BRITTANY
Elementary Education Undergraduate |
BRITTANY
Elementary Education Undergraduate |
Saturday:
My day began bright and early at the local coffee shop located less than fifty feet away from where I am living with the hot Dominican sun beaming down on my skin and a light breeze making its way from the ocean. (Yes, my “backyard” is literally an ocean!) We had a buffet style breakfast ready for us there with fresh organic coffee. For those who know me well, know how much I love my coffee, but this coffee blows my Tim Horton’s double double out of the water. All of the food here has so much more richness to its flavor compared to the food we eat back home in Buffalo, including their avocado and pineapple. (My favorite things to eat!) Once breakfast was finished, Patricia, founder of the Mariposa Foundation, informed us of where our journey would be taking us today alongside two other staff from the foundation, Sarah and Ashley. We headed to the Mirabal Museum where the Mairabal sisters’ adulthood home was located. The Mirabal sisters are known as three heroic sisters who are printed on a $200 peso used in the Dominican Republic. But there is more than meets the eye to the Mirabal sisters… They grew up in an affluent family and were will cultured and educated during a time when women were not expected to receive an education. Natives to the Dominican Republic, the three sisters and much of their family opposed Rafael Leonidas Trujillo, a cruel dictator during this time period. Patricia Mercedes Mirabal: Patria was given her name as her birth date coincided with the anniversary of the Dominican Republic's Independence Day. Patria means fatherland. She enjoyed painting and art which is what had her sent to a Catholic Boarding School. At seventeen, she married a farmer named Pedro Gonzalez whom she had four children with. Patria supported her sister Minerva in anti-government efforts and opposed the dictator Trujillo and in their attempts to overthrow Trujillo had all their property and home seized by the government. Patria was concerned for the future of the country along with all of the country's children. Patria was famous for saying "We cannot allow our children to grow up in this corrupt and tyrannical regime, we have to fight against it, and I am willing to give up everything, including my life if necessary". Minerva Argentina Mirabal: Minerva was proven highly intelligent from an early age and by the time she was seven years old she was able to recite verses of French poets. She appreciated art like her oldest sister, Patricia, and specifically loved reading poetry and writing. She attended University of Santo Domingo where she met her future husband, Manuel Justo whom she had two children with. By 1949, she was taken to the capital with her mother and placed under house arrest while her father was being held in prison. Minerva was famous for saying "....it is a source of happiness to do whatever can be done for our country that suffers so many anguishes, it is sad to stay with one's arms crossed..." Maria Teresa Mirabal: Maria was the youngest of the three and was strong in mathematics graduating from Liceo de San Francisco de Macoris, then the University of Santo Domingo for Math. She married Leandro Guzman and gave birth to their first child one year later. Maria admired her older sisters and their political activities. She was detained at a military base in Salcedo but freed the same day, and two days after she and Miverva were arrested. The both of them were arrested again by March of 1960 and thrown back into prison being sentenced to five years. The charge dropped to three years and then they were freed that same year in August. Maria was famous for saying "...perhaps what we have most near is death, but that idea does not frighten me, we shall continue to fight for that which is just...” These three sisters were unfortunately killed on November 25, 1960 driving home from visiting their husbands in jail. The police working under Trujillo strangled and beat all three of them, put them back into their vehicle they were driving in, and threw it over a cliff to make it appear like an accident occurred despite the fingerprints all over the vehicle and trauma on their bodies. Once we arrived to the home where these three sisters lived out their adult lives before brutally passing, an overwhelming sense of emotion swept over me. I was fascinated at the beautiful garden that surrounded their home, but also saddened by the unfortunate fate of their lives and the pain they felt trying to stand up for their own people against their dictator. The museum is actually their house, with whatever objects they owned throughout the house that they could find and preserve. Items in their home included their china collections, actual wooden furniture, books, pictures, clothes, sewing machines, kitchen materials, jewelry, what was with them during their death, etc. The house was still set up how they would have lived in the home to contain the extreme effect of their lives. Walking through their actual home was an emotional experience because it felt so raw to be walking through a home that belonged to heroic individuals that sacrifice themselves for what they believed in. Then I thought how empowering this must be for the Mariposa Foundation and their own mariposas. Sunday: This was our first day we had no commitments and were able to spend it however we wanted to. As appealing as it was to relax on the beach, since it is literally our “backyard,” we went to Monkey Jungle and went zip lining through mountain tops in Cabarete. I have been zip lining prior to this, but when I stepped off the guagua and saw the beautiful mountain ranges, nerves quickly crept upon me; it was a STUNNING view. We had several male tour guides who were hysterically friendly and helped us with our gear and took photos for us, but most importantly provided the jokes to ease some of the nerves the group had. While in the air all I could see is wondrous trees, sunshine, and the occasional butterfly. I felt like I was on top of the world. Towards the end of the zip lining course, we did a fifty foot free fall drop into a bat cave! This was one of my most memorable experiences on the trip while zip lining because I had to step outside of my comfort zone and just trust myself. Although this was more of a tourist opportunity, I felt I could apply how I trusted myself and stepping outside of my comfort zone into who I am as an educator and my pedagogical practices into the classroom. I am building a stronger foundation of myself during this journey, not only for myself, but for my students. After the zip lining we headed to their monkey jungle where actual squirrel monkeys crawled, leaped, and sat all over us while holding a plate with watermelon and sunflower seeds for them to eat. I would have never thought I would have had the opportunity to be that close to a live monkey before! The activist in me wished they were not in captivity, but I had to frequently remind myself that these monkeys were rescued from neglect and endangerment. Today meant a lot of firsts for me and stepping completely outside of my comfort zone. I’d say it was a day off well spent; wouldn’t you?
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AuthorJunior | 716 | Alpha Epsilon Phi | Music and Traveling Enthusiast | Concert and Movie Goer | Lemon Addict Archives
March 2017
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