Hello family and friends!! 🙂 We are here as messengers on behalf the entire Global Glimpse Team (I’m so sorry, Pranab made me write that part -TK).

Besides waking up too early in the morning (we were supposed to wake up people at 7am, but Pranab woke up at 5 thinking it was 7 and I at 6:30; we both PANICKED SUPER HARD), the rest of the day went smoothly. To start off, we went to a local carnival mask maker named Dario Victoriano a.k.a. “Gato” (cat in Spanish because of his light blue eyes). He taught us about the history of masks in the Dominican Republic culture and the symbolism behind them. For example, different masks represent different cities in the Dominican Republic; and each has a unique style, such as monsters and devils for Constanza. After his magnificent speech, he taught us how to sculpt our own masks. This experience helped relieve many of our fellow Glimpsers’ of homesickness and stress. Afterwards, we came back to the hotel to have lunch and then head out to Paul’s dance studio. Paul is a high school PE and dance instructor who was practically bursting with passion and humor throughout the class. There we learned about the history of salsa, palo, and other dances and experienced firsthand through his instruction (p.s., I danced through a whole song with just Paul (like a boss) -TK) (and, Leo was a boss!!! “muy bien” -Pranab). We came back to the hotel to prepare for our second day of English tutoring. It was WAY easier and we felt more comfortable than the first day! Everyone did an outstanding job by coming out of their shells and taking initiative to teach the students. After planning for the third day of tutoring, we walked back to the hotel to have a delicious dinner (we had hot chocolate!!! it was awesome!!!!! -TK). After the nightly meeting, it was time to “pass the torch” off to Leo and Sukritha. Look forward to their blog tomorrow about our first free day! (P.S. expect phone calls home between 7am and 9am PST.)

For me, being a leader is very challenging especially when you don’t know the group very well. It is very hard to differentiate the learning curves of an individual in the group. TK and I tried to adjust to any situations and problems that came up during the day, and we somehow managed to lead the group smoothly (LOL). With today’s experience, I’ve learned that I have great leadership skills, teamwork capabilities, and curiosity about the cultures of the Dominican Republic. I hope this experience helps me grow as an individual to improve my future.
-Pranab

Honestly, I was most nervous about showing my talent (shown in order to become the next leader), but shoutout to Keilana for the protip about the shirt folding! I didn’t have anything to really worry about because everyone in the group is quite mature and work together well. It was an extremely fun experience; I felt like everyone’s mom by the end of the day (haha ;u;)! Overall, it was definitely a challenge I would do over again!
-TK

Overall, the lesson we have learned today is that the preservation of history through art and music is imperative because it promotes national pride and also acts a lesson for the future generations.

Signing off, your lovely leaders,
Pranab and TK!