This is my very first blog entry. I guess the proper thing to say first of all is "thank you" for stopping by. My name is Rosa Patricia Ospina and I was born and raised in the Dominican Republic; after I graduated from high school I went to college and studied Hospitality and after graduation and a fight with my sweetheart at the time, I moved to Punta Cana which was a 4-hour drive away from home.

In Punta Cana I worked in Sales and had the chance to travel to around a dozen different countries promoting Resorts... yep, that was the life back then...I feel in love with a foreigner and from that point on, my life changed... so, I literally left everything to chase this man around and ended up in Northern Florida. Fortunately, we are married today and we have a little boy named Daniel.

 How did I become and interpreter and translator?

I have always been passionate about learning new languages and for some reason it has been easy for me to do so. When I moved to Florida, I still worked in Hospitality, back then I worked hiring staff to work in local hotels, which were for the most part, Hispanics. So, through my interactions with them I started interpreting and translating on informal settings: during orientations and training sessions, translating letters, forms and manuals, etc. It was something that I really enjoyed because I felt that I was helping them and making a difference. 

After some time, I decided to venture into establishing my own business learning as much as I could about this trade. Eventually I obtained my first certification as a Medical Interpreter and later on my English / Spanish translator certification.

So, that's me, in a nutshell... my posts will be about sharing my experiences with you, the funny things I get to hear while interpreting and to hopefully shed some light about this growing industry and about us, the people who work in it.