Global and Local Business (Pepinos!!!)

Hellooooooooo it’s me Miguel and this blog post will be all about what we’ve done to help out in the business aspect of agriculture in DR. My day started off by waking up super early to do the wake-up call and I went around knocking on doors making sure that everyone was waking up on time. My buddy Raul usually doesn’t wake up early as me but luckily I was able to wake him up from his slumber. We both took the initiative in doing our round of wake-up calls. After that, we had breakfast and we ate oatmeal with banana, raisins, and bread (even sneaking a bit of sugar in our oatmeal that was meant for coffee). Once that yummy breakfast was over we started our first mental warmup and learned about the effect of pesticides, drip irrigation, and how harmful it is to use chemicals on plants. We then made our way on a bus to a local greenhouse here in Constanza that grows crops such as cucumbers, peppers, and tomatoes. We picked weeds so that the crops would grow well. This greenhouse is one of the producers for the World Agro Market!!!

Heyyy ? My name is Raul and I was the leader of the day with Miguel. For lunch, we had carne guisado, rice, beans, and salad. The carne guisado was very tender and juicy. Before we went to the World Agro Market we waited for the bus and we decided to play a game. We made handshakes with someone we haven’t talked to a lot and then we showed them off one by one. Everyone enjoyed doing this and was excited to show their unique handshakes. The bus arrived perfectly as we were finishing and we enjoyed listening to music. At the World Agro Market, we watched each part of the processing of cucumbers.

I know my mom would have been nervous about me interacting with cucumbers because of my allergies, but our group leaders and the owner of the factory made me feel so safe. They showed the kindest genuine concern and let me know there were tools to ensure my safety. I appreciate them so much and I am so grateful for them. As I entered the factory the smell of the cucumbers began to make my heart race, but I grew more confident as I continued to work. I started very cautious but was more hands-on later. We were all assigned jobs and helped each step of the way. We worked very closely with the workers at the factory and many of us began to have conversations with the workers even though many had language barriers. The workers would ask us about ourselves and we joked with each other and they were very kind. Then we wrote a thank you letter to the owner of the plant for the experience. Then we went on the bus back to Dilenia’s Hotel and Nasir sang Despacito by Luis Fonsi, and it was nice because it was just one of the moments where students who do not speak Spanish embraced the culture, music, and language. Before dinner, we wrote 8 things we wanted others to ask us about and it led to so many interesting individual conversations. We all had a lot of fun getting to know each other on a deeper level and talking about things we might not have talked about without this activity. For dinner, we had mashed potatoes, corn, and queso frito (fried cheese).

HOLAAAAA it’s me Miguel again and after having such a good dinner! We participated in a nightly meeting and both me and Raul gave a recap of the day trying to remember everything that was done (just like we did here yayyyy). Doing roses and thorns of the day was also fun because we were able to see what we did and wanted to see more of the next day. The plus that I gave was that the group was super energetic and very engaged when it came to talking to each other and bonding over the little things that was something that I loved because I feel like we are as close as a family would be. The wish that I gave was that the group was so energetic that at times it would be hard to grab their whole attention but I can’t blame them too much because I was also losing my voice at the same time so hearing me was kind of hard. I also loved the pluses and wishes that the Leaders and group had given me and Raul because it made me feel a bit better hearing that people saw me as a leader and that I was able to step up even with being a not-so-extroverted person. Nearing the end of the me and Raul leader of the day title we passed on the touch to the next leaders of the day Gerson and Ray. They showed off their talents which I thought was cool and I loved how they shared their board (especially how Gerson held the board up for us to write the quote and question of the day!!!).

Lastly, I want to give a shoutout to my parents, my cats, and my siblings for helping me out and pushing me to do Global Glimpse!!!!! I LOVE YOU MOMMMMMMMMMM!!!(DAD TOOO!!!!!) (I love my cats so much, Shoutout to Toby, Tomy. Roly, and Nory!!!!)