In the New World

Following the light of the sun, we left the Old World… >> Christopher Columbus

My first several days in the Dominican Republic (DR) were spent in Santo Domingo, where Esperanza International is headquartered. A friend of the organization allowed me to stay in his empty apartment in the colonial district of the bustling capital city. When I say “apartment”, I really mean “cavernous hacienda with running water, industrial strength air conditioning, and a pleasant courtyard in which I eat my cereal in the warming mornings.” So far so good.

 

I was joined at the Hacienda by a fellow Pepperdine student, Jeff Baker , who I share an eerily similar past with (both studied in Italy through Pepperdine University, both from Seattle originally, both working with Esperanza for the summer, etc.).

Carlos Pimentel, the dynamic Executive Director of Esperanza and Rafael Ortiz played host to us during my our first days in the DR, providing an orientation to the transformational work Esperanza is doing among the poor communities of this tropical island.

Only 515 years after Christopher Columbus himself first set foot in the New World, I find myself stepping off of a bus onto that same plot of land in Puerto Plata– my new home for the next two months. I was greeted by Norberto Eusebio, the local Esperanza Director here in this region of the DR. He was kind enough to guide me through this beach side town and introduce me to my new Dominican mom, Tatica. She is hosting me in her quaint home just outside the city, and besides being the descendant of some great Dominican general, she is the best cook this side of the Mississippi.

My weekend orientation was concluded with my first dip (and first sunburn) in the Caribbean Sea (along with several thousand others) on a day that was nothing less then perfect.