Danger! Danger!: The Dominican Republic and the German Embassy

So as I told you already in my recent post, I am living in Santo Domingo now, to work as an intern in the German Embassy. I have wined enough about Korea so I will try not to be too comparative between the two life’s and write it as it is J. I arrived here via Miami. It was my first, very brief, stop in the US ever. And I got introduced to this powerful country by waiting at the customs office for at least 3 hours before I got let through. Seriously, what takes them so long?! Anyways, in the end I did arrive safe and sound in Santo Domingo. Writing this in retrospect really got me thinking. Due to my hectic traveling back and forth all over the world (literally), I did not had any opportunity to prepare for my stay. I got thrown into cold water, so to speak, and I knew relatively little up to nothing about the Dominican Republic. So, after my first month and a bit of relaxing Google and newspaper research, I can give you an overview of what’s going on over here very briefly. Hence, let me introduce you to my new life by answering some basic questions, some of my friends and family asked me recently:

    1.       What the heck are you doing ‘over there’? (asked by: anonymous friend at my cousin’s 18^th birthday party)

Well, as it is kind of obvious now because I wrote about it in my Facebook, Twitter and my last post (…) I am doing an internship with the German Embassy and their culture and public relations department. I was just lucky to get the place I guess. I was always interested in the work of the German Foreign Office and the Embassies overseas seemed like the stereotypical starting point for a phenomenal career as an international relations student. Hence, I am primarily here because I want to discover the work of the German Embassy. My work includes basic press research, organizing press conferences, editing texts and reports, taking care of my own projects such as the ‘German Festival’ at the Universidad Iberoamericana and attending all kinds of general meetings in the embassy. I actually signed an obligation of secrecy, so I have to be careful about what I write ;).

    2.       Wow, the Dominican Republic, so you work in paradise, right? (asked by: anonymous friend at my cousin’s 18^th birthday party)

“No you idiot of course not!” Is what my inner mind would sarcastically blow at you right now. Of course, the tourism industry is huge but once you work here, especially in Santo Domingo, you realize that paradise is far away. First of all, there is no beach in Santo Domingo. Well the city lies at the coast but due to reckless pollution of the surrounding waters, it is recommended not to swim here whatsoever. This means, if you want to go to the beach, there is a 2 hour drive ahead of you. Still this is not that bad when you think about it but generally being at the beach gets me a little self-conscious too. Secondly, for me it is very exhausting to work in such a hot climate, I just cannot concentrate that well, especially when I am not in my air-conditioned office. Also the Wi-Fi connection here sucks! I never experienced such bad Wi-Fi ever, which makes it hard to keep contact with my family. Finally, the high crime rate makes it more difficult to travel alone and higher safety precautions are necessary wherever you go… Whoo, now that I re-read this part it sounds a little too negative. Of course, the flair and people have that Latin-American feeling I like so much. Life is relaxed and people try to be nice. Maybe I just need to go out more?

      3.       Is it safe? … (asked by: Mum)
In my first general work meeting with the ambassador and the staff I was soon to discover that violence and crime are one of the hot issues in this country. Since two of my new acquaintances were mugged with pistols already in my first week, you may think that the Dominican paradise is not really a safe heaven. To be completely honest, the crime rate in Santo Domingo and the Dominican Republic as a whole has spiked recently, leading to armed robberies and theft with up to 10 incidents on the Avenida Kennedy (one of the biggest streets in the city). In a relatively simplistic and generalized way there are many problems which in the snowball to this type of instability. To only name a few: There exist a huge gap between the rich and the poor population, while at the same time a lot of agricultural and electronic goods are being imported from the USA and Europe. Additionally, the police is underrepresented and not paid well which encourages corruption at a very early stage and the Dominican Republic is one of the transitional countries to smuggle drugs from Mexico. If you are looking for advice on Travel safety, check out your embassies travel advice on their website, if you don’t trust your government; please choose one of the following countries:

Deutschland

United Kingdom

USA

The Netherlands

I really try to remember the attitude I had when i was travelling in Morocco last year. While it sucks if people steal your stuff or mug you, there are also kind-hearted and friendly people that

   5.       So, do you speak Spanish?

I do! Surprise! I have been studying it for over 4 years now … duuhh...

   6.       So, how’s life so far? (asked by: my very good friend D.)

I had a big problem acclimatizing. Seriously. But I am doing fine, I really enjoy working here and the new people I meet are ever more interesting. The Dominican Republic is easy to love, and also easy to hate. So, exactly why there are so many diverse and serious problems, it is actually immensely interesting to work in such a vibrant country.

Watch out for my next update on my work at the German Embassy, in the meantime, leave a comment or follow me on Twitter  ;)