This morning we woke up bright and early to breakfast and a Spanish lesson. Our tour guide Brayan taught us the important words we would need to know throughout the day. Then we prepared for our “market challenge.” The challenge consisted of walking around the Jarabacoa produce market and speaking with people in Spanish about how they celebrate Holy Week. We also asked locals about their favorite recipes that they would recommend. Each group had to find a new food they had never tried, buy the vegetable assigned to their group, and take a picture with one customer from the store after a conversation with them. Each student got to participate in chatting with locals and asking them questions that were taught during our morning Spanish lesson.
Afterwards we headed to lunch at the institute; there each group made their corresponding dish. One group made fried sweet potatoes, another group made fried plantain chips (both green and sweet plantains), and the last group made fried salami. One student explained what was being served for lunch in Spanish to the rest of the group before each of us ate.
After lunch we had reflection time for a brief period of time. We were asked to think about one mental picture that will stick with us once we go back to our home lives. We then went on a short bus ride to a nearby coffee factory. There we learned the history of where coffee originated from and how they make it here in Jarabacoa. Our tour guide was kind enough to give us a free sample of their most favorite coffees.
After the factory we came back to the hotel to swim in the pool and enjoyed some free time. For dinner we took a short bus drive to a delicious pizza restaurant where we shared different kinds of pizza. Once we arrived back at the hotel, we prepared for the next day full of fun service activities and traveling back to Santiago.
Grace G. & Jayden M.
