Andrea
Psychology Undergraduate |
Andrea
Psychology Undergraduate |
We have been home for about a week now and It seems like we have been back a lot longer. I have been telling everyone about our trip and my experience and showing them WAY too many pictures! Since being back, I’ve really appreciated being able to drink sink water, run my toothbrush under the faucet, and put my toilet paper in the toilet which I almost put in the trash when I first came home. Additionally, I also really miss their food like their fresh fruit and peanut butter banana toast. However, I think I am good for a while when it comes to eating rice since I ate so much rice when I was there. I really missed my family and being home but I find myself wanting to go back and I am not going to lie I have been feeling pretty down since being back home. I know the cold weather and the snow here in Buffalo is not helping and I’d much rather be in back in the Dominican Republic weather. I miss the kids at the schools, the people we met, and the sunny days by the beach. When I first heard about even applying for this trip, I was very hesitant. I remember talking to Dr. Schuetze after hearing about applying and she told Emily and I that everyone who has gone in the past has said to just do it! She also told us that having fear is another reason why we should go and we don’t want to regret it if we decide not to apply. I obviously ended up going through with it but as the days got closer to going, it did not sink in that I was actually going to be in a whole different country until it was the morning of departure and I was headed to the airport. I remember feeling so many emotions especially since I was about to be on a plane for the first time. I remember feeling tired, anxious, and excited. Now that I home, I am so thrilled that I went! This experience has been something I will always remember, cherish, and be grateful for. I came back having learned a lot, appreciated more of what I have, wanting to learn more, and it definitely helped me grow! I also got super close to all the girls who also went and I am so glad to call them my friends! We learned so much about each other…maybe a little too much at times. We definitely lived like family and fought like sisters even to the point where we had “icks” about each other. This adventure definitely was nothing I expected and has been a crazy ride, but it was worth it! Like Lewis Carroll once said, “In the end, we only regret the chances we didn’t take” and I am glad I took this chance and applied!
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I had several professional and personal goals for this trip. One, was to improve my overall Spanish understanding, speaking, and listening. I was definitely concerned about the language barrier especially since I studied French in high school and I have had no skills or prior education when speaking Spanish. However, I would like to say that I definitely met my goal and improved! Not only have I continued to learned Spanish on my own while being here but I have learned so much through my peers and the people here! For example, everyone was super nice, patient, and helpful when I tried my best to speak Spanish and understand them speaking Spanish. Also, my host mom and I were able to communicate through her speaking a little English, me speaking a little Spanish, and by us both using gestures. Additionally, my fellow classmates who have more of a background when it comes to the Spanish language have helped me tremendously and I am very thankful. The kids at the schools who could speak English really helped me with my Spanish speaking as well, especially when reading the Spanish part of my bilingual book. I am so glad I was able to learn more Spanish by coming here and I want to continue to learn even when I return home!
Another one of my goals was to be a more extroverted/independent when teaching and talking to the kids. I am very much an introverted person, so being able to stand up in front of a class or group of kids and teach was challenging and nerve-racking! I do work as a teacher aide at a preschool but I am used to just helping the teacher out, not actually having to teach or do the planning. Also since I am a psychology major, this was another reason why I felt this was challenging for me. I am not used to having to create lesson plans or teach! However, I had my professors and peers to help me! Additionally, we were able to work in groups when teaching which made me feel more comfortable in front of a classroom and a group of kids. I ended up realizing that I really enjoy working in a school setting. This experience will not only have helped be a better teacher aide at work, but also help me with my future career goal since I want to work with kids and possibly at a school! The last goal I had for this trip was being able to learn as much as I can about the culture and way of life here in the Dominican Republic! I have never been out of the country, except to going to Canada, so I have not been exposed to a different culture than what I am used to back home. After spending time with my host mom and observing what I have seen, I have realized that unlike the materialistic United States, the people and society here focus more on what they need versus what they want. It is so different compared the the United States and I have realized that I need to appreciate more what I take for granted sometimes. I also have realized that the community is so close to one another. A lot of people say hello to one another and everyone seems to know everyone. I noticed this when my host mom just walked into someone’s backyard to pick some starfruit from their tree. Back home, I do not know my community enough to just walk into their backyard. I also observed this when Olivia and I were able to go through the window of Iskania’s house to my host mom’s house! This was very different for me to experience especially since back home I do not know many of my neighbors. I don’t even know a lot of their names or many of the neighbors who live on my street. Everyone here has also been so nice and welcoming. Being here has made me want to go home, find out and get to know my neighbors and those in my community more. Overall, this experience has helped me grow in many ways personally and professionally. This journey has also helped me through obstacles and helped me accomplish my goals. I am so grateful for this opportunity and the time I spent here! Friday 1/20 - Saturday 1/21 Friday we had the opportunity to visit two social services buildings. One being in Puerto Plata and another was in Sosua. It was cool to see their buildings, ask questions, and see their layout and procedures that they do compared to what we do in the United States! I am so thankful for Alta Gracia, who is the psychologist at the Mariposa DR Foundation, for showing us around the city and taking us to each of the buildings! I am also grateful for Maddie, from the Mariposa DR Foundation, who was there to help us translate since Alta Gracia did not speak English! She has really been super nice and a lot of help this trip! Visiting the social service buildings have also really helped Grace, Emily, and I with our research! We also got to see part of the city of Puerto plata! It was really pretty and we even stopped at this delicious restaurant for lunch! Today, we did the Monkey Jungle! I have been so excited to do this and I have been looking forward to it the whole trip especially since we were supposed to do it last Saturday but didn't because of a chance of rain. It was super fun to zipline and see the monkeys! I was super excited to zipline since I have been zip lining before. I know some of the girls were nervous, but they all did super well and we all had an amazing time! The guides were nice and funny which made the experience enjoyable. There were a total of seven ziplines and a surprise towards the end! We found out that the surprise was walking onto a bridge to a platform where you fall down into a bat cave to get to the last zipline! It looked super deep from the top but it was super fun! They even allowed Anna, who broke her wrist, to zipline! I am so glad that she was able to go and not have to miss out! She did very well too! After the zipline, we went to see the monkeys! It was so cool to have them be so close to you and climb all over you! They were super cute and I loved feeding them seeds and watermelon! We even saw and got to feed more monkeys that were bigger and ones that do not roam around the whole area or climb on you. Overall, I had an amazing time and I am so glad we got to do this on the last day we were here especially on a nice sunny warm day! We are all glad for the opportunity to conduct research while being able to study abroad in the Dominican Republic! Since this is the first time psychology majors are able to participate in the IPDS study abroad program and heard that we are going to be able to conduct research we were excited! This is right up our alley! Emily, Grace and I worked together and focused our research on child maltreatment. We specifically wanted to focus on United States versus the Dominican Republic regarding teacher’s knowledge/training of child maltreatment. We focused on the topic of child maltreatment because all three of us have an interest and passion when it comes to child advocacy and we all want to obtain our Child Advocacy Certificate at Buffalo State! Another reason why we decided to pursue this topic was because we were having trouble finding prior research on this topic when it deals specifically in the Dominican Republic. That made it a bit of a challenge, but Dr. Schuetze promoted our idea explaining how since there is not that much prior research, is the exact reason why we should do research on this topic while we are there! I expected the research to be done at each school in one day, however, this project required patience and flexibility from us. I hoped to learn the Dominican Republic’s definition of child maltreatment, what types of maltreatment are present in the Dominican Republic, and what procedures and resources are available inside and outside the school when dealing with a child who is maltreated. We interviewed personnel at 3 Mariposa Montessori, Coral, and at the Mariposa DR Foundation. We interviewed them by asking them questions off of a questionnaire. When interviewing, we knew the language barrier might be a challenge for us. However, some of the people could speak English; we had the questionnaire translated from English to Spanish to help, and a translator for those who spoke no English. Some new insights I developed when studying abroad was when we were able to ask questions when touring two social services buildings in the Dominican Republic. One was in Puerto Plata and another was in Sosua. Overall, I think our research went well and I enjoyed it!
Tuesday 1/17 - Thursday 1/19 On Tuesday, it was our first time spending the morning with the kids at the Mariposa DR Foundation. Alyssia and I were paired together and we spent the morning with a group of kids who did reading and writing and also played kickball for their sports class. Also, all us girls as a cohort helped sixth graders write down, read a recipe, and make granola in English and Spanish. After lunch, we spent the afternoon at the 3 Mariposa Montessori school. We read our bilingual books to the kids and played the game Mr. Fox to help them have fun while listening and learning English. We also danced with them to the cupid shuffle! It was so fun and some of the kids did not want to leave my side! I especially had a great time spending more time with my host mom’s daughter, Esther, and we definitely bonded more! At the end of the day there, we all ended the activities by using the bills shout “let’s go Buffalo!” We shouted it twice. The first time we said Buffalo, and the second time we said 3MM (for 3 Mariposa Montessori). It was fun and the kids seemed to like the chant! We ended each day with that chant! Later that evening when we got back from the schools, Grace, Hailee, Janinna, Anna, Emily, and I walked along the beach to go shopping at these cute little stores. We went to a jewelry store that had the Dominican stone, Larimar. We also stopped and bought some delicious gelato! On Wednesday, we spent the morning again at the Mariposa DR Foundation. Alyssia and I went with the same group of girls we went to on Tuesday. They went to reading again and then to their sports class in which they played kickball again. It was nice to see the girls again who loved having Alyssia and I with them! They were so fascinated with my hair that day! They kept wanting to play with it! We did not do any of the other classes they had with them because we got to conclude our interviews for our research. We got to interview personnel at the Foundation. We also had lunch there and the lunch for that day was pasta! I was so excited because I love pasta! It was really good along with the garlic bread and salad. In the afternoon, we all walked to the 3 Mariposa Montessori school. Alyssia, Emily and I were paired together to do activities with the 3-6 year old kids. We read a book, sang some songs with them, and I got to do my mindfulness activity, the wiggle and freeze game! It was super enjoyable to hang out with them! Thursday was our last day at the schools. We spent the morning at the foundation again and we hung out with the sixth graders. I was a little sad that I did not get to spend the day with the group of kids I have been spending the last few days with especially since many of them came and gave me a hug. We also all painted our handprints onto a long piece of paper with the sixth graders making our hands into butterflies! I thought it was super fun! Additionally, we had some time after lunch before heading to 3 Mariposa Montessori so we decided to dance with them to the cupid shuffle! At 3 Mariposa Montessori school we got to do a few more activities to conclude our time there. Hailee, Alyssia, and I did Janinna’s mindfulness exercise that involved laughing and a copycat game with the kids ages 6-12! After, Hailee and I played Simon says, sang the head, shoulders, knees, and toes song, and had fun with stickers with the children ages 3-6! I am really going to miss some of the kids, especially those at 3 Mariposa Montessori since we spent the most time at that school compared to the others. Many of the children wanted me to sit next to them and one of the girls gave me a hug and did not want to let go. Additionally, Esther, my host mom’s daughter, gave me a necklace she made and stood by me during the activities! They have all been so sweet and I did not think I would have become attached since we are only here in the Dominican Republic for two weeks but I will truly miss them. I hope I made a positive impact on them with with the time we spent with them as they did for me. We ended the night having dinner at the foundation with some of the people who work at the schools, helped plan, and make this trip possible. We reflected on our experiences so far and ate some delicious empanadas! Saturday 1/14 - Monday 1/16 There is only about a week left in our trip which is crazy! Today is Tuesday but I will catch you up on what has been going on the past few days. On Saturday, we were supposed to go to the monkey jungle and zip line and hang out with the monkeys but we are doing that this coming Saturday since there was a chance of rain. However, we got lucky! There was no rain until later in the night on Saturday. All of us girls were soaking up the sun! We got to sleep in, hang out at the beach and swam in the ocean, which those big waves will knock you right over, which they did. We also hung out by the pool and ordered some pasta for dinner! Don’t worry though, we were also productive. Olivia, Emily, and I did some laundry, went grocery shopping, and wrote a blog. On Sunday, we got to eat a catered breakfast at Cabarete Coffee. It was so delicious! There was homemade yogurt, crossiants, scrambled eggs, freshly cut pineapple and papaya. After, we took a long bus ride to tour the Mirabal Sisters museum. It was very cool to see the whole museum especially since we read the book, In the Time of the Butterflies by Julia Alvarez, which told the story of the sisters and their impact on the Dominican Republic before and after they were murdered. The garden was also so stunning! We additionally stopped and saw the house they grew up in which also had many beautiful plants and 6 day old puppies! On Monday, we were at the 3 Mariposa Montessori school. We finished our last rotation of observing the classrooms. Olivia and I observed the el nido classroom that had one to three year olds. They were so cute! Now after finally seeing each classroom, it was amazing to see the different age groups, the different topics the kids were learning and development stage they were currently in. We also interviewed one more person which wrapped up our research at that school! Additionally, we got to talk to Manny, a mental health care provider for the school, who discussed our mindfulness activities and other projects for the school. He gave us a few tips and talked about his future plans to increase the knowledge for teachers and parents and to further help the children when it comes to mental health and child advocacy! We also stopped at this delicious bakery! Emily and I split a piece of chocolate cake! Later that night we had Maddie, from the Mariposa DR Foundation, which brought her mother-in-law and her mother-in-law’s sister over and they cooked us a Dominican meal! It was so cool to see them prepare the food and have all of us as a cohort hang out and eat dinner together! Wednesday 1/11 - Friday 1/13 On Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday after going to the 3 Mariposa Montessori school and before going to Coral, we had lunch with our host moms! Olivia and I were paired together and our host mom, Jivelis, and her family were so amazing and I am so glad I got to meet them and have that experience! We got to learn so much from each other and have great conversations since she spoke a little English and we, more Olivia than me, spoke a little Spanish. We had some great food and she even went in someone’s backyard to pick us some starfruit on the way back to the school one day. She has 3 kids that we got to have lunch with on Thursday! The oldest is Esther and she is eight, Alexander who is four, and Staci who is three. We could communicate more with Esther since she spoke more English than her mom but we were able to understand each other enough when it was just Jivelis and us having lunch. We found out that Jivelis likes to be active, rollerblade, to ride her motorcycle, is a motorcycle taxi driver, and wants to go back to school to finish school so she can be a teacher at a Montessori school! We even talked about how the weather in the Dominican Republic and she explained how it is cold for them here currently and their hottest month is May. We were shocked when we heard that! We told her that she probably thinks we are crazy for sweating and we told her that this is hot weather for us compared to where we live in Buffalo! We even told her about the snow storm during Christmas and showed her pictures! She was shocked by all the snow! We even talked about how Iskania, who works at the 3 Mariposa Montessori school as a program director and who helped us organize our time and activities we do during our trip, lives behind our host family and you have to walk all the way around the neighborhood to get there or you could get there by going through a window! So, on Thursday and Friday, we went through the window after Iskania gave us a tour of her home. She has a beautiful home, from what we saw on the outside, with many plants, including a coconut tree, and animals, like chickens, doves, and ducks! Our host mom even has a dog, it is not actually her dog but the neighborhood dog, that comes to their house for food and hangs out with them! His name is Tobi and he walks us to their home and back every time we had lunch which was super cute. I had such a great, rewarding experience with my host mom and her family that it was hard to say goodbye on Friday. We gave her some gifts and a few things for the kids too! She loved and appreciated everything we gave her that she started to tear up which melted my heart. Even though we only spent a few hours together for three days, I felt like I’ve known them for much longer. Olivia and I really made a great connection with Jivelis, and really made me appreciate what I have since I have noticed that the people here really focus on and live off of what they need not what they want like our society does in the United States. I am so glad I was able to meet Jivelis and her family and share this experience with Olivia because we had such a great time and looked forward to being with our host mom everyday! We even exchanged phone numbers to keep in touch and took pictures together! Wednesday 1/11 - Friday 1/13 On Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday we went to the 3 Mariposa Montessori school in the morning and Coral in the afternoon. On Wednesday, we observed classrooms at the 3 Mariposa Montessori school. I was paired with Olivia and we observed the upper elementary classroom that had 9-12 year olds. It was really cool to see how different the Montessori schools provide their education in the classroom compared to the other public and private schools in the Dominican Republic that we saw and the public and private schools we have in the United States. For Coral, I was paired with Alyssia and we observed the third graders. It was hard to understand everything that was being said in Spanish, but they had Spanish grammar, science, and gym that day. They were learning about the game chess and the food chain! Some of the students spoke a little English and were intrigued that we were there. Some of them came to talk to us every chance they had! Two students were surprised Alyssia and I were not related and that we were the same age! On Thursday, we got to conduct our research at the 3 Mariposa Montessori school by interviewing some people who work there. I did my research with Grace and Emily and we focused on child maltreatment. At Coral, Alyssia and I got to teach third graders English. It was amazing because I have never done something like this before but nerve-racking because Alyssia and I are both psychology majors and never had to teach or put together a lesson before. We taught them the English vocabulary for family members. We first wrote the Spanish vocabulary and the English right next to it and had them repeat both! Alyssia and I then drew our families on the board, played a little game, and had them draw their families and write who they were in English! It was so cool seeing all the different families the kids had! On Friday, Olivia and I observed the lower elementary classroom that had 6-9 year olds and the primary elementary classroom that had 3-6 year olds! At Coral, Alyssia and I got to teach the third graders English again! We taught them the parts of the body. We drew a person on the board and labeled the different parts in English and Spanish and had them repeat the words. We also played a game where we would tell them, in English, to point to a specific part of the body so they could reinforce the English vocabulary for that part of the body. We ended our lesson with singing head, shoulders, knees and toes in Spanish and then in English. It was super fun and the students really loved the songs, connected to what we were teaching them, and were excited we got to teach them! We also talked to the teacher in the classroom since she spoke English. Even though I was nervous, I had a lot of fun putting together activities, teaching the kids, and being able to push myself out of my comfort zone! We even got to interview some personnel at Coral for our research! It was sad that Friday was our last day at Coral because the students did not want to see us leave. They gave us hugs before we left and we took a group picture with them! I will miss them but I am excited to spend next week at 3 Mariposa Montessori school again and at the Mariposa Dominican Republic Foundation!
Sunday 1/8 - Tuesday 1/10 Where do I begin? The first few days have been very eventful. From a bag being lost when we arrived to Anna having to go to the hospital on Monday. So, I’ll start from the beginning. Sunday was my first time on a plane so it was pretty cool to be able to look out the window and see us get higher and higher in the sky and seeing everything on the ground get smaller and smaller. Both flights did not seem too long but I’m used to long train and car rides when traveling. I got to sit next to Emily and Grace too which was fun! When we arrived, it did not seem real to me. A few hours ago we were in cold Buffalo and now we are in the Dominican Republic where it is super warm! Everyone’s luggage got here safely except the bag that had some of our donations in it sadly did not make it with the rest of us, but hopefully it will arrive here in a few days! It was raining on and off so we really did not do too much when we had some free time after unpacking and going to the grocery store but we were all pretty tired after a long day of traveling. Monday, however, was very, very fun the first half of the day. We got to go kayaking at the Kayak River Adventures! Each kayak was a two person kayak so Emily and I went together. We kayaked down the Río Yasica all the way to this restaurant, called Wilsons, where we had lunch. There were some pretty cool animals at the kayaking place too! Some of the ones you don't typically see in Buffalo included a crocodile, an iguana, and a flamingo! When we got back to Nanny Estate, all of us put our bathing suits on and went down to the beach. There were a lot of people kite surfing which was really cool to see considering this isn't common in Buffalo! We were sticking our feet in the ocean and sitting by these big rocks until the photographer of the group, Anna, was taking some really good pictures and fell by the rocks. She ended up breaking her wrist but she did very well holding it together and making it seem like it did not hurt at all. Luckily, she got to come back that night from the hospital and we were all glad. On Tuesday, we got to tour some of the schools and the Mariposa Dominican Republic Foundation. It was interesting to see the differences between them and it made me thankful for my education since many of the schools do not have the resources we do back home. Later that day, we all decided to go out for dinner. We went to a restaurant on the beach called Ojo Club and we ordered so much food that was really delicious! Today we got to spend the day at the 3 Mariposa Montessori and Coral School but I will discuss more about those in a later blog once I have more experience with each school! We have had so much going on these past few days that it seems like we have been here a lot longer than we actually have. That is the update for now but I assure you there will be a lot more to discuss in the next few days!
In a few weeks I will be on a plane headed to the Dominican Republic for two weeks. I have already been packing little by little. As the day to departure gets closer, the more nervous and excited I get. I am nervous since this will be my first time on a plane and my second time out of the country, the first time I went to Canada. I am also anxious because this will be the longest time I will be away from my family, specifically my mom and my dog. Two weeks is a long time away, but I have some comfort since my sister, Emily, is coming too. If my high school past self knew I would be doing this in 2023, I probably would not believe you. One, because this is something very out of my comfort zone. I am very much a home body and going out of my comfort zone is one reason why I am going. Two, if I did know I would have signed up to take Spanish. That’s another reason why I am anxious to go because of the language barrier. I did take French all throughout high school, but my Spanish is very minimal and beginner. I have been trying to learn as much as I can since the start of planning this trip. I have been using Duolingo, listening to some Spanish music, and in class we have been discussing some basic phrases and we made bilingual books.
I am so grateful for this opportunity because I know I will learn a lot and have fun. Everyone in the group is so nice, and I know they will make this trip enjoyable. I am excited to work with the children at the schools, do some research, learn the culture, and to just enjoy being in the Dominican Republic which sounds way better than being in snowy, cold Buffalo. I cannot wait to see what this adventure brings! |
AuthorHello! I am currently a junior here at Buffalo State. I am majoring in Psychology and minoring in Coaching! I currently work as a teacher aide at a special education preschool and I love working with children! I also like to listen to music, walk my dog, watch movies and hang out with my friends and family! ArchivesCategories |