Tuesday - 2.17.26

I can't even begin to explain what an incredible day we had today. Neix, along with a couple of the parents of his students, organized an unforgettable day at city hall and in the downtown historic district of Santiago. We started our day by getting an aerial tour of Santiago on their brand new cable car system. 

Once the cable car route concluded, we hopped back on the bus and went to City Hall where we were greeted by Sahely Santos, the director of the department of tourism of the mayor's office of Santiago as well as a live merengue band! Again, we were instantly dancing and enjoying the warm welcome.

We were then led on a tour of city hall and were given thorough explanations of how each department plays a vital role in running the city. 

Our tour concluded in the mayor's office and in the city's chamber of council, where the council members and mayor work to create, propose and approve the laws of Santiago. We did a simulation and had our students, alongside the CPET students propose laws and then put them to a vote. We schmoozed with the mayor, took pictures and had a memorable experience. We even had several articles written about our cultural exchange in various Dominican publications!

As if our trip to city hall wasn't enough, when we left, we were met outside with the Santiago train tour that took us around the city withour own police escort. We waved at all of the people as we went by and enjoyed learning about the history of the city.

Once we couldn't eat anymore, we said our goodbyes and made our way back to the hotel. We had a couple of hours to get ready and cleaned up before our evening activity for the day: a visit to Santiago's brand new mall, Agora. At the mall, all of the students walked around, shopped at the stores and got soem dinner at the food court. Overall, a very complete day that was a perfect way to finish up our time in Santiago!