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Day 1:

Day 2:

Sunday was our first full day in Havana, Cuba. With highlights such as traveling to the beach, dancing with local community members, and playing a game of baseball, our international travel group enjoyed a stunning display of Cuba’s culture This however, was just a small sliver of what the country has to offer. We are excited to continue the wonders of the island. -Isaac

Highlights of the day included the really fun immunity art hangout where we had dinner and danced to rock music. The whole day was lots of fun! -Gunnar

Day 3:

Monday was an action packed day. From climbing in a cave, to visiting a tobacco farm, to riding horses, it was all great. Today was also Isaac’s birthday! Happy 17th! Overall today was about pursuing boundaries and personal limits and we look forward to what tomorrow brings. Hasta luego! -Monroe and MaKayla

Blog for 2/20

On day 5 in Cuba, we went to a permaculture farm run by two very kind women. They showed us the garden and we collected fruits and veggies to cook our lunch. We split into two groups to do some service, one to cook and one to do some garden work. When we were done, we ate an abundance of fresh food.

In the afternoon, we returned to Old Havana and had the choice to go to the museum of Fine Art or the Revolution museum. We then had the opportunity to have some free time to walk around and explore a tourist market.

Before dinner, we returned to the apartment to participate in an advance studies class taught by Ava. It was a weird experience for Ava to run a class but it was a topic she loves a lot, art.

Lastly we all went to dinner at a very relaxed dinner and had a good time being together as a group.

-Ava and Augustine

Blog for 2/21:

Thursday was our last full day in Cuba, which was also the longest day so far. We woke up at 7:30 and eat breakfast early to get a good start on the day. After breakfast, we were off to Las Terrazas, a community surround by tropical birds and amazing views. We went for a walk looking for birds and were lucky enough to find the national bird, El Tocororo. After the walk, we went zip lining around there area, over trees and a lake. It was such a cool experience! After lunch we were able to swim and rent boats to paddle around a lake. We also had the opportunity to watch one of our crew member’s presentation, Willa Philips, about birds in Cuba. After that we went to The Fortress, where we watched another presentation by Isaac Parker about the US invasion of Grenada. After the presentation, we watched the closing canon ceremony which included a reeanctmaent and the firing of a canon. The canon firing happens everyday single day of the year and the canon fires at exactly 9pm nightly To conclude our final full day, we had dinner out and got to enjoy traditional Cuban music and dance.

-Joaquin and Roger

Departure Day

The end of the Cuban adventure has finally arrived…after 6 fast and furious, jam-packed days, the group is on their way home. It was an amazing week of experiences!Thank you to everyone that made this trip possible and get ready to hear some remarkable experiences.

“Filmmaking is all about appreciating the talents of the people you surround yourself with, and knowing you could never have made any of these films by yourself.”

-Steven Spielberg

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Monday August 6, 2018

Today we went to a nature conservation area in the city of Cabarete. It was in Cabarete where we plated different types of trees that are native to the area. Afterwards, we went swimming in the underground caves. We’re in love with The DR! We love the beautiful landscapes, the kind people, and the adventures we’ve experienced so far. We’re having an amazing time!

Tuesday August 7, 2018

Today was a very productive day and we got a lot of work done. It was very hard work building the community center and mixing cement. The local children helped out which was a great opportunity to meet members of the community. Overall, the group had an amazing time in NY Chiquito!

Thursday August 9, 2018

Today was Day 7 and we went to Dudu Lagoon! We explored caves, zip lined 50 feet down into a beautiful blue lagoon, played volleyball, and took naps in hammocks. After Dudu Lagoon we went to Playa Preciosa and drank virgin pina coladas while relaxing on the beach!

Friday August 10, 2018

Today was our last day at La Grua and we were able to finish bottling the recycling center. It was a hot and long day, but everyone was in great spirits.

The kids of La Grua wanted to be very involved in helping with the project and were very friendly despite the language barrier. As the service day came to an end, we played music and danced with all of the kids before we left!

Tired from the hard work, we stopped at a supermarket for snacks. The air conditioning felt amazing and all of us stocked up on cakes, soda, and many well deserved treats.

Saturday August 11, 2018

Today was one of our most relaxing days. Although we had a slow morning, a good portion of the group went on a run and worked out. We got to take a scenic walk to the local school in the community of Las Cañas, which was really cool! After eating lunch at the lodge, we headed to Cabarete beach where we were able to swim, shop, and tan. We ended the night with a documentary, stargazing by the pool, and embracing the lizards in our cabanas.

Sunday August 12, 2018

Today we went to work at the community of Caño Dulce to plant and water banana trees. These trees will provide food security and a stronger sense of community as the community is responsible for taking care of the trees after we plant them. We ended our day in the community by playing basketball with our new local friends!

Monday August 13, 2018

Today we worked on cementing the community center at NY Chiquito. It rained on us a couple of times at the construction site, but it was nothing we couldn’t handle! After a few hours of work we headed to Playa Preciosa for the final time, where it also rained, but was still beautiful! We finished the day discussing the 7 Elements of human security.

Tuesday August 14, 2018

Today was our last day in NY Chiquito. We made a lot of progress and worked hard on the community center. After work, we took a tour of the community. It was beautiful and full of music and lively people as well as murals of the town and it’s history! The group has gotten so close in these past two weeks. We’ve been here and have started to dread our last day. Everyday in the DR has been so beautiful and amazing. We never want it to end!

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Tuesday July 10, 2018

After being woken up for our first day of service by a rooster alarm clock, we were all very excited to get out into the community! We had breakfast and a quick orientation meeting then we headed out to the town of Caño Dulce to our first worksite. Our group continued the project of constructing a house with water bottle instillation and chicken wire covering.

Crystal, our GLA mentor, told us that we finished more than she expected so by the time we go back we hope to be very close to finishing the house all together. For lunch we went to Mateo’s, the night guard’s, home that he graciously welcomed us into and had a good time chatting with his family.

We returned to the Lodge around 3pm and had a tour of the rest of the home base before going to see the beautiful beach just down the street. Although we almost lost our shoes to the tide, we loved the scenery. Came back, chilled, showered, and laughed until dinner. After dinner, we went to a 7 Elements meeting where we discussed Cholera in Haiti and diabetes in the Dominican Republic and how it affects the community. And now, we are ready to go to sleep after a long day of cultural experience.

-by Julia and Kyra

Wednesday July 11, 2018

What an eye opening third day! We woke up at 7am and had a very delicious breakfast thanks to the nice cooks. We left to start our day at Cano Dulce by 9am and arrived in the community to assist in the reforestation project, in which we planted plantain seeds to socioeconomically benefit the local community.

After spending a few hours here, we enjoyed a nourishing lunch at Johnny’s (a local Dominican GLA worker) house and hung out with young doggiesssss and ate lots of watermelon. After this, we headed over to a beach in order to partake in a clean-up effort. We were given 20 bags to fill, all of which returned to the lodge completely loaded.

We enjoyed a refreshing “pit stop” in a fresh water river only a few yards away from the ocean after our hard work was completed. When we were finished loading up the garbage and ourselves, we headed back to the lodge and enjoyed an exquisite taco dinner featuring pineapple, of course. Later on, we attended a lecture featuring two men with Haitian heritage and learned about the ongoing pretentious conflict between the Dominicans and the Haitians.

We got to talk a lot about global issues that have been affecting people for centuries, even though we are not always conscious of them. One important thing that we learned was that although we have problems in the USA, other people from all over the world experience the same sort of problems. We’re from different places, but in the end, we are all the same.

Thursday July 12, 2018

Today was our first adventure day. First, we visited Las Cuevas de Cabarete, where this guy named Phil talked about the ecosytem and how it relates to the community. The water there was about 98% pure as it goes through the cave systems. The guard (whose name was Victor) gave us a tour of the beautiful park and we were able to see peoples homes and how they lived in the mountains. Crystal our leader asked us to keep in mind the 7 Elements of Human Security.

We think Victor seemed more at ease when he found out that the majority of our group could speak or at least understand Spanish. He told us about his family and some monkeys that had apparently escaped from their owner, who actually had to buy the monkeys back. So yes, we saw 2 monkeys! Victor also showed us the various fruit trees, such as papaya and pineapple. He picked a passion fruit for us, and we were able to try it. It was good.

The seeds were floating in the flesh, and it kind of tasted like cacao. Then we went to Cabarete, a tourist beach to relax and swim. As soon as we got to the beach the vendors wanted us to buy so many things. Some of us spend money for gifts for people at home. So our whole group had to bargain but we felt bad because we have seen first-hand what they have to go though and it was a little stressful to say no to them. Then we had pizza for lunch. It was so good.

A funny thing: As we were going to bed, there was a centipede in one of the cabins. As a group we had to try and get it out of the cabin, but it was so funny because everyone was so scared. Finally, Rebecca put on gloves and threw it out of the cabin. This caused us to laugh so much. We are having a great time.

-written by Rebecca and Maddy

Friday July 13, 2018

Today, was by far one of the hardest days we faced working. To start our day, while some of the ladies were enjoying their slumber, a few of us got up early and went on a 3-mile run by the ocean shore; it was a beautiful sight and it was something that everyone should experience.

After breakfast we went to Caño Dulce to finish building the bottle house we helped build on Tuesday. We also hand-made and mixed the cement that we used to plaster on the walls of the house. At around noon, we ate lunch at Mateo’s (night guards) house and bonded with a few kids from the community and Gina (friendly neighborhood dog). After lunch we continued the plastering for another 3 hours and were worn out by the end of the workday.

We came back to the lodge and Crystal showed us a TedTalk. She then gave us the task of finding a “problem” in the community and finding a solution to that “problem” in which we also must apply the 7 elements of Human Security to. We then went to the beach to do a team bonding activity (which we excelled at) and hung out at the beach until dinner-time with the WEGO girls.

After dinner, we had our daily Charla (our group discussions), in which Sarah (a 7 Elements mentor) lead a presentation about Social Justice. Her presentation was filled with topics that made us all question human behavior, also including; race, sexual orientation, and social class. It was a very emotional presentation which filled our heads with many questions on how to furthermore improve the world.

It is now bedtime as we are speaking, and we are hoping to get to a good sleep for our second adventure day tomorrow! Charla quote of the day: “There is more work to be done” -Sarah

-Jhoana & Vanessa

Sunday July 15, 2018

Today was day 7 and we kicked it off early with breakfast at 7am and left for the worksite at 8am. Our worksite today was in La Grua and we worked to mix cement for a local who had no cement floor. To the local masons surprise we finished an our earlier than expected to cement the floor. We then had the opportunity to walk through the betay which was where Haitians employed by the government to work in the sugarcane plantations lived, until the plantations were discontinued in favour of high fructose corn syrup. We also got to hang out with the children who lived in the betay and they were super cute and friendly. Soon after, we left the community to go back to the Lodge and on the way back we stopped at an air conditioned super market to get some snackies. We got back to the Lodge, had dinner, chilled in the pool, and ended our eventful day with a leadership based discussion.

-Amber and Kyra