Hola familia y amigos, my name is Sofia Escalante. Today I had the honor of being El Lider Del Dia for our fun day. Honestly, I signed up to be Leader of the Day today because I figured fun day would be the easiest. To my surprise, being Leader of the Day on “fun day” turned out being one of the most difficult days to lead. The day began with a wake up call at 7am. Soon after breakfast we headed out in the safari (a large pick-up truck) to the base of a mountain. We hiked a 2 mile route to the peak of the mountain where the monument El Divino Nino (Baby Jesus) stands. The hike up was treacherous, however, we had access to the safari to drive us up if needed and some people chose to ride. Being stubborn, I refused to get on the safari AND pushed one of our Global Glimpse Leaders (you’re welcome Sahar) all the way up. Once we reached the top, Drake’s “Views” had nothing on this mountain. El Divino Nino is a sacred religious monument to the people of Constanza. The monument was built by Antonio Camilo as a thank you to the son of God for curing his once said incurable cancer. Mr. Camilo spent nine months creating this statue as a means of hope and prayer for those in need. At the monument we took photos and purchased souvenirs before heading back down the mountain.
Upon returning to Dilenia’s Hotel (aka home) we ate a delicious lunch of arroz con habichuelas, pollo, y ensalada verde. After lunch we were exhausted from not only the hike but also over eating. FOOD COMA! Regardless, we wanted to continue our fun day, and took the guagua (bus) to a park where we played soccer, pool, and catch. Although our soccer game ended early due to our only ball popping, we had a great time. After spending a few hours at the park we had to head back home for English classes.
We wrote lesson plans in our teaching groups of two or three then headed to our school around the corner to begin teaching. English prep and class was especially difficult today due to the fact that we were all exhausted from the earlier activities. My two co-tutors, Grace and Cinthea, and I worked hard today to engage the students and make it a successful class period. Cinthea and I both have a grasp of the Spanish language and although Grace isn’t the strongest Spanish speaker, she also found a way to engage in the class and help the students expand their knowledge. We had such a great session today because Grace, Cinthea, and I work well with each other. Grace was more of the grammar savy tutor while Cinthea helped explain the lesson in Spanish. Our Global Glimpse Ambassador served as the translator while I worked one-on-one with the students that moved at a slower pace. I’ve come to realize, having four teachers is incredibly beneficial to the success of the classroom. We ended our day after English tutoring the way we always do with an appetizing dinner and our nightly meeting. Buenas noches from Constanza, hasta manana.
-Sofia Escalante
P.S. I encourage more parents to comment, it makes our night to read them 🙂
Good job on hiking to the top! I can’t wait to see the pictures from today’s adventure. Sounds like it was a day filled with sights and fun. I am sure the students appreciate all your hard work and attention to detail. Brianna I hope you enjoyed your day and are feeling better Sending lots of love and hugs. We are planning Clarissa’s graduation party for the Saturday after you return. It’s hard to believe you will be back home in a week! I hope all you Glimpsers are enjoying your time left in DR 🙂
Hello, Glimpsers! I looked up pictures of the monument and it is truly an amazing sight. You really are in the Dominican Alps.
Sofia, I appreciate reading about how you and your friends teach English. It must be challenging, yet you make it sound so fun.
Lila, we had a good time at the water park today. Lots of trips down the slide on inner tubes. It reached 98 degrees there and a hot wind was blowing the whole time. Afterward, it felt very good to come back to our cool El Cerrito home. Also, Dora and Rosalie played the sign alphabet game on the way there and made it throught the alphabet twice.)
We all enjoy reading the blog each night. Thank you for such interesting, detailed accounts.
We love you, Lila Anne!
Thank you Sophia for your well written blog. Sounds like you are all learning so much about the trials and tribulations of being a teacher. That is such a wonderful experience that will hopefully stay with everyone in the group for years to come. I wonder if any of the Glimpsers are wishing that the passage of time would slow down so that you have more time to savor this experience? I can imagine myself wanting time to go fast in the beginning due to homesickness, and then regretting it, and wishing it would go slower as the trip winds to an end.
Things here in the Bay Area are the same! It has been hot in San Ramon during the day, and then chilly at night. You guys have 5 more full days on your journey. Hope you all keep on learning, growing, and enjoying until the very last second!
All of us parents and siblings and aunts, uncles, cousins and gradparents cant wait to see you all next week.
Have a great Thursday.
PS. Love you Bijan!!!!!
Hello Ms. Escalante, Grace, Cinthea, Bianey and All. You’re getting to know Constanza perhaps even more than the locals now! It sounds as if you have immersed yourselves in the life of that town and wonder if any of you will ever come back just to enjoy the peace of the place.— Do you feel like Dilenia’s restaurant is indulging you guys? It sounds like it. Good positive way to use the word “Coma” Ms.Escalante. In a scale from 1 to 10, how would you rate Dilenia’s? I’d like to know. Hope you guy’s don’t forget to leave some tip, a generous heart works wonders my fellow americanitos. How large are these English classes? How much interest do they show? I remember my back home school time, English was just repeating words like, pupil, table, teacher, Wednesday, etc.my teachers had little knowledge of the language. Thank you for your work. Have a great time everybody and viva Constanza!!!
Hello Best Pal Lila!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So immagine the biggest amount of things you can think of in the universe and multiply it by infinity. That is approximately 1/zillionth of how much I miss you. Guess what? Seriously, think of something while the person is reading this aloud tonight. I passed my swim lesson! Now I got my “Intermediate 2” badge. It has a picture of a smiling dolphin. I wanted to get you a piece of candy from my lesson, but they only had that chewy fruit stuff you hate. It’s the thought that counts. You know the line in the airport where the non-traveling people aren’t aloud to cross? I had a dream where you were coming out of security and I ran across the line to you and then I got arrested for it. It sounds like a lot is happening in Constanza! The Safari sounds like a really cool experience. Have tons of fun tomorrow, too! My love for you stretches across the stratosphere. I hope you can feel my love!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Tons and tons and tons and tons and tons and tons and tons and tons and tons and tons and tons and TOOOOOOOOOOOONS of love, Rosalie
I’m so proud of this group. Congrats on having successful evening of tutoring Synthea. I know you are a great tutor, you do tutoring all year long to others and not forget you lil sisters. Your brother had a successful surgery, so no worries there. He told me to tell you that he is finally taller than the bed. His feet hung over the bed the entire time we were here. We stayed for two days. I saw so many “yous” walking around here in their white coats. Lol… I hope that you are all enjoying your adventure as much as I enjoy reading about it. I know you hitched to the top Synthea because you always like those things. See you soon!!!!
Luv n teardrops
Momma Bear
Dear Grace and the CG’s,
What a fantastic Fun day for the Constanza Glimpsers – seemed like work to me:) The CG’s are definitely the most prolific. I’m having a great time reading your blogs and imagining (wishing) I was there to appreciate these amazing experiences. Time is flying by. Thank you, Sofia, for sharing the positives of team teaching – everyone has something to offer! And thanks to all the Glimpsers for your honest assessments. Hugs to all, Grace’s Aunt Lisa
You guys went hiking! How fun. Que interesante que veneren al Divino Nino en la Republica Dominicana como en el rancho de nosotros. El 20 de Julio hacemos una gran fiesta en honor a El Divino Nino. I hope Angel tells you all about our patron day in Mexico that is celebrated each year. Angel you have a new principal for next year. Mr. Luango is no longer the principal…Alright have a wonderful time and enjoy your last few days. love you Angel from the while family.
Great post Sofia! I can’t wait to hear about your trip and am very proud of your work over there.
Ms. Scheppach