Hola Global Glimpse amigos y familia, it’s Sophie here. And today, I took on the vastly important role of El Lider del Dia. Through this new responsibility, I discovered my deep newfound appreciation for those who have the impressive challenge of wrangling a small gaggle of excitable teens. If you’re a close family member or friend of mine, I’m sure that the fact that I volunteered for the role of student leader on a day with the focus of politics comes as a total surprise to you, (since my finely honed skill of extreme sarcasm becomes ineffective through a computer screen, I’m being sarcastic).
Today, we took a trip to the capital city of the Dominican Republic, the first colonial city in the Americas, the picturesque Santo Domingo. In Santo Domingo, we had the great opportunity to visit Dominican congress, and after a lovely tour with the nicest man in the building, we had a conversation with a prevalent Dominican politician and buddy of Marco Rubio *eye roll* about the state of politics in the D.R. Being the thoughtful and adventurous people we are, us Glimpsers totally took this conservative dude off guard, asking him hard hitting questions that really exposed the lack of equality and democracy in Dominican society and politics. He “clapped back” by asking us about Donald Trump, and I decided to express my disgust for everyone’s least favorite owner of a toupee. We then headed to El Conde, an open air tourist market, and after eating pizza and drinking Coke (our first American meal this entire trip) we had the opportunity to put our skills of bargaining to use as we haggled with vendors, all of us picking up or utilizing Spanish along the way, being as it was our sole method of communication. After spending a sufficient amount of time and money and enjoying the frequent tropical showers in this lovely colonial city, we got on the bus and headed back to Escuela de Dios, the place where we all teach.
Today’s classes were filled with restless and distracted people, many of us being displaced by the fragrant smell of fresh paint on the classroom walls, and the rain. But, we all persevered and got through this slightly more difficult teaching session. Finally, we headed home to CONAMUCA and came back to a meal of salad, mashed plantains, and ham, a staple Dominican meal.
Today I learned the importance of courage and self-confidence. In order for us to have been able to ask questions in Congress, we had to address several different groups in Spanish before even prosing our question; a lengthy and seemingly archaic process that made every person who attempted it stumble over their words. But those of us who did speak really put ourselves out there and embraced a unique opportunity to have a question and answer session with a person with consequential political importance. Anyway, I’m up past curfew at this point, but I would just like the close this blog by saying that I’m learning so much here, about myself, my global community, and my peers. It’s really important and apparent here that we shouldn’t take anything we have in a highly developed country like the U.S. for granted. Democracy and (arguably) lack of lots of corruption in terms of public spending (at least in comparison to this country) are privileges we enjoy as American citizens that we should not take for granted. We are all really happy to be here, but equally excited to come home and see our loved ones.
Buenos noches,
Sophie
P.S. Special shout out to my family and friends even though I’m like 87% sure they don’t read this. But if y’all do let a gal know washpoppin and comment, miss you no offense.
Zelie,
Sorry for this off topic response but update on Skyline Championship game tonight… We won by three at the buzzer. I played really good and coach was really proud of me!! I had the ball in my hands win 10 seconds left and came off a pick n roll and I attacked the basket and the defense collapsed on me as I was about to shoot it so I kicked it out to Henry for a three and he hit it at the buzzer!! It was such a good game! I miss you a lot!! Continue to cherish every moment and experince especially because these are your last couple days there. and continue to work hard babe!! ❤️
The homestretch. This is when the mixed feelings start to heighten. You’re excited to come home but in the same breath you fear the day when it’s time to say goodbye to the community you’ve served and to the DR which you must have learned to love these past 2 weeks. If you carry your experiences and what you’ve learned in the DR in your heart, then you will never leave the DR. It will forever remain in your heart. Use that to push yourself to continue with your mission when you return. Your mission doesn’t end in the DR. That is just the start. I’ve said this before, it’s the little that you can do that really matters. Make a change, make a difference, no matter how small. There’s still a world out there waiting for you to bring your talents and skills to the next level. To infinity and beyond!
Hey Sophia, what a time for you all. Really glad that you are enjoying and appreciating what a phenomenal opportunity this is. It’s an experience you’ll never forget. We miss you so much and can’t wait to see you. Your brothers and Sajdah will be here this weekend and Conor wants to have a little party on Saturday welcoming you back. Take care honey. We’ll see you in a couple of days. Love, Dad
Your group is sorry fortunate to visit the DR with Global Glimpse. You get to do and see things that no ordinary tourist or even seasoned traveler gets to do.
Sophia, I was quite happy to see you were not a well-behaved sycophant in the face of power and authority on Politics Day. Melanie Trump might not be so bad after all. She’s sounds just like Michelle Obama. Did you hear she plagiarize the speech? She’s not as stupid as people think, after all she remembered to say Donald where Barack was originally written.
Your running buddies miss you an awful lot. They are waiting to descend on the house with your brothers and Sajdah. I am very excited to hear from you about the DR, and to see the change it has created in you and your fellow travelers.
Can’t wait to see you. Mama