An Insider's Perspective: Cucuyo 2010
A creative writing from creative writing workshop instructor Lauren Stephenson about her particular in-country experience.
The two weeks I spent in the Dominican Republic teaching creative writing to young people were nothing less than transformative. When I started preparing for the trip, I was racked with anxiety—was my Spanish good enough to communicate with students during class and to understand pieces they wrote? Would they find the writing activities interesting and engaging? How much would we be able to accomplish together in such a short period of time? Simply put, I didn’t know what to expect out of the experience, both from myself as well as the students that I was going to meet.
Fortunately, I had an incredible support system in the other three artists (Kyle Waites, theatre; Amanda Lovelee, photography; Morgan Ward, sculpture) and our director, Laura Vaughn. We instantly clicked when we met in person for the first time, and it made sense—we had all traveled to the Dominican Republic to pursue a creative adventure. We wanted to bring our expertise to young people who were eager to learn. And most importantly, we had come to enmesh ourselves in a new culture, to intimately acquaint ourselves with the Dominican way of life under the tutelage of our students and our host families. We were five like-minded people who had recognized an incredible opportunity to both expand and intertwine our artistic and cultural borders.
The first day of classes eliminated my fears altogether—the students proved to be some of the brightest, most talented, patient, and enthusiastic individuals I had ever met. For ten days total, about 60 students ages 13-18 participated in two daily workshops that ultimately covered the four subjects. Together we created stories and poems, built body sculptures, wrote and performed skits, and shot photography books. We learned how to channel our emotions and life experiences through writing. We constructed models of our bodies and discussed the nature and form of the spirit. We bent our bodies and faces in new ways and transformed ourselves into different people on stage. We learned how to tell stories through a series of photographs. Though our time together was brief, we used these artistic mediums to stretch our brains and release ideas from the deepest parts of our imaginations.
As meaningful as our classroom experiences with the students were, our encounters with them outside of the workshops and our relationships with our host families were just as significant. We would hang out with students after class and take walks around the neighborhood, sometimes even meeting their families. And we were all literally adopted by our host families—they opened their homes and hearts to us, promising that we now had Dominican aunts, uncles, sisters, and brothers for the rest of our lives. Their generosity and friendship made it incredibly difficult to leave, and trading our stories and love with each other is an experience that none of us will forget any time soon.
Ultimately, it was a phenomenal experience because we are all changed people—we are better artists, better teachers, better people for it. And while we only stayed for two weeks, we continue to carry the experience with us, with the understanding that we now are permanently connected to the Dominican Republic, to its people, to our students and friends there, and to the idea that the arts can bridge cultures in meaningful and long lasting ways.
Share Article 
