Antes de salir...

As the date to leave for Santo Domingo quickly approaches, I am becoming more and more excited to leave for the DR! I have never really traveled outside of the U.S. before, so I am excited to finally get some experience under my belt! I am really excited that the group gets to spend an entire month on an island in the Caribbean, but not in a tourist setting. I am looking forward to learning how the Dominicans live. I'm also looking forward to picking up the language. I am constantly being told that the best way to learn a new language is just to immerse yourself in it, and I very much want to improve my fluency in Spanish so that I can carry on conversations with native Spanish speakers that aren't so disjointed and without having to ask them to repeat themselves. I think what I am most excited about is spending time with the group! I was nervous at first (especially because we are such a small group) that there wouldn't be anyone I could get along with, but after our meetings I have met a lot of really awesome people and I am looking forward to spending time with everyone and getting to know them, as well as getting to know some of the locals and my host family!