Do you love the Dominican Republic

I live the Dom Rep, but im living in America, i am born in the Dominican Republic, i want back to the Dominican Republic to stay, my own house, food, cars, cigars, drink, all cheap (for me) i think thats better to get a own Shop in the Dominican Republic. i Love Samana, i love Las Terrenas, i love the Dominican Republic, o ye the Dominican Rum... BRUGAL

and you....

i love the D.R also, the people, the weather, the beach, the motoconchos and scooters, the language, the banana mamas(drink)with 151, the way of life to a point....better than my life here in canada. i would love to live there permanently, i did for a few months last year but i was not working so to me it was like i was on a vacation. i wish to do it again real soon.

massei

I am 100% gringa and am moving to the RD novembre 5 to live . Me and my dog!! I love the way of life and the attitudes of the people there. I cant wait to be there and be the gringa dominicana!! I am selling all I own and leaving america..dont forget the presidente beer..mamajuana..and mondongo!!!

All the best, Jan. You're one lucky domigringa ;-) !!

Leaving America...??? In a technical, geographical and historical sense I'd say that you move from the US to another American country, but then I am European and we tend to call the whole continent, as we learned in school, America. But I totally agree on the rest of your message - I'm going to DR on Saturday (unfortunately for just 2 weeks) and I can't wait to get my first Presidente of the year.

Re Svein
When you returning to Norway, you will use the plane i'm comming down with. Please leave some cold Presidentes for me.

cant wait, dec 26th, goodbye miami, hello my motherland... only for a month, but that should take me out of the u.s. routine for a while... beautiful women need orientation over there? e-mail the dominican expert... cant wait, cant wait

Why not keep us informed of your "life" once you live and work in the DR. "fulltime".Living here is a different "ballgame" than visiting! I would like to see if your attitude changes once you are forced to deal with the challenges of surviving on a day-to-day basis.You won,t be "in Kansas anymore Dorothy!"I wish you all the best! If I had to guess,I would say you are a "younger" single woman who plans to live near the beach,probably North Coast,and find a job there in the tourist industry, or teaching English.Those(I should say many,not all)of us who have lived here for more than a few years are routinely criticised for being "down" on everything in the DR. It would be informative for you to document on a fairly regular basis your "integration" into life in the Dominican Republic. Again, I wish you all the best in your new life! Criss

Re: What took you so long?I love DR

What took you so long to figure Dominican Republic is the place to be? I did it seven years ago and never looked back. While I was just an upper middle class guy in the USA, I live like a millionaire here. Now that I lived in Santo Domingo for the seven years I am changing to a nomad style. First I will move to Bavaro in 2002 and from there just move from town to town, wherever I please. Now after the WTC and Anthrax everybody is running back here, even Dominicans in New York are lining up. That means, higher prices and shortages of housing.

As for Criss Colon, he is right in some respects, but the fact is that if you have healthy savings in dollars and a possible income from a pension plan, parachute plan or any business, there is no way you can fail here. It takes a solid bank account to come in and play ball here. Be sure before you leave for DR to collect all your unemployment benefits to use them here. The dollars travel a long way here, but not there.

O yes man, i want direkt go to the Dominican Republic

Living in the DR is great, but it is not paradise (for me). I am loving living and working on the North Coast but I do know that this is not a country in which I could live forever.

Things I miss?

-Going to the hardware store and finding EVERYTHING you need in one trip.

-Paying your bills online without a hassle(not standing in line 3 hours at EdeNorte only to get to the front of the line and they tell you they are going for lunch and you have to get in the OTHER line, then when you get to the front of that line you find out they have no record of your account, or that they figure you owe them $50,000RD....blablablabla).

-More friends to engage in good conversations with.

-Snow (yes, I love snow!).

-Asking the price of something and not being afraid you are getting the gringo price.

-Knowing that officials (government, police, customs) are not going to steal from you or ask for money.

-Cable Internet!

-Pilsner/Molson Canadian/Labbatt's

-Our good friends and family back home

I love a lot of things about the DR, but all in all I am a Canadian boy at heart and will undoubtedly return for a good and long (fingers crossed) life there in the not too distant future.

marc

response to marc loving the Dominican..

Marc, unfortunately I can't agree on missing snow, I am still in Canada right now and the weather sucks, it's starting to get cold. Yes I'm sure that if I moved there for a few years I would miss some things too, but I love the simple life, like waking up to the sound of the fruit trucks, selling fruits, I mean I don't have to have Heinz ketchup, I'll buy the cheaper stuff. Do you see my point? It is just the fact of being in a whole different experience that not too many people can do, and for one I think that alot of Canadians and Americans kinda take life for granted. I could be wrong but that's just my opinion.

massei

Re: response to marc loving the Dominican..

opinions are never wrong, thanks for the post.

As for snow, they can have sandball fights on the beach but it doesn't beat a snowball fight! Howbout a sandball man? Sand angel? And these people have never licked a steel pole at -25deg C...these are stories that can't be beat! How about scraping the inside of your windshield with a credit card? Buying a car with seat warmers? Having to plug in your car at night? ahhhhh...I miss home even more now

I too love the simple life, which is why I see myself living in a cabin/cottage style home on a lake in the mountains, about 60-100km from a major center with all the modern conveniences...

I won't smell fruit in the morning...mostly because you can't breathe through your nose without a lot of pain at -40deg C!! hehehe.

marc

Re: response to marc loving the Dominican..

can't say that i share those same feelings about the snow, i think that i can enjoy winter when i would come home for a wekk vacation at christmas time, yes a white christmas is nice but no longer than a week. i dislike the cold, love the heat........ but i am from northern ontario, a little colder than the south, but still cold for me.

Re: response to marc loving the Dominican..

Well, I was missing Canada for a while until your last post

Being from Canada (Alberta), I was worried that once I moved to the DR I would never want to return to the cold. I do love summer, the beach, the scenery the DR has to offer, learning spanish has been fun and living the simplistic lifestyle has been great too. But I have to side with Criss and Marc...living in this tropical 'paradise' has many bumps along the way and you soon discover them when you make the choice to be here long term.

It is a beautiful island and I am glad to be able to say I live here, for now. Returning for future vacations when Canada reaches it's sub-human temps will be glorious! But, I have discovered the beauty in being able to add a layer of clothing to warm up, and sip hot chocolate sitting by a fireplace all wrapped up in a quilt. I guess I have happily discovered that I am a Canadian gal at heart!

I admire the people who can fully absorb the culture, lifestyle and are happy to stay here forever. It has its challenges, but if it is for you then I am sure you will be as content as all the long term residents are.

Terri

Hi Terri, I lived in Sosua for a while, and returned to Canada... Calgary, to be exact, so it appears we have a lot in common. I don't think I could live in the Dominican again, either...though I do love to visit.

do you love the DR

I too live in Canada, and just the very thought of living in the DR makes me smile. I am sure it is not easy, nor is it what I'd be used to, but there are many, many things that have been posted above & some have not been posted, I am going to add a few more "positive" thoughts, to begin, Not only do you hear beautiful Merengue & Bachata music all day (which I spend too much money on Latin cds here that's for sure), you can eat the most delicious seafood & fruit in the world, anytime you want (it's not seasonal), the beautiful heat, no umbrellas needed (walking in the downpoor in the DR is actually fun), no gloves, scarves, you'd even save money buying clothes for one season (as for us girls, we tend to spend too much money on buying clothes for 4 seasons), the beautiful beaches, sand, water, "palm trees" instead of those ugly Canadian Evengreen trees, that drop pine needles everywhere, yuck, the nightlife, open at all hours, unlike here, closing at 2:00am, to name a few, but the biggest factor I think, are the smiles on these people's faces, the gorgeous smiles & total happiness that is always there, regardless of what they don't have, unlike most Canadians/ Americans, that live to keep upgrading their material things, cars, homes, toys, clothes, etc (I am not excluded by the way). Dominicans obviously have something within themselves that keep them happy with what they have, which is an example that they should be proud to set and to rub off on all of us!!

OK so you may ask why am I not living there, well I hate to say it but one reason, fear, it is scary to leave your home, after living a certain way all your life, but one day, I hope I find someone to do it with, or develop the courage to just follow my heart, to the place that is never far from my mind.........

Re: do you love the DR

I agree with Angelita, I plan on going to the DR within the next couple of years. I would like to experience the happiness that the Dominican's have. How can people who are so poor be so happy. It sure isn't that way in Canada. I am tired of snow and want to experience the Dominican way!

Angelita...Maybe we should talk!

Re: What took you so long?I love DR

My soon to be wife and I are looking to move to the Dominican in Dec. We have about 10,000 dollars saved up. Do you think that this is enough to make ends meet till we find a place to live and some work there?