Muchas Gracias! Adios!!!
This summer internship was above and beyond what I expected it to be and continually brought me new surprises each week. I learned from the continuous, happy attitude of the Dominicans that the little things do not matter, but just live life and be content with what you do have. This summer tested me in numerous ways I did not expect to be tested in: my faith, my strength, and my comfort level. However, as my favorite bible verse says, Philippians 4:13, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me”. This verse greatly helped me through each of my trials, but through them all I was able to grow in my faith and spread it to others, even with a language barrier. Through the diversity of this internship I was able to learn, teach, and serve in many different ways that I never would have otherwise, and I tremendously thank Project Las Americas and Dolous Discovery School for giving me this incredible opportunity.
Muchas Gracias! Adios!!!
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The Dominican Republic has numerous unique dishes that I have only had while I am here. These foods below are the most popular here that are not common in the states. If you are traveling to the DR be ready to eat LOTS of everything here and if you just want to learn about the type of food there is quite a variety! I never thought to take pictures of the food I was eating so most of these pictures are from another website, but they look exactly like what I ate while I was here! Mangu: One of their favorite breakfasts! Mashed green boiled bananas mixed with milk and butter and always topped with sautéed red onions. It is okay the first couple times but after that... Hot dog buns and hot chocolate: You would never think it would go together especially in the heat here, but it does! Sometime the hot dog bun is made with butter and some kind of meat, but you can always expect the hot chocolate to accompany it! Moro: A better version of the usual rice and beans. Rice and beans cooked together with usually some very appetizing spices and vegetables added in! Juice: They have THE BEST juice you have ever and will ever have! It is always fresh from the fruits and is expected to be served with almost every meal! It is impossible to get enough! Corn: They love it and luckily so do it! But they have it on everything you would not expect to have corn on: hot dogs, pizza, spaghetti, and of course mixed with rice and beans. This is one vegetable I never missed while I was here! Rice, beans, and chicken: Rice, beans, and chicken..Rice, beans, and chicken. Enough said. It is an everyday staple served right at 12:00pm and usually a naptime follows. I am all for the nap, but the rice, beans, and chicken...and everyday.... Concon: The rice that is almost burnt stuck to the huge bowl that it was cooked in. AKA the best part of the rice. I do not know what it is about it but all the flavor is in this part and the crunchiness just adds to it! The cooks always save it for them, but I was lucky enough to get a piece one day! Yuka: A heavier version of our potato and served with ANYTHING! I've had it for breakfast with fruit, for lunch with chicken, and for dinner with spaghetti. It is a harder consistency that potatoes but still has a decent flavor anytime of day! Sanchoco: A delicious stew made with whatever meats, vegetables, and starches are handy! It usually cooks together most of the day and makes a hearty dinner that will fill you right up! Tostones: Fried plantains. It accompanies every meal like fries in the United States. And they are delicious! I could not get enough while I was here! I just kept telling myself the healthy plantains make up for the fried part...! Eat up!! Thanks to http://www.google.com.do/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=2&ved=0CCMQFjAB&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.buzzfeed.com%2Firisestrada%2Fwhat-to-eat-drink-in-the-dominican-republic-ewjg&ei=o0TeU7OkD8WeyATlkoDoBQ&usg=AFQjCNEo6ywo5VhGnmETfO63AcHMRZzY_w&bvm=bv.72197243,d.aWw for most of the pictures that look exactly like the plates I had!
Life: Live it. Love it. Appreciate it. Make the most of it. The culture here is all about living to the fullest, but they do not think of it that way..it is natural for them. They do not value material things, or worry if their electricity or water is going to work today. They simply appreciate when it works and when it does not, they find other ways to make it work. One person told me the Dominican Republic is the 'happiest, saddest place'. Such a oxymoron, but so true. Most people may have very little, but they do not let this stop this from enjoying each and every day, every single minute. Laughter: It goes along with their lifestyle. They are always happy and do not worry about the little things that some people (me especially) always seem to worry about. The little things do not matter, what happens, happens. And whatever happens there is always friends, family, and neighbors to help each other out in every situation. They protrude such a happy, carefree sense of life that they make you want to live one too! Showers: All day, every day, two or three times a day. You know I am not talking about America here, but this is the lifestyle of the Dominicans. Most of the times there is no hot water and so imagine taking a cold shower three times a day?! To them it is completely normal and to me I was like more than one shower in two days say whaaat?! I was guilt tripped into taking more showers than I ever have in my life. They take one in the morning, afternoon, and night when I still have not had my first, and I start to think I must smell or that they think I must be a really gross American. So I showered. A lot. It got up to two times a day. I could not believe myself. But with the hot weather and continuous sweat I have to admit I get why they shower so much, and I even got to where I did not mind it (so much)! And if my blog has entertained you enough to convince you to visit the beautiful country of the Dominican Republic, I have listed a few things that are unique to the DR that I have gotten to experience along the way! Presidente: The infamous Dominican beer. It is everywhere here and usually the only beer that places sell. Along the beach walk there is buildings with Presidente umbrellas, banners, and more! I think is tasted wonderful, but of course the sight I had while drinking one might of helped it a little bit too! Motos: They drive motorcycles EVERYWHERE! The motos line the street, beg you to take a ride, and zoom in and out of the cars with no thought to the rules. I was lucky enough to ride one, but only when one of my Dominican friends knew the driver and knew that he was not one of the crazy ones! Thankfully I made it safe on the few trips I went on, and the nice breezy rides truly made me feel I was in the Caribbean! Attire: Long pants, skirts, tank tops, and short sleeve shirts. That sums it all up. If you want to fit in the Dominican style do not bring any shorts and bring lots of pants and knee length skirts. I, however, could not bear to wear this style in the heat and stuck with my shorts and tank tops and still sweating like no other. I still have not figured out how they do it! Also, they always look nice whether they are playing games or taking a walk. They love to look nice, smell nice..their culture is just overall much more formal and conservative than the American culture. I added my bug spray perfume to my shorts look and competed the American tourist look pretty much every day! Workouts: There is not a better place to workout! What more could you imagine than a beautiful run by the ocean every morning or a swim in the ocean watching the sunrise?! It is a great motivator and an easy place to make excuses for a break because you want to 'look at the view'! :) Happy attitudes: It will be impossible to have a bad day while you are here. The people always have the best attitudes and there is never a dull moment when you are with them! Be prepared for lots of smiles, laughs, and great times!
Just imagine...110 teenage girls from seven of the poorest parts of the city of Puerto Plata. 110 teenage girls was all I had to read to wonder what I had gotten myself into this week! However, soon I realized I had gotten myself into one of the best things on my trip. The last part of my internship was spent arranging camp activities and hosting a camp in a nearby city. It was not the typical American, week long, high price camp. This camp was put on by Project Las Americas and was free to each girl that attended. Although it was only two nights and three days, it had the same, if not more, of an impact in camps I have seen that last a week because it touched each girl in a unique way. There were morning songs, cabin times, and inspirational speakers, afternoon games and manicures, and nightly songs and more inspirational worship. The theme of this week was ‘I want to be free’. There was a song that went along with the theme that started with ‘I want to be free’ and eventually said ‘I can be free’. Free from the harsh feelings, words, and thoughts that come with the changing of the body in puberty. Many girls are thinking ‘I’m ugly’, ‘I’m fat’, and ‘I’m not good for anything’. The inspirational speakers taught using bible verses that God made them just the way they are for a reason and for a specific purpose. Instead of comparing themselves to other girls they need to put their faith in God to give them the strength to believe in themselves and believe the best of themselves. All of the girls at the camp were from extremely poor homes, where the only thing to do is get married extremely young and start having children, continuing the poor cycle. Through songs, speakers, and team building games, this camp provided hope that there is something more for them in life and it starts by changing their attitude and having complete faith in God. The last day was full of tears, hugs, and eventually smiles as girls were able to release the struggles of life they had been dealing with and finally give themselves to Christ and believe in the faith he offers. Like the camp in the first part of my internship this camp was in Spanish but it did not matter. I was still able to comfort the girls with a hug, see their struggles in their faces, and the passion of change in their singing. Today was my last full day here, and I cannot believe it! I did not know how fast a summer could pass! Thankfully I have gotten to spend a wonderful last couple days here in the Dominican Republic doing all sorts of fun things! At 7AM this morning and 6AM Tuesday my boss took me to the swim club that he is a part of! I like to swim but swimming in the ocean made exercise seem like only a good time. Rather than boring laps back and forth in a pool we were swimming in a huge circle in the ocean around boats with views of coral underneath. If that is not enough the morning we went early we got to see the sunrise as we were swimming! I do not know how much more fun exercise could get! We continued our adventure as we visited Fort San Felipe in Puerto Plata today. The website describes its history the best.."Fort San Felipe was built in 1564 by order of Philip II of Spain and is Puerto Plata's oldest surviving building. It was a formidable construction, designed to strike fear into any would-be-invader's heart. Its 2m- (7ft) thick walls, squat doorways and moat filled with sharp coral and swords served to keep people out and, when the fort later became a prison, worked just as effectively at keeping people in - including one of its most notable captives - Juan Pablo Duarte, who served time here in 1844.The tower contains a small museum of wartime artifacts such as guns, artillery shells, and cannonballs. Fort San Felipe's main attraction, however, is its sweeping views across the Atlantic." It was awesome to be able to stand next to the cannons and look at the wonderful views while getting a little bit of history at the same time! Fun Fact: In the 16th century the Spanish Armada was gearing up to attack England. Because of the strength of their ships and numbers of their men, they were not afraid to let it be known to England what they were eventually going to do. In order to delay their fight Queen Elizabeth sent Sir Francis Drake to burn the barrels that contained food, water, and supplies that were necessary to the armada. This succeeded in delaying the ships for a while, but eventually Spanish began their journey to begin the fight. However, the new barrels that were made from Oak to hold the food and water had not cured and the wood was still green and raw. This uncured wood rotted the food inside the barrels and turned the water sour, ruining most of their supplies. This combined with the devastating storms that hit the ships greatly hurt the Armada, yet they traveled on. In the meantime England had built small blazing vessels which would go out when the tide was in their favor, attack the grand Armada's ships, and then retreat to their hiding spots using their size to their advantage. Well as you may know England eventually won, and the world took a much different turn than it would if Spain had won and taken over everything! We then visited the sweet Dominican family I had stayed with the second week I was in the country. I had not seen them anymore since I had been here, and it was great to say my goodbyes and of course promise that I would be returning to visit eventually! Oh, and I got to drink coconut water out of an actual coconut! That's when you truly know you are in the tropics! Yesterday, I spent a wonderful day around Puerto Plata with my friend Paula. We took a bus to the city park where got shaved ice, but here they actually shave the ice in front of you and the juice they put on it is real juice with actual fruit chunks...delicious!! We went to a couple shops and then I got to meet her wonderful family! We rode back to the house on a moto which is one of my favorite things here! She usually travels with this guy (because they take motos EVERYWHERE!) so we knew he was extremely safe and had a nice, breezy trip back to the house! That night I experienced the high life as I went to an art exhibit with my boss and his wife. It was a neat experience to be in the atmosphere of an art exhibit with wine in hand and made me feel like I was on one of those high class TV shows! Afterwards we went to an Italian restaurant with cooks that are actually from Italy, and I had probably one of the best meals I have ever had. It was pasta with a light sauce mixed with a number of shrimp and calamari and topped with a good chunk of crab still in the shell. As you can see it was not one of those meals that shortened you on the seafood and I devoured it all! I have had a wonderful last two days here which make it even harder to leave, but tomorrow is the day! |
Hola!I lucked into this amazing internship in Domincan Republic this summer and couldn't be happier! I will be spending five weeks working with Project Las Americas providing household water filtration, treatment, and education to the citizens as well as helping in children camps for locals. I get to spend an additional three weeks at Camp Discovery, an adventure summer camp, where I will help teenagers grow in their faith while enjoying the outdoors through hiking, moutain biking, rock cllimbing, and more! Archives
August 2014
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