This post features student writing.

This trip so far has been absolutely one of the best opportunities that I have gotten to experience! On Thursday, we had a long day of work putting in cement floors and painting the outside of Pablo’s house for a change of pace. We topped off the day with a basketball tournament led by Tyler as his independent project. It was super successful and everyone liked the friendly competition on the court.

On Friday, we worked on a larger house. It had 6 rooms total and 1 bathroom. There were about 14 of us who worked at that site and by noon we had half of the 6 rooms done! Emma and I stayed a bit longer than the rest to help smooth the floors before heading over to lunch. We realized that some of the locals work so hard all day that we both decided to help more by smoothing the final cement layer, which to us is super satisfying, detail-oriented and enjoyable to see the finished work. By the end of our work day, we got every room laid with cement and almost smoothed to a finish.

We finished around 4 p.m. and headed over to the local community pool that plays fun, loud music, and we all had a great time goofing around and enjoying the cool water! After the pool, we went home and had a filling meal of pasta and tostones. Everyone was eating and talking and laughing! After our meal, I hosted a Friday night talent show for the community (as my independent project) that was surprisingly a big hit and we had a blast! There were many locals that sang songs and danced as their act. May, from our group, got up there as well and did a walking hand-stand! After that Emma and I sang “Remedy” by Adele which was a hit! Here’s a short video of our performance.  After the show, we all danced bachata and merengue until it was time for our daily group meeting and bedtime. Overall we had so much fun and enjoyed the moments in the basketball game, talent show, and work!

Today we are heading to Bahia de las Agulas — a remote beach just southwest of us. We are bringing about 10 local friends along to share the experience. We will return on Sunday and, Monday is our last day of work and our despedida (goodbye party.) We will be so sad to leave La Guazara but are excited to explore a new part of the country and enjoy the beach on the Samana Peninsula before we head home.

– Lila