- Thread starter ROLLOUT
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Throwing in the towel
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Yes propina is a tip. Many people have paid it to get things like their lights turned on faster the Claro guy to come to their house a little faster. Propina is a accepted practice. And yes I have paid it before. I have no patience to wait. The cost of doing business here. Need to grease the wheel.
In first world countries you would not have to deal with that, but in third world as well as some emerging countries it's par for the course. My wife who is Dominican thinks that I'm nuts to pay propina but I hate to wait so I pay. And I know there will be other times I will be happy to pay again.
It is, without a doubt. But, I plan to keep the house as a rental property, and if I don't move to the DR, possibly purchase another in the Port St Joe or Apalachicola area. Downside would be a very limited social life, and the chicas, well, let's just say, most of them would catch hell eating corn-on-the-cob. Gotta take the s#!t with the shinola.
An algorithm that works
ROLLOUT: there are many venues here for you to consider. Try this (from a previous post).
Here's an algorithm for finding a proper mate in the DR.
ROLLOUT: there are many venues here for you to consider. Try this (from a previous post).
- Have your feet on the ground for a full 365 day year with NO commitments, no decisions and lots of travel.
- Rent furnished a month here, a month there, longer where you think you like it. Campo, suburb and city, north coast, south coast. Then review your changed attitudes and the rent/buy environment.
- In the campo, locate near the most reliable and educated neighbors, such as the family that runs the colmado, and have lots of security designed into the house and into the perimeter — have alarms AND dogs.
- If possible, locate near other foreigners with villas, and make a neighborhood watch/alert system.
- In the DR, like almost all countries in the world, lawyers will only set you up with the authorities or the other guy's lawyer for their own benefit, at least until you've been on the ground and in the culture for some years.
- Be respectul, always, no matter how it sticks in your craw. Remember that for 60 years the media has portrayed Americans as colossally wealthy and as arrogant racists as well (whatever your color). Respect is the watchword here.
Here's an algorithm for finding a proper mate in the DR.
What propina are you talking about? The only ones I give out are to the grocery boy, delivery or the occasional police. Hardly worth accounting for in one's budget.
Yes he gov't is corrupt but I don't have to deal with that a great deal expect when doing a project. The only thing that stops the DR from being a paradise is the crime, but if one thinks and acts like the locals it is mostly a non issue. People complain about the driving but go sit in some traffic in an big city in the US and tell me you don't get frustrated.
PICHchipios
Another PICHchipio:
It's the locals who are most worried about crime and it is a main issue with them:
Todos los resultados de la encuesta Gallup-Hoy
Getting frustrated in a traffic jam is a nuisance.
Taking part in the country's most dangerous traffic is life-threatening.
Rep?blica Dominicana record Guinness como lugar m?s peligroso para transitar por carretera -
?Somos el pa?s m?s peligroso del mundo para circular en carreteras? - listindiario.com
donP
Another PICHchipio:
It's the locals who are most worried about crime and it is a main issue with them:
Todos los resultados de la encuesta Gallup-Hoy
Getting frustrated in a traffic jam is a nuisance.
Taking part in the country's most dangerous traffic is life-threatening.
Rep?blica Dominicana record Guinness como lugar m?s peligroso para transitar por carretera -
?Somos el pa?s m?s peligroso del mundo para circular en carreteras? - listindiario.com
donP
Oh brother here we go again. The number of deaths is referenced to the 2010 WHO report that Guiness references was only based IN PART on real numbers, and had other "adjustment factors" involved.
As usual this methodological was prepared by some technician in WHO who no doubt had ever visited the DR. In fact, there are so many countries to review the UN creates formulas based on GDP to "adjust" the overall fatalities.
I have read the report and have dismantled their analysis here on the board already when it came out and am not going to reproduce it here. Nonetheless, here is one example of the absurdity of the methodology used in the report in that they inflate the TOTAL NUMBER OF FATALITIES BY 130% based on the reasoning that since this is a poor country, as per the GDP, that somehow only half of the deaths are reported, clearly IGNORING THE BLARING FACT THAT THIS IS A CATHOLIC COUNTRY with strong family ties that won't leave any stone unturned to find their dead and bury them.
The UN is one of the most corrupt organizations in the world and WHO is a branch. Ironically, when a report from the DR government is released everyone says it can't be trusted but anything by the UN/WHO is taken as fact in spite of their corrupt reputation and methodology that isn't fit to be called real science.
I don't see that as a real impediment honestly if one is smart. I have family in the States that live in areas of supposedly lower crime and they carry guns because they are afraid. I would never have a gun here. Peace.
For the noobs on this forum and for those who think "science" is anything that is published by the NYT and WHO the DR is less dangerous than many other countries for driving, including the US imo for MOST GRINGOS.
Why do I make that claim? Well for one the real fatality rate in the DR is half of what is reported and the majority is due to motorcycle accidents no doubt where alcohol is involved no doubt at night. Therefore if you don't want to be involved in an accident don't drink and drive on your motorcycle at night.
In fact, comparing non motorcycle vehicular traffic I'm sure the Dr is a safer place to drive mostly because of the lower average travel speeds and the general superior defensive driving skills of drivers here.
Why do I make that claim? Well for one the real fatality rate in the DR is half of what is reported and the majority is due to motorcycle accidents no doubt where alcohol is involved no doubt at night. Therefore if you don't want to be involved in an accident don't drink and drive on your motorcycle at night.
In fact, comparing non motorcycle vehicular traffic I'm sure the Dr is a safer place to drive mostly because of the lower average travel speeds and the general superior defensive driving skills of drivers here.
The UN has been very effective in compiling statistics and sharing them. Mind The Gap with the Swedish guy Hans could not do what he does without the work of the UN.
I am surprised at how few accidents Dominicans have on motorcycles. So perhaps they are not accurate on this specific example. I have seen some seriously irresponsible driving.
All you have to do is sit on a bench along the Malecon in Barahona on the weekend and watch the fools do wheelies on their motos. I must have seen hundreds of wheelies and only a couple of times in which the guy somehow came unglued from the bike. Once there were two guys doing "suicide run" wheelies from opposite ends of the street. Only one guy fell off, and yet somehow did not fall down, which was good because he had no helmet.
I am surprised at how few accidents Dominicans have on motorcycles. So perhaps they are not accurate on this specific example. I have seen some seriously irresponsible driving.
All you have to do is sit on a bench along the Malecon in Barahona on the weekend and watch the fools do wheelies on their motos. I must have seen hundreds of wheelies and only a couple of times in which the guy somehow came unglued from the bike. Once there were two guys doing "suicide run" wheelies from opposite ends of the street. Only one guy fell off, and yet somehow did not fall down, which was good because he had no helmet.
Chip you are stretching on this. The majority of drivers here, professional or not, are terrible drivers. There isn't a rule of defensive driving that they don't break every time they mount their moto or get behind the wheel. Yes the average speed is lower on the highways, except in Santiago. I believe the fatality rate is even higher than reported and the amount of young people missing body parts due to moto accidents is extremely high. Most moto accidents involve young guys going too fast- stunt driving or racing. I BELIEVE YOU ARE CORRECT ABOUT CAR ACCIDENTS, IN THAT MOST OF THEM INVOLVE ALCOHOL.
I have family in the States that live in areas of supposedly lower crime and they carry guns because they are afraid. I would never have a gun here.
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These people see dozens of crimes every week, that is why they are scared. Only the crimes they see are on TV. The murderers are a lot more professional and fearsome on Law & Order and CIS than on "Cops".
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These people see dozens of crimes every week, that is why they are scared. Only the crimes they see are on TV. The murderers are a lot more professional and fearsome on Law & Order and CIS than on "Cops".
They may be terrible in the sense they don't follow the "normal" traffic laws but they also drive slower and are more defensive.
Also, since I have been here in Santiago I can count the number of car accidents I have seen, not witnessed, on one hand. Orlando where we lived before was much worse and many accidents involved fatalities because of the speed, old retirees and people texting.
We must be living on a totally different Island!!! Slower and more defensive?! OMG I don't think so!
Do you need glasses? I see a horrible wreck at least once a week! Just last night there was a brutal accident on my way home.
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