CARIBBEAN
Dominican Republic
History: In 1492 Christpher Colombus arrived to Hispanola(Dominican Republic. Trujillo became president in the years 1930 and made the Dominican Republic a miserable place. Not only did Trujillo kill thousands of Dominicans but he killed thousands of Hatians because he believed that Dominicans were the best race.
Music: The Dominican Republic has a diversity of different type songs like merengue, batchata, and dembow. Merengue is is a style of Dominican music and dance. Partners hold each other in a closed position. The leader holds the follower's waist with the leader's right hand, while holding the follower's right hand with the leader's left hand at the follower's eye level. Bachata is a style of dance that originated in the Dominican Republic. It is danced widely all over the world but not identically. The basics to the dance are three-step with a Cuban hip motion, followed by a tap including a hip movement on the 4th beat. The main element of dembow music is its rhythm, which is somewhat reminiscent of reggaeton and dancehall music, but with a more constant rhythm and faster than reggaeton.
Food: Dominican Republic is known for its variety of delicious foods.Some of Dominican Republic'c main dishes are mungu, which is smashed plantain, with salami,eggs, fried cheese, onions, and avocado. There's also chimichuri, which is a hamburger with cabbage,and tomatoes on italian bread. There's also sancocho, which is a soup made of beef, chicken, corn, plantains, potatoe, and can be eaten with a bowl of rice and a piece of avoacado.
Fun Facts:
1)Punta Cana is the most popular tourist area on the island.
2)Dominican Republic is located right next to Haiti.
3)Although the Dominican Republic is right next to Haiti, which speaks French, most Dominican sonly speaks spanish
Puerto Rico
History: Christopher Colombus arrived at Puerto Rico in 1493 and Puerto Rico is a part of the United States.
Music: Puerto Rico has a diverse range of music like danza and bolero. Danza is a musical genre that originated in Ponce, a city in southern Puerto Rico. It is a popular turn-of-the-twentieth-century ballroom dance genre slightly similar to the waltz. Bolero is a genre of slow-tempo Latin music and its associated dance.
Food:Some of famous dishes in Puerto Rico are lechon which is pork cooked over carbon, there's also escabeche which is marinated fish, and lastly there's cuchifrito, made of yellow rice with red beans, olives, plantains and pork.
Fun Facts:
1)Purto Rico uses the currency of U.S dollars
2)The average temperature is between 70 and 80 degrees
3)There are five Miss Universe from Puerto Rico.
Cuba
History: The island of Cuba was inhabited by various Mesoamerican cultures prior to the arrival of the Italian explorer Christopher Columbus in 1492. After Columbus' arrival, Cuba became a Spanish colony, ruled by a Spanish governor in Havana.
Music: Popular Cuban music are salsa and Timba. Salsa represents a mix of Latin musical genres, but its primary component is Cuban dance music. The roots of salsa originated in Eastern Cuba from the Cuban Son and Afro-Cuban dance. Timba Timba is a Cuban genre of music based on popular Cuban music along with salsa, American funk/R&B, and the strong influence of Afro-Cuban folkloric music.
Food:Some examples of cuban foods are the Cuban Sandwhich, which has pickles, beef, ham, and cheese. There's also ropa vieja, when translated to english it means old clothe, it may not sound appatizing but it is actually stewed beef in chili, tomato, onion, and cumin sauce.
Fun Facts:
1) The official name for Cuba is the Republic of Cuba, Cuba is the largest island in the Carribean
2)Cuba is often reffered to as"El Cocodrilo" or "El Caima" since the island is shaped as a crocodile
3) Cuba has a population of 11 million people
4)sugar is the main crop in Cuba.
Bahamas
History: The Arawak Indians were the first inhabitants of the Bahamas. Columbus's first encounter with the New World was on Oct. 12, 1492, when he landed on the Bahamian island of San Salvador. The British first built settlements on the islands in the 17th century.
Music: Goombay Music with Rake and Scrape Bands. Historically, secular music in The Bahamas has been called goombay music, a derivative of the Gambian word gumbay, or large drum. Bahamian secular music, particularly when played by rake and scrape bands, relies on the goatskin drum to create its rhythmic base.
Food: Famous dishes in the Bahamas are JohnnyCakes, pigeons peas and rice, and rock lobster. Johnnycake is a cornmeal flatbread, pigeons peas and rice consists of rice, tomato, oregano, cumin, salt, achiote, and pigeon peas. Rock lobster is self explanatory based on the name and it is baked lobster with vegetables.
Fun Facts:
1)Some fun facts about the Bahamas are The word Bahamas is derived from a Spanish word 'baja mar' which means 'low tide' or'shallow water or sea'.
2)The Bahamas were once a favorite place for pirates to hide their treasure.
3)The Bahamas encompasses an area of 5,358 square miles.
Haiti
History: In 1804 it held the first succesful slave revolt and later Toussaint Louverture became the president of Haiti as he led the save revolution. On December 5, 1492 navigator Christopher Colombus landed the ship at the Sante Maria island of Haiti.
Music: Some examles of Haitan music is Kompa Compas, is a dance music and modern méringue in Haiti with European and African roots. The genre was popularized following the 1955 creation of the band Conjunto International by Nemours Jean-Baptiste. Another example of Hatian music is Zouk, which is very rapid in tempo and is very popular in parties and carnivals.
Foods: One example of Haitian food is Soup Joumou, which is a pumkin food eaten in Januarary 1st to celebrate the Hatian Independence. Another example of their food is Diri ak djon djon, which is rice with edible black mushroom. Lastly there's the Hatian patties which consists of either beef, chicken , or fish and it is very spicy.
Fun Facts:
1)The reason why Hatians eat Soup Joumou on January 1st is because only the Europeans were able to eat this and on January they got their independence so they celebrate their independence by eating Soup Joumou.
2)Haiti is the most mountanious nation in the Carribean, Haiti means land of mountain because their mountains reach over 8,000 feet.
3)La Badee is like a paradise island in Haiti and it attracts lots or tourist as it is located on the Northern part of Haiti.
4)Haiti is located right next to Dominican Republic, and the people in Dominican Republic speaks spanish but Haiti speaks French.