Janine Charles
June 7, 2006
SSN/HUN 180
Dr. Lee
Living your life in the Dominican Republic
There is a country that makes up the eastern two-third of the island of Hispaniola,
which is between Puerto Rico and Cuba in the Caribbean Sea known as the Dominican
Republic (Henderson 10). Haiti covers the rest of the island (western end). Its only
border is with Haiti. Its area is about the size of New Hampshire and Vermont combined
(Henderson 10). Every country has a capital so in Dominican Republic their capital is
Santo Domingo.
The land itself is the second largest country in the Caribbean region. The climate
is the same all year round which is warm to hot and occasionally rain showers (tropical
weather). In the Dominican Republic you can found a lot of mountains. Mountains cover
about 80 percent of the Dominican Republic. The four major ranges are the Cordillera
Septentrional, The Cordillera Central (largest mountain range), The Sierra de Neibra,
and the Sierra de Bahoruco (Haberele). This country is divided into three regions
northern, central and southwestern regions which the mountains range helps split it up.
The History of the Dominican Republic is intertwined with that of Haiti. Today,
these neighbors on the island of Hispaniola are very different countries-Haiti has a
distant French influence, while the Dominican Republic’s heritage is tied to Spain. But
before European colonization of the island-and at various times afterward-the two lands
were united culturally or politically (temple 17). In 1492 Columbus arrives in the West
Indies on the Santa Maria which history says he discover. In 1967 The Treaty of
Ryswick gives France control of the land that is now Haiti; Spain retains control of the
land that is now the Dominican Republic. By 197 Spain cedes the colony of Santo
Domingo to France. A leader of a successful slave revolt in Haiti named Toussaint
Louverture had gain control of the entire island of Hispaniola. Spain then regains control
of Santo Domingo. In 1821 Spain grants independence to Santo Domingo. Haiti gain
control again. On February 27, 1844 the Dominican Republic was officially formed after
a man by Juan Pablo Duarte led a revolt against Haiti. At the request of the Dominicans
government they wanted the Spain to help them to govern the country. By 1965 Spain
leaves Dominican Republic to handle things on they’re own. The country was then rule
by a dictator named Ulises Heureaux. He left them with a huge debt to deal with. The
United States help oversee repayment with their debts. In 1930 for the next 30 years its
dictator was Rafael Leonidas Trujillo Molina. Rafael was assassinated. Juan Bosch is
elected president (Temple 58).
The government of today time in the Dominican Republic is a representative
democracy. Just like here in the United States the legal age to vote is 18 years old. In
the Dominican Republic the have a slight difference from the United States when it
comes to voting. When you don’t vote you can get a fine. If you are under the age of 18
years old but marry you have the right to right. If you are members of the police of
military you don’t have the right to vote. As for as the government system when it come
down to the three branches it is the same like the United States. When dealing with
money paper currency is printed in denominations of 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 500, 1000 and
2000 Peso notes. Coins are circulated in 1 and 5 Peso denominations. The US Dollar
exchange rate current since early 2001 has been approximately in the order of 16.70 to
16.90 pesos per US $1 range. The Central Bank is responsible for printing and issuing
currency, as well as regulating the nation's banking and monetary system. The
Dominican economy experienced dramatic growth over the last decade, even when the
economy was hurt by Hurricane Georges in 1998. The country is known primarily as an
exporter of sugar, coffee, and tobacco. Over the recent years the agriculture is not the
only reason for the boost in the economy. Due to growth in tourism and free trade zones
it helps out a great deal. The country suffers from marked income inequality; the poorest
half of the population receives less than one-fifth of GNP, while the richest ten percent
enjoy 40% of national income. In December 2000, the new MEJIA administration
passed broad new tax legislation which it hopes will provide enough revenue to offset
rising oil prices and to service foreign debt.
The people in the Dominican Republic are. In Dominican Republic family
members have a close relationship. When a male and female are joined together for
marriage their families support each other. In most Dominican home the men goes out
to work while the women stays home to take care of the home. The children attend
school at the age of 7 which should be first grade. They are supposed to continue
school up to the eighth grade. When they reach 14 years of age it is not mandatory.
Most of the students drop due to low funds within their families because they can’t
afford books, pencils, paper or any supplies that they might need. They also drop out
because the take on a job to help out their families with the funds. Some stay home to
take care of their other younger sibling so the adults can go to work to be some income
into the home.
Every where you go you know that their have to be some type of sports of games
that the country enjoy in order to entertain themselves or have an argument about.
When it comes to sports the get down with playing all of them but the most popular one
is baseball. Baseball was introduces to the Dominican Republic when the Cubans
brought it to their attention. One of the most popular baseball players of today society
that I know that was born in the Dominican Republic is Sammy Sosa. A lot of young
males start playing baseball at a young age. Baseball season in the Dominican
Republic starts in October and end in February. Another most popular game you
Dominicans like to play is dominoes. I see Dominicans in my own neighborhood playing
dominoes outside enjoying life and the beautiful weather like if they were at home in the
D.R.. Another way they entertain themselves is by dancing no matter what your gender
or age is. The culture is well known for dancing which I observe it for myself right here in
New York. Their most popular dance is the merengue. In Santo Domingo every year in
late July it hosts a Merengue Festival.
Me being a Christian believing in God I wanted to find out about their religion. It
was come to known the majority (95%) are Catholic. When it comes to their there
religion they take it serious. They believe in their faith strongly and no one can
discourage them from it. On February 26 and 27 they have a carnival which is the final
celebration before the Christian season of Lent. During the carnival they wear colorful
costumes and wear imaginative masks. The masks are decorated with jewels or shells.
They wear masks that may have horns and a duck’s bill or a traditional characters or
superstitions. On the 27th since it is their Independence Day it doubles. It now adds the
floats which the king and queen leads the festival in. A lot more dancing and food are
here at this event on this day.
In order for me to get a better understand and backing up my research on the
Dominican Republic I interview someone from the culture. I just didn’t pick anybody. I
pick somebody that was older because older is wiser and does have more to talk about
then a younger person who really haven’t been though a lot.
My intercultural interview partner name is Mrs. Ortiz. When I enter in her home
you heard Spanish music playing. I found out later doing the interview it was merengue
music which she along with Dominican love to dance with. I heard that style of music
before but I couldn’t really what type of music. The only Spanish I could recognize or
can identify is reggaeton. As she talks about her culture I relieves she is proud of her
culture nut who isn’t. She loves and enjoys cooking all the types of food that represents
the Dominican Republic. As my interview went on I even got to taste a desert called flan
which is Dominican cheesecake. It tastes liked cheesecake with camel syrup on top.
She begins discussing how she was born in the D.R. (which is a short term for
the Dominican Republic). She came to the United States the same reason everybody
else does a lot of more opportunity. Mrs. Ortiz does plan to move back to the Dominican
Republic within in a few years to come. She wants to move down there because she
tried of living here and it getting very costly in price to obtain life. She does visit her
culture from time to time especially for her kids to interact with their culture. She
believes family is an important thing in life. As I was at here house there is a lot of
Spanish being talked you hardly hear English being spoken in the house. I expected it
form her mother because that her main language and she only knows a little bit of
English. When I asked her why they spoke more Spanish then English she said
because they feel more comfortable and she hopes it doesn’t offend me.
Every country has a flag as a symbol to represent where they come from. I knew
what the Dominican Republic flag look like but I didn’t know what the colors represent.
The flag has a white cross that divides the blue and red rectangles corners. So Mrs.
Ortiz explains to me what the colors represent. The Blue represents liberty, white stands
for salvation and red means for the blood of the heroes. In the middle stands the
Dominican coat of arms.
The interview with my partner could be nobody. Going to her house made me
sometime in the interview feel like I was there in the Dominican Republic. Mrs. Ortiz
truly lives in her culture here in the United States.
While researching the Dominican Republic I find out it is a country to be
proud of just like I’m proud of my own culture even though I have to learn more about
my culture itself. I found out that there were several similarities were it comes to
researching the culture and interviewing someone from the culture. As I look at this
culture I come to realize that my culture and Mrs. Ortiz culture is the same in a way.
In comparing my research to my intercultural interview partner I realize that I did
get good facts about the Dominican Republic but I didn’t get someone experience and
how they felt about the culture. When interviewing Mrs. Ortiz you got the experience
and her own knowledge about the culture. All my research which come from book and
internet source just give you facts on what it is believe to be true. Mrs. Ortiz made be
feel like if I was there myself.
My culture is from the West Indians Island. The West Indian Island I am from is
St. Lucia, Bahamas, Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago. When comparing my culture
against my partner there was a lot of similarities. The West Indian Island that I come
from and the Dominican Republic are both from the Caribbean Sea. That’s why
sometimes you can find these two categorized in the reading text. The Dominican
Republic is bigger in size and population compare to my culture. When you visit any of
the West Indian Island I come from some people the main language is English just like
here in the United States but their other languages is French, Creole, and Patwa. In the
Dominican Republic their main language is Spanish but some will speak English.
Some of the food can be similar like plantain. My culture calls it plantains while in
Dominican Republic the call it plantainos. When it comes to rice we are known for rice
and bean and they are known for yellow rice. To me there isn’t know similarity because
it’s both good. When it comes to deserts such as cakes Dominican cake is sweet while
my culture is known for fruit and rum cake which is not sweet.
One thing that I found that held my attention was that similarities of the carnival.
This is a parade full with dancing, singing and wearing pretty colorful costumes. It you
basically having a fun time and represent your culture.
What I also notice with pictures I seen was that most the housing/homes are
colorful and look run down.
When comparing the two cultures there is a difference in the style of music. In
the Dominican Republic they listen to Bachata, Dominican rock, Salve, Gaga,
Merengue, Merenrap and Reggaeton. In my culture we listen to Calypso, Reggae,
Soca, and all the modern music. I didn’t really find a lot of difference then the ones that
a mention.
When I compare my culture to my partners I recognized that there were more
similar things in common then there is a difference. I ask myself is it because both of the
cultures are in the Caribbean Sea which is a short distance away? What I conclude is
that all culture has more similar features then difference because we are all the same
which is human being. Just because we are categorized in a different culture doesn’t
mean anything. It just stand that we have a slight different belief and we were raise
different. We have more in common then people think or want to believe. That’s why
cultures should intermingle to get acquaint with one another so we can set aside our
difference and learn to be one.
When reflecting on this project it made me see that this class of Intercultural
Communication is a class that everybody should take. This class helped me to
communicate better with my partner. It helps me be more open like if I was talking to
my friend or family member.
When it comes to this project and the Intercultural Communication class I have
learned several things about communicating with other cultures beside mines. There is
nothing wrong when you communicate outside your culture. In fact when you do
communicate with another culture you are getting a better understanding about the
culture along with more knowledge to go with it. You learned they style of
communicating because not every culture have them some style of communicating.
What you call hello it may mean something else in a different culture.
When interacting with my intercultural interview partner it was cool and
interesting. Even though I knew her it was interesting to learn about her culture.
For everybody that decides to have engaged in a friendship with another culture
then their own, I suggest that they do and don’t be afraid. We only live once why not
experience other things life has in store for us and intercultural communication is one.
Also when having a friendship with a different culture you can understand someone of
that culture when you interacting with them in the street.
The Nonverbal and Verbal Code are on important way of communicating. You
have to be careful how you used it. Nonverbal is the way of communicating to one
another that don’t contain the usage of words. This may tend to get you in trouble
sometimes. When communicating this way you have to make sure you don’t offend
anyone because body language says it all. They way you dress may send the wrong
message to someone else culture. Verbal tend to be easier because you are more
aware. Then again you have to be alert of the words you say.
I relieves when you communicate with other cultures it makes you become a
better people person because you can adjust to another culture. When you a people
person it helps you in so many way especially in any profess you chose your career to
be.
Intercultural Communication is an important when living in the society we live in
especially here in the United States. We have to remember we can only know about
someone culture is by asking which mean we have to communicate. The most
important thing while we learning we are also teaching because they are learning about
our culture as well. By intercultural communication we can intermingle amongst each
other without fear. It will also help our world become a better place because we would
have set aside our differences and engaged in friendship. It just is a step away from all
the stereotypes on all cultures. I think after this class, going out on vacation for a long
term to visit another culture such as the Dominican Republic I would become
integration.