01/02/2014
01/02/2014
01/02/2014
This morning was rushed to have breakfast and work on the group presentation with a short break in between to grab a hamburger from Marchena. Eventually, the time came for us to present in class; we wound up being the last group to present. I felt that we all presented really well, and I was able to learn a bit about different topics during class.
After class, we stopped at the hotel for a bit before heading out to the farewell party at night. At the party, we saw quite a few familiar faces, including the two guides from the tour around the city and the doctor who told us a lot of information regarding bateyes and those communities. It was a great time being able to dance (it was my first time attempting to dance a lot in public, so that put me out of my comfort zone for a bit, but it was a really fun experience overall), but it saddened me that we would be heading off back home really soon. Still, I did treasure this time.
Once the party was over and we went back to the hotel, we did some studying for the final the day afterwards. Best of luck for the next day!
31/01/2014
January 21
Nothing in particular happened; there was class in the afternoon by the hotel due to a holiday, this time Día de la Altagracia. We discussed what we would be doing on our final presentation.
January 22
Again, nothing too particular happened on this day. What was of note was a seafood place (Marisco Centro) that a few of us went to for lunch. The environment seemed most suited for going for dinner. The amount of food given for the price it was was definitely worth it. We had two dishes of calamari (appetizer), a lobster bowl (for the four of us), and our own meals. The food was really great as well!
After lunch we had to finish our work on the presenations as it was due on the next day. Good thing class started in the afternoon so we had a bit of extra time, but we pushed ourselves to do as much as possible.
30/01/2014
After we had class at ALPI, a few of us went to the professor’s place to get laundry done.
This day was a day of getting rest at the professor’s place and eventually planning for our group presentations on the 23rd. I also ordered take-out from Square One. Meal? A double hamburger. I’ve been really liking this lately especially since it’s not particularly expensive and somewhat filling. I wonder how I’ll survive back home…
29/01/2014
We woke up early in the morning to eat breakfast at the restaurant and then to check out of the hotel at Imbert. From there, we had the option to go to 27 Charcos, or 27 Waterfalls, with the English translation being very misleading.
With the option of either 7, 12, or 27 waterfalls, I wanted to do 12 waterfalls, but nobody else wanted to so I stuck with only 7 waterfalls due to my fear of heights. The experience was really unique as we had to travel for about 15 minutes to the lakes and had to climb up the waterfalls (with help of course) before sliding down them. All in all, it was a really fun time!
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- At 27 Charcos
We then had a buffet lunch there and eventually went back to the hotel. After resting for a while longer, some of us went to a Brazilian barbeque buffet place called Picanha. While the food was a bit pricy, it wasn’t a bad meal.
28/01/2014
After an early-morning breakfast at the same restaurant, we walked to Baraguana. Once we arrived, we were assigned into groups and were told to interview the villagers to ask about what they knew about the water quality and their water source(s) for uses such as drinking, washing, and cooking. One of the members of our group placed stickers on the kids after interviewing the adults.
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28/01/2014
After we had class in the morning, some of us went to go shopping at La Sirena for some playthings for the kids we were going to see in a batey (village that used to be an industry for sugar plantation fields) called Baraguana, such as stickers, a soccer ball, and coloring books. We also bought water shoes in preparation for the 27 Waterfalls for that upcoming Sunday.
We then took the bus to Baraguana. There, we were introduced to the village chief and a resident that had a birth certificate in the Dominican Republic and thus was able to be educated in the Dominican Republic. We were also briefly shown the water systems in the area, including the pipes. We only stayed for a short time that day just to familiarize ourselves with Baraguana, knowing that we will be going there the next day to interview people.
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28/01/2014
While we had no class for the day so we could finish our papers, I went with two classmates to our professor’s place, with one of the classmates helping as a translator as well and my other classmate getting laundry done. We wound up clearing the language barrier with translation, though it was interesting to hear Spanish, Chinese, and English in conversation.
After speaking with the Chinese neighbor, we ordered take out (pizza). Not long afterwards, the power went out at around 12pm. We wound up staying to get some work done, but as the Wifi was down, we could only rely on sources that were saved on our laptops. We heard some more stories from our professor (such as how he met his wife) and also spent some time playing cards and talking with the daughter of the worker of the apartment before eventually heading back. The classmate that wanted to do laundry wound up not getting any of it done in the end.
The highlight of the day though was taking the taxi back to the hotel. The taxis there are not traditional taxis that you’d find in New York; they are pretty much regular cars. You can call for a taxi beforehand as well.
28/01/2014
After class, some of my classmates and I went to Mona to eat food. Afterwards, we went to the professor’s place to collect laundry that was not fully dry the day before. Instead of collecting my clothes however, I wound up serving as a Chinese translator for my professor and the person who lived right above him. There were issues with the plumbing on the floor upstairs and the person who lived upstairs had limited English and Spanish skills and so could only communicate in Chinese. After relaying messages back and forth, things worked out, and I was to go the next day to confirm that everything would work out.
Afterwards, I wound up sticking around to get some work done on my paper and waited around for other classmates that were doing laundry. However, a few hours later a blackout occurred and we were unable to get any work done. As a result, after staying around for a while longer, we headed back to the hotel, with the other people planning on getting their clothes the next day after the power went back on and the clothes were washed and dried.
