In defense of Barrios and Barrio girls

I am reposting this from another post because I think its worthy of comment. Since so many negative things have been said about barrio, barrio girls and that life in general here are some very positive things to say.

Theirs is something to be said about barrio life in the DR. There is life. People know each other. Neighbors converse with each other. It's alive with humanity. Whereas in the upper middle class and wealthy areas of the DR, there is the view of death. Everyone lives behind closed doors. Isolated, alone and self consumed in their own egos, absorbed by their disdain for others. Amongst the rich in the DR there is the eternal exhibition of wealth, of acquisition. As if there is nothing else to life but money. The barrio has its allure, its magnetism.

I remember this extremely wealthy guy from Mao. You couldn't tell he was a rich land and cattle baron, well by DR standards. He looked like one of his workers. He drove a 97 Isuzu pickup truck. Comfortable but simple. I knew another guy who died in Mao with 300,000 DOLLARS and you could never tell by looking at him. By American standards not rich but the guy was a Presidente bottle collector. These guys would tell me they loved the barrio. I envied both of them.

As for barrio girls, here is my response to AZB.

I enjoy AZB's posts but he is showing one side of the equation. As there are many girls who are playing out their foreign gf there are also many who are so madly in love that they will not even walk out the front door for fear of having anyone say a pisca of something negative about them. They put the Taliban women to shame. I personally of girls who will go out of the house only accompanied by an older family member as if this were Pakistan. Their husbands are either Domyorks or Anglo-Saxon, Germanic, Scandinavian origins and are well assured of what they have. I know personally of such girls.

What barrios are you talking about? Most barrios in Santiago and the Cibao valley, Cordillera Central area are extremely safe. If you're talking about the Capital there are also very interesting barrios like Lo Mina, Los Alcarrizos, Buenos Aires de Herrera. What danger are you talking about? Just don't go around like that old guy in Indiana Jones wandering around the Mideast as if you don't have a clue.

There are barrios like Gualey, CristoRey, Los Guandules in the Capital in which I wouldn't go day or night. But for the others, I would personally take you through them and you would be amazed at the wonderful expression of LIFE.

They are ALIVE, Larry. There is life. There is interaction of people with one another. There is bartering of all sorts of produce, of goods. You know Larry did you ever watch the movie Highlander. Remember the scene where Conner MacLeod is in the town square talking to Ramirez about his wife Heather. Also the scene where the kids come up and squeeze Heather's bosom.

The life in that town is the life that is evident in the DR barrios. You just have to know how to navigate in those waters. Not every barrio is like that. If I were to talk you to mountain towns where the people are more passive, better looking, more refined you would be amazed at it. Or barrios in the valley region like Mao, Esperanza, Navarette.

Of course I know what you mean. I wouldn't be caught dead in Villa Mella or San Pedro de Macoris for reasons which are obvious but can no longer be stated here on this new politically correct DR1.

Oh I miss the old DR1 where one could express ones views openly.

Life is in the barrios---

Chris_NJ said:

Interesting point of view O&C - I am curious, did you grow up in an "alive" barrio, a "dead" upper middleclass neighborhood in DR or none of the above?

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In a thoroughly dead neighborhood.

Isn't the allure of the DR the barrio life, its people and their social interactions? What allure does the DR have for foreigners or DomYorks if it resembles any other cookie cutter resort area? How many elitist girls in the DR are a total bore? Plenty, believe me I've been there. I'm not knocking comfort but the barrio life has its joy, its sincerity, its truth and honesty. I've spoken about this in posts now long gone.

When a poor barrio boy falls in love with a poor barrio girl and they love each for real its more powerful than some guy flashing cash and having as many women as he wants.

With money you can have the flesh but not the soul. True love is given not bought. Of course there are hardships in the barrio. But if a person has enough to get by and something left over to better their life progressively alongside someone they love that's more powerful than being Pres. of Indotel.

I have seen this in the DR. Besides all the sankies, the resort UBH's, the con artists there is also a layer hidden there of respectable barrio people, strong families with strong religious ties.

If you have a walled-in mansion in the DR or a nice house with your jeepeta, you lead a sheltered life alienated from the people, from life. For that you can live in any North American metropolis. What's the allure of the DR?

Death is Los Jardines, Gazcue, Piantini etc. Hey when you have nothing, you have nothing to lose.

AMEN, my brother AZB, AMEN

AZB said:

O&C, I know what you are talking about and I agree with you but you have to understand what bario girls I am talking about. First of all, you are talking about barrio folks who are proud people and have strong family values thus, creating strong foundation to stand upon. These barrio girls / guys are not your average folks who hang out in carwashes and cheap bars to be picked up by strangers. Most of the barrio girls you see with tourists are the barrio trash, the women who live with their tias or primas or alone in a pension (one room puta place). These girls are always seen with fancy cell phone which is always ringing. She always has to walk away from you to answer the call. These barrio putas have extra long finger nails which gurantees they are jobless. These are the girls who always are hungry even if you pick them at 3am in the morning. These are the girls who order hennessy at bars. These are the girls who sing out loud to bachata songs. These are the girls who are always at beauty salons. They are always broke, they never have cell minutes or money to take a cab or to pay rent. All of their problems have one solution, money. I can go on and on.
It so happens these girls also live in barrios and have bad reputation among the people there. These are the girls who get picked up by foreigners or dominicans in SUV. O&C is talking about the average folks in your typical barrios. I know many folks who live in barrios who are not only decent but very honorable and hospitable. Their girls would not be seen dead with a foreigner who is of their dad's age.
AZB

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That's the truth. We have shown both sides of the equation. Those low class barrio girls have been branded by decent respectable poor DR folk. I commented to a colleague that the DR is a very conservative country. He laughed in my face with a hearty laugh. It's as if I was making a joke. The good thing is you have shown in many posts that the DR isn't the resorts or what you have stated in your post.

I'll take anyone to task to show me unequivocally that the DR isn't a conservative country with stronger moral and ethical values than others. I don't know Santiago like you do but I have been told by Santiagueros that all of Santiago at nightfal you'll see families together at their homes enjoying the night. Such is the case in Mao any other areas. Exceptions being the patronales where young gilrs are seen but rarely alone.

In a country as chismoso, hablador or nosy as the DR everyone knows everyone's business. And if they don't know it they make it their aim to find out. There is crime in the barrios but believe me its dealt with more expeditiously than in other areas. many thugs are just eliminated and pushing up daisies.

Of course those girls you talk about are prevalent. In a population of 8 million or so it's a small percentage though. But even a small % of millions adds up to thousands upon thousands. That guy laughed in my face when I made the Pakistan reference. But it's true. Its unheard of for a decent girl to venture out from her valley town, mountain town by HERSELF to another region of the country. Those that do such things even if they aren't for puteria reasons are branded. Mothers are very protective of their daughters.

Its like the news. You only hear of they guy who fondled his child. How about the millions that dont? Of course there are the red district areas, the whores who will get into a jeepeta but as AZB says these are the ones that live with their aunts, pensiones etc. Man AZB you are an expert on this. Even in whoreville (Boca Chica, Puerto Plata) if you venture off you will find the family structure intact.

The Pakistan reference is quite true. I've known of fathers who have gone to seek out references of the young man courting their daughter, setting rules of dating, hours. Structure and order is evident in DR families. I remember one day in Tenares I saw a beautiful white girl with jet black straight hair being accompanied by her mother to Salcedo.

The degree of freedom afforded to girls in the DR varies from family to family. But most do have a certain code by which they live by. CC would boast about the barrio girls he had. How he would sleep with girls for 2 or 3 bucks for an entire day. Those are the fringes of society. Thats the outskirts of society and not the norm.

Well you said it yourself.

rellosk said:

This thread makes for a good read on life in the barrios.

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I wouldn't be caught dead in Villa Mella. I might as well visit Citei Soleil in Haiti and extol the virtues of barrio life. How about some common sense here. If you're white, Spanish or close to it would you visit and live in Overtown in Miami to learn about barrio life in America. The Watts district, Compton, Bedford Sty. The South Bronx by the projects. Get real. Now you could live in Little Havana in Miami.

Its obvious that black ghettoes be it in America or the DR are recipes for death. Unfortunately poor black areas in America or in the DR are all the same. They are crime infested,, drug ridden, whore-filled places. Go to a decent barrio (white Spanish, light skinned mulattoes) in Santiago, Cibao valley, Cordillera Central area and you'll see the difference.

AZB knows what I am talking about. Go to San Jose de las Matas and see the spectacular views of the valleys and mountains. Venture amongst the poor and see another barrio life. Don't show the scum that is Villa Mella, Gualey and Gunadules but even there , there are decent folk.

It's not racism

Show me one black ghetto in the DR that is safe to go and LIVE in. Just one. Why do you call facts racism and try to whitewash it with the poor folks mentality? The most dangerous barrios in the DR are those with a heavy black African content. Go to a barrio in San Pedro. My friend if you don't go armed, you won't come out. Go to a barrio in La Romana and see all the thugs around. Well even the good neighborhoods in La Romana and San Pedro are below any ghetto in the Cibao/ Cordillera area.

So its not racism for a black person to complain of another but it is for non-blacks. Why can't black people be criticized? Other races are be it jokingly or seriously. I enjoy David Letterman. I see how openly they joke about whites. But you can see the careful reservation with which he treats blacks. Many black men have a chip on their shoulder. If you criticize them, they want to resort to agression. I saw this in Boca Chica, San Pedro.

Go live in Villa Mella. Who lives there? I was in fear for my life when I visited. I swear I will never return. I am cibaeno but I didn't feel the dominican comraderie there. I felt like the cartoons where the character is looked upon as dinner. Take the road from Bani to San Jose de Ocoa and you'll notice the dangerous areas. On my way there I was talking to a colonel who showed me the dangerous neighborhoods. Go to Yamasa in the capital and tell me who lives there.

YES, there is a major difference between black dominicans and white dominicans. It's not racism. It's facts. Compare Buenos Aires with Villa Mella or Lo Mina with its heavy chinese presence with a barrio in San Pedro. The barrios are different. Go to La Cienega in Ocoa and you won't see any blaring music from the colmados. It's like a sleepy town in 19th century America.

My friend its true I can't speak for 19th century American -Irish ghettoes. But I can tell you extensively about the DR ghettoes. It's not racism. I love black people as I love the multiculturalism of the DR and the world. The diversity of the DR is wonderful. There are many good black people of all ages and both genders in the DR. But the question stands. Show me one poor black ghetto in the DR that is safe. I'll visit it escorted of course,, just in case and I'll report back to you.

I'm just stating WHAT IS

Exxtol said:

they are poor, ghetto, violent people, because they are darker. It doesn't take a third grade education to realize that if these same "black" people were middle-class/wealthy they would have no need to steal, murder, be whores, or sell drugs.

Abject poverty, not color or race, engenders "crime infested, drug ridden, whore-filled places". For some reason, this is a concept that many dr1ers simply cannot, or refuse to grasp.

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Your reasoning is circular. It just happens to be that the majority of poor ghetto violent people in the DR happen to be darker. WHY? I'm not getting into the sociological reasons for poverty, what engenders it? I am stating "what is" in the DR. That link that rellosk has is life in a black ghetto in the DR. Foreigners reading that thread will have the impression that poor ghettos in the DR are all the same. It's not the case. I would never think of even visiting Overtown in Miami. Yet I ocassionally go to Little Havana in Miami.


El Tigre knows what I'm talking about. Barrio life has its allure. Why do people in America suffer from so much mental illnesses? It's the isloated, sheltered lives they live. We have all heard of the people who have died in their homes. The stench of the rotting corpses was the signal to the neighbors that something was wrong. This is unheard of in the DR because neighbors regularly visit each other on a daily basis. No appointment necessary like in the states. The good barrio life, the human interaction is what keeps the foreigners coming. I see how they enjoy this above the beaches where are everywhere in the Caribbean.