Midterms to DR to reality
Okay so here we go:
1. Midterm week: The week before spring break. Otherwise known as the worst week of my life. Otherwise known as the no sleep week. Otherwise known as the “Why do my teachers think I don’t have any other obligations as they plan their tests consecutively on the same day” week. Needless to say it was rough.
2. Spring Break: MY PROJECT SERVE TRIP TO MONTI CRISTI, DOMINICAN REPUBLIC. At this point in the blog, you can totally disregard the introduction labeled “Midterm week” because the beautiful experience I had on this trip overpowers all the negative vibes that came from that past week.
For those of you who don’t know, project serve is something that the Pepperdine Volunteer Center offers as an opportunity for you to travel to a new place (either in the US or abroad) and serve for one week with a partnered organization. The non-profit I served with and grew to love is Outreach360. It is their mission to spread equal access to opportunity and education around the world while also developing stimulating lesson plans to teach children English (this is an extremely simplified version of the large amount of work that they actually do). My expectations when I arrived in the Dominican were minimal, but what I got in return was something I could have never anticipated. I don’t really know how to explain my journey that week, so I guess I’ll just show it with pictures.
Elementary School we taught at. 4 miles of walking each day to get to the school
Morro hike overlooking the beach
fourth floor of the Outreach360 facility. Located right in the center of the
village where you can constantly hear the Merengue music and locals doing Zumba
under the gazebo
kindergarten class
a lot, Yomari and Izmeli
directly from the ocean water salt flats
hub and border between the Dominican and Haiti, high risk of being run over or
trampled by truck, wheel-barrow, motorcycle, or human
sixth graders you could ever meet
These pictures show the Dominican people and culture, which is unlike anything I have ever experienced before. They value wealth in relationships and companionship, rather than wealth in monetary value. Instead of going to this country to teach, I personally was taught so much more than expected.
3. Reality: As I got onto my plane to start the journey from Santiago to LAX, I snapped back into the reality that I have the quick opportunity to leave that environment of poverty, while many people in Monti Cristi do not know anything else. The transition period included a very long duration of a cold, piles of homework to catch up on, and a whole new outlook on life.
Overall, just do project serve.
Go to an unknown place.
Meet new people.
Immerse yourself into the local culture.
Do that, because it is absolutely amazing.
