Yesterday when we went to Playa Coson, a beach near Las Terrenas, we happened upon a construction site. Workers were building sets of stairs and painting boxes red and blue.
It turns out they were setting up for an upcoming filming of the reality TV show Survivor.
Seeing the Survivor set so close made me think about how globalization is impacting communities in the Dominican and all over the world. American TV shows and products have become multinational. Everywhere you go--even the most remote corners of the country-- people are now starting to have wireless internet access, so they can watch TV shows like Survivor, check the news, and view ads for companies they wouldn't otherwise be exposed to.
Thanks to Globalization, Nike, Coca Cola, and McDonalds are just as popular here as they are in the US. This has both positive and negative consequences. On the positive side, people are now more connected with the world around them and have increased access to consumer products. On the negative side, local brands and producers have a hard time competing with multinational brands and products.