My trip to the Dominica n Republic
I was to leave to the Dominican Republic at 10p.m. on a Thursday night. My flight was with Tower Air and it was leaving John F. Kennedy airport. I had to be there three hours before departure and I was I was there at 7p.m. It felt like they longest wait of my life. At 9:30p.m,they announced that we would not be leaving on time because the plane had technical difficulties. Our flight would now leave at 12p.m. I couldn’t believe this was happening to me. It was a nightmare. They had already changed my flight like five times before. I was leaving one day, then I was leaving the next and so on. Then they wait for the last minute and the food shop had closed, so there is about a good 200 or so people without food and all upset cursing up a storm. To top it all off, half of the people there were teenagers going to the Dominican Republic to play baseball. Can you imagine? A hundred something kids hungry and sleepy screaming their lungs out.
However, the nightmare wasn’t over. They got us on the plane at about 2a.m because the plane wasn’t ready. I couldn’t get on the plane because I kept buzzing when I passed the medal detectors, so that took another 20 minutes. Then we are on the plane and the plane isn’t moving, and we are waiting and waiting and no explanation. After a while the plane begins to move. It when around the run way and then they tell us we must get of the plane. It needed more service repairs. At this point I’m like give me my money back, and in return they call the cops because we were making to much noise. They fix the problem around 5:30a.m and we are off again. Keep in mind we haven’t eaten and no food was given. I didn’t even get water. I thought this was a sign of god and my time had come for me to die, but I made it there in one piece.
At our arrival the planes door wouldn’t open and they said we might have to return to New York. I couldn’t believe this. I was ready to jump out a window. Finally we are let out of the plane and I had to wait like three hours for my grandfather to come pick me up.
I was born in the Dominican Republic, November 2, 1982. I lived and grew up in a countryside where everybody knew each other. My childhood years were full of wonderful experiences where I felt loved by my parents and my family. I went to school around 6 years old. I had to walk around 30 minutes to get there from my house. My father was a farmer who had to work long hours in order to sustain our big family. My mother was a housewife; she was in charge of taking care of us. I have five siblings, three boys and two girls. I remember that at that time we did not have many things in our house. We did not have electricity and also we did not have a service of water. I remembered that my father had to go to the river to get water for the necessities of the house. At that time my family was very poor, but my
Dominicans’ ethnicity consists of Taino, Spanish and African. The native people on the island were the Taino. The Taino were hunter and gatherers who lived off the land. Led by Christopher Columbus, the Spanish conquered the island in 1492. The Spanish overtook the Taino forcing them to be their slaves while killing many in the process. The Africans were then later brought to the island as slaves. Certain traits of these ethnic groups are still present in the Dominican culture, such as the food, language, religion and personality of the people (Goodwin, 116).
I learned more than I ever imagined on my summer study abroad trip to Costa Rica. I learned that Costa Rica is a country like no other. The country is much different than what the United States of America is like. The lifestyles, customs, and practices of Costa Rica are very different than those that I am accustomed to. As an outsider looking into the country, I saw a country that is very poor financially but very rich in spirit. They do not appreciate wealth as United States citizens do, but instead appreciate love and gratitude. I noticed that Costa Ricans have very strong family values and cultural roots.
Finally, to my delight, the day had come when I would be flying my maiden flight for British Airways. This was the new & most sophisticated airline, the Boeing 777-300ER from London to New York. The journey would usually take 7 hours but the crew has to report for the flight preparation 2 hours prior to the flight. After all the final checks with the ground crew, we gave the green signal to invite the passengers on-board. Once we had all the passengers and their luggage loaded, we taxied to the runway. The weather was miserable in London this morning and there was an excessive amount of water on the runway. Once we a...
The Dominican Republic is a nation located in the Caribbean Sea and shares the land with Haiti, and the whole island is called Hispaniola as it was named when Christopher Columbus discovered it during his first voyage in the year 1492. The country has proved to be one of the leading Caribbean countries with accessible healthcare to its citizens and even expats. However, the country has a multinational population with low-to-medium incomes and multi-level access to healthcare based on income. Despite this, improvements to healthcare system can lead to better medical outcomes to all the citizens and even to the suffering citizens of the Haiti. Because the Dominican Republic is an immediate neighbor to struggling Haiti, it is the moral obligation of the Dominican to provide Haitians with access to healthcare.
When I entered the airplane I was as excited as a 6-year-old could be about losing the people she loved the most. The greatest aspect of my fear was the idea of losing my mother. As a child, I always
The Dominican Republic declared their independence from Haiti by the liberal thinker Juan Pablo Duarte in 1844. Before the island was named La Hispaniola and its habitants were the Taino. It was discover by the Italian but, working under the Spaniard Catholic Monarchs Christopher Columbus. La Hispaniola was made out of two countries we know today Haiti and Dominican Republic. While the country was declared under Spain power, the Taino got banish off the land, by the hard labor Spaniards made them do. Therefore, the Spanish speakers started to import slaves from Africa. Now there’s around 10,478,756 Dominicans with a population of 73% mix, 16% white, and 11% black. Today, the Dominican Republic is one of the most famous touristic places in the
I never understood the American Dream until my mom took me away to the Dominican Republic. I was 7 years old when my life changed completely. I would have to live In a new country, new house, and attend a new school. Everything was different from what I was used to. And although my mom spoke Spanish, when I arrived to the DR I barely knew any. I was In second grade and I was the only one In my class who did not know how to write In spanish, or In script. It was a process for me to adjust to the new life I was given. However since the moment I arrived In the Dominican Republic I wanted to come back to the States. I missed everything, from my friends, to the city, to McDonald's happy meals.
I desperately attempted to free myself from the relentless grasp of boredom. I looked out the window, but like the thousand times before, I saw nothing but farmland hugging the earth for miles. I was visiting my dad's home country, the Dominican Republic, for the first time in my life. The night before I couldn’t sleep. Every time I closed my eyes the thoughts of all the enjoyable activities I would be doing flooded my mind. I couldn’t wait to go out to sea on my Uncle's small fishing boat, swimming in the crystal clear waters surrounding Punta Cana, and kayaking to a small nearby island with my parents. But first, I would have to experience a 3 hour long drive to go to the quinceanera of a cousin that I had never even met.
First, I had to take a flight from Phoenix to Los Angeles. Then when we arrived in Los Angeles we had to go through the security process to another country. I waited to a line that lasted for almost an hour, they checked my bags, asked for my passport, and patted me down. Soon I boarded my flight to London, England. As I walked onto the plane I realized this was the biggest planes I have ever seen. The plane was two stories and had multiple sections. I saw first class and wished I could have the luxury of sitting up in those giant spacious chairs. Sat down in my coach seat and dreaded this twelve hour flight of no leg room. I looked around to see all other girls from the west coast that also won All American. Once again anxiety flooded my body, I knew absolutely no one
October 20, 2007, the day that I’m going to say goodbye to my hometown. I was born and raised in Philippines by my grandparents for sixteen years. It is heart-breaking to think that I will not see them anymore like how I used to. I was 16 years old, and it will be my first time to travel with my big brother in the airplane. Our trip from Philippines to Virginia is approximately about 18-20 hours. It is not a direct flight, so we have to change plane three times, and it is a long trip for us. I was crying the whole time when we were in the airplane. As soon as we reach our last destination which is the Washington D.C., we have no way of communicating with my mom and auntie because we have no cellphones. I was hesitant to
A total reliance on God requires complete submission to His will. I often find myself asking questions of God. Why is this happening? What do you want for me to learn in this? Where do you want me? Following the goodness of His answers led me to many places, one of which was Bethel.
This past summer, I was privileged enough to travel to the Dominican Republic through the Global Glimpse program, which has eminently impacted the person I am today. I have to confess that this trip was by far the most challenging, yet extraordinary I have ever experienced. Before going on this trip I always had an idea of what poverty is like, but I didn’t intentionally know how I would feel about it. Through this trip, I was fortunate enough to speak to different communities who were facing poverty and was given the chance to personally talk to the community of the Bejuco Aplastado, where I worked on a Community Action Project. Regardless of the struggles the orphans and locals have to unfortunately face, they never fail to put a smile on their face.
during his tenure in Panama. Davila used the city as a place to store Incan
We go to the counter to check me and my luggage in, next to me there's a short girl with really blonde hair, and a pair of intimidating, cold blue eyes who is checked in into the same flight as me. She looked at me with unsympathetic in her eyes, an annoying (scream/yell) made me apart my eyes from the girl when I turn around I saw my friends Abby and Sandra. When ran to meet them up I saw how an creepy old man was about to stole their belongs. I reach out the airport security, they take the old man away, and we continued stroll to check my friends in, as soon we done, me and me friends farewell our