Well we survived the first night with minimal bug bites thanks to our wonderful nets. The morning began bright and early with breakfast and orientation. The orientation provided lots of good background information on the Dominican culture and prepared us for the events later in the day. Next on the agenda was Spanish Mass. We were welcome by ILAC community and surrounding community.
The afternoon brought the first adventure into to city. We broke into 3 small groups to explore the city of Santiago by means of a scavenger hunt. Each group contained 1 spanish speaking individual however were very strongly encouraged to use them sparingly. We left ILAC and travel into town on a guagua, a spanish bus comparable to a 12 person passenger van without a door. Each team averaged 19 to 23 people crammed in a single van... with no air conditioning mind you. We finally made it to town and were off to complete, not compete, to accomplish all of our tasks. The items including negotiating the city, buying fruit and ice cream from vendors, and communicating with Dominicans. Our final destination was the town monument. We were able to climb the stairs to the top and view the city from a new prospective.
During our travels around the city we noticed the large number of motorcycles and mopeds utilized as the main mode of transportation. Up to 2 adults and 2 children were seen touring the town on a single moped.
We made it back to ILCA for dinner and reflection. We decided to enjoy our fresh fruit purchase, mangos, of which Jess had never experienced. However, not 1 PT student knew the best way to cut a mango so one of our fearless leaders, who is orignally from Cuba, had to teach us. Jess is still debating about a new found love for mango.
More updates to come.
Katie L, Andrea G, Jess W
Sunday, April 29, 2012
Dia de viajar
Hola!
Welcome to the 2012 PT blog in the Dominican Republic!
DISCLAIMER this blog will be posted in English with Spanish spell check, aka no spell check so we apologize in advance for any spelling errors.
Our first day was an ENTIRE day of travel, starting with meeting at the airport at 415 am! We made a stop in Miami, for a short 6 hours...naturally we did lap after lap around the entire airport as any good PT student would. Then in order to hydrate and prepare for our spanish immersion, we ordered mojitos and margaritas! One thing Jess learned on her flight from MPLS to Miami was that Camelbacks, a type of waterbottle, increases in pressure with increased altitude so much so that when opened a steady stream of water will flow straight up hitting the roof of the plane and getting all those around you wet, not a good way to make friends on a flight.
Finally we were in route to our final destination of Santiago, Dominican Republic. The airport was quaint, with only 4 terminals. We breezed through customs and stepped outside to feel the Dominican heat wave! In order to travel to our place of residence, ILAC, we had to wait for a bus which was running a little late due to a political demonstration causing a traffic jam. The DR currently is in the process of electing a new president and the country will vote at the end of May. We immediately exposed to the Dominican surroundings and wonderful driving ettiquite. Upon arrival at ILAC we were graciously provided with a late night snack after nearly 15 hours of travel, consisting of lunch meat and awesome pineapple. Lastly we were educated on 1 night survival tips at ILAC and we were off to bed...so we thought. First, we had to combat learning how to manage mosquito netting, a vital aspect to survival here. We were all exhausted and settled in to our new home rather quickly.
Stay tuned for future updates from others on the trip! Thank you for reading and following our adventure.
Jess W, Andrea G, Katie L.
Welcome to the 2012 PT blog in the Dominican Republic!
DISCLAIMER this blog will be posted in English with Spanish spell check, aka no spell check so we apologize in advance for any spelling errors.
Our first day was an ENTIRE day of travel, starting with meeting at the airport at 415 am! We made a stop in Miami, for a short 6 hours...naturally we did lap after lap around the entire airport as any good PT student would. Then in order to hydrate and prepare for our spanish immersion, we ordered mojitos and margaritas! One thing Jess learned on her flight from MPLS to Miami was that Camelbacks, a type of waterbottle, increases in pressure with increased altitude so much so that when opened a steady stream of water will flow straight up hitting the roof of the plane and getting all those around you wet, not a good way to make friends on a flight.
Finally we were in route to our final destination of Santiago, Dominican Republic. The airport was quaint, with only 4 terminals. We breezed through customs and stepped outside to feel the Dominican heat wave! In order to travel to our place of residence, ILAC, we had to wait for a bus which was running a little late due to a political demonstration causing a traffic jam. The DR currently is in the process of electing a new president and the country will vote at the end of May. We immediately exposed to the Dominican surroundings and wonderful driving ettiquite. Upon arrival at ILAC we were graciously provided with a late night snack after nearly 15 hours of travel, consisting of lunch meat and awesome pineapple. Lastly we were educated on 1 night survival tips at ILAC and we were off to bed...so we thought. First, we had to combat learning how to manage mosquito netting, a vital aspect to survival here. We were all exhausted and settled in to our new home rather quickly.
Stay tuned for future updates from others on the trip! Thank you for reading and following our adventure.
Jess W, Andrea G, Katie L.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
