The other day I did an interview about my internship for InteRDom and one of the questions I was asked was “What makes the DR unique?” Having been to many places (in North America, Central America, Europe, Africa and Asia), I thought I was well equipped to answer the question, but the more I think about the more I realize it is a very difficult question. Yesterday, "mi suegra" (useful Spanish word for significant other’s mother) and I were talking about food and she started talking about Russian salad. Russian salads are common here. You can get them at the “Chinese” restaurant to go with your plantains and wontons, they are traditional around Christmas, at... Read More
To mark my somewhere-near halfway I thought I’d just give a little photo summary of my time here so far. These pictures are a combination of my phone photos as well as some I’ve found online. First, the view from the airplane: foggy, I could see the air was thick, the heavy clouds cast shadows on the deep green fields speckled with dots that up close must have been pieces of life: small towns, occasional roads and farm equipment. The occasional baseball diamond assured me I was landing in the right place. As we got closer to the city I was able to catch a glimpse of the ocean – a rich turquoise for deep... Read More
At some point in my day, I had this brilliant idea for a blog post… but it has disappeared into the abyss of lost thoughts, forgotten vocabulary words and disconnected streets that takes up most of my brain come evening. So, given that, you’re stuck with reading about work. I’ll try to make it worth your time though. Here is a “selfie” of me at work… and for fun, I’ll share the story that goes with it. The other day I had two awkward moments. The first was on the way to work when I tried to pay the share car driver with a quarter instead of 25 pesos! The second was shortly after I... Read More