Hey Everyone!
This is Hannah, summer intern, reporting. As we all know, the much anticipated arrival of our Colombian youth happened exactly one week ago. Since then, we’ve had a hectic week travelling all over Toronto to show off our beautiful city.
Tuesday, June 18
We had a packed day of orientation at Central YMCA and also had an interesting dialogue with the YMCAAcademy. We were surprised to find out that in Colombia students attended classes as early as 6am! Imagine that! As well, the YMCAAcademy students organized a pot-luck lunch to show off Toronto’s multiculturalism. It was a great first day for all of the youth (including myself).
Wednesday, June 19 – Thursday, June 20
On Wednesday the youth left to Cedar Glen to attend a new staff orientation where they were able to meet with Medhat and other new staff to the YMCA. It was a great learning opportunity for the youth to get to know the YMCA of Greater Toronto better. On Thursday, they came back from Cedar Glen to attend the CIBC Youthvison Digital Forum where Mardi and I were surprised to be among the guests of honor as scholarship recipient alumni.
Friday, June 21
On Friday we started bright and early with an Intercultural Communication workshop provided by the Centre for Intercultural Learning. The youth were able to learn about the cultural differences between Canadians and themselves, as well as things that we share in common. In the afternoon we held a meet and greet in the office cafeteria (at 2200 Yonge) where the youth were made the stars of the show and then headed to Harbourfront to see the Toronto Ship Festival and enjoy the waterfront. Later that night we attended Nathan Phillips Square to see the Toronto Jazz Festival and ended our long day with an outdoor movie, Les Miserables.
Saturday, June 22
On Saturday we had an exclusive day dedicated to Toronto tourism. Even with the rain, we headed to the ROM (RoyalOntarioMuseum) to try to take as many pictures as possible exploring all of the exhibits we could. Then we went through Kensington Market for some churros followed by lunch at a dim sum restaurant in Chinatown. We were able to find cheap goodies and souvenirs there as well. The youth had never experienced the neighborhoods we introduced them to and there is no doubt that they will carry the experience back with them to Colombia.
After a packed morning and afternoon, we headed to the CN and took pictures on the famous glass floor. We ended off the night with popular Canadian cuisine: poutine.
On Sunday our Colombian youth headed to Pinecrest and Cedar Glen where they will be for the next two weeks. We already miss them and know that when they come back we will have as much fun as our first awesome week!
Until then…
