Tuesday - 2.20.24

Today was a very special day. With the amazing children's books that all of the 4H students worked so hard to create, we read to the younger students at Colegio Padre Emiliano Tardif. Our students teamed up with the Dominican high schoolers and went around the elementary school, reading the different stories. Our students did all of the reading in Spanish and their students did all of the reading in English. It was such a cool, unique experience and it was a wonderful way to kick off the day!

After reading to the elementary students, we boarded the bus with our Dominican friends and we were off to our walking tour of Santiago! We arrived at La Fortaleza San Luis, which is basically a police headquarters, and were led in a walking tour by the student guides from CPET. 

From La Fortaleza San Luis, we continued on our walking tour of the city and made our way through the bustling streets of Santiago. We stopped for some water and snacks at a local store, checked out a quiet park in the center of the city and finally made our way to the most iconic site in Santiago, El Monumento.

The walking tour was a lot of fun, but it was definitely very hot. The students were all ready for a nice relaxing conclusion to our time with the students from CPET and that's exactly what was in store for our next activity.

From the monumento, we got back on the bus and went to the beautiful Botanical Gardens of Santiago, which are located in the north of Santiago. We all got to relax in the cafetería pavilion where the school had prepared another delicious and plentiful lunch. All of the students sat together at different tables and enjoyed a well-deserved meal.

The activity concluded with an interesting lesson on butterflies in the Botanical Garden's mariposario, followed by a trolly tour of the grounds. It was a nice relaxing finish to a very active day. All of the students enjoyed a little more time together as they rode the bus back to the school and ultimately said their goodbyes as we went our separate ways.

After arriving back at the hotel, everyone had some time to shower and relax before dinner. We then boarded the bus again and enjoyed a family dinner at Mr. Grilled restaurant in Santiago. It was an eventful day and I'm sure that everyone slept well after dinner!