Day 2: Culture

Hola todos! Tonight’s blog is coming to you from Mary and Rachel, the Global Glimpse Leaders for this trip to Jarabacoa, DR. After an incredibly long travel day, we have started to settle into our accommodations for the next 13 days and begin our amazing DR adventure!

Today was Culture Day!  We woke up bright and early and enjoyed a typical DR breakfast of ham and cheese sandwiches, sausage, fresh fruit, toast, coffee, supreme hot chocolate, and Frosted Flakes (that one might not be so typical, lol).  We filled our bellies and moved to our beautiful meeting spot for our Mental Warm Up Activity. The kids reviewed the Question and Quote of the day, both of which related to culture and traditions and why it is important to preserve them.

We hopped in the back of the “Safari Bus” (look for picture) and headed to the local Estacion de Bomberos (fire station).  The firefighters were so welcoming and informative! A number of the kids were able to hold the fire hose while it was spraying a heavy stream of water – a first for the GG kids this summer!  We toured the firehouse, and we all had an opportunity to slide down the fire pole! It was a blast!  We are so proud of the kids for stepping outside of their comfort zones to slide down! And all of the kids were great at supporting each other! Next, we took a small tour of the city of Jarabacoa.  We saw the City Hall, and the beautiful town Plaza, and walked through a vibrant tourist section of town. 

After our tour, we hopped back on the bus and headed up the mountains to Bohios Campo Anil, an eco-tourism center that strives to educate guests about traditional Dominican culture and historical agricultural methods, such as how Dominican coffee and chocolate were made. The kids enjoyed tasting the coffee and hot chocolate! After this, we finally got to discover what the mysterious “water opportunity” of the day was: swimming in a beautiful pool with amazing rural countryside and mountain views. They cooled off and had a wonderful time! We then moved to the open-air dining area at Campo to enjoy a delicious Dominican lunch (including a delicious, fresh juice that they obsessed over)!

Then we headed back to our accommodations for a dance lesson! Students learned the merengue, bachata, and salsa. They also heard about how much bachata and merengue (traditional Dominican dances) have modernized over the years while remaining rooted in the same rhythms. Students danced solo and also partnered up with ease, working closely with our amazing instructors to get the steps down!

After some free time filled with bonding, singing, and an epic game of ultimate frisbee, we settled in for a dinner that included huevos fritos (fried eggs) and yuca. We then rounded out the day with our nightly meeting, led partially by our first STUDENT Liders Del Dia (leaders of the day). Lights out came a bit early tonight in preparation for an early start to tomorrow morning! Stay tuned for tomorrow’s adventures!