OP: please ignore the ignorant people who have become jaded. Living deep in the barrio does that to gringos I think.
I don't believe it is just people being nice here, when they don't get anything from me. There are, believe it or not, a lot of Dominicans here ( or maybe a few ) who are educated and smart and wonderful people. I know, because I find them all the time. There is also a great community here in the DR of English and French, none of whom have the attitude of hatred towards this country as displayed here. We don't stay here for the weather only, we could have gone anywhere in the Carribean for that. We stay because we really do love it here. Like I said before, I almost never post on here. Today was cloudy and rainy here, so I thought, hey why not? Obviously I haven't been here for 27 years like some people have, I would have to be Dominican for that...I'm still a young grasshopper. Most five year olds don't move to a new country on there own. I don't have a Dominican boyfriend, husband or children. But I do own a piece of property here, and it is beautiful....at the cost of a shiny new car in Canada.
Please don't listen to the negativity. Most forums will pull a troll off the forum, here they let them moderate...don't blame the Dominicans for that, thats a gringo problem I think. This island is beautiful, it is diverse, the people don't want to kill you for drug money ( unlike most us cities, Boston for sure lol)
Some people cannot find love or happiness anywhere. They look for it everywhere, Thailand, The Dominican...they can't find it, because they are miserable inside. That is their problem, don't listen to them. There really is happiness to be had here.
You all may wonder why we are coming here. We wonder why you haven't left yet. Life is too short to complain, to live the things that make us complain.
I will make my life here. And I will be happy.
That is all.
Which of the following do you find most charming about RD, Miss Sunshine?:
1. The pervasive spirit of mediocrity in workmanship.
2. The rampant drinking and driving.
3. Drivers that blind you with their highbeams.
4. Drivers that operate vehicles without lights at night.
5. The apathy and corruption of the police force.
6. Illiterate kids in soldier uniforms that carry rifles and direct random drivers to pull over for a
mordida.
7
. AMET idiots.
8. Companies in the tourism industry that steal from their employees by forcing them to hand over their tips, keeping some of it for themselves/supervisors/management.
9. All of the caba?as. You know what they're for, right?
10. Pervasive dishonesty. From the top down.
11. The generalized reluctance of the men to acknowledge and support their offspring.
12. Not being able to drink tap water.
13. Lack of proper sanitation services.
14. The pervasive lack of consideration for others and manners that even Dominicans lament.
15. That casualties in accidents are routinely robbed and left to decompose for hours in the heat and humidity before the police arrive.
16. On and on and on
It's a beautiful country with beautiful people. I love it with all my heart. But it's also a place where stupidity is celebrated and style matters more than substance. It can get better. In some ways it is. But your Jimmy Buffett attitude that insulates you from the reality of the place isn't doing anything to help.
I'm a happy, aware and empathetic person. As such it saddens me to see the numerous ways the Dominican people have been failed- by uninvolved or abusive fathers, shady politicos, a corrupt Church and exploitative business interests. There's a campaign going on to teach people to read. That's a step in the right direction. But the hard work's just beginning.