My new assignment in the Dominican Republic is off to a good start. After numerous weeks of professionally vacationing and "evacu-cation" (as a fellow evacuee says), I'm finally back to work. For the Public Policy Fellowship we are tasked with working 80% at a government ministry and 20% on a personal research project. Here in DR I'm working at the Ministry of Industry and Commerce in the economics research department. As for my personal research - due to the transition I obviously couldn't continue with my proposal from Tunisia. So I'm looking instead to incorporate my research at the ministry with some of my interests in development - specifically the intersection of trade with inequality and poverty reduction. But of course there's more to DR than just work - I was of course a professional vacationer for a while... and those habits don't disappear. Even though the assignment is great, and life is progressing well - I still had to satisfy my curiosity that I had in fact made the right decision to bail on Tunisia. Turns out I definitely did: I heard just the other week that the Fulbright program closed.
For those of you who know me, the assignment in economics research at the ministry is pretty much an ideal placement. It's amazing that this opportunity came along even with the very short notice following the evacuation - so thanks to the folks who found the placement and made it happen. My main task for the next few months is to update a previous study on relative competitiveness of Dominican exports to the European market. So far, nothing too earth shattering to report - DR exports bananas, rum and cocoa. I will say though that I was quite surprised by the gender make-up of the department because it is exclusively females. That's great - but it does beg the question of where are the men? Any way, more to come on the work front in general in another post...
The other part of my time is for my personal research. Right now I'm planning on pursuing research on the intersection between trade and inequality; however, with the transition that's in the brainstorming phase still. Mostly what I'm doing is meeting with different folks who have been here for a wee bit longer than I (hard to beat I know) while reading articles and research to help orientate myself to the economy. It's definitely a steep learning curve, but so far so good.
Less you think life here is all work and no play... not to worry! It was great to get back to work, but we all know that is not the only thing DR has to offer. Dominicans LOVE baseball. So I went to a baseball game which was pretty standard by American standards: hot dogs, beer, the works. One strange added bonus though was the wedding that took place around the 6th or 7th inning. Now, to be fair I promised some Dominicans that I would add the caveat that they were just as surprised as I with the wedding - so perhaps not too normal, but still pretty cool to see. I've gotten out of the city to one quick beach too. Weather was a little chilly, but kept a lot of people away then.
So here's the shortie: Awesome work, learning a ton about DR, and life
is never only about work. As with my blog on Tunisia... that didn't get
too far, please feel free
to ask me any questions, and I'll do my best to answer them from my
perspective. Here's some pictures of a few highlights.... Enjoy!!
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| At the baseball game: a fellow Fulbrighter and teacher in Santo Domingo |
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| I wasn't kidding - there was a wedding at the baseball game! |
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| Beach... need I say more? |
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| My living room. |
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| Co-workers at the office. |
