My experience in the Dominican Republic:

First off I would like to start by saying wow! This trip was really life changing for me. Here’s a little background on me, I’m currently an Elementary Education student at St. Petersburg College and I want to teach anywhere from 2nd-4th grade. I’ve never been out of the Country, so this was new and very exciting for me. I was very optimistic about seeing how other cultures and countries live.

Upon arrival, I expected so much, yet again I didn’t know what to expect. My mind was open to any and everything possible. Coming from America (The land of the free) my mind was open and I knew whatever we did it wouldn’t be easy, meaning because I don’t speak an ounce of Spanish and Dominican Republic is a Spanish speaking country. Long story short, me and my SPC fellow classmates were assigned to go to an elementary school near our hotel. On the first day, it took me a while to adjust, and I would say that my confidence was kind of weird by far. So you think to yourself, “Geesh this is an area that I’m really good at and I can’t seem to communicate with any of the children.” But where there’s a will there’s a way and this saying stuck with me the whole time. We had the pleasure of teaching these bright children English and to sing songs, we were even able to work one on one with them. Now you tell me how this non-Spanish speaking student turned a minor disadvantage into a major advantage? Anybody can do it, have hope.

By the end of the week, I was very confident and comfortable about speaking Spanish and letting the kids teach me. But wait, let me rewind for a second and go through some of the things I saw and some of the things we did. Dominican Republic is such a beautiful place and most of the residents are always smiling. It’s clear that they live in poverty, but who doesn’t. The difference is, I did not see anyone complaining. The children had very little to none to play with during recess and very little material to do work with in class. However, a person will never know if they hadn’t seen their living conditions, those material things, were just that, MATERIAL THINGS. During recess, they made fun by running, playing hand games, chatting, playing in one another’s hair. I mean whatever it was, they made it work. Most of children had on nice clean unfirms and they were well groomed.

The city that we were in, Monti Cristi, was somewhat the same. Their homes weren’t in the best conditions, but the residents didn’t show that. I made the statement a couple of times about how well dressed and nice everyone looked, nothing as I expected. Our tour guide went on to tell me that “Dominicans care a lot about their appearance.” — So, I was told not to write too much, so I must cut this off and end with this. We should humble ourselves to the advantages we have in America, there are so many people all over the world that wants this opportunity. My heart hurts for some of the things that I saw in the DR, but hey, let’s not focus on the negatives right now, positivity always flows better with me. This opportunity was amazing, I am now taking Spanish next semester. It’s a learning experience that you definitely have to try!