An amazing day/Un dia maravillosa!

Hola Padres, Familias, y participantes de CIEE Santo Domingo Session 2!!!!!!!!! (Hello Parents, Families, and CIEE Participants Session 2 Santo Domingo)!

We had an amazing first day at our service site, NICHIBOSCO, local NGO for at risk-youth.  It is located in the Cristo Rey, one of the lowest income neighborhoods in the city. We were greeted with a very warm welcome from 200 plus new friends and smiling faces. We started the day with singing and dancing all together. CIEE participants were assigned to groups ages 5-14  who they will be spending the whole service trip with. They interacted with their children by playing games, talking about respect, teaching one another new words in both English and Spanish, talking about the environment, and exchanging lots of laughs and smiles. After groups, CIEE particiapnts and the local children played volleyball together, talked, played basketball, tag, and DANCED AGAIN! We learned group dances and our students taught the locals some moves too! It was a really fun way to start connecting with the community. 

After enjoying lunch with their host families, we headed back to the CIEE casita to have our first Spanish classes. They enjoyed their teachers and had fun in class. We then headed to the Colonial Zone in downtown Santo Domingo ( historic central neighborhood of Santo Domingo and the oldest permanent European settlement of the Americas) to see some of the historical sites. This zone is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Students took in the Spanish architecture, the locals playing music and strolling through the plazas, and the landmarks.  We had a guided tour of Basilica Catedral Santa Maria la Menor, which is the oldest cathedral in the Americas. We also strolled through the downtown area and walked through Parque Colón, saw the Panteón Nacional, Alcazar de Colón, and Plaza de España. We headed home along the Malecón (highway running alongside the Caribbean Sea) to CIEE study center for reflection and journaling. All in all, an excellent day!