Grace
Psychology Undergraduate |
Grace
Psychology Undergraduate |
After two amazing weeks in the Dominican Republic, I am finally home from Buffalo.
The last week or so of being home has been completely different for me. I've been extremely tired, starting to get a little sick from the 50+ degree difference, and have been trying to readjust to Buffalo. I had to readjust to everything, the food we have here, the snow, and driving. The food we have here is completely different to back in the Dominican Republic. I have gotten so used to eating rice and different combinations of salads and others, but here, I haven't had rice since. It's weird eating some foods here and not enjoying them like I used to before the trip, or eating something and thinking the taste is off compared to what I had in the Dominican Republic. The snow is something I was dreading to see when I came back. With the weather being 85 or so out in the Dominican Republic, coming back to at most 30 degrees, crazy cold winds, and snow was something I didn't want to deal with. My body still has not adjusted, and I'm bundled up to the max and using heating blankets to keep warm. Driving. Oh boy, has driving been insanely different. In the Dominican Republic, being in a taxi was crazy, to say the least. Driving back here in Buffalo was pretty hectic. I was so used to sitting in the back of the taxi, but to be behind the wheel was scary at first. I will always have a special place in my heart for the Dominican Republic. I will forever be grateful for the opportunities I've been given during the two weeks.
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The last few days here in Cabarete have been amazing. Thursday was the last day at MDRF and 3MM. Being able to spend the last day with the students and saying our goodbyes is something that will stick with me for the trip. There were a few girls that stuck to my side throughout the days at 3MM specifically. When I was walking with Sarah and talking to her Wednesday and Thursday at the school, these girls saw me from a distance and said hi to me, remembering my name and everything. I'm forever grateful to have created a relationship with these students where I can tell stories about what I did with these students. Friday was a tour day in Puerto Plata. Maddie and Alta Gracia joined us on this tour. We adventured around the Fortaleza De San Felipe, walked throughout the town, and went to CEPROSH, an NGO in Puerto Plata to support patients who have or suspect that they have HIV/AIDS. We went inside, learned, and walked through the facility, and the 5 of us who are psychology students were able to go upstairs and learn more about their psychologists there. After our tour, we went for lunch at Kaffe. I sat with Alyssia, Janinna, Anna, Hailee and Alta Gracia. After being at lunch for about 1.5 hours, we went on a walk to a road that is fully pink, as well as an umbrella road, which was super cool to see. After we went back on the bus, we went to Sosua, where CONANI is. CONANI is just like our child protective services in the U.S. Saturday arrived and we went to the Monkey Jungle and went zip-lining. We got all ready to go zip-lining, and going through 7 different areas was amazing. The sights were gorgeous zip-lining through the jungle. When we went, we were told about a surprise. This surprise was doing a free-fall jump down into a bat cave. I was petrified but after the fall I wanted to do it again. After zip-lining, we took a zebra bus to go see the monkeys! I have never been more excited to see monkeys until this day. We all went in and holy moly, we were surrounded by spider monkeys. I had monkeys on my head, arms, and everywhere. We got to feed the monkeys as well. After our monkey adventure, we drove back with our free Dominican massage (the road was super bumpy) and got to see Dominican Elephants (horses). After we got back home, we all sat around the pool and beach to enjoy our last day in the Dominican Republic. Knowing that the trip is coming to an end, I am so happy about every experience I've gained from being in the Dominican Republic. Throughout my time here in the Dominican Republic, I've been able to reflect and think of a few takeaways from this trip.
1. Be ready for flexibility, no matter how much time you have to prepare. Going on this trip, I've learned how to be flexible, no matter the circumstances. For example, we had to be flexible with our excursion. Instead of going last Saturday to the monkey jungle, we stayed back and had our day off due to the weather. Even though we were told the weather would be really bad, it actually turned out to be extremely sunny and a beach day more or less for us. Another example would be scheduling changes. We were supposed to be at Coral more than any other school, but instead, we went to Coral for 3 days. We were preparing to have lesson plans for days on in, but then to find out we needed just two days of lesson plans, we were all in shock. 2. Be ready to try things, no matter what. On this trip, I tried new foods, got back into teaching, as well as being ready to immerse myself in an educational setting for 8 hours a day. Usually, I'm so comfortable with a set schedule from college, but with this trip, it was a whole new schedule. I had to be ready to wake up bright and early (roughly 6:30AM), be ready, and head to Cabarete Coffee before the bus came. I'm always so used to waking up around 7:30AM, making a cup of coffee and some breakfast, then driving to my destination. I To start a new week off here in the Dominican Republic, we began Monday by going to Tres Mariposa Montessori. We began by getting into our small groups and observing students. Emily and I were together for these observations, where we sat together in a room and watched what happens in the Montessori school. Through these observations, I learned a lot from an educational standpoint. Learning that students have a checklist that they have to follow to make sure that they are on task was something huge. Thinking about back home in Buffalo, we never had a true checklist, other than the classes we needed to take to graduate. From what it sounded like, each student has to complete the checklist weekly, making sure they are touching each topic they need in order to move forward to the next age level. For the students to be split into age levels, 1-3, 3-6, 6-9, and 9-12, it gives students the ability to be around children their age, developmental level, and educational level. For example, if you have a child in the 1-3 room, they have to hit developmental and educational levels before moving forward, like being potty trained, being able to eat without assistance, and more. We then joined the students for lunch and were able to learn their lunch routine. I was fascinated with how independent and how helpful these students were. One of the girls stuck by me, helping me with my plate set up, grabbing me water, and then helping me clean my dish to make sure I did it properly. After lunch, it was time for Day Away, where students are being very active outdoors. We were told to go and have fun, and enjoy the time with the students, and after 3PM, the taxi came and picked us up. Throughout Monday, we were able to talk to Manny, who is the psychologist for 3MM. He gave us updates on plans we had to create in order to interact with the students when we saw them in the afternoon and gave us information about our research. We also went to a little café during our break and I ended up trying flan and tres leches. It was nice to all sit together and enjoy some desserts. Tuesday came and we headed to the Mariposa Dominican Republic Foundation (MDRF). We first were introduced to circle time, where we stood with the students and participated in their morning routine. We then got split up into groups with the students, so Anna and I were with Group B. We started our morning off with kickball, then moved to the student's gardening, then we sat with the 6th graders that Hailee and I worked with at Coral. With the 6th graders, we made granola, which was super interesting trying to combine English and Spanish, as well as helping the students with English while they helped us with Spanish. Welcome to our first weekend in Cabarete! This may be a shorter blog, but it is short, sweet, and right to the point. We found out late Friday afternoon that our monkey jungle tour was canceled, so Saturday was our free day off. Friday evening, we planned a girl's night, where Janinna, Anna, Alyssia, Hailee, and I all sat around, talking about our week, and just making memories with one another through the stories we told. We figured out that night that with Saturday being our off day, we would go have a beach and pool day instead. All 8 of us woke up and were ready to enjoy the sun, waves, and sand by 10AM. Hailee and I were the first ones up, so we made french toast for everyone, Hailee cooked and my job was to take cinnamon cookies that I had and smash them up into a powder for our french toast (we didn't think of buying cinnamon). After all of us ate, we changed and headed out to the chairs by the beach to start our day of relaxation. Throughout the time, we went down to the beach and enjoyed swimming in the ocean. I didn't fully participate in that, so I stayed back on shore a bit and helped Anna gather up shells, rocks, coral, and beach glass instead. We stayed outside from 10:30ish until 5/5:30 when Hailee, Janinna, Alyssia, Anna, and I all changed and walked the beach for dinner. We went to a restaurant called Pomodoro, where we had an array of pizza and pasta. While there at the restaurant, the rain poured in, causing us to call a taxi so we weren't soaked coming back into the house. After coming home, we called it a night to be ready to head to our Mirabel sister's tour. The Mirabel sister's tour is based on real-life events that happened to the sisters. Throughout the past semester, we were tasked with reading In the Time of the Butterflies by Julia Alvarez (highly recommend). The book is fiction but based on the true events that happened to the Mirabel sisters. Sunday morning arrived. We all met at the coffee shop, where we received a catered breakfast including eggs, yogurt, fruit, and croissants, which were all delicious. We met with Trisha, and she told us that the drive to the tour can cause car sickness, and it is extremely bumpy. Maddy joined us on our tour, along with Pam and Tam. We all filled the bus and headed 2.5-3 hours away from Cabarete for our drive. When we arrived at the Mirabel tour, we were all stunned. The whole place was gorgeous, filled with different plants, and the houses themselves were decorated beautifully. We took a tour throughout the house, and we learned so much about the sisters and their fight to end violence against women. We then went to another house on the tour, where a guard was standing watch. We went through, got a small tour from the guard, met some puppies, saw some fermented cacao beans, and were able to take photos of many different historical pieces of the Mirabel sisters. After seeing the homes, hearing more about the story of the Mirabel sisters, and finally being able to piece everything together from the book and real-life visuals, it makes me want to read In the Time of the Butterflies again. After we got back home, we called it a night where the next morning we get to spend our Monday at 3 Mariposa Montessori school. ¡Hola! Tuesday-Friday we were at the schools. Tuesday we began by getting ready to tour Coral, two public schools, and the Mariposa Foundation. These tours gave us a chance to see how the classrooms were, before sitting in on classes. The two places we focused on the most were Coral and the Mariposa foundation. Coral, the private school we toured and would be working in from Wednesday-Friday, was extremely interesting. Finding out the students we were observing came in at around 1:30-5PM was a schedule none of us really heard of with our education system in the U.S. The building was 2 stories, had multiple classrooms, and had grades 1-6 primary and then 1-6 secondary. In an easier term, they had 1st grade-12th grade. These grades were split up, where some students came in in the morning, and others in the afternoon. The classrooms had desks, and not a lot of supplies like we are used to seeing in the U.S., like books, paper, and pencils, the supplies students can go up and grab and use. I was extremely excited to sit in on a classroom and see how a private school functions here in the Dominican Republic. The Mariposa Foundation was a completely different tour. Walking in, it felt like an oasis. I've never been in awe like this before. It was very open, and very spacious, with multiple rooms with different things, like a music room, a library, and more. I was interested in learning more and being excited to learn more about the foundation in the following week. Trisha welcomed us in, and showed us around, giving us a tour, telling us how the foundation was built, and answering any questions we had. We also met Maddy, who talked to us during lunch, and was very open to talking about how she got into the foundation. When we came home after the tours, we all got ready to head out to Ojo for dinner. We had all sorts of food, like shrimp, nachos, pizza, pasta, and more. After we came back home, we all said goodnight, and we prepared for our 8-5 day tomorrow. Wednesday was our first day at 3 Mariposa Montessori (3MM) school, as well as our first day observing Coral. We woke up and got to the Cabarete Coffee Shop by 8AM, took our bus, and walked into 3MM. Walking in was gorgeous. I felt relaxed and excited to see what a Montessori school is and how they function. We were warmly welcomed by Sarah and Iskania. We sat down, got the rundown of everything, and went for our first observation. We learned that with Montessori, their rooms are split up by ages; 1-3, 3-6, 6-9, and 9-12. I was paired up with Emily, and we sat in the observation room for the 3-6 room for about a half hour. We followed along with a sheet, and after we were done with observations, we were able to talk and ask more questions before meeting our lunch mom. Before our lunch mom showed up, Hailee, Alyssia, and I played a game with the students, which was super fun. After the game, the three of us jumped on the trampoline, and then after we went to our lunch moms house. Emily and I were told that our lunch mom was Angela and our walk was in downtown Cienega, about 15 minutes to get to her place. Emily and I walked in, met Angela, and immediately sat down to eat. We found out that her daughter goes to 3MM, which was amazing to know. Angela did not speak English, so Emily and I used Google Translate, as well as using the Spanish that we know to help us communicate with Angela. After we ate and talked, we walked back to 3MM, and once everyone was there, we went to Coral. At Coral, I was paired up with Hailee. We were told we will be with the 6th graders, and these girls go to the foundation. We went in and started observing the classroom from 1:45-5PM. The teacher asked us if we had anything prepared, so Hailee and I did English vocab with the students, and the teacher had the students introduce themselves to us in English. We sat throughout the rest of class, and at 5PM, we took the bus home. We had a cohort meeting where we discussed what we can teach the students on Thursday and Friday. Hailee and I planned on reading the books we made, as well as a little activity to incorporate our emotion books. After the meeting, we all went back to our rooms and went to bed. Thursday morning arrived, and it was similar to Wednesday. We went to 3MM and did interviews for our research. Andrea, Emily, and I are doing research on child maltreatment in the Dominican Republic. We were able to interview 3 women from 3MM, which will help us understand how child maltreatment is viewed, taken care of, and more in the Dominican Republic. After our interviews, we went for lunch. Emily and I got back first from lunch and were preparing for our teaching. Everyone else arrived and we went to Coral to teach. Hailee taught on Thursday, and she did an amazing job. She read her book, then did an activity where the students said what made them calm. I was Hailee's assistant, writing on the chalkboard, hoping my handwriting isn't as bad as it normally is. After more observations, we came back home, made dinner, and relaxed before our last day at Coral, as well as our last day with our lunch mom. Friday morning hit, and at 3MM, we did more observations and got to interact with the children more. I did a rope swing for the first time, as well as Alyssia, Tam, and Pam. Emily and I headed to our lunch mom for one more meal. Our last meal with Angela was sancocho, which is a popular meal here in the Dominican Republic. We gifted our lunch mom a good chunk of gifts, things for her, her children, and for her house. Our favorite gift we gifted was the books we made. After lunch, I taught at Coral, reading my books which were on butterflies and nerves. The students came up to the board and drew their own butterflies. After teaching, I conducted research on the principal at Coral with Emily and Andrea. After our research, we went back to the house. Our house went to bed early to be prepared for our adventure on Saturday. ¡Hola! It has been 5 days so far here in Cabarete! Here is a little bit of everything we have experienced here! For now, I'm going to be discussing Sunday-Monday in order to have more details and for it to feel that you are here experiencing the adventure. Our first day was the flight. We all arrived at the Buffalo Niagara International Airport by 4AM to get ready for our long flights. Andrea, Emily, and I were flight buddies from Buffalo to Newark, New Jersey, as well as Newark to Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic. I was highly excited to become their honorary "triplet", and to experience their first flight! Our flight was about an hour, and we finally landed in New Jersey, where the sunrise was absolutely gorgeous. When we landed in Newark, it was a long walk to get to our gate. The flight from Newark to Puerto Plata was roughly 4 hours. When we landed, I was thrilled to see the differences between the Dominican Republic and Buffalo. We took a bus, where Pam (Dr. Schuetze) took a hat from a garbage can, wore it, and brought it onto our van. While we all waited for Tam, Peter, and the kids, the driver, Maximo, gave us his Bluetooth so we can listen to music. We drove from Puerto Plata to Cabarete, and finally got to our home, Nanny Estates. I was so excited to go inside our house, C5, with Anna, Janinna, and Alyssia. Before our house, we went to a grocery store, and it was our first time figuring out Dominican pesos. Trying to make sure we had everything for a few days with breakfast and dinner, weren't spending a huge amount of money, and making sure none of us got lost, was our first mini challenge of this trip. A few of us headed to the beach, and it was my first time. Seeing the ocean for the first time was such an amazing experience. After enjoying our house for a bit, a few of us then headed back to the beach when it was raining, and we saw a rainbow after the rain. For the rest of the night, we were touring the house, figuring out where utensils, appliances and more are, and we finally had our first meeting. We met Trisha for the first time, eating burritos and talking about what our trip will be filled with. At the end of the night, Anna and I lay in our twin beds, said goodnight, and were ready to wake up to go kayaking in the morning. Waking up Monday morning, it was time to take the bus to go kayaking. I've gone kayaking before, so I was excited to be in the sun, ride the Rio Yasica, and eat some really yummy Dominican food. When we got to the kayaking place, we saw a real flamingo, an iguana, a bird, some chickens, and a crocodile. Hailee and I were partners, and, Andrea and Emily were considered the adventurers of the group, getting ahead of the group, kayaking to lunch, and enjoying sightseeing while we waited for the rest. After kayaking, all of us planned on heading to the beach to take some photos. Anna was taking photos of me by the rocks, and she lost her balance. When she fell, we didn't think anything of it. Looking more in-depth at what she injured, we realized her wrist was more swollen. We grabbed Pam, who told us to bring Anna to our house, and we all went into full gear making sure she was comfortable. Pam and Tam figured that bringing Anna to a hospital or a clinic was the smartest thing to do. We waited on updates and found that Anna broke her wrist in two spots. We didn't know if she would be overnight, so all of us girls got together to eat dinner and enjoy our company while hoping everything is going well for Anna. I was upset during this time, thinking it was my fault that she was injured, so I went on a walk and talked to Peter, who, after only meeting us throughout travel, was great at calming me down and distracting me from everything going on. After finding out that she was coming home, we all made bracelets, and welcome home cards, and prepped the house to make sure it was Anna-proof. Anna came home, we all dispersed back into our houses, and it was the end of the night for us. |
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