See You Soon, My Beautiful Island, Nice People and Delicious Food!

By: Ioana Pescaru

Ioana has completed three years of her Bachelor’s degree in Spanish, French and Media and Communication at Newcastle University in Newcastle, Great Britain. She is one of three students participating in the 2012 pilot of the InteRDom Correspondent Program, and is participating in the 2012 10-week Caribbean Summer Program, with special dates beginning July 1. You can read more about Ioana and her participation in the Correspondent Program here.

My Dominican internship is over and I am now back home, in Europe where the fall is coming slowly with its rain, unfriendly clouds and crazy wind. But…no worries! The Dominican sun, hot weather and unforgettable memories will always be with me.  It was really hard and sad to say goodbye to my colleagues at work, to the friends I made there, to the very delicious food and fruit, to the beach, to the sun, to my special Dominican life.

The last day of work was the longest one, because after we finished working my colleagues wanted to say goodbye to me in a more intimate and friendly atmosphere, so we went for dinner at a Mexican restaurant. I had a feeling that I have never experienced before. They made me feel very special and loved. I was so overwhelmed that I almost started crying, being happy that I had the chance to meet so many nice and kind people and at the same, being incredibly sorry that it was already time to leave the country. We promised we would keep in touch and visit each other whenever possible.

What other perfect way of spending my last weekend there than going to the concert of ones of my favourite reggaeton and bachata singers…? I was lucky I could go to see Wisin and Yandel and Prince Royce in huge concert that takes place every year at the end of summer. It was a unique experience that made me very happy and my friends jealous…hehehe.

In conclusion, based on my personal experience, deciding to do an internship in DR is worth every effort. It tests your abilities and personality, but there is no doubt that it could change many aspects of your previous life.

Interning in the Dominican Republic... What is it like?

Ioana has completed three years of her Bachelor’s degree in Spanish, French and Media and Communication at Newcastle University in Newcastle, Great Britain. She is one of three students participating in the 2012 pilot of the InteRDom Correspondent Program, and is participating in the 2012 10-week Caribbean Summer Program, with special dates beginning July 1. You can read more about Ioana and her participation in the Correspondent Program here.

…So productive, fulfilling and life-changing that I am already planning to come back in December!!!

I am almost at the end of my internship in Sto Domingo and Caribbean Summer programme with Interdom.

I have been working in the main office of Coral Hospitality Corp, a Dominican hotel management company, currently managing hotels in Cap Cana, Samaná and Juan Dolio. My job was based in the department of sales and marketing of CHC, where I have had different tasks to complete. Each task was quite different, depending on my colleagues’ positions and responsibilities. For example I had to create and translate some articles from English to Spanish and vice-versa in order to be posted in the News section of the company´s website. This task was very useful because it helped me improve my written Spanish and learn new vocabulary. It was an excellent exercise to keep up with the news in the country and constantly revise some grammatical aspects and vocabulary. Aside from this, I had the opportunity to visit two of the hotels CHC manages in Cap Cana, a very luxurious and high-standard Dominican Resort, still in development. This was possible because of a photo shoot to provide pictures for the new flyers, fact sheets and videos to promote and advertise the hotels all over the world. It was a very satisfactory experience for me due to the fact that I have been chosen to be the feminine model in the pictures and videos.

Even though I have had the same schedule everyday, starting at 9am and finishing at 4pm, it didn´t feel like a routine. At 1pm I had a lunch break for one hour, time for chatting with my colleagues, going out for a coffee or just for a walk. The food was purely Dominican and this was perfect for me, because I discovered many meals and unknown ingredients combinations. I am surely going to miss those lunches. Even if it didn´t feel like it, this 1 hour break was the best chance to get to know more the Dominican gastronomy, spirit and culture.

The most important part of the internship is that I didn’t get bored, not even for a second. This is not only because I always had something to do, but also because of the very happy, kind and cheerful people that surrounded me in the office.

Speaking excellent Spanish and being open and excited to learn the “Dominican language” helped me integrate without problems, make friends and be considered as one of their team in a very short time. After only one week of working in Coral I felt at home and having worked there for a very long time.

Coral Hospitality Corps is, for sure, one of the best organizations InteRDom collaborates with in order to create an excellent internship for YOU.