milosh said:
anyone in DR from exYU, former sovjet union, poland, czechia, slovakia or bulgaria visits this forum?
My father's side of the family came from small village near Kocise in eastern Slovakia. I have been there a few times, but now have been more times to DR.
From my experiences, there are some similarities between Slovakia and DR:
Both have lots of very hospitable, Catholic rural population and beautiful rolling hills/mountains. Both places have high unemployment (although in eastern Slovakia it was higher but a lot of young, educated people without jobs). Although, the Slovaks seemed more pessimistic about the economic situation.
Both places have a minority population that they in general can't stand (Haitians in DR and gypsies in Sk). Both places have a recent past where most people agree was a worse time but some look back nostalgically on the sense of order - ie communism in Sk when there was less freedom but most people were employed and Trujillo's era in DR. Both cultures love to dance, drink, and have a good time (in DR merengue, bachata with rum/beer and Sk polka with beer/homemade slivovitz). Both until recently were inexpensive for Americans (less with weaker $ in DR and less in Sk with admission to EU). Both have more modern, westernized capitals - SD and Bratislava.
I also wondered if there are any Slovaks, etc in DR.