FSW Travelers in the Dominican Republic

We are on time in Charlotte, but with a long customs line we could not stop for a full dinner. We ate a pizza snack at 3:30 and have lots of snacks, but students will likely need a little something this evening. Please consider bringing an evening snack/meal for your child!

Our bags are packed, our hearts are full, and we look forward to seeing our families tonight!

We will soon board our flight in Puerto Plata, we will update you once we are through customs in Charlotte.

After breakfast, our group settled and centered for a reflective and thoughtful Meeting for Worship on the “tower balcony” overlooking the palm trees.
After packing, we went souvenir shopping and then went to Kite Club. What a show to watch all the kite surfers! After lunch we will head to the airport- off we go!

This evening during our journaling time, we asked students to share their thoughts on the 4 questions below. Please take a close look, as their words are quite insightful. <3

What new food have you tried?

What do you notice about the Dominican people?

How would you describe this experience to someone back home?

What do you notice about being away from screens?

Today was another exciting and rewarding day in the classrooms of La Ciénaga!

Our students partnered up to lead games and crafts designed for language exchange, connection, and learning. The five activity stations included:

• Uno
• Go Fish
• Who Am I? (a guessing game)
• Dominoes (our Dominican friends were experts at this one!)
• Paper flower crafting

In the morning, we worked with two different groups of students, leading the same activities with each group. By the afternoon, our students had become pros at guiding the stations, and their confidence in speaking Spanish grew as they engaged in deeper conversations with their new friends.

For lunch, we enjoyed our third and final meal at Daniel’s—chicken, veggies, and mashed potatoes. As a special treat, Nathaniel, the owner, surprised us with cupcakes. They were a delicious way to celebrate our time there!

In the afternoon, we worked with two more classes of older students, continuing our games and activities. Meanwhile, some students participated in two building projects:

• Constructing five bookshelves for the school
• Creating a raised flower garden, with a section left open for teachers to plant peppers

At the end of the day, we expressed our gratitude to the school’s administration and teachers for welcoming us into their classrooms this week. It was truly an unforgettable experience!

Tonight, we’ll take a short walk to Mojitos Restaurant, right on the water, for dinner and a relaxing beach walk.

What did students think about their time in the classroom? Stay tuned as we share their reflections!

This afternoon to visited Rugama, an ecological park just a short drive from our hotel. It was created and is still run by Ruddy, an ecology professor whose passion for nature is evident in every corner of the park.

We began our visit with Ruddy sharing his deep knowledge of the plants he grows on his farm. Did you know there are over 100 different types of coconut trees? Ruddy cultivates several varieties, each with its own unique purpose, from food to practical uses for the shells. We also learned about garlic, ginger, cacao, and citrus trees, and even got to see him pick bananas straight from the tree as a snack.

After exploring the gardens, we met some of the animals that call Rugama home, including Ava, the resident snake. A few brave students even held her.

Next, we boarded a boat—fondly nicknamed the “agua guagua” (water bus)—for a scenic ride down the Río Yasica. The river led us to the boca (mouth), where 25 nearby rivers converge before flowing into the ocean. Along the way, we saw people fishing for small eels and enjoying life by the water, reminding us how deeply connected the rivers and communities are.

Before dinner, students had some time to swim in the ornate pool. The water was a little chilly, but after a warm day, it was the perfect way to cool off.

We ended the evening with another delicious meal of rice, chicken, pasta, salad, fried bananas, and potatoes. Conversations flowed as students practiced their Spanish and deepened their connections with our guides, Bright, Alex, and Max. It’s been wonderful to see friendships forming and confidence growing with each day.

Tomorrow will be our last day in the classroom, where students will take part in a whole-group language exchange, lead games and crafts, and help build garden boxes before planting. It will be a full and meaningful day, and we can’t wait to see all that they accomplish.

Today rains subsided to give sunny skies and word was out in the community that we were visiting the school. This meant that a lot more students were present at the school. We were greeted with happy faces and big hugs!
At times, parts of our morning at La Cienaga felt chaotic and students really could see the challenges in the learning environment and how that would affect quality of education. We powered through, teaching our classes and also recognized that with the intensity and volume, and no true break (it was loud and busy everywhere!), we needed to modify our afternoon.
We enjoyed a lovely lunch again at Daniel’s with a choice of shrimp pasta or pasta pomodoro (both delicious!) and tamarind or sour orange (more similar to lemonade in flavor) juices. During this time leaders also debriefed, and decided to modify our afternoon to allow for some mid afternoon group discussions at our hotel and then relaxing, resting, and playing time before an earlier departure to Rugama (coming up momentarily!).
We have a plan to modify our time in classrooms for tomorrow, cutting down to just Martina in full instruction for the 4 groups of Dominican students with more flexibility for Kaylie and Amy to assist in the classroom and work more with the bookshelves and garden (rather than two simultaneous classrooms). In our group discussion, we also talked about the importance of open communication and, on an organizational level, this being an essential piece to working in true partnership between organizations, adapting and modifying when needed.

All are in good spirits and look forward to our time at Rugama now!

Yesterday evening students enjoyed dinner at Velero with a beautiful view. We ended the evening with discussions and reflections about the learning environment at La Cienaga Primary and students shared moments of connection and challenge during their first classroom day. As always, our cat joined us!

Wow- today our students impressed us, hopping into a totally new situation at the school, going with the flow, and putting themselves out there to connect with Dominican students. We arrived at La Cienaga Primary after a delicious breakfast. It rained quite a bit overnight and throughout the day today, so energy was a little extra chaotic in the school. With heavy rain, we skipped the scavenger hunt.

We began with Bright and Alex’s leadership with the ice breaker game El barco se hunde. This is high energy movement game brought lots of smiles and laughter. Next, our students split into two groups, and then half joined Kaylie for language exchange activities and the other half joined Martina. In Kaylie’s group, Kaylie guided the class to practice basic introductions which students did in English and Spanish, connecting with each student with a piece of yarn to symbolize a “spiderweb” of new friendships. Next, Kaylie helped students into small groups for a number guessing game. Success!

In Martina’s group, we began with talking about where our group is from, showing some pictures of nature in NC (pine forest rather than palm groves, for example) and then to link to our garden building project, talked about life cycle of a plant. Students created this cycle on a paper plate and practiced terms in Spanish and English. It was clear that students normally do not do this type of hands on practice as classrooms did not have scissors or glue.

After 45 minutes, we switched groups. We were all pretty exhausted (even the volume in the classrooms is a lot!) and happy for a break as we walked to our lunch spot. For lunch we were served arroz con gandules (rice with pigeon peas) and either pollo guisado (stewed chicken) or an eggplant dish. Students chose between jugo de chinola (passion fruit juice) or naranja (fresh sour orange).

After a long lunch, we returned to school to work with the 12 year old group, repeating the morning blocks for rounds 3 and 4 with slightly shortened class times and some modifications. A few of our students also began work with Bright and the carpenter to assemble bookshelves. Rumor has it that Ches was quite skilled here!
All of our students worked hard today, all with incredible stamina and willingness to try. We will have an even better idea of what to expect tomorrow and I’m certain we will all be greeted with many hugs tomorrow morning!