Looking out our airplane window, we see stretches of beautiful beaches and bright turquoise water. We reflect on the impact of the first Europeans, Christopher Columbus and his crew, landing on this island hundreds of years ago. Here began the Columbian exchange. Everything, indeed, did change.

A small, Dominican girl allows a student to take a photo of her while her mother answers questions from student invest-igators.

Our first glimpse of the Dominican Republic resembles something from an exotic Caribbean movie. We land at the Punta Cana Airport.

We soon clear customs and load into our ground transportation to head out to San Pedro. All are happy, excited, and ready!

Unusual trees stand like silent sentinels along the highway marking the path we must follow to get to our ultimate destination.

A small Dominican boy silently stands on the corner as if to say, "Welcome to my corner of the world."

Each student spends more than three hours daily recording observations, interview notes, and narrative descriptions. Jae is originally from South Korea, but has lived in the United States for many years. She is a non-traditional student at Ohio University Southern.

Cheryl Pancake pauses during a writing session. She also made the trip to Montemorelos, Mexico.

Dr. David Lucas, project leader, uses a digital recorder to gather impressions, observations, and descriptions from a student (Jae Jung) during the evening hours on the streets of San Pedro in the Dominican Republic.

Dr. David Lucas with newly acquired friends, Josh and Angelo, while doing interviews on the ocean front of San Pedro.