By Danny Magrans, Spanish teacher
Christopher McCandless, the reason why Back to the Wild was written, once said, “the very basic core of every persons’ living spirit is their passion for adventure.” And that’s exactly what we accomplished today. Adventure beyond our wonders and dreams.
This morning started with a team scavenger hunt. Each team consisted of a blend of Dominican students and ours. We worked collaboratively to find answers to questions scattered around a main strip in the city of Cabarete. While the clues were written in English our students had to translate each clue into Spanish so that the Dominican could understand how to help. A wonderful activity to start the day. I am happy to report that all teams finished and found all of the clues.
After our session with the school and the Dream Project we then went on a 15 minute hike into another small village called Loma. The purpose of this hike was to find the famous location where the Taino civilization once lived…..a cave. One by one we entered the cave so that we could swim in the naturally fed pool that exists inside. An unbelievable experience to say the least. It’s probably better that I afford you the opportunity to hear more about this excursion from our students.
We then took a bus ride to snorkel in the Caribbean. Doesn’t that sound amazing? The waters were choppy today but we were able to see so many different kinds of fish. My personal favorite are the Tiger fish.
We then went on a boat ride down the Yasika River to eat dinner at a well known but very remote restaurant. Quite frankly….I think it might be the best meal I have ever eaten. Simply amazing.
I have to confess, I am starting to believe that these students are part Latino or maybe my love for dancing is rubbing off on them. So far, every night has turned into a Latin American Salsa Party. Don’t be fooled by what our students may tell you….they have all danced and have really enjoyed the experiences. And for the record I have a ton of video recordings just in case you need proof.
Tomorrow we leave for Santo Domingo. Pray for safe travels and a wonderful day.