Personal Narrative: My Trip To 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.

When spring break began my parents gave me the opportunity to have 2 weeks of spring break, where I would spend the first week hanging out with my and fiends and the week they go back to school I go on a cruise. While I was on the cruise me and my family visited 4 different islands over the 8 day voyage. On the third day on the boat we visited the Dominican Republic, on the fifth day we visited St. Thomas, on the sixth day we visited Puerto )Rico, and on the seventh day we visited are final island Grand Turk.

Be adventurous. Five years ago I experienced a major life change when my father passed away. The loss was the most significant experience I had ever had, a hole in my heart that can never be filled. At that time I was busy working and raising a teenage daughter. I was definitely in a rut, go to work, run Libby to band practice, ballgames, to friends’ houses for sleep overs. Not very adventurous. Then we were presented with the opportunity to travel to Costa Rica with the Spanish teachers from her high school. We signed up, and in June of that year we spent 9 glorious days traveling the Northwestern part of Costa Rica. We went to a Bio park in San Jose, to the Los Arenal Volcano, where we kayaked at the base, hiked 494 steps one way, down to

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.

It's significant to me because when I went with my family to Cartagena, I was 7 years old. it was the first time I was going on a trip outside of the United States. when we got to Cartagena I was amazed by how beautiful everything is, and I was shocked with how different it was from back home. The differences I saw sparked a curiosity in me, that I never knew existed. from that moment I fell in love with learning about different places around the world and the culture that comes with that place. the trip to Cartagena was also the first time I got to see some of my family members. I have always lived in Florida and only knew about the family members I had in South America through what my parents would say about them. When we arrived to South

Upon our arrival to The Dominican Republic, my mother informed me that we were going to spend most of our vacation at my grandparent’s house. Immediately, I was filled with exhilaration. After so many years, I would finally visit my beloved grandparents. I had already visualized what spending the summer at their house would be like. Rolling in the sand of the clear see-through beaches, listening to the birds sing and chirp around us as we savor our early morning breakfast, enjoying the sound of waves smashing into the rocks on the shore, and laying in an air-conditioned room when the temperature got too high.

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.

My family and I left for Panama city, Florida in June of 2011. The trip was so fun; we sang songs and laughed hysterically during the whole ride there. When we arrived we were all ready for the beach warm sand and it’s cool waves. We stayed at the beach until about nine and everyone prepared for dinner. Once everyone settled in we sat and ate dinner, as always the dinner was great with my family. Everyone talked about any and everything; we even cracked jokes on each other.

I have visited the Dominican Republic and Mexico many times and I can personally tell you that many areas in these countries are very poor and don’t have access to the best technical equipment. There may be cameras that cost us $1,500, but in the Dominican Republic they might be $10,000 or the might not be available in the Dominican Republic because of the low market. A lot of the people in the Dominican Republic love baseball and they know a lot of knowledge about the game, so when you watch a live game, you will find it more enjoyable than you would if you watch it on TV.

"Service is the rent we pay for being. It is the very purpose of life and not something you do in your spare time" - Marian Wright Edelman. To serve others is to minister and help others in various ways; it is not an act to do for show or publicity, but simply to enrich and help the lives of others and your own life. Everyone can serve one another in some form or fashion without even realizing the impact. Over my high school and college career, I have volunteered for a multitude of community service projects, ranging from mission trips, to serving the local HESED house children. Although, out of all of these projects, the one that leaves a lasting impact to me was the mission trip to the Dominican Republic.

The day has finally come to go on vacation and my family, and I departed promptly from our house at 4:30 in the morning. Our flight was scheduled for 7 in the morning at Pittsburgh International Airport. We had to arrive there early because all people flying international had to be there two hours before the flight. All of us boarded the flight out to Punta Cana, which is located in the Dominican Republic. I can remember that I was so excited to go, and I was the first on the flight. I am almost positive that it took over three hours to get to the Dominican Republic from Pittsburgh. It was a really long flight to me because I could not wait to get there, and I just wanted to land. Finally, the moment has come, and we landed. When we departed from the plane, they had hula dancers dancing around us, and it was the coolest thing I have ever seen. They had people that would take pictures of you when you got off the plane. My family and I obliged and got our pictures taken. After all our pictures were taken, we went inside the airport and

A place of perfect content is one devoid of strain, one where the mind is free to wander while the body is free to rest, a place of invincibility, of full exposure and complete protection. In no place, aside from La Habana Panorama’s solarium, have I felt so entirely liberated and absolutely invincible.

Realizations come along with every situation, you may realize more than one thing in a certain situation whether the situation is good or bad. Realizations are meaningful because there are lessons that will be learned in the middle of it. My realization was realizing that I should not take anything I have for granted and to be thankful for everything that I have in my life.

I'm a very open person because I don't feel the need to hide who I am , but people may not know about me is that i love to travel , I've been in 3 road trips around the United states and to three different countries I want to Colombia three times, Honduras once and Mexico two times. All of my trips have been different. I always learn something new about the culture. Honestly the idea of being able to go back to your roots is amazing, you get to see how different their daily routines are compared to ours. It actually makes you appreciate life and family more. Not everyone as fortunate as us Americans so it really is and I opening experience and for that I feel blessed for what I have today.

“What is that horrid smell”? I had just landed in San Jose, Costa Rica with my church group, and before we could admire the beauties of this new place, we were greeted with the most pungent stench of our lives. It was day one of a two week mission trip, and we were already nose deep in one of the most poverty stricken areas in Central America. For the vast majority of the group, it was the first time getting to experience a new country in an authentic way; living among some of the least wealthy people in Costa Rica. The goal of our mission was to rebuild the church’s gate as the slum it was situated in is one of the most dangerous slums in the country. In addition, the pastor of the church we were staying in had a special request to our group.