Now that you know a little bit about my life here, I’ll provide you with a bit more of a detailed update. I’m sure you would love hear about my classes, but instead I’m going to talk about a few of the things that I’ve been doing outside class.

Sosúa

The first day that we had to ourselves was spent in a town called Sosúa. We were on the beach the entire day, and I did not even get a chance to explore the town. However I was still so glad about escaping the cold weather of State College, it did not even matter for me. That whole day was a bit of a “this is it” moment for me. The fact that it was January and I was on a beautiful beach with some newly made friends all seemed a bit dreamlike to be honest. Since then I have been back to Sosúa twice, to a beach called Playa Alicia. From what I have seen myself, Playa Alicia seems to attract more tourists than locals, but definitely has opportunities to meet both when wondering into the town for lunch. My most recent time there was last Friday, which is where I took the picture below. As you might be able to see I am holding an avocado sandwich. However, the “avocado sandwich” concept is not a thing that people eat here. I wanted to keep it simple for lunch; something cheap that I could throw together and eat relatively easily while sitting down. Not to mention the avocados here are excellent so any chance you can eat one is a good opportunity. After some quick browsing in the local supermarket, I grabbed an avocado and a roll and ended up with this.

It’s not difficult to see that I was immersed in a blissful moment. I was enjoying my avocado sandwich on a beach and it really was as simple as that. I had heard stories all last week from home of friends having to battle snow and wind chilled temps to get to class. This picture is a great image of why studying abroad can be a great experience at times. Now, of course I am taking classes here, as well as learning Spanish. But I am also having the time of my life here. What I am getting at is that studying abroad has the ability to give you moments like this that you simply wouldn’t get anywhere else, like at home.

Santo Domingo

Another trip that I did was an overnight excursion to the capital of the Dominican Republic, Santo Domingo. Our first stop was a visit to an ingenio (sugar mill). This particular ingenio was the site of a slave driven revolution which ended up being the event that sparked the ridding of slavery for the entire island on which the Dominican Republic is situated. It was very humbling to be in the same spot of such an important event for the history of the Americas. Below I have a picture of the main building of the facility. The right half was restored to show what the building used to look like and the left half of the building has remained untouched.

The second day of our excursion had a couple more things lined up for us. We took a walking tour around the Zona Colonial in the city of Santo Domingo, which has buildings and other incredible sites from the time of Columbus. We also went to a national park near Santo Domingo called Los Tres Ojos (The three eyes). It is an open air limestone cave with three small blueish green lakes. There were scenes from the Jurassic Park films that were shot here. Towards the end of the park, there was a pool that contained doctor fish. You may have heard about these fish as the ones that nibble dead skin off of your feet. I couldn’t resist after hearing this and had to dip my feet in for a few minutes. Sometimes it is the unexpected things while traveling that have the ability to turn a great day into an unforgettable one.

Playa Ensenada

The following weekend we took a day trip to a beach called Playa Ensenada. It is located on the North Coast of the Dominican Republic, west of Puerto Plata. At Ensenada, we went snorkeling; a boat took us out to an area, far away from any land mass. The spot we were taken to was an oasis of very shallow water. We were able to stop there for a quick swim break before heading to our snorkeling destination. The reef was located off on a tiny, tiny island, which measured approximately 25yds x 15yds. It was a very cool site to see. There was barely enough room to walk on this island because of the amount of people and snorkeling gear occupying it. After getting adjusted to my gear, we swam out to the reef. It was one of the most beautiful sights I have ever seen. There were so many fish swimming past me as I floated along. The colors of the reef were absolutely exploding. I felt completely weightless as my body and the flexible parts of the reef seemed to grab the current and sway back and forth in unison. I tried snorkeling once as a kid and hated it, but my day at Ensenada completely changed my mind about it. I finished up the day with some beach side pescado frito (fried fish), and a really nice nap on the ride home. My day at Playa Ensenada was one of the best days I have had here so far.

Video of the Day

I know I said in my last post that I’ll have a photo every week, but a photo could not do this moment justice. On the property of the ingenio, we found these plants that had fern like leaves, and looked pretty normal otherwise. However, when you touched the leaves with your finger, the fern folded up immediately. Here is the video of this all taking place. See you next week!

MVI_0058

Location: Santo Domingo, DR