Tram-Anh Tran

This past summer, I had the fantastic opportunity to visit the Dominican Republic through the UF in the DR study abroad program. During those 6 weeks, we were fully immersed in the Dominican culture. We lived with a host family in Santiago de los Caballeros, and we took our Spanish courses close to the local college.

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While there, we learned about the Dominican way of life: their culture, cuisine, and customs. They have a strong and close familial relationship, with the family and community being close-knit. The Dominicans have a relaxed perspective on life, and they 

 

Part our program required a service learning component, and I volunteered with a program called Acción Callejera, which promotes literacy and math skills for young kids. The program also fosters independent thinking and community-building skills for the youth, in order to encourage them to continue on with a higher education.