I desperately attempted to free myself from the relentless grasp of boredom. I looked out the window, but like the thousand times before, I saw nothing but farmland hugging the earth for miles. I was visiting my dad's home country, the Dominican Republic, for the first time in my life. The night before I couldn’t sleep. Every time I closed my eyes the thoughts of all the enjoyable activities I would be doing flooded my mind. I couldn’t wait to go out to sea on my Uncle's small fishing boat, swimming in the crystal clear waters surrounding Punta Cana, and kayaking to a small nearby island with my parents. But first, I would have to experience a 3 hour long drive to go to the quinceanera of a cousin that I had never even met. The long journey …show more content…
to the quinceanera felt like it never ended. As I was beginning to feel like the trip would be a major disappointment, we arrived to a small town, the first signs of civilization that I had seen in what felt like centuries. It was the complete opposite of the resort towns I envisioned. The surrounding waters were replaced by dense forests bursting with life, and the hotels were replaced by colorful homes, small, yet warm and inviting nonetheless. It all was gorgeous and like something I had never seen, but I being very stubborn, couldn’t fully appreciate it. All I could think of was of the jet skis in Punta Cana that were calling my name. We pulled into a dirt driveway that twisted towards my grandmother’s house.
Dozens of people, all of which I couldn't recognize, came up to me in swarms, emphatically exclaiming how great it was to meet me. After the excitement died down everybody went to the back yard to dance, but I just shied away. An hour passed, and I did nothing but swipe the sweat away from my forehead every few minutes, and slap at the mosquitoes that were attempting to feast on me. Time slowly went by, and I was beginning to regret coming, but then a familiar bachata song that I loved came on. I remember my dad playing it in our living room for as long as I could remember. That was the spark that started it all, it caused me to relax and enjoy the moment. I got the confidence to stand up and sway to the rhythm of the the music, and to dance with all of my extended family. Music was the bridge that brought us together. Even after the song ended, my night of discovery did not. Knowing that we had things in common broke the tension, and I could be myself. We had conversations for hours that opened my eyes. I heard stories about my dad's childhood, and about daily life in the Dominican Republic. It helped open my eyes to a part of my roots that I knew very little
of. Now that I look back, the trip was a life changing experience. When I was younger, I was embarrassed of my heritage in a way. I entered kindergarten without being able to speak any english, and I was always nervous others would mock me or think I was different. The impact went so far that I even asked people to call me "George" instead of Jorge. However, after learning about my roots and falling in love with an entire country, I decided to be more proud of where I come from. I try to stay connected to the latino community which ever way I can, such as by interning for my hometown’s first elected Latino City Councilor, to Presenting possible solutions for eliminating the education achievement gap in my High School to school administrators. Since that trip I am now not afraid to be who I truly am, and I confidently wear my culture with pride.
On October 23, 2016 I went to a concert type of event that different music groups were performing. This event is what Hispanics call a “Jaripeo Baile,” which is a place that people can see other people bull riding like in the rodeo, but this event was only about music groups performing. One of the music groups that performed was a band called “Josecito Leon y Su Internacional Banda Roja.” While I watched the band’s performance it reminded me of how it relates to the themes that were from our readings and discussions that we had throughout the semester.
I was very reluctant about dancing because I was unfamiliar with Latin dance, but they insist that I participate. The music and dance was not just Latin and Mariachi music. Hip-Hop, R&B and Pop was mainly played. Hours went by and the DJ announced that everyone should return to their seats, the father and daughter dance was about to begin. The pillows of shoes from earlier and a doll was now in the father hands.
Imagine leaving everything you have ever known for your whole life behind. Your family, your friends, the comfort of having something familiar, all gone. All for a dangerous journey to get to a foreign place, having a fear that you might not have a chance of making it. Many people endure this expedition like Enrique in search for a better life. Sonia Nazario has done an outstanding job with Enrique’s Journey, making you feel as though you are on this journey with Enrique, making this trek from Honduras to the U.S. I find it to be a rare occasion if I can make it through the first page of a nonfiction book without waking up an hour later and finding it on the floor. This book, however, almost feels as though it should be a fiction novel. I found it so hard to put down, that even
I was born in Guatemala in a city called, called Guatemala City. Life in Guatemala is hard which is why my parents brought me into the United States when I was eight months old. Some of the things that makes life in Guatemala hard is the violence. However, Guatemala has plenty of hard working men, women, and children who usually get forced to begin working as soon as they are able to walk. However, unlike many other countries, Guatemala has a huge crime rate. I care about the innocent hard working people that live in Guatemala and receive letters, threatening to be killed if they do not pay a certain amount of money at a certain amount of time.
I was born in the Dominican Republic, November 2, 1982. I lived and grew up in a countryside where everybody knew each other. My childhood years were full of wonderful experiences where I felt loved by my parents and my family. I went to school around 6 years old. I had to walk around 30 minutes to get there from my house. My father was a farmer who had to work long hours in order to sustain our big family. My mother was a housewife; she was in charge of taking care of us. I have five siblings, three boys and two girls. I remember that at that time we did not have many things in our house. We did not have electricity and also we did not have a service of water. I remembered that my father had to go to the river to get water for the necessities of the house. At that time my family was very poor, but my
As my father and I finally fit the statue of the little Virgin Mary in the back of the car, it was time to get on the road. I could already taste the guavas from my great grandfather’s ranch. Feeling the warmth of the sun on my skin. The smell of my aunt’s cooking. Hearing the excitement of my great grandmother’s voice. I wanted to be there already, be in the beautiful country of Mexico. My thoughts wandered as we left my house. How much welcome, love, and the sadness of leaving was going to happen. It was too soon to find out.
It started off with the waltz as the banda began to play a steady beat that my dad and I danced to while everyone gazed. During this precise moment, I studied my father’s eyes and noticed a sparkle I had never before seen in his usually cold stare. It was such a heartwarming sensation I have not felt since then, and I could totally understand why many girls get emotional while sharing this moment with their paternal figures. But we had to move on, and after my dad it was my godfather’s turn to dance with me, followed by uncles, aunts, cousins and friends. I got to spend a few minutes with the people I care so much about, and they all took this time to demonstrate their unconditional love and support. After roughly two hours, the waltz came to an end, but the fun was just about to begin for us and our guests when the DJ began playing some norteñas to commence the night. As soon as “Los Tigres Del Norte” emerged from the gigantic speakers, everyone left their seats and rushed to the dance floor, showing off their best moves. People danced like there was no tomorrow, from norteñas and huapangos to cumbias and pasito satevo. And what better way to bring this stunning night to an end than by doing our favorite line dances! We could definitely not leave “El Payaso del Rodeo”out of this one! We all enjoyed this night to the fullest, and without a doubt this was going to be one to
Never being one of those kids that had many friends seemed like a challenge; I have always felt like I had all I needed. For me, it’s special, that the people who I consider my friends, know so much about me. This past summer, I traveled to the place that gave birth to me, the Dominican Republic, where I was put in an environment where I had no prior knowledge of the people who I was going to encounter doing the things that I was interested in doing, like community service and traveling to certain parts of the country that I had never visited before. Being able to bond with the individuals from my trip while working on mountainsides, digging ditches to help install Black Water Treatments that would help a local community, participating in beach cleanups that belonged to a national park, made me feel that I was growing and expanding my horizons on what I could make a reality.
In one point of our adolescent lives, we have those days where we become tired, fatigued, and bored because we have nothing to do. It is a friday evening, I am lying on my messy bed thinking of things that can keep me entertained. I look around the room and I spot my two guitars hanging from the wall, a couple in the corner mounted on top of each other, and one in a hardshell case lying on the floor but I am not interested. I opened my laptop and go on youtube but there is nothing to watch. I try reading my thick business law book however, its friday night I do not want to do homework! With desperation, I send some text messages out to my friends hoping to go out tonight. Fortunately, all my friends are available and we quickly make plans to go to Old town Pasadena on Colorado Blvd. Once we are there, I ponder about how lucky we are to have places like these where we can come and relax after a long week and spend time with family and friends.
No single magnet, keychain, or t-shirt can encompass the magic of our family vacation in the Dominican Republic. It was truly a remarkable experience, and one I will never forget. It’s our first day here and I can’t wait to spend my first few hours at the beach. I’m excited for this vacation, the sunny weather, the gorgeous beaches. I’m convinced it will be the best vacation ever. Until now that is.
My heart was filled with so much joy as the day approached for us to head to Miami, Florida for our annual family reunion. We all got up around 4:00 a.m. that night to head out. Many of my family from all over Georgia planned to trail behind one another to enjoy the journey. Some from Thomasville, some from Cairo and some from Atlanta. Everyone was so overjoyed, you could tell by the smiles on their faces and the laughs they let out. As we traveled the bright and bumpy roads I watched all of the pretty palm trees, which is how I know we were getting close. Florida was full of palm trees and everyone that knows Florida know that everywhere in Florida is filled with palm trees. We traveled through so many different, beautiful cities. We traveled through Naples, West
As I turned left on the new road, I decide to take to school today. I could smell f wild mint, this was refreshing because the old road would sometimes smell of onions, and at times I would want to cry. At my next turn right
Moving my feet to this amazing feel of tranquility, I can smell the sea in the air, the salty mist that fills your lungs with new hope, the vendors in the alleys and corners with kebabs and all the Puerto Rican cuisine you can imagine in these small but efficient food trucks. My belly rumbling and my thoughts dispersed, following along the stone path with gold inserts, I look up at the sky and with a glance at the right direction with a flash hundreds of kites in the air, twisting, turning, going all around like a crazy show, focusing on where I want to go, children run, scream and shout and I can think to myself on what to do, with so much commotion it is difficult for anyone to think inside their inner self and have a moment of
Many hours later we found ourselves in the beautiful, warm Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. We then made our way to the island of La Paz, where we would be staying for seven days, by boat. The hot sun beat down on our sunscreen- covered skin as the ocean’s waves gently rocked the boat. On the way we saw dolphins and many new and interesting creatures that I had never seen before. At this point I had taken it all in because I had never been to the ocean before this
Erica Brucker Humanities 106 Professor Ayala 07/16/2017 Introduction On August 13th, 2017, my best friend Tina and I will be traveling to Santiago, Chile. We wanted to plan trip before fall semester of college starts August 21st. Tina and I will be traveling by plane leaving August 3rd and returning August 19th. We chose Santiago because we wanted to explore somewhere we had never been.