Amelia Tyler ’23 & Blix Salz ’24, share their first impressions of the Dominican Republic.
We both had never been to the Dominican Republic, and we didn’t know what to expect. Upon arrival, we were overwhelmed by the generosity of the locals; we appreciated their willingness to greet us and invite us to their country. After arriving in Santo Domingo, we took a long bus ride to our hotel. As we ventured through the outskirts of Santo Domingo, we noticed that many locals and street vendors were waving enthusiastically to us as we passed by. This made us feel immediately welcomed despite our cultural differences.
For lunch we stopped at a beach restaurant where we ate Dominican-style fish, chicken, rice, and plantains. We got the chance to cool off in the ocean after we finished our meal. We were amazed by how warm the water was in comparison to Deerfield’s river. Our favorite part of the day was when we met the family we will be building the house with during dinner. Even though we experienced language barriers, we were able to connect with them and learn a lot about who they are and what they like doing in their free time. We are both really happy to have the opportunity to explore the Dominican Republic and see how other people live outside of the United States.
