Day 7: Fun Day #1 in the Dominican Republic

We were FINALLY able to sleep in for 30 minutes…YAHOO!!!!   With a wake up time of 7AM and a breakfast time of 8 AM we were on time getting ready for the students surprise…the BEACH!  We boarded the guagua at roughly 8:35 and were ready to take our trip to a beach in the city of Barahona.  It was such a pleasant drive admiring the topography and the amazing blue skies.  Of  course with any bus ride I fell asleep for quite some time but as we approached the city of Barahona, I could totally see the clear water.  We continued through the city until we came to a fork in the road and proceeded to travel down the gravel path and throughout the clearing one could see the beach…it was just a breath taking experience.  To see the palm tree, the clear water, the blue skies and the tiny pebbles and rocks.  As we unpacked everything from the guagua we set up our picnic area for the day.  

Once we got situated, the life guard, James and myself had to set up the boundaries for the swimming area—determining how far into the ocean they could go and set a perimeter for the students.  Since the water was calm, all the students were able to get into the ocean at one time with the four adults getting into the water as well and having some fun in the sun.  

The water was so refreshing, just as salty and clear as when I was snorkeling in Grand Turk.  We all literally could have stayed in the water all day, but realized that it was getting late so we had our picnic with the food provided from our restaurant and had a nice time of rest and relaxation.  We then had time to go back into the ocean for about 20 minutes before we had to head back to the hotel in San Juan.

The bus ride back to the city was a long one for sure, but we were all dead tired from being in the water for so long.  Once we got to the hotel, we changed our schedule a bit and gave the students some free time, while the GG Leaders had the leadership meeting with the next student leader of the day.  Once we finished with that the students had their one hour English prep time and that’s when I was finally able to get some caffeine in me and take a nice shower. 

Once their prep time was done, we made our way to the local school to teach our English classes…of course we were running late…a trend that I unfortunately have seen with this delegation.  Even though some of the kids were worried, once we got there we realized that there was barely anyone there.  Luckily after about 15 minutes the students finally started to show up.  It yet again was a great day to be teaching English…these Glimpsers are a dedicated group for sure.

We went to the restaurant for our dinner and unfortunately many of our students did not eat…and I’ll be honest wasn’t one of the best dinners, but since I was hungry I ate it.  At dinner tonight, we had our program seminar on the reality challenge…living on a $ 1 a day.   After dinner we headed to the hotel for our nightly meeting and prepare ourselves for our reality challenge of the day.

We are tired, sunburned and a bit anxious to see what tomorrow will offer.  Wishing all my family and friends a safe 4^th of July…from the DR of course! ;)