My First Visit To The Dominican Republic

It was a hot, searing day as the sun beat down on my skin. The lush green palm trees provided me shade as I sat and observed my surroundings. Children, barefoot and dirty, wearing tattered and stained clothes were running around laughing and playing. Their joyous giggles put a smile on my face and warmed my heart as I watched them.

Haiti, the small country located west of the Dominican Republic, is a unique and beautiful country with its own unique culture and geography. The people of Haiti are proud of their country and their culture. Even though the nation is plagued by earthquakes and storms, due to its geographic location, it does not stop the Haitian people from continuing their unique culture and happy lifestyle. Taking a look at this country’s culture and geography, anyone, civilian, military or political personnel can fully grasp and understand the country’s uniqueness.

The dominican Republic is known as the breadbasket of the Caribbean because it grows, farms, and catches almost everything that’s served for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. The Dominican Republic was the first colony founded by Christopher Columbus. It used to go by “La Hispaniola” in colonial times. Also the flag of the Dominican Republic is the only national flag in the world to feature the image of a bible. My country is the Dominican Republic. I learned about the culture, food, religion, imports and exports, geography, sports, and family. All of it was very eye opening.

When thinking of my memories it’s as if you were surfing through TV channels. Some making me wish I could go back to that day and relive it. Some I hope I will never have to relive. Most memories make me smile and think of how much I want to be little again. Although at that age, all I wanted was to grow up and live my own life. My memories can range from being at home to being anywhere but home. Although, some stick out more than others. One of those few fond memories is going to the Dominican Republic with my family.

On September 23 of 2013, half a million of Haitians living in the Dominican Republic woke up to the unfortunate ruling made by the country’s Central Electoral Board. The ruling TC-168-13 called for the denationalization of Dominican born civilians if at least one of their parents are not a citizen of the nation. Because the highest population of immigrants living in the Dominican Republic are Haitians, this decision is hurting them the most. Now, these people are not able to attain governmental or legal papers, making daily transactions difficult to fulfill, receive medical attention,

My whole family and I were devastated by the sudden death of my uncle Ryan. He had been sick with what we had thought was the flu, but later realized that it was pneumonia. I believe that we learned so much from this experience and were able to come closer as a family. As a result of my uncle’s death, my whole family decided to take a get-a-way trip to the Dominican Republic during his birthday and Christmas. While I was there I learned a very important lesson; I am blessed to live in the United States.

When people think of gifts, they often think of something they have received from Christmas or from a birthday. One of the most special gifts I have ever received was not from a holiday or for a birthday. My most prized gift was from two little girls, Alexandria and Tatianna, in a different country. When I went to the Dominican Republic with a big group of people for a mission trip, I received three colorful bracelets from two of the sweetest girls a few days before we traveled home. These bracelets were my most prized gift for many reasons.

My first awakening in a place that is not my home felt just right. My eyes were drowning in the beautiful view of the mountains while I inhaled the purest air on Earth. After eating a delicious breakfast, the mission began. A hike to the source of uncontaminated water that would provide the Las Rosas community access to clean water and sanitation. Following nine days of carrying and placing pipes, mixing cement, and building a water tank, Water Day had arrived. I was in Las Rosas, Dominican Republic, living one of the most wonderful and joyful moments of my life. I was seeing the children and the volunteers getting completely soaked with the water that was rushing out of the pipes. I was getting emotional when I saw Mami (one of the resident

"I can't go on the service trip to Dominican Republic," I reluctantly explained to my teacher. "I don't receive health insurance," I confessed to my doctor. "I don't have federal financial aid, so I can't finish college," I tried to explain to my friends why I was leaving Oakwood University. On my college applications, I chose the best fit to describe my citizenship status from the limited drop down list, "I don't currently hold a valid U.S. visa." As an undocumented student, my life's themes have been "I can't" and "I don't.” I experienced a eureka moment when I read Invictus: “My head is bloody, but unbowed…/It matters not how strait the gate, /How charged with punishments the scroll, /…I am the captain of my soul.” I aimed to change my

Dominican Republic was formally known as the island of “Hispaniola” named by Christopher Columbus. The mountainous country currently shares itself with Haiti. On February 27th, 1844, Dominican Republic gained independence from war against Haiti. Although the country has faced many hardships from the incoming decades, the country has survived.

My family is big on education. My grandparents never thought about sending their kids to college, not because they did not want them to go but because they did not know how or where to send them. The forms, the money, all the questions, they did not know how to deal with it. Besides, they had just arrived to America from the Dominican Republic. So they worked, their 7 kids went to high school, some graduated and most didn’t. With the little education that they had, my uncles resorted to working in the streets. My family had become a street family and had been known. Years in the business and they begin to settle down and have kids. It’s true when people say having kids changes people’s mentality. My uncles wanted nothing to do with the streets once they met their little babies. My family has built big dreams for the children of the family. They wanted us to have everything that they did

The country’s national bird is the Palmchat (Cigua Palmera) and the national flower is the West Indian Mahogany (Swietenia Mahagon).

I recently had a problem with your company while I was at the airport with my husband. Your service is great but I would like a refund for the unnecessary expenses.

Even though the Dominican Republic is a beautiful country I was very disappointed with my stay. Before even entering the Dominican Republic I was put all the way in the back of the plane where the toilets were even though I paid $50 so I can be in the middle and the front of the thing. The representative that was there for Vacation Express try to manipulate and robbed me to buy a tour package that he said is worth $640 before asking him about the different tours I asked if there's an ATM or bank nearby he said yes there is ATM in the lobby which I was in but did not notice I asked him how much a hundred dollars is converted to pesos he said 4800. Then I proceeded to ask him about the tours which said would cost $640 and it will be best to use my card which I declined to do because that was a ridiculous amount of money for 7  tours. A couple of days had passed I was heading to the lobby to go to the beach so I decided to stop by the booth again and ask this time it was a different representative a woman to be exact so I asked her how much the tours are and she said they're $99 I was very shocked about

One day in early 1996 during one of my parents decided to go and visit one of their friends at their house to see how she was doing. She was practically an aunt to me and my brother. Which at this moment in time was soon to be eight years old and I was a one-year-old. Sometime during our visit, I decided that I had to walk around a bit but I wasn’t expecting it to be captured on film and have this moment around for decades later. Before I was 3 years old my mother loved documenting our day to day. The flash of a disposable camera wasn’t an odd occurrence back then. Some of my oldest memories have been with a camera flashing. The positions and gestures my parents are showing seem to tell all. This frozen moment in time can show what my family