Yoni+Weiner-Tobin

Yoni Weiner-Tobin
=Dominican Republic=





Soldiers participate in a military parade on Independence Day.

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Climate and Geography

The Dominican Republic is a gorgeous, stunning country. It has vast rainforests, spectacular beaches, magnificent mountains, and everything in between. It has warm, sandy beaches ringed around the Dominican Republic border, except bordering Haiti. Large mountain ranges, including the Cordilla Central, the largest mountain range in the country, run diagonally across the country from the upper-left corner to the middle of the southern coast, near Santo Domingo. Cordilla Central contains the tallest mountain in the Caribbean, Pico Duarte, which stands at 10, 128 feet. Every year, almost 3,000 people hike to the peak. The mountain range is complemented by the beautiful Cibao Valley, a large, fertile valley near the center of the island. Deserts dominate the western side of the country, near Haiti. The eastern side of the country is nearly covered with forests, and lush forests dot the central and western side as well. But the geographical features that the Dominican Republic is best known for are the warm, sandy beaches draws the most tourism, and are often what comes to people’s mind when they think of the Dominican Republic.

The climate in the Dominican Republic can be very desirable and pleasant at some point in the year, but usually during the winter is the best time to travel there. The Dominican Republic has a very, very hot climate. During the summer, the temperature almost always lingers above 90 degrees, sometimes even at night. August is the hottest month, with temperatures averaging almost 105 degrees. Year round, the Dominican Republic is relatively dry, and it doesn’t get a lot of precipitation. The Dominican Republic gets affected by tropical storms and floods occasionally. They’ve had 22 hurricanes, which have resulted in over 6,000 deaths. They also have the occasional tropical storm or flood.

This is a picture of the stunning Cibao Valley in the middle of the Dominican Republic.

http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/media/114930/Farm-in-the-Cibao-Valley-Dominican-Republic

Attractions

Dominican Republic is a great country. It’s part of a beautiful island in the middle of the Caribbean, with warm beaches and majestic mountains, deserts, and forests. So yeah, it draws a lot of tourists. The Dominican Republic draws an impressive almost 4.5 million tourists a year. Many of those tourists come from the United States, with an average 1 million tourists hailing from the U.S. alone. Probably the main reason people visit the Dominican Republic are to visit the beaches and relax and lie on the sand. However, there are actually many different activities that one can do at the beach. Water sports are very popular among tourists. Some examples are surfing, white-water rafting, snorkeling, scuba diving, and even cave diving. People also like to visit the center of the island, to go biking, hiking, rock-climbing, or even playing golf on the famous local courses. People also like to go sightseeing, although there are not very many man-made popular tourist attractions on the island. Tourists typically also like to visit the capital city, Santo Domingo. It contains some very interesting tourist attractions as well. Some other well-visited tourist sites are the Monasterio de San Francisco and the Catedral Primada de America. The Monasterio de San Francisco was the first monastery in the New World. It is located in the capital, Santo Domingo. Another popular spot for tourists is the Catedral Primada de America. It is a cathedral, also located in Santo Domingo, which also has a bit of history built into it. It was built by Christopher Columbus’s son when they first came to the island.



A popular resort in the seaside city of Puerto Bana.

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Religion, Holidays, and Festivals

Holidays and festivals in the Dominican Republic often have to do with the main religions there, but with their own twist. Roman Catholic is by far the most dominant religion there, with around 95% of the population being a Roman Catholic. However, some Dominicans who live by the Haitian border practice voodoo. 3% of the population practice other religions. There are many different holidays and festivals that the Dominicans consider sacred. Dominicans are for the most part Roman Catholic, so they also honor and observe holidays such as Easter and Christmas. New Year’s Day is on January 1, and is a day that all Dominicans have off from work. It’s usually spent praying and eating with family. Independence Day, on February 27, is more patriotic than religious, and honors the independence of the Dominican Republic from Haiti. A large parade is put on by the military, and the president makes a speech. Other important holidays include Three Kings Day, on January 6. Nuestra Senora,or Our Lady of High Grace Day, on January 21, Duarte’s Day on January 26, Labor Day on May 1, and Constitution Day on November 6. A very important and fun festival in the Dominican Republic is El Carnaval. It takes place throughout all of the Dominican Republic in various towns and cities. El Carnaval is a very strange festival with very strange customs. It starts sometime in February, although the exact time in February that it starts differs depending on where in the country you live. It ends on the first weekend of March. It is celebrated with parades in different cities over the country, where people in the parade have to dress up and through hardened pig bladders at people the watching.



A participant of El Carnaval in traditional gear holding a hardened pig bladder to throw at spectators.

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Food

The food in the Dominican Republic is very exotic and unique. One of the main components of a Dominican’s meal is rice and beans. Most of them try to include at least one helping of rice and beans at lunch every day. The rice and beans can also be combined in to other dishes, such as the La Bandera. The La Bandera is a very patriotic dish, made up of rice and beans and beef. This is considered to be patriotic because it has all of the state colors in it. Dominicans typically also enjoy tropical fruit, which is grown locally on the island. Some typical fruits eaten there are bananas and plantains. Dominicans typically enjoy dried fish and other types of seafood, which is caught locally off the western coast. They also like chicken and beef. A couple other traditional dishes are the sancocho and the habichuelas condurce. The sancocho is a main course, and is a kind of stew made with meat and fresh vegetables. The habichuelas condurce is a typical desert. It is a kind of pudding, but it is made out of red beans. Another traditional recipe is the sofritoisa stew. It’s a stew made with peppers, tomatoes, and different kinds of herbs. Another great dish is the casabe. It is made by baking a cassava plant into a crisp bread. Eating customs differ for each family, but is a tradition for extended families to sit down for meals during important religious holidays, such as Christmas or Easter.



The La Bandera, a patriotic dish of much importance to Dominicans.

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 * Grolier Incorporated, //Academic American Encyclopedia,// 1987. **
 * iExplore, //Dominican Republic Travel Guide,// [|//http://www.iexplore.com/world_travel/Dominican+Republic/Things+to+Do//] **
 * Lonely Planet, //Sights In Dominican Republic,// [] **
 * Elizabeth Van Epsgarlo, //Culture of Dominican Republic,// [] **
 * Interactive Internet Websites, Inc, //Food in the Dominican Republic,// [] **
 * Central Bank of Dominican Republic, //Tourism Sector,// [] **
 * Janette Keys, //Hurricane, Cyclone, and Tropical Storm,// [] **
 * ProQuest LLC, //Dominican Republic, []// **