we headed to a dance class where we learned how to dance the merengue, bachata, and salsa. Many of us agreed that that was indeed the best part of the day because although we were not very good, the class was fun. You can’t really tell from the picture, but the dance class wiped us into exhaustion for the rest of the day.
Today, we were able to exchange our money into pesos so we can buy snacks at the neighborhood stores. With our pesos in hand, we walked down to a grocery store where many of our students loaded up on Oreos, crackers, and candy. It was a perfect ending to an eventful day.
Hasta pronto,
Christina Vo