As we went through the day we got to personally meet everyone. I had a very deep connection with Fernanda. She was a funny and cool person to hang out with. She taught me a lot about the Dominican Republic and I taught her a lot about our culture in America.
Next we walked to a lagoon and swam for about an hour and a half. We then went back to the Fundación and played some uno. I also gave some of the Dominican teens some sweet tarts and they loved it. Fernanda shared some chocolate from here with me and it was also amazing. We then said our good bye’s and came back to the hotel. We had some free time and hung out in the hot tub for a few hours. Then we had another amazing dinner. We then finished up the night with a debrief and some free time.\
Riley McSherry, Dinwiddie Co.
I had a very fascinating day. We had the opportunity to meet the Dominican teens and talk to them. I knew most of them from last year which was so nice to catch up with them! I had a very interesting conversation with a new teen from the Dominican named Sophia! We were talking about prom and what the Dominican version of that is. She said that the senior class does a choreographed dance and they work together to make money for it and create the dance!! It was so interesting to see how different things are in the Dominican from America. Sophia and I also had a lot in common which was so fun to talk about!! Very thankful for the people I met today and created connections with!
Meredith Minter, Alleghany Co.
Once we had all gotten to know each other a little bit, we started unloading and organizing the supplies we brought with us from the United States. We divided it into three tables: a table for donations, a table for day camp supplies, and a table for gifts to the Dominican teens. I was happy to see the materials I collected at home ready to be used in the Dominican Republic. I brought many books, colorful pencils and pens, bandaids, and some trinkets (among other things).
We had lunch at the Foundation with the Dominican teens before painting wooden picture frames to display our group photo (which we will take on Friday) in. After that, we got ready to walk over to Ojos Indígenas. The walk through the park was beautiful. It was nicely shaded and very dense with plants. I was shocked by how clear the water was in the freshwater lagoons. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a natural body of water that clear! We were able to jump into the water from high up, which was very exciting. The water was much colder than I was expecting, which was refreshing. There was a pretty bird hanging out near us, as well as many beautiful fish in the water (which I was later told were tilapia). I was able to see the fish very clearly under the water using my goggles. I was also able to swim up very close to them! We spent a long time hanging out at the lagoon with the Dominican teens. Once we all got out of the water, we saw several cute turtles swimming around!
We walked back to the PuntaCana Foundation as a group and got to spend some more time with the Dominican teens as we waited for our bus. I played Uno with some Dominican teens and some fellow Virginia 4-H teens, which was lots of fun. Once we got back to the Westin, we had a few hours of free time before dinner. I got to spend some time in the hot tub with other Virginia 4-H teens. We had dinner at the Westin as a group and then had our evening reflections. It was nice to talk about the connections I made today and hear about the connections other people made. Today was great and I can’t wait to start day camp tomorrow!
Victoria Delacourt, Fairfax Co.
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