Today we got to sleep
in this morning and get some well needed rest after being awake traveling since
11:30 pm Monday night. We met the hotel’s shuttle around 10:30 a.m. to head over to
the PuntaCana Ecological Foundation. When we arrived, we were greeted by 14
Dominican teens ready to help us for the week, four of which we recognized from
previous years, Joanna, Andrea, Deseret and Arianna. It was so nice to see them again. I have missed them so much! Not only did we have some teens from the local area
around the resort, but we also had many teenagers from Domingo Maiz, a village
that we will being doing our service work at. We first played some name games,
trying get everyone’s names down pat… It will take some work with so many new
teens.
Then
we played some games together, such as the line game where you have to line up
by a certain category (age, birthday, height) without talking or using only
Spanish. We played the human knot, which my team had a very difficult time with - we were all knotted up. After eating lunch, which of course consisted of rice
and beans, chicken, and other great Dominican cuisine, we played another game
and collected sticks for one of the crafts the kids will be making this year. 
Towards
the end of the day, we decorated our picture frames for our group picture.
After, we met with the director of the foundation, Jake Kheel. His stories
amaze me of what they do every year to help the environment. The newest project
he showed us was they are trying to decrease the population of the invasive lionfish
because they are eating the native fish that help the aquatic life. I cannot thank
him enough for the time and participation that he gives us to talk about his
job, the resort, and the Foundation.
We
are now back to the resort and I am going to go swimming either in the ocean or
pool to relax before dinner. I am very excited for day camp tomorrow and
Friday, and I am also looking forward to the rest of the week!
Submitted by Chase Smith, Bath County chaperon
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