Good morning, good afternoon, good evening or which ever time you are seeing this.
This is day 5 of our blog from Isaiah and Jordan we are here to tell you about our awesome experience for the day. First we will start from the time we woke up. The Group Leaders (Isaiah and Jordan) were up bright and early at 6:00am and it was actually supposed to be 6:30 but the important part is that everybody was woken up between 7:00-7:15am. At 8:00am we all had breakfast. The menu was actually special for today as the owner insisted we go to the restaurant and eat cereal with the other options of yogurt and fruit. By the time we had breakfast everyone was pretty much wide awake and ready for the day.
For our morning mental warm up we decided to play musical chairs. IT WAS HILARIOUS!!!!
At the same time we all had fun and enjoyed our selves; the activity built a mutual connection that allowed for each of us to bond. After that it was time to leave the hotel and head to ASODECHO, an organization that is run by Carlos Corcieno.
ASODECHO was created with the purpose of helping low-income communities throughout the Dominican Republic. From speaking with Carlos Corcieno, we learned about the origin of the program as well as their future plans for helping the impoverished. It was all very inspiring, especially when we got to view firsthand the work done by past Global Glimpsers; a baseball field and half-basketball field.
Afterwards, we went back and had lunch before partaking in a seminar about our future work with CAP (Community Action Project). We then traveled to Colonia Kennedy, where we were able to speak with someone who was an important figure to the town. She showed us around the park that we would be redesigning, and it was very exciting to brainstorm ideas with one another. The main restructures most people were focused on were the chess board, the benches, and the name of the park itself under the sunroof.
We came back to the hotel for the second time of the day which was around 4:00pm and we had a few minutes to relax and chill. Then we all came back downstairs to the dining hall and had our discussion about how to prepare for the next day: Community day. During the discussion we talked about how important community day would be with all the important people coming. The people who are coming are donors which would be the leadership team and they will come with people who are taking photos and making videos.
Once 5:00 came around it was time for free time and we were up and ready to go outside. Some of us went to the park and some of us went to the store. Both were an experience. Some people decided to stay back, chill, and have their own little talks or whatever. Meanwhile the rest of us were outside playing ball against the locals. It was a 3v3 at first until the other locals came and wanted to play their own 5v5’s. We had to share the court because they wanted to do a full court with each other (which was pretty stressful not gonna lie) so instead while they played their full court game we decided it was time we play on the court while everyone else was on the other side. Two of us were playing 1v1’s against the locals (they both won – shout out to those kids they were like 12-14 years old LOL). Meanwhile everyone else decided to play around in the park to do cardio and until it started raining around. Once it started raining hard we all collectively said “screw it; we from new york we gon’ walk in da rain” and so we made our way back to the hotel. We still had a whole hour of free time left so everyone got their showers and hallway baseball games in before dinner.
Speaking of dinner, it was delicious. We ate handcrafted hamburgers and fries (eggs and fries for those with dietary restrictions) with coca-cola and sprite (Jordan Note: Constanza Coca Cola tastes A LOT better than New York Coca Cola).
Last, but definitely not least, was the Nightly Meeting. This one was arguably the most impactful nightly meeting we’ve had so far. We started by summarizing the days activities. It was short, sweet and most of all thought provoking. We then went over the roses and thorns of the day, which was just as impactful. The main event however, were the Plus and Wishes. During that time we (Jordan and Isaiah) received some of the greatest compliments we’ve ever been given. Tears were shed, and laughs were had. By the end of it, we all left that meeting much connected then we had entered it, and that’s beautiful.
Today was great -scratch that- it was amazing. The fact that so much has happened in only a span of 4 days is amazing and impressive and we’re all looking forward to what the next days have to bring.
BIG LOVE,
Isaiah & Jordan F.
Comments (3)
Skarleth Peralta
I am so happy to hear about your trip at Dominican Republic. Every day we are eager to hear about what new experience you are all learning and sharing. It’s very nice to see how this is making you guys hind and connect. Looking forward in hearing more about your remaining days in DR. Please tell my nephew Andrew Rojas we are super proud of him and give him our regards from his titi skarleth, tio Ricky, cousin Sean, Emma and baby Hudsy! We can’t wait until he gets home and tell us more about his experience in The Dominican Republic and what he learned from this trip. Take care you all.
Jonathan Forehand
Hope you all are make the best of this opportunity and soaking up as much knowledge
from this experience
Stephanie Forehand
I enjoyed reading about your experience. You are bonding not only with one another but with the local community. I know that it will be an experience you will not forget and be excited to share with others when you return back.