Sick of the snow

Status
Not open for further replies.

ktleggz

New member
Feb 24, 2006
9
0
0
I'm a 25 year old Canadian gal who wants to move somewhere in the Caribbean...who wouldn't! The Dominican looks like a great place to start. My problem is exactly where do I start. Where to live? Where to work? I stayed at a resort in Cabarete recently and the town seemed nice, but maybe too touristy? I don't want to be paying double the price for everything. Suggestions?

I know I need a job, but finding one seems to be a problem. I'm a Business Accounting graduate with plenty of retail experience as well as office experience at a research firm. Any help would be super!

Trina
 

Ricardo900

Silver
Jul 12, 2004
3,269
37
48
Welcome!

ktleggz said:
I'm a 25 year old Canadian gal who wants to move somewhere in the Caribbean...who wouldn't! The Dominican looks like a great place to start. My problem is exactly where do I start. Where to live? Where to work? I stayed at a resort in Cabarete recently and the town seemed nice, but maybe too touristy? I don't want to be paying double the price for everything. Suggestions?

I know I need a job, but finding one seems to be a problem. I'm a Business Accounting graduate with plenty of retail experience as well as office experience at a research firm. Any help would be super!

Trina
You should visit "The Dominican" a few times before considering moving out here and between your visits, search and read countless threads on this topic.
Do you know Spanish?
Do you know any Dominicans in Canada?
Have you travelled to other countries?
 

Enverswife

New member
Jan 12, 2005
22
0
0
Being aalone in a new country like the Dominican Republic you might want to stay in the more populated cities like the capatial, which offers all the aspects of city living in the caribean. Speaking form experince I have considered moving to a less populated town ( San Isidro ) and have encountered machete weilding hatians who live in the newly constructed homes which are waiting to be bought or moved into. Anyway being form NYC, I really wasn't afraid as much as upset that this man was yelling some things and pointing his machete to us and getting closer and closer. If not for the store owner interving( yes we were in a wide open colmado sipping presidentes considering our future out there) , the situation could have gotten really nasty because my husband was armed. And at that moment I thought what if I had been alone? Or worse what if I had been with my two boys?
As far as work is concerned Check out Adecco they are a staffing agency worldwide, and even have an office in DR. These are onluy suggestions of course but for instance the call centers in the country seem to pay pretty good salries and being Canadian you might also want to try The Candaian Embassy in Santo Domingo as a possible employer with great benefits...
Good Luck to you!!!
 

ktleggz

New member
Feb 24, 2006
9
0
0
I've travelled a bit: nannying in the UK, travelling across Canada and vacationing in Greece, Bahamas, Dominican Republic and Mexico. Unfortunately I don't speak Spanish, but I plan on taking an intro class in the near future. I don't know anyone from the Dominican in Canada, do you?

Basically, I just want to find out more about other people's experiences living and working in the DR. Both positive and the negative. Suggestions and tips are welcome. :confused:
 

ricktoronto

Grande Pollo en Boca Chica
Jan 9, 2002
4,837
0
0
That intro class will do it, all you need to work in an environment where nobody speaks English.

You are also missing the point, none to subtle that it is not called the Dominican. Just like here is not called the Canadian.

The pay is poor and you have nowhere near enough experience to make this move nor will you be employable.
 

ktleggz

New member
Feb 24, 2006
9
0
0
Thanks for the brutal honesty. You sound like my father. I think I'll run to my room and cry now. ;)
You're entitled to your opinion, I respect that.
 

forkbeard

New member
Feb 15, 2006
13
0
0
Start at square one.
Learn the proper name of this country:
"Dominican Republic" or "Rep?blica Dominicana".
You are also missing the point, none to subtle that it is not called the Dominican. Just like here is not called the Canadian.

Be nice, plenty of folks (both native Dominicans and Canadians) refer to the DR as "the Dominican".
 

ricktoronto

Grande Pollo en Boca Chica
Jan 9, 2002
4,837
0
0
forkbeard said:
Be nice, plenty of folks (both native Dominicans and Canadians) refer to the DR as "the Dominican".

Plenty of kids still jump off the garage roof at the urging of idiot friends. Still not a smart or correct thing to do. Get down from the roof and get back to figuring out opening that iMac.

The point is that so what she's sick of snow(*). has no useable skills, been there once, it is warm and fun, and she cannot even speak the language. What job could a Dominican get here in Toronto with no English and no idea of what the society is like? Bugger all.

She gets a job in the office, the boss asks, in Spanish to send a letter in Spanish to the client. Oops. Off to a bad start.

The world is not Margaritaville.

(*) We haven't had any this year.
 

ktleggz

New member
Feb 24, 2006
9
0
0
Awwww shucks!

ricktoronto said:
...The point is that so what she's sick of snow(*). has no useable skills, been there once, it is warm and fun, and she cannot even speak the language...

No useable skills...you sure know how to make a girl feel good about herself. Maybe you should become a teen counsellor! With the suicide watch kids!

I realize what I'm getting into and I'm trying to plan the best I can. If you don't take chances, you'll never get anywhere. Making mistakes is half the fun!

Thanks to everyone else who's been helping me out. I appreciate it. :classic:
 

wishingiwasthere

New member
Nov 19, 2005
413
16
0
A pointer.....

Hey Ktlegz

Have a read of Sunnys blogs in the blog section.

I have visited many times and too have "dreams" of moving over to the dominican ( ;) ) however im in the same position as you.

Have no idea of speaking the language - i think that will problably be the biggest problem - if i could speak spanish i may well have a go!

Read Sunnys blogs - she seems like a great girl and maybe able to help you understand a little more.

Good Luck to you

Dan
( PS - Going to be a foot of snow in the UK dropped on us tomorrow - may well change my opinion by then and join you! )
 

Don Juan

Living Brain Donor
Dec 5, 2003
856
0
0
The 'language' part is vital...

And you must make an effort to learn enough to get by. Other than that, with your skills & experiences, in truth, you stand a good chance to "make it" in DR.
Now, understand one thing: "making it" doesn't mean becoming very well-off. It simply means you may earn enough to cover your basic necessities with little left over for luxuries....However, the DR way of life does not require or demand big bucks to live a pleasant & fun existence. It has myriad places to visit, people to meet & things to do - especially for a young Canadian like you!-. What it doesn't have are taxes and big government to complicate your life.
If what you're looking for is a very simple, undemanding,happy,healthy,& snow-free 'dolce vita', I encourage you to try.
Take a month or two sabbatical from your job, make connections with other expats already living there and come to explore, explore, explore. You may love it enough to stay forever or realize it was just a flight of fantasy. Either way, you'll become a better person for it. "nothing ventured,nothing gained". Right? Buena suerte, bella dama.
 

HOWMAR

Silver
Jan 28, 2004
2,624
2
0
Don Juan said:
Other than that, with your skills & experiences, in truth, you stand a good chance to "make it" in DR..
I must have missed something. If she could speak the language she may be qualified to be a 6000 peso/month retail clerk.


Don Juan said:
Now, understand one thing: "making it" doesn't mean becoming very well-off. It simply means you may earn enough to cover your basic necessities with little left over for luxuries....However, the DR way of life does not require or demand big bucks to live a pleasant & fun existence. It has myriad places to visit, people to meet & things to do - especially for a young Canadian like you!-. What it doesn't have are taxes and big government to complicate your life.
If what you're looking for is a very simple, undemanding,happy,healthy,& snow-free 'dolce vita', I encourage you to try.

Live a pleasant and fun existence on what? Certainly not what she will earn here. She may be able to eat and keep a roof over her head, butnot much else.
Many come to the DR with the attitude they will give it a try and have nothing to lose. The sad part is that once here, many make decisions that will impact them the rest of their lives.
 

ktleggz

New member
Feb 24, 2006
9
0
0
life experience

Don Juan, very well said! I'm not going down there to live in the lap of luxury...I did that at the resorts and it gets old pretty quickly. I just want a roof over my head, food, water and the beach! Escape from the winter blizzards and learn some new things about myself.

Wishingiwasthere, I'm in a snowstorm now, expecting about another foot of snow too. I keep looking at my pictures from my trip last week, dreaming.
Better get out there and start shovelling...hahahahaha :cheeky:
 

Don Juan

Living Brain Donor
Dec 5, 2003
856
0
0
What's wrong with trying?

HOWMAR said:
I must have missed something. If she could speak the language she may be qualified to be a 6000 peso/month retail clerk.
Live a pleasant and fun existence on what? Certainly not what she will earn here. She may be able to eat and keep a roof over her head, butnot much else.
Many come to the DR with the attitude they will give it a try and have nothing to lose. The sad part is that once here, many make decisions that will impact them the rest of their lives.

How do we know she won't hook up with the right people and get a very good job based on her skills?... Buy into an establish business?... Start a profitable enterprise no one has thought of before? or simply work summers in Toronto and spend winters in Puerto Plata?... Your horizon is limited only by your ambitions and motivations! Try not, Find not!! Darn it!
Presumably, Ktleggz is a single, unencumbered woman with her whole life ahead of her. This is the one move she and others have to make that "will impact them for the rest of their lives"... Betcha, by golly....In a very POSITIVE way!!
 

HOWMAR

Silver
Jan 28, 2004
2,624
2
0
Don Juan said:
How do we know she won't hook up with the right people and get a very good job based on her skills?... Buy into an establish business?... Start a profitable enterprise no one has thought of before? or simply work summers in Toronto and spend winters in Puerto Plata?... Your horizon is limited only by your ambitions and motivations! Try not, Find not!! Darn it!
Presumably, Ktleggz is a single, unencumbered woman with her whole life ahead of her. This is the one move she and others have to make that "will impact them for the rest of their lives"... Betcha, by golly....In a very POSITIVE way!!
The odds are much more likely that she will return to Canada with at least one dependant and possibly seeking a visa for a second. And again you say, "a very good job based on her skills". What skills?
 

ricktoronto

Grande Pollo en Boca Chica
Jan 9, 2002
4,837
0
0
HOWMAR said:
I must have missed something. If she could speak the language she may be qualified to be a 6000 peso/month retail clerk.

OK, so how much do you subract when she cannot speak more than "to be taken" intro course? 1/2? RD$3000 or what - US$90.

Aiming for US$100-$200 a month is not much is it?

I was speaking frankly - what skills, what experience, what knowledge of the country is offered to the employer? Not a whole lot. based on a AI visit the plan is full of holes and hugely risky.
 

ElvisNYC

New member
Jan 27, 2006
511
22
0
I have similar skills as the OP, but I speak/write spanish. How much extra can I make in the Dominican ? 1,600 pesos a month ? :D
 
Status
Not open for further replies.