¡Revelación!

By: Justine Burke
Justine has completed her first year of study at the University of Georgia School of Law and is one of three students participating in the 2012 pilot of the InteRDom Correspondent Program. She is participating in the 2012 10-week Graduate and Gap Year Program. You can read more about her, her interest in the Correspondent Program and her career ambitions here.

When I tell people that I am a rising second year law school student, after congratulating me on being so brave, the first question that they usually ask me is “So what kind of law do you want to practice?” And the truth is, up until now, I had no idea. I’ve always had an idea of the areas of law in which I could see myself practicing and those that I could not. Criminal law? Not for me. Some realm of international or property law? Maybe. Day after day, I waited for some kind of sign or some realization to hit me… and that time has finally come.

This week at my internship, I worked with a lawyer, R, who is the manager of the litigation and settlements department of the company. The insurance company that I work for, being the largest in the Dominican Republic, insures many of the hotels and resorts that are located throughout the country. And where there are foreign tourists, law suits are sure to follow! I reviewed endless cases about tourists sustaining personal injuries stemming from small slips and falls to burns resulting from bar fires. Because many of the hotels and resorts have their headquarters or principal places of business in the United States-- Florida to be exact-- many of the complaints were being litigated in the United States. While this may sound boring to others, I found myself absolutely enthralled!

Complaints, answers, and motions to dismiss on the grounds of forum non conveniens? I couldn’t get enough. Page after page, I found myself completely absorbed in reading the case details and imagining how I would begin to prepare memoranda discussing both the particulars of the cases and possible outcomes at trial. I was so excited to see abstract concepts that I had learned during my first year of law come to life.

By the end of my first day working with R, I knew that this was what I wanted to do! Working as an attorney for a firm that represents large corporations such as hotels and resorts incorporated in the United States, but with locations abroad, would allow me to combine my interests in both torts and international law. Who knew it would take traveling to the Dominican Republic for me to discover what I wanted to do following graduation!

Laws, Food and History!

By: Justine Burke

Justine has completed her first year of study at the University of Georgia School of Law and is one of three students participating in the 2012 pilot of the InteRDom Correspondent Program. She is participating in the 2012 10-week Graduate and Gap Year Program. You can read more about her, her interest in the Correspondent Program and her career ambitions here.

We have finally started working! I know you guys were probably thinking I'm here in paradise on vacation all summer long, but we actually have an internship. We work in the legal department of the largest insurance company in Latin America and our supervisor, Doña Josefa, knows everyone who is anyone in Santo Domingo, so we’ve done a lot of rotating between different legal departments within the city so that we can, in her words, "saber todo de la ley dominicana! (know everything about Dominican law!)." We've been to both traffic and criminal courts to observe the differences in the legal systems (as compared to the American legal system) and there are definitely a lot. Judges and lawyers here have to wear special robes when in the court room which feature berets adorned with colored balls on top. (Judges wear one color, defense attorneys, another, and so on). Besides that, we generally work in the office and assist the attorneys in the department with whatever tasks they ask of us. Our biggest responsibility is to review policies to ensure that the general and specific conditions of the policies offered by the company are in accordance with relevant Dominican law. No matter what, though, we aren't allowed to speak English in the office. Our coworkers are so excited to help us better our Spanish!

Outside of work, I finally made it to the beach. My roommates and I have been to Boca Chica twice, and although I thought it was beautiful, apparently it’s nowhere close to being the nicest beach the country has to offer. The sand was white and the water, the most beautiful turquoise I have ever seen, so I can't even imagine anything being more amazing that that. It was more gorgeous than any beach I've ever seen in the States. How nice it must be so nice to live here and have your pick of alluring beaches! Anyway, while we were lounging on the beach vendors came up to us selling everything ranging from fresh seafood and coconuts to CDs and wooden sculptures. There were also food stands that sold fresh fish which the vendors fried on the spot. Being the adventurous eater that I am, I just had to try. L and A were too scared to try, so my newest roommate and I split a plate of fried fish (it was HUGE) and tostones. It was so delicious!

                                                                                                                                              In cultural excursion news, last weekend we took a three and a half hour tour through the Colonial Zone. We visited a cathedral in the heart of the zone which I was told was the oldest gothic cathedral standing in the Americas, dating back to the 16th century. I thought it was absolutely beautiful despite the fact that laid within the floors and walls were the tombs of countless men who had been buried there centuries before. The most interesting part about the cathedral, though, was that it housed the tomb of Christopher Columbus! Yes, the Christopher Columbus that we all read about in school books who “sailed the Ocean Blue” in 1492! Although we couldn't actually enter the tomb since it was roped off, it was still cool to be that close to a piece of history that I have heard so much about.

A mí me encanta la República Dominicana!

By: Justine Burke

Justine has completed her first year of study at the University of Georgia School of Law and is one of three students participating in the 2012 pilot of the InteRDom Correspondent Program. She is participating in the 2012 10-week Graduate and Gap Year Program. You can read more about her, her interest in the Correspondent Program and her career ambitions here.

After my first full day in the Dominican Republic, I already knew I was in love with this country! I have never been anywhere where the people are so vibrant and full of life that it practically oozes out in the streets! During our first few days in the country, we hadn’t yet learned how to use various form of public transportation system, so imagine how much more my love for the country grew when we had finally had our transportation tutorial and I began to explore farther than my immediate surroundings.

On our first full day, we decided to leave our apartment in search of authentic Dominican cuisine and luckily, one of the drivers at the FUNGLODE headquarters offered to drive us to our desired location. However, once we arrived, we found that the restaurant was closed. (Dominicans definitely observe Sunday as the Sabbath more so than Americans generally do, so many stores and restaurants close early, or like the restaurant where we wanted to eat, don't operate at all on Sundays). Since we couldn't go there, the driver offered to drop us off on a main street close to a supermarket to allow us to explore. After about twenty minutes of walking around and asking people where a restaurant that served Dominican food was (not knowing that it’s actually referred to as comida criolla!), we finally found a bar and grill that served sandwiches and other plates. The food that we had was good but I had really been hoping for some pollo asado, arroz con frijoles, or mofongo!

Once we left the restaurant, we walked to a pay phone (yes, a pay phone!) to phone the driver so that he could pick us up since none of us had yet to purchase local phones. Of course being that none of us had used a pay phone in at least 10 years, we somehow messed up the call and lost the coins that we inserted. Luckily, a couple of police officers walked over to us to make small talk and offered us their phone to call the driver. He picked us up shortly and once we returned to the apartment, we threw ourselves on the couches and slept under the breeze from the ceiling fans. Dominican heat is another thing! Being outside makes you sticky from the humidity and the heat itself is draining.

In many ways, from what I have seen so far, the Dominican Republic is very similar to the States. Most of the people have cars, young people hang out together, etc., but I have noticed some key differences. For instance, people are more friendly and willing to talk. Walking down the street, more people will speak to you than you would encounter on any given street in the US. People also tend to hang outside. This means in front of their buildings, on the side of the street, wherever! Hanging out and talking with friends outside just because is something that we definitely don't tend to do as Americans. One of the biggest differences, though, is definitely the way people drive. The traffic lights and dividers in the street seem to be more of a… suggestion of how to drive! However, in all the apparent traffic madness, there are relatively few accidents occur here, so don’t worry, I’m safe!

¿Que lo que?

(Dominican slang for “what’s up?”)

By: Justine Burke

Justine has completed her first year of study at the University of Georgia School of Law and is one of three students participating in the 2012 pilot of the InteRDom Correspondent Program. She is participating in the 2012 10-week Graduate and Gap Year Program.

So, the time is finally here and I couldn’t be any more excited—my journey to Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic begins tomorrow! It seems completely unreal as I've been dreaming about visiting the DR ever since I can remember, and tomorrow, thanks to InteRDom, my dream becomes reality. Through InteRDom, I will be able to combine my interests in both the legal profession and the Spanish language through an internship in the legal department at a large, private Dominican insurance company. Although I've been studying Spanish for the last eight years, I have yet to travel to a Spanish-speaking country so this is a huge milestone for me!

Once in the Dominican Republic—in addition to interning of course—I plan on taking in as much of the culture as possible (which, for me, largely means food!). I cannot wait to try authentic mofongo, a fried plantain dish stuffed with various meats, and mangú, a boiled plantain dish, usually served for breakfast. The program recommends that we don't eat street food for health purposes, so I’ll be sticking to the cuisines of established restaurants to fulfill this desire. Besides eating, I plan on travelling throughout the entire island. (After all, when again will I be able to do such extensive travelling?). The first place that I want to visit is pretty touristy—Boca Chica, the beach nearest Santo Domingo. I’ve done some research on Boca Chica and found that in addition to the immaculate white sands, the depth of the crystal clear water rarely changes and there are no waves. Sounds like paradise to me!

Lastly, in addition to interning, eating, and travelling (by now, you’re probably thinking, “what else will you have time for?!”), I am really hoping to enroll in bachata and merengue lessons so that I can develop a new talent to show off once back in the States.

While I could go on forever, my flight leaves bright and early at 7 AM, so that’s it for now. Once I am settled into my Dominican apartment, I will update you all on my travels. Stay tuned because I will be blogging about every bit of this once-in-a-lifetime experience! Ciao!