A Wee Dose of Su: Why Caribbean? Why Dominican Republic?

She had been the one that caught my attention a little more than the others. With her red lips, she was flashing a broad smile and shiny bunch of teeth, almost as tall as giraffe, standing elegantly with one hand resting on her hip in a dramatic evening gown – laced and all glitzed up, alongside with many other women in similar gowns, her sash read “Dominican Rep.” She was later announced the winner of Miss Universe 2003. That was the first time ever that I heard about this country or to know that it does actually exist. The history class that offered during our years in high school, the most we learned about were the different expeditions and what they discovered. The ones from two of the most famous Italian figures of all time - famed Christopher Columbus and Marco Polo were the most known. But that was all, endless reasons to why we had such limitation in our knowledge in that field. What had happened during those historic voyages and later are pretty much what left for me to keep guessing and find out in the next episode of my life.

In April 2008, five years after learning about that country, it was another particular moment that I got to hear about it again and it has changed my life forever. My boyfriend, Jens, just finished his six years working contract in Cambodia and was on job hunting. What he found – which was interesting for him is in the Dominican Republic. Resting my head on his left shoulder, he pulled out the world atlas and started to guide me as much as he could with an atlas and some other books. Not that he never guided me before. Getting into a piece of our story, he had been an advisor/professor at my faculty at the university and was my crush, my good friend, my mentor, my teacher, my he’s-the-one-I-think-of-when-the-love-songs-come-up-on-the-radio, my helper, you name it. We began dating at the end of his work year, after he had been checking me out for some times (naughty!). All was irresistible but we walked by the rules or should I say the norm :-). Loyal people still exist, eh?! :-) O.K. enough of that.

Jens nailed the interview and got the job. He came to D.R. first in September 2008 while I had to finish my study at the Uni in Phnom Penh. In late 2009, he went back to Cambodia to ask my parents for my hand. I eventually had my thesis done and ready to make a defence presentation to claim my BSc in Forestry Science. I passed. My plane will be leaving in a month. I was going to move and be with him. He was making his main dreams come true, having a good job, getting married and having kids - building family. I was going to take part to make it happen together. Everything went smoothly for me to enter Dominican Republic. It has been five long years since, and I still discover myself discovering what Columbus discovered right at the place he discovered. My Khmer people reacted to my current location variously. Some think it is in Africa, some think it is somewhere in Europe while others think it is in paradise - this last one is the closest guess to reality so far. But never mind, some Dominican people also don't know where Cambodia is, so, no hard feelings! I do understand why within both cases. The photos below are from 2009, as a new comer, I tend to be in every capture, promise when I get some new photos taken I'll make sure I won't be on them, save your eyes! :-D