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Student
reflections
This immersion was unlike anything I’ve ever experienced in my
life. It was full of new faces, concepts, views, opinions, and
rhythms. |
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The most obvious similarity between the
Dominicans and me is a shared love for music, percussion, and food.
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One of the things I believe that both the
Dominicans and Americans value is the sense of community.
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I, like many [of the] Dominicans, loved to just
sit back and have a good time without the constraints of time and
other people’s expectations.
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The Dominican’s like to take their time and are
very laid back.
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On the other hand though, the people also did a
lot of things differently than we do here in the states. A lot of
people walked everywhere, or got rides from their friends.
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I [especially] enjoyed the gaga presentation in that I was able to
see, hear, feel, and to some extent smell the culture right in front
of me.
Also, having them ask two of our drummers to play with them was
extremely generous. |
The Gaga presentation at Guaymate was the most
important learning experience we had on this trip. This was the
opportunity to experience first hand what real life was like in the
Dominican Republic. We spent most of our time in “tourist” areas
so to spend time in this community was priceless. Just the fact
the one of our members had to use the bathroom in someone’s house and
all they had was a hole in the ground was definitely an eye opening
experience. Also it was interesting to watch everyone’s reaction
to the two different groups. ... It was awesome to watch
everyone start to become more comfortable in the environment. |
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 During the Gaga presentation we saw very small
children to older people of the community dancing. Dancing just
seemed to be everywhere that one heard music. I kept asking myself,
why is that Americans do not feel comfortable dancing in front of
others? I believe it because Americans have become so concerned with
self image that they feel insecure expressing themselves through
dance. |
The people in this small village wanted to
share their traditions with visitors as much as we, visitors, wanted
to witness firsthand a culture practicing such ancient traditions.
It was quite overwhelming as the citizens of
Guaymate slowly realized our genuine interest and intrigue of
their inherited traditions and thus welcomed the American tourists
in with open arms; ultimately awarding us honorary citizenship.
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One of the first things I
saw in the DR, was a man picking through the trash can to find food.
That is something that I am not sure I have seen before, and it is an
image that sticks out to me.
This ... puts all the words I have read in book into perspective. I
have taken classes that deal with poverty in the third world and you
hear of people eating out of trash cans in the readings. Whether it
be me not paying very close attention in class or something else, it
never sinks in until you are five feet away from the actual event
taking place. |
On a more personal level, this trip was
extremely eye opening, being my first international trip and immersion
in a foreign culture. The experience has informed me about Third World
countries and America’s influence on cultures such as those like the
Dominican Republic.
[T]he Dominican Republic still has a number of social and
economic problems. Chief among these would be poverty, particularly
in rural areas. This has led to less than perfect educational system
where poor children obviously cannot afford a complete or even
partial education. This problem is complicated by a deep divide
between the country’s social and economic classes.
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On this trip, I learned a lot that I can take with me into the
teaching profession. I learned the most from the ensemble
performances. In terms of the overall presentation, I thought it
was amazing for certain crowds. It made sense when we performed it
at the art schools and for people who were knowledgeable in the area
of art. For other performances, I thought it was long-winded and we
were losing the interest of the crowd. This now makes me think
about when I’m teaching, I have to take careful consideration when
planning programs for certain crowds.
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I think performing was the most difficult
trial we were presented with during the trip. Not only was there the
usual problem of getting used to a new venue, but because many of the
venues were smaller than we were used to and most of them outdoors,
many new problems arose that we hadn’t learned to deal with. Because
of this, we have all become better musicians both logistically and in
versatility. |
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 Although we did not see much political action on
our trip, I was surprised by how many female leaders we came into
contact with. Louisa, who planned our trip with Bomana, seemed to
know everyone and was a powerful woman. She had to miss our last
performance to attend an arts meeting in Santo Domingo with people
from across the country. Also at the Gaga presentation, there was a
group of women presenting the proclamation to us. I expected to see
that men were very much in charge of this country and I was proved
otherwise.
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There is something to
be said about knowing what you are playing like the back of your hand,
knowing how everything gets set up, and effectively managing your time
throughout all of this. It is this mastery that makes professionals,
professionals. I want to be a rock star, so this was right up my
alley. It showed the good and the bad to traveling. Also, taught
that obstacles can be overcome and a good show can be produced, even
after some things go wrong.
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| This trip drastically changed my perception of Third
World countries and the US. The United States sees itself as the big
brother to every smaller country, it is a very arrogant society ....
Much of the culture in the Dominican Republic reflected popular
culture in America. Upon further examination, however, the Dominicans
did not seem to be openly accepting American culture in regards to the
belief that every society should adopt USA’s moral values and societal
standards. They seemingly viewed Americans as ignorant people with
loose cash. To the Dominicans, Americans had little to no respect for
their culture and were viewed as discourteous tourists. |
One more thing I learned is to be cautious about how many
performances and activities you plan for a day for your performers.
We had extremely busy days with very little down time. About half
way through the week we were already starting to get burned out
because we were mentally and physically tired. I think a break
somewhere in the week would have helped them.
I didn’t really care for
doing two shows per day, but it did give me a great view of what a
road gig would look like should I decide to go that way in the future
with my music. |
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[This trip] has helped me realize and not take for granted the things
that are most important, like family, religion, shelter, and basic
needs that go unnoticed in a day to day setting.
All in all, the experience
was a positive one on so many different levels. We all bonded, we
learned about how the Dominican society operates, we all grew as
musicians, professionals, and as people, and we all tackled the
logistical challenge of making it home on 8 different airplanes with
oversized musical equipment. The trip was well worth it, and was by
far the best way to learn all of the things that were learned.
DR Trip ’07 “Esta Bien” |
(more pictures
here)
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