Immigration/beach day!

Hello and Good Morning/Afternoon Global Glimpse Community! Before we start, please note that each paragraph will have the speaker swapping between the two leaders of the day.

The day was an extra early morning, with myself (Devin) and Esdras waking up around 5:30 AM and the rest of the crew following shortly after at 6. We also had an early breakfast time, a bit more scattered than normal, so that we could hustle to get ready. People just came up to get food on their own instead of our standard routine. Ready for what, you ask? Well, we have a long day ahead of us. Let’s get into it, starting with the bus trip to Puerto Plata province.

I (Esdras) got onto the bus and was instantly put into almost a hypnotic drowsiness but the bus and the students were more vibrant than I could put into words. Even though the wake up time was earlier than usual, the students found the energy to joke, talk, and even sing (we were given the opportunity to request songs.) The views were beautiful and not only in the sense of nature but the views of the local communities as well and how they went about their day to day life and how different everything is compared to the U.S.

The trip was very long, something over two and a half hours. We had to make a midway bathroom stop due to the extended travel time. Part of what helped was our newly joining supervisor, Daniel (part two)! After Francis sadly had to exit and go attend to a different Global Glimpse trip happening somewhere else in the D.R., Danny (nickname to differentiate) came in to fill the spot. Very fun, and ran the music requests that Esdras mentioned before me. Everyone really enjoyed them and the general vibes in the car made it very fun. Me personally, I was very tired, but I could tell how much fun everyone awake was having.

When we arrived at Puerto Plata, I (Esdras) was first greeted by the beaming sun that seemed to hit without remorse with the lack of wind and what felt like an excess in humidity aiding in its power, but moments after, all the other Glimpsers and I were greeted by a huge group of children from the Villas Ascension community, some of which instantly clang onto the Glimpsers as if we were their new favorite toy. It was heartwarming and surprising seeing not only the children but the adults of the community as well greet us so genuinely and warmly.

Expanding on what Esdras just mentioned, the Villas Ascension community is an area that we visited specifically one part of it—a church that functions as the main center for the Haitian immigrants (many of the children were present). We went there to learn about their lives as immigrants, the joys they experience, the struggles they go through due to lack of resources, and just to get to know them. I concur with the prior description of the children’s behavior. I think it was really a highlight for everyone. Before the leader of the community could even greet us, young kids were already running up to us in excitement. The children there are viscous and hyperactive, in the cutest possible way. Very friendly and not afraid to show it, they were all over us. What contributed is how different most of us are from them. Being in a rather racially cohesive group, they saw our diverse cast of faces as completely exotic, something their age denied them from withholding their curiosity towards. I specifically remember one kid getting very fascinated with my fluffy hair, being so different from their own, spending a long time playing with it and figuring it out. They all wanted to play and walk with you and hold your hand or get a piggyback ride, and got very attached. I even remember seeing two young ones get really moody when one of the community leaders told them to go off somewhere when they were busy hanging out with Madeline and Cassia. Really adorable memories were made.

The main reason we went to the community in the first place was to see and ask about how the people lived in this community, specifically pertaining to our learning on immigration and how migrant communities may be both thriving and struggling. I (Esdras) noticed that when the locals, at least in my case, were asked about questions about hardships they always related their hardships and hopefulness to overcome them back to God and Religion which was a noticeably prominent part of their life as Dr. Kerolle, the head of the Kerolle Initiative for Community Health noted. Sunday was very important to the community and that the people always put on their best clothes for that sacred day.

We got a number of chances to personally interact with the community in various ways. At the start, we were introduced to the community officially and to the children, where they sung a song for us! Dr. Kerolle and everyone else were very excited to meet us, seeing it as a privilege (as Dr. Korolle’s kid would translate for us). During our visit, we played some la papa caliente (hot potato) with the kids on the basketball court, walked around the community seeing the houses, spoke personally with families in small groups about their lives, got a chance to browse the local shops, and ended it by sharing a meal there. After it all, we got back on the bus to take a (thankfully shorter) trip to the hotel where we’d be staying that night, getting a chance to go to the beach once we got there.

After, we got to the hotel and got the whole group checked in, we had 15-20 minutes to get ready as we were to head to the beach which was a 10-minute walk from the hotel. When we finally left from the hotel to the beach we all admired how beautiful the beach was as well as noting how clear the water was. During this time everyone was interacting and building on the communal aspect of our group. Different people chose to play volleyball, find seashells, chill on the sand, or various other things. It was a beautiful and warm beach with friendly waves. We also called home during this time (sure some of you guys got some) and when most of the calls were done we headed back to the hotel. After making sure everyone was back we had ample time before dinner started and some, such as myself (Esdras), decided to get in the hotel pool for a while with our extra time and then shower after in order to show up to dinner fresh.

We all got to have an extra special dinner for this fun day. (Devin) personally, rocked a burger and fries, a taste of American home that I hadn’t gotten in a while, but there was also fish, ribs, spaghetti, and salad on offer. Once everyone had finished eating, we brought out a birthday cake for Paige (happy birthday!) and sang to them, before letting them do some karaoke in the restaurant with Count on Me by Bruno Mars. We did more singing afterwards with various artists, and Steven took some time to read us the comments from previous blogs. Make sure to leave some more, as your kids will be hearing them during dinner! In the end, we had our nightly meeting, got just a little free time and then it was time for bed. That’s the day! Packed with constant excitement for sure.

Goodbye, Global Glimpse Community. Look out for another awesome blog post tommorrow.

Hasta la vista!

Photos: link to Google Drive

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/187HFurJtGJ_zn1FQHVWuN7D6FdvJKCrj