Time: Better Late With a Treasure?

It’s almost time for me to go back home, and unlike with many things here, that can’t happen late. I got an email kindly reminding me I was due (overdue) for writing a blog post and my first thought was, “let me see how quickly I can write this thing.” It is crunch time in my second internship - a research project on CAFTA-DR (DR, Central American, US Free Trade Agreement), and I feel like I am just getting my footing on it. I chuckled at my thought because I’m never able to write these things quickly, but also because here [in the DR] things just don’t happen quickly. It’s a cultural thing and I’m... Read More

Dominican Nom Noms!

Memory is a funny thing. Sometimes it seems the most unusual thing triggers a long buried memory. For me, the trigger was trying to describe the fruit here. And, the memory was a children’s book: The Little Mouse, The Red Ripe Strawberry and the Big Hungry Bear. I think the title sufficiently tells the plot, but what I remembered is in this story; the Big Hungry Bear smells this strawberry from miles away. I believe this story is actually an allegory. The authors were clearly relaying their experience with Caribbean fruit! The bear is the gringo, the strawberry is pineapple, passion fruit or mango and the great lengths the bear goes to steal the strawberry... Read More

An Introduction

Hey guys, Since this is my first blog post on here, I’ll introduce myself quickly. I’m Sarah. I’m from Rhode Island (10 points for every northeast word you catch in my posts). I finished my bachelor’s degree where I studied Political Science and I’m going to start my master’s degree in International Development and Economics in the fall. I want to work in economic development. Today, I think I’ll answer a few FAQ’s: Where are you going again? The Dominican Republic – I’ll be in the capital city, Santo Domingo. It shares the Caribbean island of Hispaniola with Haiti. What language do they speak there? Do you know it? They speak Spanish. Though like English, different... Read More

Au Revoir Dominican Republic

In all seriousness, the Dominican Republic is the most beautiful country in the world. I may be completely biased but the atmosphere here is so full of life everywhere you go and the ecosystems you encounter are so diverse that I believe there is space for every inhabitant of the planet in this little island. My family and I set sail on a short four-day trip towards the South after I had found the way in which to ask, in the most diplomatic matter possible, for two days off of work. My boss joked and said: “Well Giselle, if you leave us, I’ll make sure someone fires you”; of course he said this just before... Read More

Flying by the seat of your pants

Flying by the seat of your pants. Although I just learned this saying, it’s seemed to define my trip to the DR and a great theme for my last blog post. For instance, I heard about InteRDom in an elevator and just went with it. I didn’t learn until recently it would be the deciding factor for me getting cleared for my first job in Miami. On a day off from work, I tried to get a meeting with the minister of public health, Dr. Freddy Hidalgo Nunez (He’s a boss). Although unsuccessful, I traveled all around the Ministry of Public Health talking to people and asking questions. I ended up leaving with new insight... Read More

Looking Back

By: Kim Sanchez I can't believe how fast these two months have passed. Looking back, I can't believe how far I've come since the first day. I've made a lot of great friends here and many memories that I will never forget. I'm very thankful for the opportunity to come here and work with this program. I have learned a lot and produced a lot of works that I am proud to add to my portfolio. Here are some examples of work for my internship: (1) Colonial Zone Video (2) FUNGLODE Gallery (3) Marketing Photos (3) Marketing Photos (4) UNIBE Video (5) Student of the Week - InteRDom During my stay in the... Read More

Sancocho

Two and a half months into my stay in the Dominican Republic and I still have not eaten sancocho. It was an aberration to everything I stood for, to my “Dominicanness.” I had had it in mind since I set foot in this country, but the odds were against me; every time I held a chance to enjoy this delicious dish, something got in the way. My colleagues had to pay for the effects that the lack of sancocho had on me; the side effects are very serious, almost lethal. I spent the whole week telling anyone who had ears to hear me that I needed, not even wanted, sancocho in my system. Regardless of... Read More

My boss is in a good mood

“¡Levanten campamento!” shouts Mr. Ortiz as he comes storming out of his office with suitcase in hand and switching the lights off. Malge, Domingo and I are immediately possessed by a secret smile. That is our boss’s way of giving us the green light to go home and for the first three days of the week, it was an identical scenario. We were dismissed awfully early and the workload we had on our desks went from very little to none. I even took the freedom to draw on a bunch of yellow post-its; scribbles keep my mind going as everything else outside follows a slow pace. No sessions at the Congress, only a few files... Read More

My Weekend Getaway

Whenever I plan a weekend trip to disappear from all the craziness at home, I usually carefully plan-out where I’m staying, where I’m going and when. This time, I didn’t make any plans. In fact, another intern thought it would be a great idea to go to the 27 waterfalls (or charcos) as a weekend trip. I had no idea what this was going to be like, since the intern (Krysta) had planned out every detail without my help. Once we got to Cabarete I immediately noticed all the European tourists. I am genuinely surprised by the amount of Europeans that come to the Dominican Republic as tourists and workers. This includes, Italians, French, British... Read More

Category: InteRDom

Office work, oh no.

By: Giselle Deñó InteRDom Correspondent, Giselle, has completed the first year of her Bachelor’s degree in Political Science at Sciences Po, Reims, France. She is participating in the 2013 10-week Dominican International Student Program. You can read more about Giselle and her participation in the Correspondent Program here. The Dominican Republic has two legislative sessions, one that begins February 27th and another one scheduled for August 16th. Well, this week Congress was wrapping up every little piece of legislature they had on the table before the end of the first legislative session of 2013. Every deputy had a say, some were fighting with their claws out to get their initiatives to be passed, others... Read More