Travels in the Dominican Republic with my best friend | February 2018

I got to spend 10 days in the Dominican Republic this month with my long time best friend Tamara. We had an eye opening time in this truly gorgeous country. The trip happened because I had the chance to volunteer for the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia- I photographed health clinics that serve under privileged populations on an all day tour with doctors, trustees from the Pincus family foundation and other administrators. It was an awesome and eye opening day and so refreshing to use my  camera lens in a truly documentary way rather than an idealizing way. They covered my plane ticket and since I was in the DR I knew I needed to stay for at least another week!

After volunteering for one day I headed to a little beach town called Juan Dolio in the South with my best friend Tamara who flew in to meet me. I wanted to be in a small, off the map town. We rented a cheap little beach side air bnb that looked more like a place where Dominican people vacationed-and it was! The second day of our trip we met the sweetest Dominican guys who became our friends and tour guides and introduced us to their siblings, parents, grandmas, uncles, and aunts! We got to see amazing little Dominican homes in the countryside, eat local food (delicious yuca, rice and beans, spanish paella, empanadas), tour Santo Domingo, and all to the soundtrack of super fun regaetton! I was in heaven!  The Dominican people are so gorgeous and friendly and I really fell in love with this culture!

Meeting these awesome new friends was such a relief for me as I have difficulty navigating when I’m traveling abroad!

Below are some glimpses of the DR that I got to experience.