Learning Part II

Ok so now that I have a little more time I will expand a little more. Upon arriving at the airport yesterday, Tricia, Pablo, Daniel, Kayla, and Martini from the Esperanza staff were there to pick up myself along with the other interns, Travis and Julie. They were all so nice and welcoming. They took us to a restaurant right on the coast called Adrien Tropical to try some local foods like sancocho (similar to stew) and monfongo (plantain with meat and sauce). Somehow my dull descriptions of this food just don't do it justices, so don't judge. It's delicious!

After the three of us got settled into our apartment and took a little nap, Tricia and Martini took us for a brief tour of the old town Santo Domingo. It was very Spanish/European looking since this is the original island that Columbus conquered. The house in which he used to live is located in this area. I hope to go back to this area sometime during the day to take a tour.

Like I said before, today the three of us spent the day at the office. It began with a morning devotion that they do every Monday morning in every Esperanza office across the country. After that we got a tour of the office and met the majority of the Santo Domingo staff. The most interesting part, like I said in my previous, short entry, was learning the details of the programs that Esperanza offers. For example, today they just launched a program in a few provinces that seeks to transform the lives of prostitutes through loans and other education and spiritual guidance. There is a large problem with prostitution, especially in the tourist destinations, creating an unfortunate attraction for sex tourism. Another program is called 'Esperanza y Vida', which is primarily for individuals infected or affected by HIV/AIDS. This is slightly different from main microcredit services in that they charge a slightly lower interest rate. Also, if a person cannot repay on time, they are not charged a penalty or additional interest because it is usually due to health-related problems that are out of their control. I won't go into any more specifics but I look forward to sharing lots more in the next few months. This is a picture of Julie, Travis and I with the manager of Esperanza during our training in Santo Domingo.


Travis, Julie, and I are all so excited to be here and agree that it is finally nice to see first-hand what we have been learning for so long now. It seems so tangible now. It's been really fun spending time with them getting to know them before we head our separate directions (although we do plan on getting together to travel some, especially to Puerta Plata to visit Travis...que suerte!).

We have been doing a lot of talking and listening in Spanish so far; however, a bunch of the staff knows English, so it tends to be Spanglish a lot of the time, which is very entertaining. It's all starting to come back to me after my semester off. So many things take me back to my time in Ecuador (Beth, you'll appreciate this): certain brands of food like Social Club crackers, being a 'gringa', the crazy driving, and even the cat calls. The Dominican accent is a lot harder to understand as well since they talk extremely fast and cut off the end of most words. Anyway, I'm learning lots and look forward to all that is to come.