Day 6: Sustainable Development

Hello family and friends, this is Bailey and David, the LDD’s for day six! As described in the previous blog, we were in Puerto Plata, a beach town along the north-east coast of the Dominican Republic. David and I woke up at 6:50 in the morning and went through the hotel, knocking on the doors of our fellow glimpsers to wake them up for the day. Unfortunately, it did not go as smoothly as we had hoped due to complications with our list of room numbers, and we accidentally woke up some Dominican guests at the hotel who were not a part of our team. It was extremely embarrassing to say the least as we attempted to apologize with our limited Spanish vocabulary, but everything worked out in the end. After waking everyone up, we all headed down to a breakfast of (mostly) pancakes with an ocean view. After breakfast, we piled back into the bus, ready to embark on what would be a four-hour drive up and down the mountainous terrain of the Dominican Republic. On the way back to Jarabacoa, our driver graciously allowed us to blast music at full volume in the bus all the way home. Not only did we listen to Dominican songs (our favorite being one by Dominican artist Bulin 47, introduced to us by program coordinator Daniel), but American ones (specifically from the Bay Area) for a little taste of home. Upon our arrival back in Jarabacoa, we sat down for a quick lunch of stewed pork alongside rice with corn, fruit, salad, and plantains. After lunch, we hopped back on the bus and drove to the Escuela de Sordos Mudos, a catholic school for deaf and mute students in Jarabacoa. At the school, we had the opportunity to meet the principal, Beatriz, who spoke to us about the origins of the foundation and the work they do for children, not only in Jarabacoa but also in other schools across the Dominican Republic. After her seminar, Beatriz put on music, and we all danced bachata in one of the various school rooms together, closing our time at the Escuela de Sordos Mudos. Back at the villa, we enjoyed free time before our next seminar and dinner. Some of us did a workout, some ate ice cream, while others played card games or took refreshing showers. At our program seminar, we revised and structured our plans for the next day, the first day of our CAP project, which you will get to hear more about in tomorrow’s blog! After the seminar, we ate a dinner that garnered a lot of excitement from the students: spaghetti!!! Almost everyone went back for seconds, and everyone’s plates were practically licked clean, with not even so much as a drop of sauce or a noodle left behind. Lastly, after dinner, we had our nightly meeting where David and I had the pleasure of passing the torch onto the next LDD’s, Natalia, Arianna, and Marfil, who you back home all get the pleasure of hearing from in tomorrow’s blog!

^^ yoooo look at this guy walking with aura sheeshhhh 😎 ^^