Larry said:
I wish I had the gonads to do something like that.
Not DR related : how was Costa Rica?
DR related: where are you living in the DR?
Larry
Coming from New England, Costa Rica has near perfect weather. It stays around 75 during the day and 65 during the night all year round. I would say the temp difference between July and Jan is around 3 - 5 degrees at most. This is in the central valley. The beaches, it gets hot, very hot.
You have to deal with the rainy season. That starts in April or May and goes straight on through to dec. The good part is everyday starts off sunny with a clear blue sky. Then it rains all afternoon. By night time it normally stops.
The people are some of the nicest people you will ever meet. At the same time there are the type of people that will steal from you anyway they can.
When I first got to CR it was very peaceful. By the time I left crime was way out of control. Most of the crime is caused by niguarians (sp) and columbians. CR is like disney world for thieves of neighboring countries. CR has no military. I'm sad to say that everyone I personally know living in CR, including myself, has been robbed. My place was cleaned out. I have one friend that was car jacked twice, 4 guys with shotguns. They will take your cell phone and tell you to call them so they can make a deal to sell it back to you. Normal cost is 1,000,000 colones. That's about $2,400.
Anytime you goto the bank you have to be very alert. If you are taking any decent amount of currency, as little as $1,000 USD. Normal problems are guys that hang out in the banks running transactions for many clients. They will radio friends outside with the details of you car so they can follow you. Bank tellers when they leave to get approval can call friends and do the same.
Right now there is simply too much crime.
The government has seen this trend over the past 10 years and is trying to get rid of all foreignors. This includes the gringos. They randomly go to bars, clubs, beaches and start checking papers. Even if you have your passport and are legal you might spend time in jail. This has happened to gringos that were there for a week on vacation. They were taken right out of the hotel's bar. Of course they were let go after a couple of days but the point is to harass people.
If you have over stayed your 90 day tourist visa, they have the right to stamp your passport as such. You are banned from CR for 10 years. It doesn't matter if you have a house, business, car there, too bad.
Alot of the freedoms that people more offshore for have been taken away in CR. Every friday and saturday night, you will have to pass through several police check points if you go out. If you don't have all your papers they take your car and you goto the pen. Like most latin countries, if your car gets impounded, good luck. Impound lot must translate to free parts for the cops in spanish. You won't want what's left of it after only two days. If it was a rental, I hope you took the extra insurance.
The government strongly surpresses this stuff from reaching the press. You can guess why.
After all that, I still love the place. But right now is not the time to live there.
On a good note, the colone devalues at a steady rate of 1% per month. Power is NEVER out. But it takes about 2 years on the waiting list to get a phone at your house.
As for the DR, I'm in Santiago.