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The #1 reason we picked Santiago De Los Caballeros in the Dominican Republic for the second half of our sabbatical, is our friendship with the Estevez family (the #2 reason of course was the empanadas).
It’s not random that we would land here in Santiago.
Greenville University has a history dating back to 1918 when professors came to the city of Santiago and helped the local people build a Free Methodist church and a school called Instituto Evangélico. Since that time there have been countless exchanges between professors and students in both directions, as individuals learn from each other and create mutually beneficial experiences. GU has directly benefited time and again from the connection with Santiago, most notably the Reinhards, the Sanders, and of course the Estevez family. Doña Olga Estevez was the Head of School at Evangélico for decades in Santiago before she moved with her family to Greenville and became the Spanish professor while Jake and I were in college. Her son Ivan continues this connection at the High School and GU sports teams. Her other son Edwin, the VP and COO at GU brings professors and staff down to the DR regularly including me last January when Miranda Prichard completed her student teaching at Evangélico.
Our life in Santiago doesn’t happen without Edwin. His connections have helped us seamlessly integrate into life here already. It’s a challenge for any foreigner to integrate into any new culture (I’m particularly looking at you ‘Merica). Without a network of connections, we would spend a good month trying to simply figure out and set up water and electricity. But with Edwin, we walked right into everything, including renting his mother’s house.
We don’t take this blessing lightly. Our basic needs are set so we can focus on our work, Jake is already making art, and I have an unbelievable connection with a local special education school established. You are “standing on the shoulders of gigantes (giants)” enters my head at least once a day, don’t waste this time!
Edwin came down to help us get set up last week, first he brought me the phone that didn’t make it for Christmas (marriage saved ✅). He gave us a tour of the city and a history of the DR at the Monumento de Santiago. Context is important and I feel like we had the perfect opportunity through him, to get an introduction to this beautiful city.
But even more importantly he introduced us to his network. His cousin Fifa, who I already consider a friend, and he walked us down the street to meet the neighbors, people his family has known for 40+ years. Don Luis, Doña Yeya, Doña Maria and Doña Miselsa exemplified Latin American hospitality. In my broken Spanish, I asked if the house we were standing in front of was Doña Miselsa’s house. “No” she smiled, “es tu casa” (it is your house).
And with that, we were home.
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