By Lauren Hale
One
of the amazing perks of being a grad student in the School of Architecture here
at Southern Illinois University is the opportunity to travel to the Dominican
Republic over spring break! Last
semester, our advisor told us about a trip that one of the professors in our
department was organizing and leading; this professor also happens to be the
chair of my thesis committee. His name
is Dr. Jon Davey; you will definitely meet him throughout the program
here. He has traveled very extensively
himself and has put together a trip that uses our skills as architecture
students (but you don’t have to be in architecture to come on this trip). It is handled through EF tours and works
together with the Green Brigade to complete the Eco-Challenge. There is a group of around 20 students who
have signed up to go and we have volunteered to help build a community center
in Jarabacoa. While we are there we will
be working directly with the local people who will be using the building once
it is done and other guides to help us navigate and get the job done.
Spring break is from March 8th to
the 16th and we will be there the entire time. The general schedule is community volunteer
work in the morning and fun stuff every afternoon! Some of these activities
will be snorkeling, white water rafting, hiking to a waterfall, sand volleyball
and a visit to a manatee sanctuary. And
to end the trip we will be spending the last day and evening in Santo Domingo,
the capitol city of the Dominican Republic!
So on top of all the wonderful
things I just said about this trip there are a few more perks to choosing to
participate…this trip counts as school credit, three credit hours! The grad program has three credit hours of
electives (one class) built in to the spring semester. This is how I will be spending my three
credit hours this semester which means I don’t have another class I have to actively
show up to all semester. It definitely
opened up my schedule quite a bit and it has been awesome.
Here
are some traveling tips I found about going to the Dominican Republic:
1.
Everything and
everyone runs on Dominican time, which means perpetually about an hour late.
2.
A sanky panky is
not someone you want to cozy up to unless you are willing to take this man back
to the U.S. because all he is after is your visa and citizenship, not you. They typically hang out at beaches and romance
female tourists.
3.
The rule of thumb
for public travel is, you can always fit one more guy in whatever vehicle you
happen to be sitting in. Yes, the roof
counts.
4.
While you are
still on board the plane that is about to land in the Domincan, you will hear
any natives next to you clap when the plane lands safely. Just join in, it’s basically the law.
5.
Baseball is the national pastime, and pretty
much everyone is good at it.
6.
Drinking during
the day, at night, and on Sunday’s is very accepted, and pretty much required.
7.
Speedos are
definitely NOT required beach attire.
Casual dress is pretty much the norm around the island but shorts are
disrespectful in church.
8.
Do not drink the
fresh or tap water. Brush your teeth
with bottled water and never have ice in your drinks.
9.
Always get your
shots and vaccinations up to date.
10. Don’t forget your passport and all the important
paperwork.
11. You will have to exchange currency when you arrive but
the American dollar gets you very far in the Dominican.
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