Next Stop, Panama!
Student Trip Blog
Hello to all our loved onesđ€ This blog will be about our day 5 experience of this trip by Amanda and Andrea, we hope you enjoy!
Today we woke up bright and early at a whopping 5am. We left for a 3 and a half hour bus ride with Buche, our driver, to go to the city SosĂșa inside of Puerto Plata. We had an early lecture with doctor Reginald Kerolle who is a physician for his community. We learned a lot about the early history of the DR (Dominican Republic) specifically referring to the Haitian people who migrated here. He teaches the community about personal hygiene, sex-ed, elementary school education and early signs of women’s breast cancer among other subjects. This lecture left many of our peers curious, inspired, and more empathetic. For Amanda and I, this lecture left a profound impact on us and allowed us to be even more grateful for all that we have back at the states.
After the lecture, we stopped by a restaurant where everyone got a delicious full meal that left everyone satisfied. They served us rice, salad, beans, and either chicken, beef, or goat. We then went to the hotel which we stayed in for the night and got ready to go to the beach. On the way to the beach, everyone was vibing along with the music speaker Luz, our GG leader, brought with her. At the beach, people were skipping rocks (Toby, Erick, Paul, Arseniol, Kaidyn, Amanda, and Andrea) collecting shells (Ericka, Jocelyn, Loveleen, Durga, and Amanda) taking pictures (Katia, Tanya, Loveleen, Olivia, and Xatzibe), and playing with the waves (Ericka fell mid picture as you can see aboveđ ). We had about 2 hours at the beach because we held a vote where majority of the people chose to go back to the hotel’s pool. While we were at the beach we got to have our mid-trip phone calls back home. That really helped with a lot of people’s home sickness. Speaking for myself (Andrea), this phone call was probably the peak of my day.
At the pool, some played mermaids, Simon says, and the 6 boys were messing with water bottle caps playing catch. Amanda and I met a family of 5, the parents, an older daughter and two younger brothers. We conversed with them along with Buche for a little over an hour about the differences and similarities between the Mexican, Brazilian, and DR culture.
After the pool, everyone went back back to their rooms to shower and get ready for dinner. While we were waiting for the food to be ready we all went to go take pictures while the sun was setting. This was a beautiful moment where everyone was making memories that they’ll take home. Not only was the memory that we were making beautiful, so was the view. The way the sun was perfectly behind the clouds but still managed to peak out while the shift in colors from a light gray to a pink was an indescribable scene.
When our food was ready some people got burgers with fries, caesar salads, fish sticks with fries, and chicken wings with plantains. After everyone finished their foods, we decided to play some games like uno and spot it. Spot it being the most popular for a good minute having about 8 people playing in one round. The game consists of two cards being placed out in the middle of the table and the first person to spot the common object in the cards gets to keep the cards and gain a point. Naomy and Genesis being the most competitive and hardest to beat. While that was happening we all answered Mid-Trip evaluations that just asked us feedback about the trip so far.
We then had our nightly meeting where we asked for different perspectives on the question of the day (How does accumulative wealth create systems of social inequalities?) and the quote of the day (No one leaves home unless home is the mouth of a shark. You only run for the border when you see other people running as well.) Jocelyn, Naomy, along with a few others gave really interesting perceptions of it. Because Amanda and I were leaders of the day we then received a plus (compliment) and wish (areas for improvement). Afterwards we “passed the torch” to the leaders of the next day. Following the torch was was a big love appreciation where anyone who wanted to gave a shoutout to another person and we finally closed the meeting with a unity clap.
This was our Immigration day, full of fun, learning, and bonding experiences. From everyone in the group, we miss you SO MUCH and hope to see you all soon!
