March 31, 2017 On our last day in Cuba, we visited a beautiful farm in the small town of Alcalá, about an hour and a half away from Holguín. Getting to this farm was probably the most challenging part of the day as our tour bus could not drive through a patch of fertilizer...
Continue readingSantiago, Cuba: To the Heart of the City
Thursday, March 30 For the first time in almost a week, we were forced to awaken close to six in the morning. However, this was a nice change from our typical schedule of service and local touring. Today we went to Santiago de Cuba, a lovely, historic city in southern Cuba, that holds many...
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Final Day of Yoga Retreat
Today we woke up early to practice an energizing vinyasa flow. As part of the last practice we were encouraged for one song to let go of everything and to be free as we danced around the room. Afterwards we headed to breakfast to enjoy our last meal together, homemade yogurt and grains and...
Continue readingFiesta con Tamales!
Excursión MFS filled the hallways with the wonderful smells of homemade tamales, flan cake, guacamole, and churros cookies today. We cooked a feast! After a wonderful week with an enthusiastic group of students, we sat and enjoyed one another over a delicious meal....
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Invigorated by Service, Then Salsa
Wednesday, March 29 Today we woke up at 8:30 to eat breakfast and get started on the exciting day we had planned. After breakfast, we split into two groups. Most of our group went outside to the street in front of the church to unload a bus carrying 312 cases of Bibles for the...
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Feeling Accomplished
Unsure of how our partners at the Pinelands Preservation Alliance would receive our proposals this morning, we made some final touches and prepared our presentations for our 9:30 am meeting at their office. At 8:30, everyone packed up their prototypes and rushed to the bus as rain drizzled down. Once on site, we enjoyed a light breakfast...
Continue readingFinal Day: Hassan II Mosque Interior
Our final day in Morocco is at an end; we began the day by checking out of our hotel in Marrakech and busing to Casablanca. After our 3 hour trek northwest, we arrived at the largest mall in Morocco, aptly named Morocco Mall. Everyone was content with a change in food for lunch, as...
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Asian Culture: Service Day in Philly’s Chinatown
After yesterday’s trip to New York’s famous Chinatown, the Asian Cultures Intensive Learning group journeyed just across the river to Philadelphia’s own Chinatown to continue our study of East Asian culture. Since Philadelphia is so much of a closer trip than New York, we had time to begin our day with an in-class discussion...
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A Wonderful End to a Fabulous Week
Today, we presented our projects and PSAs, everything from Canine Epilepsy Awareness to Doggie Olympics to a very pretty water park for dogs. Also Mr. Sussman brought his wonderful dog Boo (after Boo Radley) and his even more wonderful daughter Anna. We had breakfast and wrote thank you notes. It was a good end...
Continue readingSouth Jersey Service: Collingswood Methodist Home
Mortality: a paradox constantly stressed but often neglected. We know our time is of the essence, yet we sometimes forget to act upon it, and end up sometimes breathing instead of living. On average, our species lives seventy-nine years before our parting breath. Us humans go through life constantly waiting on the next step,...
Continue readingCousin’s Grocery Store and Cooking
Cousin’s Grocery Store Today we created a grocery shopping list for our fiesta tomorrow. We divided the list into different groups and had a competition to see who would find all of their items first. Michél and Assata won. We headed back to school and had lunch and began prepping the food. Julianna, Kendall,...
Continue readingWrapping It Up: The Final Knot
On this last day of Quilting, we spent the day cleaning up and finishing up some projects. We saw a 7th grade Intensive Learning play. Afterwards, we went home with our mini individual projects, such as: pin cushions, pillows, etc. Our long week of hard work has finally come to a close....
Continue reading‘And then my heart with pleasure fills, And dances with the daffodils.’
On Wednesday we traveled north to the absolutely breathtaking Lake District. Once we saw the landscape we understood why it inspired the Romantic poets and caused Pride and Prejudice‘s Lizzy Bennet to exclaim, “What are men to rocks and mountains!” We took a rainy but gorgeous hike above the village of Grasmere and visited...
Continue readingSouth Jersey Service Day 4: Perkins Center for the Arts
Today, we spent time at the Perkins Center for the Arts, at 30 Irwin Ave. in Collingswood. (There is a second location right in Moorestown, located at 395 Kings Highway). Led by Samantha Salazar, manager of Special Events and Education Assistant, we helped clean the massively impressive warehouse space, and we helped create artistic...
Continue readingA Day with an Expert: John Volpa of Pinelands Adventures
With our prior knowledge of the Pine Barrens, today, we took a guided hike with John Volpa, the education director of Pinelands Adventures. Throughout the five mile hike, he described the ten necessities of hiking, went in depth about the ecological and historical background of the Pine Barrens, justified the name behind the “Pineys,”...
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