Advertisement
It is now our final full day in Santo Domingo, and in the beautiful Dominican Republic as a whole! We're so grateful to have shared this opportunity with one another. We thank our incredible chaperones for supporting us in every possible way throughout the previous two weeks. This photo was taken May 13, 2012 as we celebrated Emma Mullen's birthday, and a happy Mother's day to our beloved advisor, Julia Taylor.
- Miah Fiske
Santo Domingo is an amazing city. So much of the Dominican culture and history is here in its capitol. History has always been one of my favorite studies and this city is a packed full of it. I still can't believe that I walked on the first paved street in the Americas. Or stood where the first hospital was. Or sat in the first church that was built in the Americas. To be surrounded by so much history was an incredible experience.
- Mandy White
So far, the trip has felt like an eternity, but at the same time, I feel like I just got here. I don't know how to describe the experience other than amazing, terrifying, frustrating,
and intense. There were times I wanted to cry out of sadness or the feeling that I just couldn't take it anymore- at one point, I did. There were times I wanted to smile so much that tears couldn't help but roll down my cheeks. But overall, I'm really happy that I went here and got to have this experience to compare to my own life in the states. Things I take so seriously- social status, computer privileges, all of that- they don't even apply to the people in the campo, and even the cities were really interesting to be in. I think that Santo Domingo was a good place to end the trip. It's almost back to the "real world" with technology and the usual luxuries and comforts, but at the same time, has that foreign interesting feel to it that I came here for. Even the downtime (which was a lot of the time) gave me time to think and inquire about things I usually wouldn't. I'm really happy that I gave this trip a chance.
- Rachel Cote
Aside from the retched smell, garbage, and loud motorcycles, Santo Domingo is quite a beautiful
place. The architecture of the streets is amazing and the historical monuments are wonderful. It is easy to navigate around here, and though it is only my second day, I have already mentally mapped out the city streets. I have had an incredible journey these past few weeks. I will be more than sad to see it all go, yet overjoyed to return to my mom's cooking. I have really gotten to know myself, my peers, and everything else a lot better during this adventure. I look forward to the future, and will fondly remember the past...
- Raven Averill
Approximately six and a half hours ago a person walking down El Conde (a main street in Santo Domingo) would have found an unusual sight: four "gringos" -- as we're affectionately called here -- sitting on the ground, playing dominoes. On a fierce search for the final items to be found on our scavenger hunt, we discovered a predicament. The usual games of Dominoes, set up on folding tables by older Dominican men in alleys and side streets, weren't going on yet -- we were too early! Not to be outdone by the other group, our competitive instincts kicked in and we came up with a plan -- we would fill the requirements of our final item (take a picture of four people playing dominoes) in a way we were sure our chaperones hadn't intended: we made our own game of Dominoes. The vender was quite understanding as we tried to explain our predicament. We were playing a game, had to find specific things, needed a picture of people playing Dominoes. Rather than being taken aback, he helped us, told us how many Dominoes we each needed and offered to make the picture for us.
-Cheyenne
Santo Domingo is a city that at first I found intimidating. But yesterday I went for a walk with Mandy, Emma, Brett, and Julia. We explored the city and looked at some of the historic ruins. We went to Jesuit Church where the sarcophagi of important people rested. We saw the house of Diego Columbus, which later became the city's unofficial dumb. I'm not all that interested in history. But I enjoyed walking through the streets of Santo Domingo and learning about the history of the city. Our awesome tour guide, Emma, also told us about how honey bees will make a new queen by feeding offspring "Royal Jelly", when we spotted a swarm hanging outside of the ruins of the old hospital. We ended the educational tour with a walk down El Conde where we saw a Michael Jackson street performer who would dance for a couple of pesos.
-Devin
Advertisement
Tot: 0.042s; Tpl: 0.012s; cc: 8; qc: 23; dbt: 0.0195s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb