January 2, 2015

Hotel Riazor
Photo Credit: Kirstie Geier 

Kirstie: My travels to the Dominican Republic (D.R.) were lengthy, but thrilling at the same time! I was mostly excited to soak up the warm rays of the sun and escape the freezing Maryland weather! I was also anxious to immerse myself into a new culture and broaden my worldview. I felt as though my view of the world was very limited to my experiences in the United States (U.S.) and I was eager to grasp a sense of how other cultures function. I remember my biggest worry on the travel day was that my luggage would go missing. Luckily, even with the layover in Atlanta, my luggage and I safely arrived in Santo Domingo. I slept most of the flight, but was awake and alert once we approached the landing strip in the Dominican Republic. From the moment we arrived, we were introduced to the concept of “Dominican time.” We waited in the airport for a long period of time for CIEE, our study abroad program, to gather its participants and the bus to arrive. We were informed that the culture here is very relaxed and things rarely happen on time. This concept is in direct opposition to our American frame of mind, which values punctuality. When we arrived to our hotel we immediately had to exercise our flexibility, as our hotel was overbooked and we were moved to another hotel. Another aspect of the culture was portrayed, as plans are constantly changing and we were told to be ready for anything. Fortunately, the new hotel we were relocated to, Hotel Riazor, turned out to be a very nice facility. We were also introduced to Xaivier and Roalqui and the CIEE center. Our last part of the day’s agenda was dinner at the Garden Café. At first, I was hesitant to try the dinner that was placed in front of me, which was a traditional meal here in the D.R. called Sancocho. It was a soup with vegetables and beef with a side of rice and avocado. After my first bite, I could not put my spoon down. Sancocho was delicious! The first day was exhausting after all the long travels and getting settled in, but I was still excited for what the trip had in store and could not wait for the following day!

Sancocho meal
Photo Credit: Crystal Croom

Crystal: As I arrived in Santo Domingo on January 2 was slightly bumpy, but I was happy to arrive at my final destination. The first change I experienced was the one-hour time difference. Luckily, another classmate and myself were on the same flight and we thought we would wait for the rest of our classmates, but we unaware that they were at another terminal. As we took our time waiting for the rest of the group, a women from baggage claim came to find us to let us know they had our bags waiting for us in another location. This was a pleasant surprise, as I thought they would just throw our bags in lost and found, rather than come notify us. The women that found us for our bags also lead us to our group who were waiting on the other side of the airport. I was thankful for her help and kindness. As we exited the airport, we approached a bus that looked as if it came straight from the 1970’s, which I thought was pretty neat. As we made our way to our original hotel the sights of the new city I’d be staying in for the next 17 days were amazing and eye-opening. When we arrived to our first hotel, we were immediately introduced to the relaxed culture of the Dominican people. Our hotel that we were supposed to stay in had been overbooked and we were forced to make other arrangements. We quickly learned the Dominican culture goes with the flow and we had to learn to adjust to this lifestyle, as we would possibly encounter many changes and road bumps during our trip. Our hotel accommodations were taken care of and we were finally able to settle into our new place Hostal Riazor. We would be having a welcome dinner at the Garden Cafe, where we’d get our first taste of Dominican food. Our first meal was Sancocho, a soup that is comprised of vegetables and meat. It was a very pleasant start and I was excited for the days ahead.

Santo Domingo
Photo Credit: Rose Kalala

Rose in Santo Domingo
Photo Credit: Crystal Croom

Rose: My travels to Santo Domingo were a little different than the rest of the group. On the 30th of December, my family and I traveled to Ottawa, ON, Canada where we often celebrate the New Year with my father’s side of the family. Since I would already be in Canada, I decided to book my flight out of Ottawa’s airport. I left in the evening of the 1st to arrive at 5 am in Santo Domingo with a connection in Newark, NJ. The first flight was very smooth and I slept most of the way. The layover in NJ was a little over 3 hours. I got some dinner and went to my gate well before boarding time, which ended up being a good thing because the flight boarded early and we were able to take off 30 minutes before scheduled. This flight was a bit bumpier; therefore, I watched a movie instead of sleeping, which was not the best idea. I was exhausted when I arrived to Las Americas Airport, although my excitement kept me wide awake. I traveled through customs with ease and my bag was one of the first to come out. Since I was arriving early, I had arranged to be picked up by my classmate, Steve, who had arrived a week early for vacation. I am really glad I planned my arrival the way I did because I was able to see the city from a different angle before the rest of my classmates. He still had to pack his things up so we stopped by his hotel, which had an amazing view of the city and an even more breathtaking sunrise. Coming from the Canadian tundra it was so nice to feel weather above 50 degrees. Once we packed up his things and got some breakfast, we left the hotel and headed for the waterfront. We planned to visit Steve’s golf caddy at a golf course about 30 minutes away. Driving in the D.R. was a completely different experience than in the U.S. Stop signs are suggestions and turn signals are replaced by honks of the horn. The most intriguing aspect was the mere functionality of the traffic here. The roads and each person’s way of driving appeared to me as complete pandemonium, but was practical and an accepted norm for the people of the D.R., it was something they were accustomed to, which was an idea I enjoyed. We got to the golf course and met the caddy, Francisco, who seemed very nice. For lunch we decided to eat at (and on!!!) a beach, Juan Dolio, that Steve had gone to the previous week with Francisco. Francisco tagged along which was nice because he knew where he was going and he spoke fairly good English. He also helped translate and taught me a few simple words. After lunch, we explained we had to meet the rest of our classmates at our hotel and we all thought it would be interesting for Francisco to meet the rest of the group. We stopped at his house so he could change out of his work uniform and his neighborhood was really a sight to see. Off of the main highway, we entered a small dirt road and small, simple shacks and houses surrounded us. There were many people, of all ages, outside and in the streets, which was nice to see. I did feel a bit uncomfortable driving through in such a nice car without being able to offer the people that I encountered anything more than a smile and a faint “hola.” Hopefully, the saying “a smile goes a long way” holds some truth. We soon left his neighborhood and headed back to Santo Domingo where we encountered the rest of our group at Hotel Maison Gautreaux, and our trip had finally begun!