Dominican Drinks and Desserts

I loved how much fruit there was in the Dominican. Just take a look:

While there, I tasted and enjoyed a lot of fruits I had never even heard of: guava, starfruit, noni, tamarindo, zapote, and red bananas (to name a few).

Also, I learned about the many varieties of mango. For the record, the best are the reddish green ones. They are not too stringy and not too small. 

Besides eating them plain, I loved fruit shakes and drinks. My favorite shakes were made from either papaya or zapote:

Many people would have literal "lemonade stands" where they would sell freshly squeezed fruit juice (with lots of sugar) in the street. While they usually sold juices such as lemon, lime, or orange, I also liked the more exotic juices, such as passionfruit and tamarindo:

Another common drink is Morir Sonando. Think Orange Julius, Dominican style.

Dominicans often blended dry oatmeal in their drinks, to give it a milky flavor and a thicker texture. They even sold dry mixes with oatmeal:

It sounds weird, but it actually tastes pretty good. 

The other great thing is that people would sell ice cream (either store bought or home made) from their homes. A unique but surprisingly delicious flavor was helado de batata (sweet potato ice cream):

They would divide them into little plastic bags and then sell them for 10 to 15 pesos (less than 50 cents). You always felt like you hit the jackpot when you found out someone made these in the area you were working in. 

When we had time on P-days, sometimes we would go out to eat. One of my favorite dessert shops was Yogen Fruz, which sold frozen yogurt mixed with whatever toppings you wanted: from the  waffle cones to tropical fruit.

Also, since it is technically a fruit- the avocados in the Dominican are HUGE, cheap, and delicious.

Rhetorically,
Rebekah