Why Go to Dominican Republic???

NALs

Economist by Profession
Jan 20, 2003
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Why visit the Dominican Republic?

Because it's the oldest settled European land in the western hemisphere. Because it's the island that Columbus bragged about due to its extraordinary natural beauty and genuine hospitality of its people. Because it's an island of frosty mountain peaks, flat savannahs, mangrove swamps, cactus-studded deserts, palm dominated beaches, friendly outgoing people. Because it?s a country where people have figured out the secret of a happy life. There is a Dominican saying that says money can only but what?s cheap. It's so true, that is why on your way to the hotel from the airport you saw entire families gathered together enjoying each others company. That?s why you saw smiles bigger and brighter than the light being emitted from the sun. That?s why you saw kids enjoying life with one big laugh and simple child?s play. That?s why you heard lively music in all the towns and markets. That?s why you saw poor people dressing as sharp as they possibly could. It?s a sharp contrast to what one sees in the streets of New York. Where Americans parade up and down Fifth Avenue with a grumpy face. Where Americans dress as if they are unworthy humans with jeans and t-shirts not being tucked in. Where bad words and bad gestures are everyday things. Where people use money to be happy and instead find a gap in them selves, a gap hard to fill. Dominicans don't have that gap. They live at peace with themselves and every body that visit their wonderful country. How do I know this? Because unlike most tourist, I left the comfortable resorts and ventured on my own. What did most tourist found? They say poverty, misery, and poor service. I saw a culture that survives around family values, a country with impressive historical sights and resonance, a country of swaying palm trees and a brilliant sunshine, a country where people despite being poor are very happy with life, themselves, and their country. Why? It's like they say, money buy what?s cheap. Once your love one dies, or you lose your dignity, or you lose a sense to live, or you lose the basic essence of life in your day to day existence, all the money in the world wont be enough to change such misfortune. I'm glad I truly discovered the real Dominican Republic. On my Dominican adventure, poor people that saw my thirst in the sun offered me water; I was helped find my way around with a thank you and a bright smile. I ended most evenings in a Santo Domingo barrio, drinking some rum with the locals, playing an intense game of dominos with them, with merengue music filling the tropical air, and the most genuine laughs and love I have ever felt. I'm in America now, and here people look at me strange if all I want is a drop of water from a stranger, they look at me strange if all I want is a companion for a day, they look at me strange if all I want for someone that I don't know to simply say hello, just for being alive. But no, America only offers me worthless material gain; Dominican Republic offers me a spiritual gain. That?s why people should go to Dominican Republic, not to criticize the resorts or the country due to ones own ignorance of the place, but to find true happiness. A happiness that money will never offer. A happiness that exist in few places of this world.
 

ricktoronto

Grande Pollo en Boca Chica
Jan 9, 2002
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And some day....

they'll adopt the use of a paragraph so you can read long posts about them.
 

blong

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Sep 30, 2003
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Wait a minute

I love the DR too for all the reasons stated but comparing NYC to DR is really like comparing apples and oranges.

I live in NY and vacation in DR and I do that in part because there are no jobs to speak of in DR. NY on the other hand is all about capitialism, getting ahead, focusing on money, commerce, wealth, creating wealth, jobs, working. NY is successful at its purpose and if in the process it is a little edgier, a little less friendly, a little (OK a lot) more distrustful that only adds to its functionality. So sure, we New Yorkers are an abrasive, standoffish lot - but people come from all over the world for the opportunity to make it.

We may not have time to bask in the sun all day and play dominoes while listening to merengue and drinking brugal but that is because we are working our asses off. I say that without rating one lifestyle over the other because they are so different it would be like, as I stated before, too unfair to compare the two.
 

Hillbilly

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Jan 1, 2002
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NalO, you make some very good points

I can certainly understand why you like this place.

thank you for an "outsider's" point of view...

HB
 

chevere_nice

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Oct 4, 2003
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VIVA LA REPUBLICA DOMINICANA

Naolwhks

I know what you mean by saying that....am dominican but leaving in Europe...but here people live their lifes without knowing that magic that we have in the caribbean. My husband has a friend who worked in Dom. Rep. and he is always saying: if anyone wants to know what life?s mean, go to the Dom. Rep..... We live life thinking of others, caring for others, our houses are always open to all (foreigners and natives).

If something I thank God everyday is for being born in Dominican Republic, a place with patriotism, with JOY, with people who can be with energy not thinking of the problems, that can give you a hand if you are sick or whatever.... without knowing you.

Viva la Republica Dominicana... we that live in this countries (Europe for ex.) where we meet nice people, we dont see that smile, we dont feel that hug when we need it, we dont receive that phone just to saying : hey my friend, let?s go to fulano?s place to make some spaguettis, jajajaja, The familys gathering together, that is something we have in Dom. Rep. and is the best.

Merry Christmas to all, and am HAPPY TO BE DOMINICAN.
 

calamardoazul

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Jul 29, 2003
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In DR is better

Because the VALUE of the service and amenities you get here is higher than the price you pay for them:cool:
 

rmary

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And maybe they'll adopt the use of a paragraph so you can read long posts about them

And maybe some Canadians (or others) will stop complaining about inconsequentials long enough for people to get a good impression of them......

I tend to agree that run on sentences and/or paragraphs can be tiresome, but sometomes they are appropriate. Free flowing thought, like poetry should not be interupted or subjected to grammatical restrictions.

lighten up.

Rose
 

dale7

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Excellent post

There is so much to see in the Dominican Republic other than the AI resorts, beaches, and getting your groove on. Though the latter two I enjoy quite a bit often the culture and historical importance of this country is overlooked.

I enjoy shopping in the Colonial Zone and learning to dance Bachata and Merengue with anyone willing to genuinely help you learn some basic moves. The awesome Botanical Gardens which are stunning and the museums in Santo Domingo. The oldest European style buildings in North America and historical places of beauty of a time long ago, if they could talk, imagine the stories of struggles and triumphs they have witnessed, as they brave the ravages of time.

Getting lost and having someone out of the goodness of their heart, give you directions without impatience as you struggle in your less than perfect Spanish and/ or walk with you to the location. "Gracias" you say, and a "de nada" and a smile is what you receive. Running out of gas on a motor scooter in the campo and almost everyone stopping to see what your problem is, if you need assistance, and someone coming back about 10 minutes later with a container of gasoline. Visiting someone's house or being invited for a meal, and seeing genuine hospitality. Venturing outside of Boca Chica, Juan Dolio, Puerto Plata, and the AI's in the tourist areas and you will meet the real people of the Dominican Republic, give them a chance and not judge everyone as chopos, putas, sankies, and of a lesser class and you will find the DR's greatest treasure, the people.

My car breaks down in the US. I can sit for hours and no one comes to help. I say hello and 1/2 the time you get a half hearted hello or nod and sometimes not even a response, or just a strange look. I hate to ask for directions in the US, most of the time they help you grudgingly and/or impatiently. I am guilty of these things as well because I often drive by those stranded motorists and get impatient giving directions. Never have I had someone who just met you in the US ask you to their house for a dinner. Sometimes those from "more developed" countries" who sometimes look at others as less fortunate shouldn't be judging anyone, because anyone who is happy with their life is truly fortunate.

You might be surprised how much fun you can have by stopping at a little colmado in the campo, have a few Presidentes, have a friendly chat while playing a game of dominoes even though you may have a little bit of language barrier. My last trip I spent some time in Boca Chica/Santo Domingo, but went to Sajoma to see my son, brought a few baseballs and gave them to some local kids, and the smiles were worth it. Chasing women can be very fun but there is more to the DR than that and I appreciated the post by Nal0whs because it made me stop and think for a minute of some of the true treasures of the DR. Usually I don't become nostalgic and humane but it is good to be human every now and then, realizing I am just a little speck in the world.
dale7(Howard)
 
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Paulino

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Jan 4, 2002
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I'd say that the starter of this thread (you other posters for that matter) has some very essential and true points. However, as far as I'm concerned the DR is not the Caribbean inspiration for Louis Armstrong's "What a Wonderful World" as one might be led to believe.

Although many people appear to be very friendly, it often turns out to be only skin deep. I find that too many people have no respect for others or their integrity, have no sense of decent social and civic conduct etc. How the majority behaves in traffic is just one example and perhaps a valid symptom. How they have no checks or boundaries regarding playing loud Loud LOUD music with lots of bass all over the vecindario, any time of day or night, is another. Sure I enjoy bachata and merengue, but please, when I myself like to listen, or at least in moderate helpings. Our neighbor two houses up the street in "our" town, do?a Zoila, the sweetest old lady, has gone nuts and bananas (platanos) due to this horrible practice. Even her own, grown children have no means of helping her alliviate the noise. The municipal authorities or the PN couldn't care less. The constant basketball playing/thumping by the adolescent kids in the "hood" taking turns, with shouting and yelling right on her doorstep, surely is a contributing factor to her state of mind.
Stealing, lying, swindling and cheating at any given (or not given for that matter) opportunity is still another example. What about corruption running wild? Chopismo?
The next to worthless education system? Nice blue school uniforms, sure.
Firearms galore. Blatant and senseless violence, both on the part of the police, and individuals, is too obvious to even deserve being mentioned. So-called huelgas, with indiscriminate stone throwing and violence?
Civil rights in reality not worth a monkey's ass. Just sit still, shut up and try to go unnoticed.

Well, these are just my 2 cents for today, and a very, VERY personal point of view. I still do love to come to the country though, and hate to leave every time - were it not for the damn mosquitos. (Maybe until the day something serious - God forbid - should happen to me or my nearest and dearest.)
The word "Cibao" is music to my ears. And as for my wife's Dominican family - I love them all dearly.
 
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Eddy

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Jan 1, 2002
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Funny thing, some days "Nal0whs" 's thread is exactly the way I see things and others I can really relate to "Paulino" 's. I've lived both over the many years I've been here. Lucky I don't live in a noisy area. The Domican families in our area are mostly of better class and hate the noise and "everything mentioned by "Paulino" in his post.
We've had had some noisy people in the area but most have changed for better or moved. We do have a few but it's just a matter of time. I have no problem with going over to them and talking. As a rule it works "most of the time" LOL.

I usually don't get involved in threads like this one, I probably won't post anything further here but will for sure be following it.
Hope we get more opinions.
 

Chirimoya

Well-known member
Dec 9, 2002
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For once I agree with everyone...

I defy anyone to name a country about which only positive or negative things could be written. It is one thing to focus exclusively on the positive, it could also be said to be delusional. Same goes for those who dwell solely on the negative. You have to keep a balance of both, no matter where you are.

All in all I agree with Eddy: both Paulino's and Nal0whs's posts are true assessments in their own ways.

Chiri
 

lindalou

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Jan 4, 2004
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Why go to Dominican

Thank-you sooo much, I totally agree with you! We are a very spoiled nation. I think we need to thank God for what we have and QUIT COMPLAINING!!! Thank-you DR!!:
 

NALs

Economist by Profession
Jan 20, 2003
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Thank You all for your responses!!!!

As the initiator of this thread, I would like to thank all of those who took a part of their time (which in turn is a part of your life) to write a respond to my reasons for visiting the Dominican Republic. In the future, I'll post more positive things about the Dominican Republic. The reasons why I ONLY post POSITIVE things about the Dominican Republic, is because in my opinion, the media does a beyond perfect job a showing the negatives. So, I in response show the positives and walla, you've got a full picture of this tropical paradise!!!
 

Daniela

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Jan 25, 2004
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You are definetly rigth my friend, we american dont appreciate what we have until we get the chance to visit this wonderful place such as the Domenican Replubic. I came back yesterday from my holydays, I stayed at la Santana beach resort in La Romana, and just like you said we worry only on the resort to see how well the provide service. I found that place rich of happy people even if they live in the poverty, they khow how to appreciate what they have, with a big smile day by day they make you happy. I strongly suggest any one to visit this country, there is a lot to discover peraphs what we dont have here, happines.
 

Daniela

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Jan 25, 2004
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?

You dont believe what I have said? have you ever been in Domenican Republic? I DONT THINK SO!
Definetly they enjoy their lives more than us!
 

lhtown

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Jan 8, 2002
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You will find some of "us" enjoying our lives to the fullest in spite of the worldly goods which "we" have. Also, you will find that some of "them" who are without are some of the most miserable people you would ever want to meet.

Worldly goods don't cause or negate true happiness. I suppose they can make being miserable a bit easier to bear though.

Appreciating what "we" have, well that is another topic altogether.

Sorry, if I am preaching. I try not to do that on this board but it is Sunday!