Personal Narrative: The Dominican Republic

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The Dominican Republic. Search for pictures, look at tour brochures, and one will find the image of a Caribbean paradise. Radiant landscapes, beautiful blue waters, clear blue skies, the lure of prosperity and, again, paradise. If one goes there, they will find these famed waters, clear blue skies, and radiant landscapes. However, the Dominican Republic is much more than these resorts and shorelines. Approximately 10.4 million people call the Dominican Republic their home, and living among them is extreme poverty. One hot summer, I got to experience this first hand, and hopefully make a positive impact on their lives. Many people had been on mission trips before, I am far from the first, nor the last. I believe the organization this was orchestrated …show more content…
Being from rural Brockway, a lot of us didn’t know what to expect culturally going into an airport like JFK, or beyond that to Santiago. However, the people on the plane turned out to be extremely kind, and open to talking about their lives with us. One woman, on the first connecting flight, told me enthusiastically about how she was going to visit her sister in Manhattan. Another man, that I had the pleasure of meeting on our flight from JFK to Santiago, didn’t have a big story to tell, but was extremely thankful and humbled by our efforts that would be taking place the following week. Every time we told someone our story, it was met with thanks and encouragement. At the time, I had no clue of the gravity of their words, but it still provided the sense of encouragement I needed to keep going. When we touched down in Santiago, and the first night there, I distinctly remember the ride from the airport to our location for the week. In the airport pickup lane, among many Mercedes, Audi, Ford, and other vehicles, there was a beat up Toyota van. It looked like a cross between the stereotypical Volkswagen “hippie” van and a highly ornamented race car. I really hoped that wasn’t what we’d be riding in, but it obviously was. Once we got it, I wasn’t sure if we’d make it to our …show more content…
Riding in our racing hippie van, two things were instantly apparent. Firstly, either the Dominican Republic has very poor traffic laws, or they aren’t enforced. Stop signs are a rare commodity, and traffic lights are reserved for only the busiest intersections in the heart of the city. I’m not sure if they had speed limits, either. Watching our driver navigate the road was horrifying. Secondly, the landscape of the roads and city were extremely different than that of the airport. The airport, being a required stop for tourists and government owned, was a modern building. Glass and steel architecture, extremely clean floors and rooms, that of which you might find in a New York City skyscraper. The stark difference between the airport and the rest of the city, bar a few extremely modern and exclusive shopping areas, was startling. It was able to sink in more once you got used to the
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