Preview

Dominican Republic Personal Essay Example

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
914 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Dominican Republic Personal Essay Example
I was born October 4th, 1992 in Hartford, Connecticut. I have spent the past fifteen years growing up as a typical American girl. I go to school, I listen to music, and I go shopping with friends. I had never once stopped to think twice about the privileges that I had living as an upper class citizen of the United States- it was just the way life was. On a particular July day, an American Airlines Boeing 737 aircraft landed at the Gregorio Luperón International Airport in Puerto Plata. My American family was now in the Dominican Republic.
My grandparents had planned for our family to vacation to the Dominican Republic. Every three years we took a family vacation together, generally to an extravagant location where we were to spend a week as royalty. As I sat in my large first class seat I pondered how my week would unfold. From soaks in the Jacuzzi to glasses of Don Perrion, I could not contain my excitement.
Puerta Plata airport was unique in an unexpected way. The tiny shabby shacks that were selling bottles of Presidente and serving up plates of La Bandera Dominica were nearly as bewildering as the numerous russet colored people treading by hectically. Outside of the unknown walls of Gregorio Luperón lies not only the true beauty of the country, but furthermore its greatest weaknesses. Outside the safe windows of the unair-conditioned taxicab was something incomprehensible to the typical American. Human beings housed in actual straw huts for a home, women were selling fruit from grimy wicker baskets street side just to scrape up enough coins to feed her children that night. Clotheslines held the few garments families were proud to own, and the half naked bodies of small children were running barefoot through the dirt. All I could do was hold on safely to the door handle of the cab. My vacation was a weeklong. Their poverty was a lifetime.
Cabrera was where our villa home was located. Cabrera is known as one of the most stunning areas of the country, but

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Through first-person reminiscences and interviews, the viewer can have an insight into the problems that the Puerto Rican population has to face in terms of language barriers, school problems, and welfare dependence. One of the key scenes in Puerto…

    • 429 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    1492 Persuasive Speech

    • 918 Words
    • 4 Pages

    PREVIEW: TONIGHT I CHOSE TO TELL YOU ABOUT MY TRIP TO THE WESTERN CARIBBEAN. MY FAMILY AND I TOOK A 7 DAY CARNIVAL CRUISE WHICH MADE 3 DIFFERENT STOPS, ONE IN JAMAICA, THE SECOND IN GRAND CAYMAN AND THE THIRD IN COZUMEL, MEXICO AND I WANT TO SHARE MY EXPERIENCES FROM EACH OF THEM WITH YOU TODAY.…

    • 918 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    In Leif Jensen’s article, “Ethnic Identities, Language, and Economic Outcomes among Dominicans in a New Destination,” Jensen observes Dominican immigrants, who migrated to Reading, Pennsylvania from the Dominican Republic, and how they identify themselves in America. He and his fellow researchers start their observations by giving some of the Dominicans, in Reading, surveys about their homes, health, stress, migration history, and other things. They find that 7.6 percent of Reading’s population is Hispanic, which is double Harrisburg’s percentage (Harrisburg is the community with the next closest percentage of Hispanics). They also used open-ended questions concerning race to give the respondents the opportunity to indicate how they classify…

    • 268 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Puunta Cana Thesis

    • 359 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Thesis: The Dominican Republic, Punta Cana is It is one the most amazing places I have ever visited, I created memories from the tropical scenery, the food experience and the culture of people that will last a lifetime.…

    • 359 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Costa Rica is a country that offers many amenities. Here, you will find everything from sun kissed beaches and lush landscapes to breathe taking waterfalls and awe-inspiring volcanoes. You will also find the people friendly and the culture warm and welcoming. Living or vacationing here is very affordable, which is why more and more North Americans and others are choosing Costa Rica as either their home away from home, second home or their retirement destination. The sand, sun, swimming, and seniors, yes, even senior citizens need and enjoy the pleasures of tropical vacations and getaways. So many times all the best resorts are geared specifically for the young vacationer. However, due to the dynamic foresight of DJD Properties, S.A., the senior traveler can enjoy the once in a lifetime vacation and be pampered and serviced like no other excursion. DJD Properties, S.A. has chosen the tropical paradise of Nosara, Costa Rica to fulfill that dream vacation for the senior traveler. With Costa Rica’s climate, political stability, and warm friendly attitudes even the most mature vacationer will be pleased and excited from the beginning of their trip to paradise.…

    • 3525 Words
    • 15 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Dominican Republic was ruled by one of the most ruthless dictators, Rafael Trujillo. Julia Alvarez’s father was involved in the underground movement to overthrow the country’s dictator, which was uncovered and forced the family to flee the country four months before the founders of that underground, the Mirabal sisters, were brutally murdered by the dictatorship. Determined to show her adult independence from her family, Yolanda returned to the Dominican Republic. Aware of the region’s fluctuating political climate, she must decide whom to trust and whom to fear. Longing for connection with one’s heritage can cause them to tell their story about experiences and challenges they faced.…

    • 739 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Miami, FL is a place that has to be felt rather than seen or heard—and by that I mean observed beyond all senses, with mind, body, heart, and soul. I’ve been entrenched in it my whole life, a little Cuban princesita not so different from all the rest, but it’s only as I’ve gotten older that I’ve fully felt like a part of a community, a culture. I feel it when I talk, casually, to the elderly cashier at my neighborhood grocery store, a familiar combination of Spanish, English, and what many call cubanismos, phrases with meanings that simply will not tolerate literal translations, spilling forth. I feel it while seated at a table of no fewer than four relatives on any given evening, judging the quality of a restaurant on the quality of their flan de caramelo or their café. I feel it, too, in the colorful songs of Ernesto Lecuona and the ardent verses of José Marti, but most of all in the anecdotes of my grandparents and great aunt, the nostalgia of long-settled immigrants, echoes of sorrow, shared over dominoes and rice and beans and coladas of espresso.…

    • 476 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Narrative- Cozumel

    • 1078 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Cozumel is the largest island in the Mexican Caribbean (Haggins, 28). It is 30 miles long, and 10 miles wide (28), so as you could imagine, there’s plenty to see and do. When we got off of the cruise ship we immediately saw bright, colorful buildings, petty cabs all along the dock, shops full of unique hand-crafted souvenirs, and people galore. We had booked a shore excursion to the city of Tulum to see the ruins, so we had to hurry to our destination, but would explore the shops and sights later that evening.…

    • 1078 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Dominican Republic offers a fantastic combination of environments to capture your imagination and refresh the soul. And with eight international airports, paradise has never been easier to explore. We invite you to discover our breathtaking island sanctuary and create memories that will last a…

    • 415 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Cuba is an island nation that was adopted in 1902. One third of it consists of mountains and rolling hills. It lies in the West Indies, and is said to be a beautiful island. Havana is Cuba’s capital, and the center of government for Cuba. Some important cities are Santiago de Cuba and Camagüey. Santiago de Cuba is near the south-eastern area of Cuba, and has a population of about half a million people. It’s considered the second most important city in Cuba, probably because it’s an important sea port. Camagüey is the fourth largest city in Cuba, according to Wikipedia. The symbol of Camagüey is a clay pot, mainly because there are clay pots everywhere. They can be very small, or very big. They’re used to capture rainwater to be drunk later. The population of Cuba is precisely 11,224,761 as of this exact day, according to trueknowledge.com. The currency that Cuba uses is Cuban Pesos, and 1 Cuban Peso equals 1 U.S. dollar. Their currency is the same as ours, in terms of wealth.…

    • 663 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In Estela Portillo Trambley's play Sor Juana the main character Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz was considered to be one of the earliest feminists. Sor Juana's eternal struggles to study and unshakable craving for knowledge and wisdom, from whatever source it may be, support this attribute. In my opinion however, there are also significant elements of the play that suggest that Sor Juana would not be considered a true feminist. Of these reasons, there are three major ones that I will analyze. The first reason is that Sor Juana gave up her struggle for the acquirement of knowledge from books and settled for reading from religiously accepted writing, essentially giving up what she had been originally fighting for and abandoning her previous ideals. Secondly, Sor Juana only fought for herself and what she wanted to pursue. She did not fight for other women or in other political, economic, or social spheres. Finally, the play fails to identify how Sor Juana set any kind of precedent or example by accomplishing anything that women before her had never accomplished. In the remainder of this essay I will analyze how Trambley's representation of Sor Juana is that of a woman concerned only with her own desires and also a woman that gave up her struggle for personal…

    • 1224 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The “Exile” poem by Julia Alvarez sensationalizes the contentions of a young girl's family's escape from Dominican Republic, an abusive dictatorship, to the flexibility of the United States. The title "Exile," illuminates the reader that there was no other decision for the family except to leave the Dominican Republic, but several words and expressions reiterate the title. In this poem, the speaker express her inclination about escaping her home and how isolated she feels in the United States.…

    • 641 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Some years ago, after graduating as an elementary teacher, all I wanted to do was to start teaching and become part of the intellectual development of my students, so I looked for different job opportunities. Finally I got a one-year internship at a school in St Louis, MO. During that year I realized that something was missing in my training. Despite doing the job as a teacher well and achieve the planned objectives for the classroom, I was constantly intrigued about what was happening in the students’ minds. Questions like how do we learn?, why do we remember and memorize some information better than other?, or why and how we make decisions?, among others, appeared in my mind every day. Hence, once my…

    • 554 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Tourism is one of the fastest growing and most heterogeneous industries in the world. It is vital to the survival of many Caribbean islands as it is the pillar of their economy because it provides a vast amount of employment opportunities for locals as well as constantly pumps foreign investment and expenditure into the region, among other benefits which will be highlighted. However, like most actions in life, there are pros and cons, tourism is no different. It is a very controversial topic because on one hand it helps sustain economies but, on another it negatively impacts on the natural environment and culture of the region. This leads to the big question that has been asked many times, “Is tourism worth it?” This essay seeks to answer that question by critically analyzing a statement made by King, LeBlanc and Lowe (2000) in which they stated that, “critics believe the benefits of tourism are outweighed by the negative impacts the industry on the Caribbean.”…

    • 2636 Words
    • 11 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    The world is full of beautiful places and places with a rich heritage but there are very few places in the world, which provide an amalgamation of both scenic beauty and rich colors of heritage. Cuba is one such place offering a rich historical background and mesmerizing sights.…

    • 504 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays