I sincerely believe that there are just not enough words that can describe how happy I was to be living in the Dominican Republic. The country is extremely different from the United States, but it’s exactly that reason why I loved it so much.
We’ll start with the juice. Fruits in the DR are unlike any fruits you’ve ever seen or tasted here. Walking through the campo with a friend, and being able to simply crack open a chinola, or passionfruit as we know it, sounds like such a menial experience but for me it was eye opening and just kept adding to the reasons to love the country. Every morning, I would wake up to the sound of a blender and as I sat down to breakfast I was always presented with juice or shake from some different fruit, passionfruit, papaya, or even avocados at times. And the mangos! My Dominican friends constantly made fun of me for my constant search every day for the café with the best mango juice or for one last mango tree. It wasn’t until my third week that my mango search was finally cut short, the season ended. You could imagine how devastated I was to no longer eat mangos but for the rest of my trip the bitter sweet taste of fresh passionfruit held me over.
Prior to my trip, I was in love with African and Hispanic music and it was beyond my knowledge to even think that these two had come together in a perfect combination apart from the normal borrowed clave rhythms and African instruments that had been used in Latin American and Caribbean music since the beginning of time. However, the first day I arrived I was presented with… dembow. Dembow is basically native to the Dominican Republic, created by mainly Dominican artists and harboring rhythms that can be heard in African dancehall music but lyrics all sung in Dominican Spanish. This music was the theme music to my five weeks. Every day, walking down the Malecon of Samaná, the music would be blasting from the local bars, speakers booming with popular songs as they made their way down the street, and kids no more than 4 years old dancing to the beats in an effortless way down the street. Parents, as many do here in America with rap music, condemn the music for its nasty lyrics and vulgar moves that are often attributed to it, but regardless of that, I loved it. It was everything I was looking for in music, and I didn’t even realize I was searching for a new type of genre to love.
The Dominicans. When I first arrived to my host city, I was expecting to grow extremely close to the other volunteers that were part of my NGO. However, by the second week the majority of the volunteers had left since they were all part of a year long commitment and their year had finished. This left me, extremely on my own, being one out of a total of maybe 3 other volunteers and by far the youngest. Very quickly I adapted in the only way I know how, make friends. Not having the other volunteers was a bit frightening at first, but really forced me to interact completely with the local community around me. The people of the Dominican Republic are extraordinary. They love to party, they love to eat, and they find extreme happiness in the simplicities of hanging out with each other. It didn’t matter which day of the week it was, you could find all the neighbors enjoying the evening and relaxing past 6 o’clock. Dominicans are passionate, those that go to church are diligent about their attendance to church and their fierce participation once in church. Those that find more enjoyment in music and dance will always be seen along the malecon enjoying the loud beats and each other’s company. No matter where you go whether you are on a boat, a guagua to another nearby city, or a motoconcho, they will always be friendly and spark a conversation about something. By the end of my stay, it felt like the whole city was saying goodbye. I had connected with so many people, it just grew my love for the country even more. For anyone who is thinking of going abroad, being by yourself abroad, or just being by yourself in a place you are unfamiliar with, I encourage you to go outside your comfort zone. Or more simply just outside. The rewarding experiences you are searching for, are not within yourself but more like lessons that can only be learned through your interactions with others who are different than yourself.
I will forever love the Dominican Republic, and everyone there who made me part of their culture. I am so grateful for the opportunity to experience this beautiful Caribbean country and I give a huge thank you to all those who made my adventure possible. Hopefully, there will be a next time soon.
We’ll start with the juice. Fruits in the DR are unlike any fruits you’ve ever seen or tasted here. Walking through the campo with a friend, and being able to simply crack open a chinola, or passionfruit as we know it, sounds like such a menial experience but for me it was eye opening and just kept adding to the reasons to love the country. Every morning, I would wake up to the sound of a blender and as I sat down to breakfast I was always presented with juice or shake from some different fruit, passionfruit, papaya, or even avocados at times. And the mangos! My Dominican friends constantly made fun of me for my constant search every day for the café with the best mango juice or for one last mango tree. It wasn’t until my third week that my mango search was finally cut short, the season ended. You could imagine how devastated I was to no longer eat mangos but for the rest of my trip the bitter sweet taste of fresh passionfruit held me over.
Prior to my trip, I was in love with African and Hispanic music and it was beyond my knowledge to even think that these two had come together in a perfect combination apart from the normal borrowed clave rhythms and African instruments that had been used in Latin American and Caribbean music since the beginning of time. However, the first day I arrived I was presented with… dembow. Dembow is basically native to the Dominican Republic, created by mainly Dominican artists and harboring rhythms that can be heard in African dancehall music but lyrics all sung in Dominican Spanish. This music was the theme music to my five weeks. Every day, walking down the Malecon of Samaná, the music would be blasting from the local bars, speakers booming with popular songs as they made their way down the street, and kids no more than 4 years old dancing to the beats in an effortless way down the street. Parents, as many do here in America with rap music, condemn the music for its nasty lyrics and vulgar moves that are often attributed to it, but regardless of that, I loved it. It was everything I was looking for in music, and I didn’t even realize I was searching for a new type of genre to love.
The Dominicans. When I first arrived to my host city, I was expecting to grow extremely close to the other volunteers that were part of my NGO. However, by the second week the majority of the volunteers had left since they were all part of a year long commitment and their year had finished. This left me, extremely on my own, being one out of a total of maybe 3 other volunteers and by far the youngest. Very quickly I adapted in the only way I know how, make friends. Not having the other volunteers was a bit frightening at first, but really forced me to interact completely with the local community around me. The people of the Dominican Republic are extraordinary. They love to party, they love to eat, and they find extreme happiness in the simplicities of hanging out with each other. It didn’t matter which day of the week it was, you could find all the neighbors enjoying the evening and relaxing past 6 o’clock. Dominicans are passionate, those that go to church are diligent about their attendance to church and their fierce participation once in church. Those that find more enjoyment in music and dance will always be seen along the malecon enjoying the loud beats and each other’s company. No matter where you go whether you are on a boat, a guagua to another nearby city, or a motoconcho, they will always be friendly and spark a conversation about something. By the end of my stay, it felt like the whole city was saying goodbye. I had connected with so many people, it just grew my love for the country even more. For anyone who is thinking of going abroad, being by yourself abroad, or just being by yourself in a place you are unfamiliar with, I encourage you to go outside your comfort zone. Or more simply just outside. The rewarding experiences you are searching for, are not within yourself but more like lessons that can only be learned through your interactions with others who are different than yourself.
I will forever love the Dominican Republic, and everyone there who made me part of their culture. I am so grateful for the opportunity to experience this beautiful Caribbean country and I give a huge thank you to all those who made my adventure possible. Hopefully, there will be a next time soon.
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