This post features student writing.

After a couple days of hard work, we left our host village for a relaxing and scenic escape to the mountain town of Jarabacoa. Upon arrival to Jarabacoa on Friday afternoon, some students went horseback riding while others relaxed and swam at the pool. The horseback ride was a beautiful one hour journey through the hillside with amazing views of the surrounding mountains. We were able to see parts of Jarabacoa that we could not have seen otherwise. Once we started riding, the horses knew where to go, so we were able to take some pictures and relax. It was a ride that we will always remember because of the beautiful views and for some of us, our first time on horseback and a totally new experience.

The next day, we woke up around 8 a.m. and had breakfast at our ranch. We got ready and were off for our next adventure – white water rafting! We were picked up by the rafting guides on an open-air bus. It was a beautiful, breezy 25 minute ride to the starting point of the river. Once we got there, we put our protective gear on, learned the various commands to paddle, get down, hold on, etc. and then we began! The white water rafting lasted about two hours as we traveled through the Yaque del Norte River where we saw beautiful vegetation and a few wildlife sightings. After the rafting, we went back to the rafters’ ranch and had lunch with them, played on the playground, shot some pool, played ping pong, foosball and enjoyed their game room. Once back at our ranch, another group of students went horseback riding while the rest of us relaxed by the pool. We finished the night off with spaghetti dinner and group games such as mafia and psychologist. We will return back to La Guazara on Sunday and continue our service project of putting in cement floors in homes, and also begin our independent projects which we have each planned out. Stay tuned for more!

– Lily and Arsene