Triple Seven

Today, we started with our first seven of the day – waking up at 7:00 a.m. sharp! For breakfast, we had a lot of interesting fresh dishes. For instance, fried cheese, scrambled egg with cheese, Mangu (smashed plantain), and traditional Dominican Salami. Simple yet delicious! It gave us energy for the entire day! We traveled back from the hotel to our base, Rancho Ruiseñor. The ride was long but entertaining, thanks to our special glimpser, Nacho, who was able to cheer the entire group with his never-ending energy.

Lunch

After we quickly settled back into our base, we were served with some delicious lunch. We had rice with carrots and peas, topped with chicken potato, and served with potato as a side dish.

Deaf School

After we finished lunch, we quickly went to a school for the deaf to learn about educators in our community. The special speaker introduced us to her school and the local history of children who were almost completely deaf. We learned that the country is short of teachers, but still manages to ensure that everyone can be effectively incorporated into the community. Additionally, after the special guest shared information about her school and showed us her classroom, we learned a few signs in Dominican Sign Language. For example, we learned the alphabet, numbers from 1 to 15, and a few signs (one being family).

Free time and shopping

Throughout this trip, we have been playing a lot of card games and getting beaten by the ultimate card boss. There have also been some dramatically fun soccer games.

Our free time today was spent shopping at the supermarket and souvenir shop. We bought some snacks and some other meaningful things (you’ll have to wait and see). After our “free time”, we successfully did the headcount (1-21!) in Mandarin and returned to the ranch. Right after returning, we gathered and talked about today’s topic: sustainable development and why we should consider our actions carefully when doing community service. Everyone lives differently and has a different approach to life. What we think might be good for them could damage them and change the way they live.

Dinner

For dinner, we learned the Dominican way to eat a hot dog – by putting special cabbage, ketchup, and mayonnaise on it. It was a refreshing taste, and we really enjoyed it. It was a hectic day today, but we learned a lot of new things.

We look forward to getting in touch with a new community and helping them, while we learn about their daily lives and living styles.

WE MISS YOU ALL :D—Joy, Ziani, and Wenbo