It may not be as safe here as you'd like, or would hope to believe.

[Jan]

Oh, and this happened around 10 AM not far from Parque Colon.

 

[cavok]

Believe as you will. The lady was with a man and they took her to the bank. She went inside the bank and withdrew her and her husbands savings. She said it felt like they were old friends and she was happy being with them. She was gone for about 2 hours. We were looking around for her because it wasnt like her to go for that long without letting us know where she was going. Weeks after she still only remembered a little. It was terrible.

But believe as you wish. I am not a spreader of lies.

No one is saying you're lying. You're repeating what you were told. Is her husband a gringo by any chance?

 

[Jan]

No one is saying you're lying. You're repeating what you were told. Is her husband a gringo by any chance?

I was out walking around looking for her when she returned and she had a bad headache so her husband took her home. The next day the police came and.questioned her and the people at Banco Leon on Bolivar.

No more comments from me about.this. Nighty ight

 

[cavok]

While scopolamine can be put in someone's drink to incapacitate them so they could be raped or robbed, it is considered highly unlikely that scopolamine powder blown into your face would render one in a zombie-like compliant state, willing to do whatever is suggested. It does make for some convenient explanations though:

Scopolamine: Myths and realities

There are over 50,000 cases of Scopolamine poisoning reported every year. It is said to turn people into zombies. But what is the truth about this drug?

thebogotapost.com

 

[arete92]

That is a very bad experience indeed one in which you didn't deserve. There are incredibly kind people here and there are incredible oxygen wasters as well and that was one of them - from a crap barrio desperate with and IQ that is the same as the ambient C*. Your lessons given are valid and your advice. Dominicans will judge another person based on how they look and talk ; rich Dominicans and educated Dominicans avoid barrio people like the plague cause they have nothing to offer but take. In this culture, you need to adopt that principle and the chance of getting hustled becomes greatly mitigated. The issues come from wanting a service or product generally car, cleaning, or computer chair and that's their entry. Ask your friends and network if there is someone in their family that is interested do not trust strangers here. If this ever happens to you again I suggest you handle it like a Dominican. (1) walk away and get on a Moto as fast as you can and tell him to move his culo for 300 pesos down 6 blocks and switch to a taxi or pay the security guard 500 pesos for her to leave you alone and tell him she is crazy and has a weapon and she will stop real quick. Moto is a better option. I hope this never happens to you again all the best please avoid barrio people like the plague - it may sound cruel to EU, US, CAN people but it may save your life or save you from expensive issues.

 

[arete92]

Maria, so do you do everything in writing now?

Use lawyers, find a friend 3,000 pesos. They dont sign the contract then no deal? they're honest right? they'll sign the contract if they want work. Cover your butt and go with professional services, Expensive is cheap here and cheap is expensive with headaches. Leave them zero loopholes and do the same manipulative tactics they do as a back-up.

 

[arete92]

I hope you learned something.
What do you expect from Tinder and D. Cupid?
You are the gringo mark!

The DR is a third world corrupt country.
The average Dominican is uneducated, rude, inconsiderate and aggressive.
Dominicans and Haitians love public drama and have no self control.

If you don't speak Spanish and understand the mentality you are dealing with and are capable of coping with it, you'll be in trouble.
Stay in All Inclusive's and go home.
The "religious" with dresses down to their ankles are the most corrupt and devil worshipers, ever listened to their screaming services whipping up the idiots??

This is not a happy fantasy Island, beware.
Stick to 1st. World women, at lest you may have some idea what to expect.

the average Dominican yes, Religious people are oddly corrupt here and normally are the ones that are the most weird like the pastor that likes to invite himself over to everyone's house and request certain meals. Hmm the women here are great - you just have to know how to behave around them and what they expect; you find one with solid education and it will be the best experience ever. In Dominican the girls have four choices. tigure with 10 kids, Juan from the church that loves jesus more than her, Jose from US that married a gringa and rents gold chains for his vacation and lastly 60 year old professional papi con cualto. if youre good looking under 45 have money and your "stuff" together and are assertive you will get the most beautiful and educated women.

 

[arete92]

thanks for the soap opera reading. I did enjoy it. Every single gentleman here has had a chica scrape. Sooner or later, it will happen. I purchased a beer at a bar in the Colonial Zone and when the bartender placed the change on the counter, I proceeded to drink the beer. Moments later a chica (looking like the one you described) picked up the change. I informed her that was not her money. She went from 1 to 100 miles an hour and was completely willing to make a scene. Guess who everyone in the restaurant was looking at,....it was me not her. I removed myself from the situation asap. Not to worry. Put it behind you and stay off the hookup sites. There are too many other options.

Depends. Does she have tatoos ? does she look good and have nothing in her head and "trankila" likes to eat and watch netflix, does she have a job ? avoid that like the plague like you would in your own country ( i hope ) I understand this situation is a bit different and you couldnt really avoid it from what I can tell but the best way in Dominican to deal with this stuff is to make someone put money in your hand and not no-mans land on the table. stick your hand out to receive, point at him and put your hand out its not rude by their lack of manners here. My best tip here honestly is dont look at people here, don't look at him or her, don't look at the digest police a lot of this crap starts from looking at someone. Dominicans just ignore people to the point that you don't exist and it works fantastically if you fail to acknowledge their presence then they give up after 10 seconds.

 

[arete92]

While scopolamine can be put in someone's drink to incapacitate them so they could be raped or robbed, it is considered highly unlikely that scopolamine powder blown into your face would render one in a zombie-like compliant state, willing to do whatever is suggested. It does make for some convenient explanations though:

Scopolamine: Myths and realities

There are over 50,000 cases of Scopolamine poisoning reported every year. It is said to turn people into zombies. But what is the truth about this drug?

thebogotapost.com

that's said to be performed by a Haitian when they want to rob you from the guts of a blowfish. I have never seen or heard of a real example. Just juans from the campo...

 

[arete92]

I'll keep the replies shorter and post them all in this one reply.

Buzz65 - Great idea. In general I find that the Haitians I've come into contact with keep their head down and just want to work.

2020 - Agreed, grateful.

Johne - Some people just have their mind made up that what I did was wrong, and or don't want to hear it. I'm familiar with this sort of attitude. Dominicancupid is a site that is set up for platonic relationships, as well as romantic ones. My messages were clear, professional and non amorous. You are welcome to read in between the lines or inventar as much as you want. Nothing I say will change how you think - your opinion is predisposed to believe what you want. I"ve been unmistakably clear about what my intentions were and how I communicated those intentions but apparently it doesn't really matter. The finger-pointing and blame game just won't stop. I've met hundreds of people and spoken with thousands and it's never gone down like this, nor should it.

CristoRey - I tend to agree that there are higher-quality interactions that can be found outside of online meet-up sites.

JD - I didn't *have* to pay the taxi. I specifically offered an additional 100 pesos because I changed the location at the last minute as a courtesy. Looking back on it I should have, and in the future I will offer nothing. The metro costs 20 pesos each way. I didn't pay "for a woman to come to me". I 100% agree about classy people declining - it's happened many dozens of times. It's also an indicator that they are not in it for your money (at least not the immediate 100-300 pesos you are offering, they may be playing the long-con).

I Have seen how Dominicans live and I deeply disagree with the "life is tough on this island" rhetoric that gets thrown around. It CAN be tough, for sure -largely due to the corruption. That said, most Dominicans have better relationships with their families, eat unprocessed food, many times grown from a piece of land owned by a family memer or friend, eat animals that don't have tons of hormones pumped in to them and grow up with much better social and emotional support systems than many Europeans and North Americans. Do they generally make less money? Absolutely. That is not however 1:1 correlated with a "tough life". This is all true before we even start talking about Chiapidoras who make more money than you, people who sell drugs and send money back home, or those who work an honest job in the US and send back hundreds and thousands to their family and then go on to build businesses and houses. It isn't as "tough" here as many make it out to be. Baltimore is tough, South side Chicago is tough, growing up in South Central LA surrounded by gangs such that you literally can't go to the park without being checked and possibly physically violated is tough. And many of these areas are food deserts where people eat garbage for the entirety of their lives and live in abject poverty. No bachata, no drinks and dancing on the beach, no rich foreigners feeling sorry for you. Canada in the winter is tough. Finding a job in Spain as a spaniard while dealing with exorbitant housing and goods prices is tough. She wasn't a young lady, she was like 45 years old. Way old enough to know better.

Dulce - Nothing smart about missing out on an opportunity to learn how to fish in exchange for one fish today. I also discussed this earlier in regards to this sort of low-minded cunning being the undoing of people like this. Instead of a solid, steady job she works a daily hustle. I assure you there is nothing smart or advantageous about that and the energy you put out day after day, oftentimes to earn nothing. Additionally it is negative energy that keeps you trapped in a cycle and circle of negative reciprocal energy coming back to you.

Ramesses - I'm sincerely curious, what sorts of experiences did you have in Jamaica that would lead you to believe people can behave crazily in the presence of security forces without something happening? Especially if they are bothering a tourist/foreigner and that foreigner engages the police/security for assistance? I will say that this exclusively applies to when there are more police than people or when there is one individual being crazy. Jamaican police aren't going to engage a mob, or an armed gang of hooligans without backup of course. But one lady wigging out on a foreigner in the middle of Half Way Tree mall? It ain't gonna happen. They're going to assume she is drunk, or on drugs or just crazy and tell her to leave the mall immediately. If she doesn't she will be placed into custody.


DRfan1990 - Very possible. I addressed this. This sort of tribalism is bad for everyone. Victimizers usually choose the easiest victim. People who aren't in the in-group can sometimes make good victims. That said, people generally spend most of their time around their own and when there are no more people outside of the in-group victimizers will make victims of those within their own communities. It is a degenerative way to behave and is the antithesis of justice, honor or 'doing the right thing'.


NALs - If the consensus here that applies to me applied to this woman here is what might be said of her. "What is she doing withdrawing money from the ATM so late at night HMMMMM??? What intentions does she REALLY have with that money? Probably something nefarious. Why didn't she withdraw it during the day time? Why didn't she go into a bank BRANCH that is open? There are plenty of strip malls where she could have gone if she really wanted to withdraw money. Everyone knows that withdrawing money from the ATM means you are setting yourself up for something. You should only ever get your money from the teller or you are up to no good. Next time, don't ever withdraw from an ATM or you get what you deserve. That poor young man with the balaclava on just needed 50 pesos to hop on to the nearest public transport to get his way home TO BE WITH HIS FAMILY. WHY didn't she just give it to him? She is so cheap and stingy. She deserved for him to drug and rob her on camera in front of a multi million dollar store. Good thing that police officer walked RIGHT BY a robbery in progress. Hahaha what does she think, that she is in her campo where the goats go baaa and the cows go mooo? Next time realize you aren't in Monte Plata or the Cibao, you are in the BIG CITY lady. Learn to deal with it."

That woman is a VICTIM of the chaos and lawlessness that many of us know to be normalized here. I want to bet it isn't the first time someone has stolen her phone, and or other belongings of hers. She should be able to withdraw money at any damn ATM she pleases without being ROBBED and while I'm not going to sit here and say the police should be clairvoyant/omniscient and know what is happening everywhere with everyone if you look at the video he DIDN'T EVEN LOOK IN THEIR DIRECTION. With all due respect in the world to any Dominican security forces that may be reading - THAT is what the security system of this country is like. Police walking right by a robbery in progress. That is NOT okay and it should NOT go down like that. Allowing the little events to happen makes the big events an eventuality.

Life can be tough - Money for medical treatments are tough. Buying a car for an average person is tough, living in a crap environment is tough, dealing with the daily bs in those places is annoying and exhausting. Life is tougher here from a lack of action - people here believe god controls everything it's the mystic ages for real. When you have this profound belief that you can't control anything and its better to just sit in the lawn chair and wait to win the lotteria life is tough. I have seen Dominicans who have "made it" here and they are optimistic and go-getter and dont do the silly games like wear designer fashion clothing nor spend their whole salary on a car here. A lot of it is the mentality I dont really feel bad for 75% of the people here

 

[cavok]

that's said to be performed by a Haitian when they want to rob you from the guts of a blowfish. I have never seen or heard of a real example. Just juans from the campo...

Well, one of the organs (I think the liver) of a blowfish is very toxic and it can kill you if you eat it. The toxin can be released into the rest of the fish if not prepared properly.

 

[arete92]

Well, one of the organs (I think the liver) of a blowfish is very toxic and it can kill you if you eat it. The toxin can be released into the rest of the fish if not prepared properly.

i'm literally going by what a Dominican told me in the campo I never researched it enough to be honest so you should have little confidence in that statement. They also told me they have seen flying witches at night

 

[DR fan1990]

That is a very bad experience indeed one in which you didn't deserve. There are incredibly kind people here and there are incredible oxygen wasters as well and that was one of them - from a crap barrio desperate with and IQ that is the same as the ambient C*. Your lessons given are valid and your advice. Dominicans will judge another person based on how they look and talk ; rich Dominicans and educated Dominicans avoid barrio people like the plague cause they have nothing to offer but take. In this culture, you need to adopt that principle and the chance of getting hustled becomes greatly mitigated. The issues come from wanting a service or product generally car, cleaning, or computer chair and that's their entry. Ask your friends and network if there is someone in their family that is interested do not trust strangers here. If this ever happens to you again I suggest you handle it like a Dominican. (1) walk away and get on a Moto as fast as you can and tell him to move his culo for 300 pesos down 6 blocks and switch to a taxi or pay the security guard 500 pesos for her to leave you alone and tell him she is crazy and has a weapon and she will stop real quick. Moto is a better option. I hope this never happens to you again all the best please avoid barrio people like the plague - it may sound cruel to EU, US, CAN people but it may save your life or save you from expensive issues.

They'd call you a "classist bigot" upholding capitalism and condoning discrimination against "disadvantaged communities" (can't say poor people, not PC enough).

 

[NALs]

They'd call you a "classist bigot" upholding capitalism and condoning discrimination against "disadvantaged communities" (can't say poor people, not PC enough).

Yep... then they get mugged and that does it to shut them up. lol

 

[DR fan1990]

Life can be tough - Money for medical treatments are tough. Buying a car for an average person is tough, living in a crap environment is tough, dealing with the daily bs in those places is annoying and exhausting. Life is tougher here from a lack of action - people here believe god controls everything it's the mystic ages for real. When you have this profound belief that you can't control anything and its better to just sit in the lawn chair and wait to win the lotteria life is tough. I have seen Dominicans who have "made it" here and they are optimistic and go-getter and dont do the silly games like wear designer fashion clothing nor spend their whole salary on a car here. A lot of it is the mentality I dont really feel bad for 75% of the people here

I hate the constant "si Dios quiere" mantra.

-Will you come and clean my house tomorrow ?
- Si Dios quiere.

- Will you be on time for our meeting?
- si Dios quiere.

- Will you start saving up some money this year?
- si Dios quieres.

No self-accountability.

 

[jd426]

I hate the constant "si Dios quiere" mantra.

-Will you come and clean my house tomorrow ?
- Si Dios quiere.

- Will you be on time for our meeting?
- si Dios quiere.

- Will you start saving up some money this year?
- si Dios quieres.

No self-accountability.

But no different literally than "inshallah" ( If God wills it )
in Arabic .. used extensively by Muslim Population .
So maybe its all Religions .

 

[arete92]

I hate the constant "si Dios quiere" mantra.

-Will you come and clean my house tomorrow ?
- Si Dios quiere.

- Will you be on time for our meeting?
- si Dios quiere.

- Will you start saving up some money this year?
- si Dios quieres.

No self-accountability.

I do too, I have never been able to repeat that mantra mainly because it feels like im telling myself that I don't need to take accountability for anything which is not the way you get things in this life; objectively. Flu season really irritates me here as people will come to your residence sick with the gripa and say this exact line while they blow their nose and cough on you. Accountability here for most Dominicans was never taught - but there are professional and good people here that are not like this and are an absolute pleasure to deal with.

 

[arete92]

They'd call you a "classist bigot" upholding capitalism and condoning discrimination against "disadvantaged communities" (can't say poor people, not PC enough).

Classist bigot here keeps you safe and sane here it's my very effective filter In North America, I would not do this to a large extent because there is common respect and the motivation to be your amigo for the purpose of getting free lunch and planning to rob you is generally not there.

 

[NanSanPedro]

I hate the constant "si Dios quiere" mantra.

-Will you come and clean my house tomorrow ?
- Si Dios quiere.

- Will you be on time for our meeting?
- si Dios quiere.

- Will you start saving up some money this year?
- si Dios quieres.

No self-accountability.

It's actually based in Scripture, James 4:14-15, "Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, 'If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.'"

Unfortunately, in Haiti and in the DR, it has become little more than a saying with no meaning behind it, although I'm sure there are some that truly believe it.

 

[arete92]

But no different literally than "inshallah" ( If God wills it )
in Arabic .. used extensively by Muslim Population .
So maybe its all Religions .

It's a mental framework independent of religion but still has the same effect on a person regardless of the prophet, god, person. When you believe you truly have no control over your life and everything is decided for you because of gods will then you assume that there is nothing you can do to advance your career, knowledge, and health because it's 100% dependent on a god(s) If you expect great things of that person like showing up on time I wouldnt count on it. As a side effect they are generally chill happy people.

"If God Wanted Us to Fly, He Would Have Given Us Wings" No, he gave us brains to build propulsion systems to go into space.​