Despite the language barrier, Maggie ’25 and Lexi ’25, make new friendships with the locals.
Today I met some new local Dominican kids. They didn’t speak much English and so communicating with them was somewhat difficult. Despite the language barrier, I felt that we connected while sifting sand together. They were two super happy boys and I will definitely remember them as we spent a decent amount of time together today. My goal for the rest of trip is to try and improve my very limited Spanish skills to better communicate with the locals as that was something that definitely made it more difficult to connect with the locals on the worksite.
-Maggie ’25
Today we spent the day cementing the walls of the house as well as starting to build the roof. It has been really fun to get to know the locals and enhance my Spanish skills. Though I haven’t spent much time using Spanish outside of the classroom, the Dominicans have a lot of patience and work with me as I communicate with them. That has been something really special on the worksite as I have learned many new Spanish words and correct conjugations which has allowed me to better communicate with everyone. I have become friends with many of the locals and am grateful for the relationships I have been able to build on the worksite. My goal for the rest of the trip is to meet more people and have more meaningful conversations with those on the worksite, as well as continue to learn housebuilding skills and improve my Spanish.
-Lexi ’25
