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A Caribbean Jewel
Joel Vanderhorst
from the Dominican Republic
Joel
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The Dominican Republic is not just an island like any other. It’s a beautiful country where the people are very friendly and happy. This island, my home, is located in the heart of the Caribbean, near Puerto Rico, Cuba, and Jamaica.
The island is the only one in the world that shares territory with a different country; its twin is Haiti. The difference between these two countries is incredible; the language, culture and religion are totally different. In the Dominican Republic the native language is Spanish and that is because we were a colony of Spain a long time ago; on the other hand, Haiti had influence from France so they speak a dialect of French. Our country has a lot of interesting places to visit and so many different environments to know. The eastern part of the island is the one that most of the tourists visit first, because of the beaches, the flora and fauna, and the hotels. All this gives visitors a feeling of being in a tropical country with enjoyable weather and a variety of activities.
The capital of the Dominican Republic is Santo Domingo. It’s not a big city but it has a lot of interesting places to visit. Museums, zoos, sport clubs, dance clubs and the second largest botanic garden in the world are some of the places that are visited every day by tourists from around the world.
There are two things that highlight our country. The first one is our typical music “Merengue”, which is the type of music that you listen to the first time and you cannot stop dancing or feeling it inside your body. The second is our typical food; we have so many varieties of combinations and different plates that are only cooked in our country, for example: fried plantain, rice with beans (together), sweet beans, yucca (cooked as bread) and a lot more.
In conclusion the Dominican Republic is a safe place where everyone can spend an enjoyable vacation. For students it is also a great place to go because they can learn in a vivid way, the culture that the people from Europe brought when they first came, by just visiting museums, national park and the colonial zone in Santo Domingo’s downtown.
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