Caitlin- Republica Dominicana

I arrived in Santo Domingo a week ago after a long long flight experience involving a two-hour delay in San Francisco that forced me to run through the Miami airport in order to catch my flight to the DR. The flight to the DR was quick, only two hours, unbeknownst to me there were 4 other girls from my program on both of my flights. When I got to SDQ I found that, unsurprisingly, my bags had not made the connection, and I would have to have them delivered to my hotel. Luckily the bags came later that day, some of the other girls had to wait until the next day to get theirs.

Orientation week was filled with datashows (powerpoint presentations) and lots of breaks to drink juice boxes and eat pineapple, papaya and other fruit. We went on a walking tour of the Zona Colonial the oldest part of the city, and a bus tour of the entire city of Santo Domingo that included all of the Universities where we have class. The CIEE/FLACSO building is only three blocks from my house, and is well equipped with a coffee machine, wireless and a separate computer lab. All of the staff is really nice and more than willing to help with any questions we may have. The highlight of orientation was our first experience on the public guaguas and carros publicos, the form of transportation that we are going to be using to get to our classes.

My host family is great so far, it’s a mother and her 11 and 13-year-old daughters. The 11 and 13 year olds bicker just like normal sisters and the 13 year old is obsessed with the Jonas Brothers, and a lot of times after dinner I sit and watch American TV like Gossip Girl, Grays Anatomy etc. with her, all of which is in English with subtitles. My doña (host mom) is great, cooks good food and talks to me all the time about the DR and US politics etc. I get three meals a day from my host family, and so far I have no complaints.

Today consisted of an excursion to a jinete (sugar plantation) that was the site of a large Slave Rebellion in the DR. It had been abandoned and partially restored. Then we went to a nearby town where a woman talked to us about the syncretism in the religion of the DR. While she was talking to us, townspeople behind us were yelling about how she was a witch. She practices voodoo and her specialty was all 21 saints but she channeled the spirit of Santa Marta the best. She also was explaining to us the different things with which you bathe and what you have to wear when you want a consolation from a certain saint not to mention the baths for good luck, money, good health, etc. Then we went to the BEACH! It was really nice to get to the ocean finally, we were at Playa Palenque for about three hours, most of which I spent in the water with a brief stint on a banana boat that cost 100 pesos ($3.25) and showed the most beautiful views of the shoreline and the mountains in the distance.

Next week we have off with only various visits to potential internship sites. Classes for me don’t start until the 19th and me and a few friends may take a weekend trip to a different part of the DR this weekend, and there will definitely be day trips to the beach all week.