Studying spanish in Cabarete

---

---

So I've been in Cabarete for more than three months. Cabarete, the earlier so quiet little fishing village which today is a fast growing tourist destination. I went there with 15 other norwegian and swedish students to study spanish and to do some voluntary work. I fellin love with the little village, or maybe it was the life I lived there. A normal day would begin at 6.30 in the morning. Then i wake up to go surfing. The dresscode was surfingshorts, havaianas and bikini, no makeup or hairdressing included. Then after some three or four hours of surfing I returned to our apartment at Ali's surfcamp, it was time for a little lunch and maybe some minutes of sleep before school at 1PM. Then we spent 4 hours at school, plugging our spanish. After school I either went to the activityclub we arranged for the kids in Callejon, the poor part of Cabarete, and stayed there until diner at 8. Or walked back to our place, maybe stopping to buy some food or pick up some clothes at the laundry. Back home I had some time to do a littlebit homework, but most often I spent that time just hanging out with the girls. After dinner we either sat down on one of the many nice bars and restaurants at Cabarete beach for a beer or a frozen lemonade og we spent the night talking at home or writing emails and travelupdats to those back home. The everyday life was easily wonderful and with so little stress.

But Cabarete is not a very big place and after a while living so close and hanging out with the same people it can be good to travel a little bit around. So it's a good thing that exploring Dom.Rep is an easy and cheap way of traveling. And you are sure to be experiencing a lot and getting to know a lot of people as dominicans are very friendly and talkative:)

What i didn't like so much with Cabarete is the growing tourism. It is one of the most expanded touristareas in the Dom.Rep. therefore I early started to do things as much dominican as i could. Instead of eating at the nice restaurants at the beach I preferred the cosy ones in Callejon, the ones that only served good dominican food. It was a lot cheaper as well. I tried to talk spanish to the dominicans I met, instead of english. But I must say it was not the perfect place to study spanish as everyone wanted to talk english with you. And I also experienced the surferculture, as Cabarete is a mecca for all watersports. And that is given from the nature and not from tourism. The environment around the surfing was great and very special. All were welcoming and nice, it felt like being a part of a big, happy family. I will strongly recommend surfing for all who goes to Cabarete. Cabarete with and without surfing is like two totaly different experiences.

My three monthes in Cabarete were almost perfect and I've never regretted going there. If you use it right it has a perfect combination of sun, beach, culture, action, party, good food, travelingopportunities and friendly people.

Enjoy!

---