Cucuyo

Ten saavy youth from Woodrow Wilson High School in Washington DC hip hopped, palo-ed, bracelet made, and technology-trained their way into the hearts of over 50 smart, dedicated Dominican youth in La Ceiba Bonao. These pictures were taken by Amy Wopat.

Bending one's knees is useful for everything from good basketball defense to dancing the fuin fuan. Keeping agile is key for turning two weeks of bball practice, theatre rehearsal and English classes into a final tournament, a staged production of Luis Pie and an English language cooking show respectively.

Cucuyo's planning trip this year included a detour to a coffee farm, pondering the name origin of the rice & bean dish "moro," lessons in dominicanismos, and a workshop on leadership and community activism.

Cucuyo's 2011 program was a blast. We ate raw honey from the hive, won the lottery, had cake—and ate it too.

We had come to enmesh ourselves in a new culture, to intimately acquaint ourselves with the Dominican way of life under the tutelage of our students and our host families. We were five like-minded people who had recognized an incredible opportunity to both expand and intertwine our artistic and cultural borders.