Hi there! I'm a chef and yoga teacher from New York, have been here for 2 months now, first in Cabarete, now living in the Zone. It's not my first time on the country. I've stayed several times for 1 or 2 months but am now considering staying here long-term. I love this silly country for some crazy reason in spite of all of it's many discontents. I was overworked and disenchanted in the US and the slow pace here and distance from the increasingly insane politics and cognitive dissonance - this is exactly what I need now. That and a great tan!
I live and work in a yoga center here. It's a lovely, restored private home with a small studio. Teaching yoga is wonderful, but hardly pays the bills so I'm looking for some suggestions:
The yoga studio caters mainly to Doninicans - which is great. Everyone could use a little yoga in their life and we charge only what they can afford - which is basically half of what 1 class would cost in NY - they pay that per month. I'm looking to expand our clientele - more expats, perhaps going to larger companies here and seeing if we could secure contracts where they give yoga instruction, meditation, stress management classes as a benefit to their employees. Any thoughts?
Also, I am a chef. I had a very successful artisan food business some years ago and then decided to train more formally in kitchens large and small in New York and Virginia. I was hired as a chef almost immediately when I arrived in Cabarete, but I chose not to stay for several reasons - the main one being that I was a <gasp> White woman, from NY coming in to try to straighten things out in the kitchen. This did not compute with the locals. It was not a good fit.... I love being in the kitchen. Food is my passion. Any ideas about private chef work or small-scale catering for the expat or upper class Dominican community? My Spanish is ok, getting better. I understand everything and can read fluently... I am also totally fluent in French.
Any thoughts, comments, suggestions sincerely appreciated!
Kind regards,
Yogini
I live and work in a yoga center here. It's a lovely, restored private home with a small studio. Teaching yoga is wonderful, but hardly pays the bills so I'm looking for some suggestions:
The yoga studio caters mainly to Doninicans - which is great. Everyone could use a little yoga in their life and we charge only what they can afford - which is basically half of what 1 class would cost in NY - they pay that per month. I'm looking to expand our clientele - more expats, perhaps going to larger companies here and seeing if we could secure contracts where they give yoga instruction, meditation, stress management classes as a benefit to their employees. Any thoughts?
Also, I am a chef. I had a very successful artisan food business some years ago and then decided to train more formally in kitchens large and small in New York and Virginia. I was hired as a chef almost immediately when I arrived in Cabarete, but I chose not to stay for several reasons - the main one being that I was a <gasp> White woman, from NY coming in to try to straighten things out in the kitchen. This did not compute with the locals. It was not a good fit.... I love being in the kitchen. Food is my passion. Any ideas about private chef work or small-scale catering for the expat or upper class Dominican community? My Spanish is ok, getting better. I understand everything and can read fluently... I am also totally fluent in French.
Any thoughts, comments, suggestions sincerely appreciated!
Kind regards,
Yogini
