No one claps at the end of a flight anymore - I realized that as I traveled to Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic last week. The trip was one of the best experiences I've had, and I got to share it with my family.

It was raining for the first two days, but my father, step mom and I didn't let that stop us from having fun. It rained heavily for a while and when it lightened up, we took that as an opportunity to make our way into the pool. Once I was in the water, it wasn't that bad and I barely noticed the rain. We played volleyball. I didn't win, but I was three points away, so I gave myself an A for effort.

I went zip lining for the first time, which I was very excited about. My father and stepmom had done it before and told me the "do's," the "don't's" and that I didn't really have anything to be worried about. I wasn't nervous, I didn't go first though because I had to see how it was done, well, that was my excuse. We went on seven different lines, all different lengths and speeds. It was nice flying across the sky over green land, it was almost surreal and as quickly as it started it seemed like it was over, and I wanted so badly for the line to keep going.

We met a really nice family who was staying in the resort with us. We decided to go explore the waterfalls together. I love to swim and be in the water, I wasn't too sure about jumping off a cliff and into it but it was definitely something I was willing to try. What I wasn't ready for was the hour hike we had to do to get to the waterfall. All I had was a life vest, a helmet, and a bottle of water but it felt like I was carrying much more climbing up rocks and stairs. We had to wear these not very comfortable, and not very protective shoes because they were good in the water and wouldn't have made our feet heavy due to it being wet. As I reached the first waterfall, out of breath, I told myself that it was worth it and I was going to go into every single waterfall because I didn't hike all that for no reason. I was a lot nervous for the first one, but I still did it. The scariest part was jumping into the water and not feeling the bottom, my heart dropped a little but the life jacket brought me right to the top. We went into twenty-seven different waterfalls, either jumping, sliding, or getting pushed in. I could never forget it, mostly because my body still aches from the hike but it was so worth it.

I saw a monkey up, close and personal for the first time, several actually. It actually went on my head and jumped all on me. It mostly wanted the grapes I had in my hand, and it didn't mind invading my space to get them. I was a lot scared for this one because they just dropped on your head from the trees and I thought that I was going to jump, which is a natural reaction, and I didn't want to find out what a scared monkey could do. I caved in though, and I wanted it to jump on me and when it did, my nervousness changed to excitement. Now I kind of want a pet monkey, even though I'm still a little afraid, but they were so cute!

On my last day, I went ATV riding and, at first, I wasn't sure if I wanted to ride my own bike or be on the back of my father's bike. With a little persuasion from him, I decided to get my own bike and it was amazing. It was semi-automatic so I had to switch gears and once I got the hang of it, I took off! I think at one point I got a little too excited and crashed. Maybe crashed isn't the right word, just deviated from the path a little, and I have a cut on my knee to prove it. My step mom really went off course and for a minute I thought she was trying to do tricks. One minute she was in front of me and the next she was flying through the air, but luckily she's okay and no one was seriously hurt.

We visited a lot of beaches and I tried a lot of new foods. It was nice to see how people outside of NYC live because it made me appreciate the things I have. Even going on this trip, I was grateful, because I saw in different places how little business some stores got. Many people talked to us about their living conditions and it was sad to see how some people really struggle, and the thing I noticed was that they always had their family. I did much more and saw things, easier seen than explained, but I'm happy that I got to spend this time and experiences con mi familia.