Day 4 – Immigration Day

Today was a very fun and exciting day for us. We started the day off extra early, with a 6:00 am wake up call and took a 2 1/2 hour bus ride to a community in Puerto Plata. Seeing a community full of mixed culture with immigrants from Haiti and Dominicans was an impactful experience and showed us all that despite financial and living situations there are still strong bonds in the community, as we saw with all of the connections and love; many young children from the community connected to us despite the cultural and language barrier. We got to meet many different leaders from the community such as a doctor, pastor, community leader, and many different elders that helped us gain an understanding of the communities structure.

After that eye opening experience we went to our hotel, Piergiorgio, where we stayed the night. Our next activity started at the local beach where we spent the rest of our day swimming, playing volleyball and enjoying each others company. The beach was crowded with locals and tourists, but it was pleasant to experience some of the local culture with music and games while also enjoying some ice cream from a beach vendor. Personally, our favorite part of the day was the beach since everyone was able to bond and come together, something we haven’t had much time to do yet on this trip.

Lastly but not least, we traveled back to the hotel and had a mid day reflection that consisted of questions that consisted of our time at the community; We ate delicoius dinner; that consisted of pasta, hamburgers, and wings. Once finishing our food we had nightly meeting to the next leader whom presented their hidden talent! The day was full of adventure and excitement, and so far it has been our favorite day.

Angela Vega & William Cifuentes