Roots from the Dominican Republic...

Sammy Sosa (baseball player), born in Consuelo, Dominican Republic. Sosa started his major league career with the Texas Rangers, spent a short time with the Chicago White Sox before becoming a baseball legend with the Chicago Cubs. In 1998, Sosa went up against Mark McGwire in a race to achieve the Roger Maris' home run record. He is the fifth player in Major League Baseball history to hit 600 home runs and he has the most home run hits among foreign-born Major League baseball players.


Alex Rodriguez (baseball player), born in New York to Dominican parents. Rodriguez moved to the Dominican Republic for a short time as a child before moving to Miami. He currently plays for the New York Yankees but has played for the Seattle Mariners and the Texas Rangers in the past. He is the youngest player to hit 500 home runs.


Oscar de la Renta (fashion designer), born in Santo Domingo. De la Renta left the DR at 18 to study in Spain. There he apprenticed for renowned designer, Cristobal Balenciaga. After leaving Spain, he worked as an assistant at Lanvin in Paris. In 1965, De la Renta, launched his own label. He has recieved the CFDA Womenswear Designer of the Year award in 2000 and 2007. Today, De la Renta resides in the U.S. but has a house in Punta Cana.


Michelle Rodriguez (actress), born in the U.S. to a Dominican mother. Rodriguez moved to the Dominican Republic at the age of 8. She has been in films such as Girlfight, The Fast and the Furious, Blue Crush, Resident Evil, S.W.A.T. and Avatar. She has also appeared on the TV series, Lost.


Arlenis Sosa (model), born in Montecristi, Dominican Republic. Sosa has modeled for Vogue, Harper's Bazaar and Interview. She has walked for Dior, Oscar de La Renta, Ralph Lauren, Michael Kors, John Galliano, Emanuel Ungaro, Hermes, John Paul Gaultier, Diane von Furstenberg, Bottega Veneta and many other top name designers. She is the current spokesmodel for Lancome and has been listed on People's 100 Most Beautiful list.


Juelz Santana (rapper), born in New York to a Dominican father and African-American mother, Santana was signed by the age of 15 to Priority Records. Santana has released several albums and has collaborated with Cam'ron, Lil' Wayne, Jim Jones and DJ Mick Boogie.
Photo Credits: NBCsports.com, Hollywoodgossip.com, Papermag.com, Horaz.com, Vivafashionblog.com and Flypaperblog.com

Presidente...a Dominican staple

Cerveza means beer in Spanish.
A very, very important word when you are on vacation in a Spanish-speaking country.
Presidente is the best beer in the Dominican Republic because it is produced here and is the beer of choice among Dominicans.
Similar to a Heineken (but in my opinion better), Presidente is a light beer with a crisp taste. It's perfect for those hot days on the beach.


Presidente comes in its iconic green bottle and no matter where you stop in the country it will always be supremely cold. And don't worry if you're watching your weight...they have Presidente light too!
Photo credit: ME

Orange...The French Connection?

I was sitting in the midst of Santo Domingo traffic when I suddenly saw something strangely familiar to me. The logo for the telecommunication company Orange. I had used Orange in France as my cell phone service provider but what was it doing here across the Atlantic in the Dominican Republic?
In major cities in the Dominican Republic there are street vendors, who walk up and down (and sometimes in front of) the cars that are stopped at red lights. The vendors carry everything from bundles of cellphone chargers and sunglasses to candy wrapped in brightly colored packaging. But I was surprised when a man passed my window carrying phone cards for the company Orange.
Orange is headquartered out of Arcueil, France and is used widely throughout Europe. According to the Orange website at the end of September 2009, the company had accumulated more than 189 million customers in 30 different countries.
According to a 2003 article in the Caribbean Update, "Orange Dominicana has signed up nearly 500,000 subscribers in a country of 8.5 million inhabitants". Considering that the article is 7 years old I'm sure that the Orange client base has grown since then. Orange Dominicana now offers extensive coverage to its clients for reasonable rate making it one of the more popular telecommunications companies in the Dominican Republic.
While there are other cellphone service providers, this one stood out to me just because I was familiar with its French roots. I also thought it was kind of funny that a Spanish-speaking country was using a French-based company as their mode of communication.
Photo credit: Orange Communications