Sustainability and Dancing

Hello Everyone!

I started off the morning with eating what our Mama Tica made us for breakfast which was huevo, queso y gallo pinto, con galletas de mantequilla y un café (eggs, cheese, and rice/beans, with butter cookies and coffee). My roommate (Vivian) and I left the house at about 9:30am to do our daily mile walk to ULatina to attend our lecture on Sustainable Tourism.

A recap of our lecture over sustainability and being a sustainable tourist basically consisted of learning about being able to keep a sustainable environment for future generations, but at the same making sure we are taking care of our current needs. Criteria from the United Nations of a sustainable community entails of ensuring equality, instills resilience, lives within means, fosters innovation, thinks and acts systematically, etc. Sustainable tourism comes into play by doing research before traveling to a particular country, and practicing sustainability during your trip by managing your waste, picking up litter, shopping locally, turning off lights/AC when not in use, and so on.

After our lecture, we shifted gears into our debrief where we are usually given a particular question regarding ourselves/the study abroad experience, and we reply with our thoughts to the group. For this specific debrief, we were asked to pick three words to describe ourselves, and how those characteristics have manifested throughout the trip. After a person shared, we added positive characteristics we also thought would fit the person or how we view them. It was a needed and uplifting conversation that was meant to open our eyes of how different we may see ourselves compared to how someone else might perceive us. It will also tie in with our next lecture regarding career development to prepare us for the infamous interview question of ‘tell me about yourself.

Following our debrief, we headed off to our dance lesson. Some of us on the trip weren’t familiar with different Latin dances, so it was a perfect opportunity to learn more about them. We had an amazing instructor who went over the basic steps of Salsa, Bachata, and Merengue. Luckily, all three styles of dancing had somewhat similar moves, so it was easy to catch on if this was someone’s first time. We did mostly partner work where we learned how the partner who was considered the leader, would lead the follower by applying pressure to change the movements when dancing, rather than verbally saying something. You could tell everyone was enjoying themselves even though it could challenging for some. Overall, the music selection was great and we certainly broke a sweat.

After class, about half of the group was able to go out for late lunch/early dinner to get sushi at Nación Sushi. The place had a welcoming ambiance with delicious sushi. They also served appetizers along with jugos naturales (natural juices). It was a great way to end off an eventful day.

Hope you enjoyed reading,

Karla Rodiles