The rain pattered on the window pain, the damp summer air was warm. I was in Dominican Republic, east of Haiti. As my younger sister, and I Adreanna stepped outside, the cold rain sizzled against our warm faces. We were just a few minutes away from Lake Enriquillo, one of the Caribbean's largest lakes. The rain bounced off the sidewalks, making pitter-patter sounds in echoing rhythms.

As we entered the busy town, a lot of Spanish and mid eastern women and men were running for cover. Little children were all running around, jumping together in puddles. It was amazing how all these small children could have so much fun together.

Adreanna and I walked quicker now, into the small store right at the end of the streets. I noticed how the streets had very long, hard to pronounce names. In the store, the sent of Mexican rice and hot burritos quickly entered my nostrils. My favorite foods! As we walked up to the front of the store, a lady asked for our names and handed us a largish box, filled with food.

As we left, the lady yelled 'Gracias!' and waved us goodbye. Everyone here is so polite. As we left the stores front steps, the rain lightened and we walked calmly into the streets. Many of the people were back from their hiding places. The all shouted 'Hola!' and ''C'mo usted ha sido?' to each other. Most of them replied nicely or just half-waved back. Many younger kids, about our ages kindly waved.

As we got back to our condo, our mother and father opened the door. We all went to the back of the large condo to the dining room. It was small, but casual. We ate dinner together like always. As we finished, we decided to go swimming.

As we left our condo, it was finally done raining and sunny. We walked all the way down to the lake and it was clear blue and wavy. Everyone around there was splashing and having a good time. We decided to join them, and they generously let us join in their fun.

After all of that, we cleaned up and went to town. The town was bright at night. Everyone was out on the town, which was way to small for nightlife like this. Everyone was having fun and excited to be there. There was a small part with just children, dancing and singing together. They were so happy and excited for no apparent reason. But we obviously joined them. It was great to experience something like this, carefree and thankful for everything they had.

Way later after, we all went up to the roof of the condos. It was the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen. The stars shone so bright and the light of the town reflected onto the bright lake. For about a mile long, that's all you saw. It amazed me how beautiful everything was, even away from my home, where I thought things there were beautiful. Its strange how things so different, can be equally amazing.