The warm caribbean breeze blows across my brothers face. “This is amazing” Mark had said.   

He heads towards the aqua colored ocean. Tropical birds fly over head while the papaya trees sway in the peaceful wind.  My brothers looked at my mom and said, “It’s amazing here, I can’t believe our family has never come here before.”

My mom looks at Mark and says, “Well there is a first time for everything, but we will definitely come back.”

Marks smile was so bright, shining bright like the 95 degree sun on our skin.  “This place is amazing and it’s only our second day being here” Mark told me.

Two days is all it took for our skin to become refreshed and recolored by the sun.  Our skin now a golden brown tone. With darquiries in our hands laying poolside mark exclaimed “Really, nothing could be better than this.”

My family had always been a family of exocitc adventures.  Life is truly to short to not take once in a lifetime opportunities.  When the opportunity for my family to travel to Punta Cana came about, the answer was inevitably yes.  We all wanted to go there seemed to be something there for everyone. My brother Mike could fish, with my Dad.  My other brother Mark could relax, swim and snorkel with me. My Mom could relax and tan, with and ocean view. When the time for us to book the trip, we all put forth our efforts to make sure we could all go.  Booking the trip was half the fun itself. Traveling was always an adventure with the Davis crew.

The day came for our family to leave for the trip.  The kids sprung out of bed with smiles no one could wipe off our faces.  We had never been out of the country before. The way the smell of coconut lotions seeped out of our bags when we packed up the truck made all of us eager to get on our way.  Our journey was just beginning.

The non stop plane ride flew by faster than a lightning bolt.  Before I knew it the pilot was announcing, “Fasten your seatbelts and prepare for a smooth landing under the palm trees.”  It was crazy to me that only four hour would lead me to a place I will never forget. A place where many worlds exist.

Punta Cana was in a third world country, Dominican Republic.  From the second I got off the plane I knew it was going to b a good trip.  Our plane landing and off we went into not s build but tiki huts. That was the type of airport shelter they had there.  I thought it was the most amazing tropical thing that could exist at an airport. If only I had known the reason behind the tiki huts.  There weren't built because the weather is just always amazing, they were built as these complaxes were thousands of dollars cheaper. In a country ridden by poverty, every penny matters.  

We were immediately treated like royalty there.  It was weird to me at first. The hospitality, so genuine and wholesome, the people there didn't even let us carry our own bags.  Once we were escorted to our hotel complex, it all began to feel like a dream. We walked into the main lobby to check in and others grabbed our bags from us and replaced them with fresh tropical drink in our hands.  They lead us to our rooms, where my family split for kids and parents. One room for my brothers and I, and one from my parents. We walked in and found roses and handwritten letter wishing our family a joyous stay and this luxury complex.  This trip didn't even feel real to me.  I was in such shock.  I had never seen a place more beautiful.  

Days had unfortunately went by, I wish it could have lasted forever.  The trip was far from over tho. Our travel agent had booked us a trip to get a tour of the ethic Dominican lifestyle.  One morning about halfway through our stay, we walked to the main libby where the bus would come pick us up. They classified it as a bus but it was red, had no windows, and was extremely tall.  It didn't look like the buses I was used to seeing. We boarded and the guide of this tour was named Jesus. With the smell of gasoline fumes, the hot sun on the asphalt, and Dominican farms, I knew we were headed someplace very interesting.  A place where another world would exist.

We ventured into the hills and valleys of the Dominican.  Driving on a dirt road where at some points you couldn't even tell it was a road.  We slowly came to the town, Higüey was its name.  I was completely taken back.  I had no clue any town of this sort could ever exist.  People walking on the streets with no shoes or shirts. Just something to barely cover themselves.  Little shacks look as if one gust of wind would knock them right over. It was almost idsgearting seeing people having to live in a condition like this.  That wasn’t even the saddest thing of all. These people all thought their town was amazing because there were villages even worse than them. The energy and attitudes of the people that lived here were absolutely amazing.  They stayed so incredibly positive and upbeat in a place where if anyone from my hometown lived, they wouldn't last a day. The tour had gone on and the last stop was a school. It had four beams, a roof, and completely open exposed sides with no walls.  The desks were wooden, not sanded down, and nails and bolts hanging out. Something to an equivalent of what would be in a junkyard in the U.S. It was totally astonishing that a place so beautiful, had a complete 180 flipside. A place totally opposite of what I had experienced the last couple days.  

The tour went on and all I could think about was how completely different this town was than what I thought I was going to see.  I was completely overwhelmed by this place. My heart went out to them but they didn’t need sympathy. They loved the place in which they lived.  They didn’t know anything different. And I guess that's why it affected me more. I came from a different town and was blessed enough to be able to take an outstanding trip to Punta Cana.  I knew the different parts of the world and knew how lucky I was to live where I did.

I loved this trip.  In fact, it was the best week of my life.  I got to experience two different extremes of a country I’ve never been to before.  I was torn having to leave. I cherished this trip, and most days I wish I could go back, back to a place where two worlds exist.