Hola mi compadres! It’s day 1 of our exciting trip to Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic! So many emotions are rushing through me from nervousness, excitement, anticipation, and etc. I first woke up to mi familias casa and she made us breakfast. I didn’t sleep much the night before because probably like some others it was hard for me to adapt to a whole new environment and couldn’t fall asleep. After breakfast we went on the bus and met with the other students. First thing we noticed was the driving! Definitely has Atlanta beat on the crazy driving! While being on the bus it gave us a change to look at the city, I took everything in. It was so beautiful and different compared to Atlanta. We all met at the International institutional caribe. Louis and Johnathan told us we will be taking a crash course in Spanish. I was excited because my host mom speaks only Spanish and there was a clear language barrier going on. My hopes going into the Spanish course was to learn Spanish so I can be able to talk to my host mom and her niece. In class they divided us into two groups. Starting off we learned the basics (Adjectives, pronouns, numbers.) just when I thought I got the hang of it we then proceeded to do sentences. That’s when I was lost. There was actually a small moment where I got a little furious because I wasn’t keeping up with everyone and was falling behind. However instead of giving up I kept trying my hardest to keep going. What really helped from the course was that the teacher made us give our own examples. I then felt I was getting the hang of it. After class we went to this restaurant. We had classic Dominican food rice,chicken, and beans. I was a little skeptical because I’m a really picky eater but I ended up eating all of my food. After we ate we then went back to our homes. I was so excited to try out the Spanish I’ve learned from the class. Me and my roommate Kayla spent time with our host mom and niece. We just talked about similarities and differences between American culture and Dominican culture. After and an hour or so we then heard loud music and noises from the street. After looking over the balcony we then saw it was a parade! Come to find out it was carnival in the Dominican Republic! We went out and got to saw the parade! That was definitely the highlight of my night. They had music and dancing and colorful costumes! Our host moms insisted we take lots of pictures so we did! We wanted to stay longer but it was around 11pm and we had an early morning to the beach next day I wanted to make sure I was well rested for that. First official day and night in the DR was a success and can’t wait to see what the rest of the trip will bring me! 
Examining Social Justice & Health Disparities in the Dominican Republic
