Week 4 In a Nutshell

Week 4 was… awesome!

Here’s the scoop.

We first went to a different part of D.R. (can’t remember the name because I was so excited) and checked out a few gardens with plants of possible use. All along, the rain was threatening to strike and thunder was well under way. Then the professor decided to take us to a different garden far up ahead. To get there my friends we had to go up many mountains. However, crossing a stream with car has got to be the best part. After the stream was another and this one was rocky. After 5 tries it was decided that the bus that we were all holding on to dear life in was not fit to cross such a mountain. We had to walk up the mountain. Then it rained like I’ve never seen it rained before .We had to take shelter under a touristy stop where lots were being done! First thing we saw in the crowd was the snake man. Snakes were twirling around his neck like a dancing necklace. He was inviting people to put them around their necks and take picture. I was not sold … just yet. We quickly moved away and landed by the Mama Juana venders which was a well known Dominican drink and happened to be both medicinal and alcoholic beverage. After several tries to get us all to drink his free samples, the vender retreated to having us dance to the music that was booming from the back. While I was nervously swaying to the music I caught a glimpse of the tourists around and they were from all over the world. What followed was a mix of confusion and amusement. It was like a clash of the world and all I could here was a cacophony of French, English, Spanish, and a few that I could not quite recognize. It was like a room filled with people trying to mingle but the language barrier couldn’t let them, but not here understood or not people were talking away. A shout and next thing I knew all of the tourist were getting in the vans ready for the next adventure. We were left alone… with the snake guy. No, he did not take for an answer and everyone had to take pictures with my snakes today, he said. When it finally came to me the rain had stopped and it was time to move to the next top (Hew!). All I could remember from the next was doing these few things: eating coconut fruit, cocoa fruit (who knew these were so good), and drinking guava juice taking shelter from the rain at some random stranger’s house and holding the cutest baby in the world and riding back in a bus filled with happy and drenched kids on a flooded road.

Let’s see what next week holds!

The Good and The Bad

Hello All,

It’s the end of the third week and I have both bad news and good news. My roommate had to leave because of some health issues. It seemed like it had something to do with the food. Fortunately, as she assured me with a note and a comment on facebook, she will be back by Tuesday. Which leads me to my piece of good news, this coming week we will have two field trips. On Monday we will go to a neighboring village that is about 2 hrs away for more field work and on Thursday we will go to the national park!!! These ought to be interesting. The only downside is that we will have to wake up as early as 6:30 am for these trips. I’m not quite of a morning person. As for the work we are just about to get on the laboratory part of the program which deals with getting extraction from plants to be used in assays. Stay tune for the verdict of those two trips … and hopefully my roommate’s wellbeing.

Once Again Another Week Ends

Hello All!,

Once again another week ends. This week was pretty much a continuation of what we did last week. The only thing is by the end of the week two of our first guest professors left and now we are waiting for the other faculty members that would follow. Other than that there is nothing new … only that we are on the verge of seeing another fascinating week here in Punta Cana. Highlight of my week? After a long day in the field, a few of the participants and I (including my roommates of course, we are starting to grow very close) walked the five minute walk to the beach. While others opted to sunbathe, my roommate and I chose to lie on the hammocks and soon enough we found ourselves lured to sleep. We had to blame the vague for hypnotizing us and the not so hot sun for playing peak-a-boo through the lengthy palm tree leaves. That’s it for now. Until next time I wish you all a very exciting summer!

First Week: Higuey and The Heat

Hello All!

My name is Patricia Daniel and I will be sharing my experience in Dominican Republic as a participant of the MHIRT Program. It’s the end of the first week and we‘re all still trying to get adjusted to the heat …. and the mosquitoes. We all landed on Tuesday afternoon and the Caribbean heat was first to welcome us. From the airport we got into a van that would lead us to the Punta Cana resort which is where the foundation is situated. After we all got settled into our individual rooms (with roommates of course) we were welcomed by other students from Columbia who were sure to let us know that “we were not the only Ivy in town”. With this comment leaving us feeling slightly threatened, we met for our first meeting with whom we could call the program coordinator. He told us of the “few” rules there is and the different things we have access to in the resort. After that a few of the other participants and I chose to take a look around the resort which turned into a trip to the Gym, one the facilities that we have access to in the resort. The next day we started our daily routine which composed of a morning lecture followed by a field trip. The same pattern was repeated after lunch. Our day typically starts at 9:15 am to end around 5 pm. So far we have been spending most of our time going out in the field which is an Ecological Reserve composed of diverse plants. One of the guest professors, a world renowned botanist, has been leading us throughout the forest while pointing out specific trees and plants and their possible medicinal uses. We all found it very impressing how he could quickly identify all of the different families of plants and he can go as far as naming the distinctive genus and species. Saturday was particularly an interesting day because we went out to a village called Higuey to buy certain things that the stores here at the resort would sell at overpriced rates. One of the guest professors came along. After a few misunderstandings of which bus to take we got into a bus in which midway into the trip, the driver had us transfer to another bus. My transfer I mean literally transfer from one bus into the other without even touching the ground in the middle of the road! Anyways we finally got into the village after an unexpected hour and a half and it was quite an experience to see the transition from a fancy resort to a true Dominican way of life. The unbearable heat, the homeless tending their arms by the road, the people rushing by in the street on their motorcycles, the colorful little houses separated by endless canopies of green, and that 460 year old church in the middle of the village all showed us the country unpolished, just Dominican Republic.

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