As many of you may be aware, I spent some time away recently.
As all of you are now aware, I spent some time away recently. Where? Well hold onto those proverbial horses and butts and I’ll tell you!
This summer, I had the privilege of taking part in a program called The DREAM Project. In short, the DREAM Project is an organization that provides greater educational opportunities for underprivileged youth in the Dominican Republic. I had an amazing time and learned so much. Would you like to hear about it?! Seeing as how I can’t hear you, and by the time you read this it will have already been written, I’ll tell you how it’s going to be: I’ll be writing a 3-part series on my experience with mi gente in the DR.
PART 1: Adventure Time
The Dominican Republic is well-known for being a locale chock-full of tourist attractions. This seems appropriate, because there are plenty of attractive things with which to fill a chock. And while I wasn’t there for touristic purposes, I still found many of these destinations quite attractive. During evenings and on the weekends, we were free to roam. Roam I did, and I got the opportunity to do some amazing things.
The only issue is that, sometimes, when you’re doing amazing things, you’re not documenting amazing things. O sea, when your hands are full of adventure, your hands are not full of a camera. Whether it was because I was alone, just too focused on other things, or because of activity-specific circumstances, I wasn’t able to get pictures of myself doing a lot of the fun things I did while there. But, ne’er to be outdone by a chain of actual events, I turned to the world of fantasy. Below, I have listed some of the fun and touristy things I got to do while on my trip. Along with each activity, I have a short description, along with some pictures. While not necessarily historically accurate, the pictures are representative of the experiences in every other way imaginable, and can give you an idea of what happened throughout history.
Let’s start off with a bang. Probably the coolest adventuresome thing I got to do was tour los 27 charcos de Damajagua. 27 charcos is a series of natural pools that have been carved out of limestone by the Río Damajagua in the mountains of the Northern Dominican Republic. Each of these pools is connected by said río. Because of the nature of the rock, there were bunches and bunches of natural water slides and waterfalls. Our tour, then, consisted of traveling down the mountain by way of the río, often having to do so by sliding down the water slides, cliff jumping, and swimming down corridors of natural limestone formations. So cool:
If that doesn’t do it justice, there are plenty of videos on YouTube of people who filmed it.
Near our hotel, there were some caves that led to underground pools. After being led into the jungle by a man I’d never met before and climbing through a small hole into pitch blackness, we climbed down a rusty unsafe ladder into an underground cave. There was a small landing surrounded by crystal clear, cool water. The clearness actually made it a little creepy, as you could see faint shadows and forms at the bottom of the ~10 foot deep pool. So many things could have been living in there. So many things... But we all survived and I don't have any diseases yet. Despite it being midday, we had to light candles while down in the cave to be able to see. Romantic underground swims by candlelight: So hot right now.
As one might expect, the beaches were amazing. They made good for several activities. At beautiful Sosua beach, some diving and exploration was done, in the fashion of snorkeling. Even when the water was about 40 feet deep, the ocean floor could be seen clearly from the surface.
We also stuck around for some gorgeous sunsets.
At another nearby beach, I got to try surfing for the first time. I got up on my first attempt, with the help of a muscular Dominican man who did all the work for me.
At our local beach, every Thursday night, there was a volleyball tournament; my roommate and I and some random beach tarts won exactly once.
And beaches are always good for long walks and introspection.
But it wasn’t just the beaches that would take your breath away. A short drive from the coastline, there were rolling mountains, covered in palm trees. Drives and walks in the countryside also made for majestic serenity.
For our final dinner, we drove down to where a prominent river in the DR meets the Atlantic Ocean. From there, we took a boat ride up the river at sunset to a local eatery thing.
Upon arrival, there was a dance competition, in which I participated. Despite our strongest efforts, my partner and I did not win.
I also made time for intellectual and cultural pursuits. I was able to visit the Colonial Zone of Santo Domingo, which is where some of the first settlements of the New World were made. This is a picture of Catedral Primada de América, the first church built in the Western Hemisphere.
We visited a museum in Santiago, where we were able to analyze great works of art.
And monuments.
A lot of my time was spent in and in between cities. Most traveling was done in guaguas, which were always very crowded.
I also rode my very first motoconcho [after camp was over, of course, in case management is reading ;) ]
For longer trips, I chose the comfort of Caribe Tours.
...unless it was too long, or over water, as was the case when I left the country. First was a layover in Puerto Rico.
Then, my favorite Mariners just happened to be playing in Florida about the time I was headed back, so I stopped at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg to catch a game before eventually heading back to good old Washington.
Adventure after adventure, ad nauseum. Such nauseum. Such a good time. And again, although that wasn’t the reason I was there, I got to participate in some pretty amazing activities and I’m grateful to have been able to go.
Speaking of why I was actually there: next up in the series will be a recap of some of the more meaningful things I got to do while I was there. While seemingly not as adventurous, there were plenty of adventures to be had. And oh, I had them.
