After a couple of days working at Batey Libertad, our group travelled to Puerto Caberete, a premier coastal tourist hotspot in the Dominican Republic. The ride from Santiago to Caberete took about 2 hours, which was slept through by many of us. We arrived at around 10:30 but were not allowed to check in to our hotel at that time. However, instead we walked over to a closeby office headed by the Dream Project, a group that tries to bring quality education to poor communities across the Dominican Republic.
After a brief description of the Dream Project and its goals, we finally were able to be set free onto the beach. And o what a beach it was. White sand covered the landscape as the small rolling waves made for perfect windsurfing conditions. In fact each year Puerto Caberete is the host of the World Cup of Windsurfing. Unfortunately, none of us had changed into our swimwear, so we could not go far out into the ocean.
We had lunch at a beachside Italian restaurant. The pizza and pasta there were delicious, but we were still not satisfied as the evermore enticing view of the beach drew in many of us. We checked into our hotel, Hotel Kaoba, a magnificent tourist hotel across from beach. We quickly changed clothes and ran out.
Almost immediately we were approached by sellers of tourist-y goods. Personally, I felt empowered by the satisfaction of bargaining with the sellers. It was so enjoyable and I am glad I could experience this. However, more importantly, the beach. It was beautiful. Many of us went swimming. However, the salt water was disgusting to taste, as waves upon waves pushed more and more against us. Some of us started a game of beach soccer with anybody who wanted to join in.
After hours at the beach, we all went back to the hotel to shower and get ready for dinner. We ate outside on the beach in front of a Thai restaurant whose decor of lanterns and palm trees proved to really emphasize a tropical, relaxed atmosphere. The view was beautiful as the sun setted on the beach.
Following this, we traveled back to our hotel and reflected on the day’s events. After a great day on the beach, we dragged ourselves to our casas and slept.
Nish Nookala
University Laboratory High School
Urbana, IL