Lumberjacks Visit the Dominican Republic
After hours of fundraising and months of anticipation, the CHS Spanish Club went on a week-long excursion to the Dominican Republic for spring break. 5 students went on the trip: Ayden Heinemeyer, Natalie McConnell, Haylee Hackett, Tucker Armichardy and Lilly Mendenhall. They were accompanied by 4 adults including Mrs. Armichardy, the science teacher at CHS. The week started with a delayed flight on Sunday, but even a few hours late, everyone was excited to finally get going! After flying through the night, we met a group of students from Alabama who went on the tour with us.
Once we arrived in the Dominican Republic, it was a nonstop adventure from there! We explored the city of Santo Domingo, which is the first city that was built in the “New World”. It’s also the capital of the country, so it was the perfect place for us to get our first glimpse of Dominican culture. We stayed in the Colonial District, where old buildings from days past have been refurbished as hotels, restaurants, and museums. It was fascinating to see how the city had grown from a small group of fortresses to the thriving urban metropolis it is today.
In Santo Domingo, we visited countless fortresses and museums, where we learned about both Spanish and Taino culture. Unfortunately, after Columbus landed on the island, disease and tyranny wiped out the Native population, so that all that remains of the Taino culture is artifacts, musical instruments, and a few words adopted into Spanish.
As we toured the city, we could tell how the Dominican Republic became a sort of “melting pot” for Taino natives, Spanish settlers, and African slaves. One great example of this mix of culture is the musical style Merengue. It uses instruments from each of these cultures to create a sound that is entirely unique to the Dominican Republic, but has grown to be popular in all of Latin America.
After we spent multiple days in Santo Domingo, we took our tour bus north to Santiago for a night. On the way, we stopped and visited caves where native populations had practiced religion, which was Mrs. Armichardy’s favorite part of the trip. She wrote, “I loved the caves and the underground lakes. It was awesome to get to explore geologic features we don’t have here in Idaho.” We visited museums and monuments while in Santiago, and even learned how to dance traditionally at a restaurant, thanks to some kind servers.
The next morning, we were on the road again, heading to the most exciting activity of the tour, a zipline and waterfall tour. We went down 5 ziplines, walked across 2 suspension bridges, jumped off a waterfall, and slid down natural waterfall slides. It was Natalie McConnel’s favorite activity because, “We got to get out and see the island and not just the historical part of it.” After that activity, we continued on the bus to an all-inclusive resort in Puerto Plata, where we stayed for 3 days.
While in Puerto Plata, we got to spend time on the beach and in the pool, enjoy the food and drinks, go on a snorkeling excursion, explore the city, and visit the amber museum, which was one of my favorite parts of the trip. Amber is fossilized tree sap, made famous by Jurassic Park. The piece of amber from that movie was actually found in the Dominican Republic! We saw amber from all over the world, and even had a piece with a lizard fossilized in it. On Sunday, we packed up at the resort and drove back to Santo Domingo.
After a whirlwind of a trip, no one could believe that it was going to be over in the morning. We said our goodbyes to the other group, expecting to leave early in the morning. Once again, our flight was delayed. We landed in New York City Monday evening, too late to make our connection. We stayed overnight in Jamaica, NY. The next day, we got up ridiculously early one last time to catch a flight to Salt Lake, then to Boise. The trip was over, but we all knew we would remember it forever.
