Help with research paper, please

I'm doing a report on DR and have found most of the information I need, but I have some questions only someone who lives there can answer. I'd appreciate your help:

1. General attitudes (likes, dislikes)
2. Personal appearance (types of clothing worn generally by men, women, and children)
3.Special customs & courtesies
4.Greetings
5. Gestures
6. What are meal times like?
7. Diet & types of food eaten
8. Family structure
9. Recreation & sports
10. Transportation

Anything else I MUST know?

Thank you so much!

Hi Susie! I don't LIVE there (yet) but spent 2 months there during past summer, and we are planning to spend the winter there. Regarding your questions - which ARE very good questions-
the DR is a most beautiful place; there are couple of big "cities," but most of the country is quite rural, even remote. There are a number of big differences between the more modern cities and the small town, villages, and that means that your questions could be answered in different ways because the cities and the small towns, villages are different. Consider that in the remote areas, the people do not have the conveniences of the cities' stores and consumer products. Most of the natives do not have modern conveniences, per se, however they are a very happy, jovial, and friendly people, happy - and very used to the food which the earth provides for them ... coastline people have plenty of wonderful fish, too. All in all, they are very healthy people, thanks to the awesomely healthy food they have always eaten!!! And they are happy to have motorized scooters, dirt bikes, and some motocycles for transportation. Clothing also differs quite a bit in the cities and in the "burbs." People in the cities have many stores to get clothing from, but the remote areas still do not have stores close by. So, you see, in all of your questions, you will probably be getting any number of different kinds of answers - and you may become confused and not totally informed. The only way I can help is to refer you to our DR Photo Website, so you can "see" a little bit of what I saw. It's:
http://www.worldisround.com/articles/7080/index.html
Am sure you know how to highlight, copy, and paste.
Personally, I'm not a "city" person, but during my brief visit in the capital's "old colonial" section there is an abundance of history, as you probably know Columbus landed there. But, I was sure surprised to see McD's (which is exactly as good as USA), Pizza Hut (BETTER than USA) and KFC (didn't try it, but bet it's better than USA because they cook a LOT of chicken in DR!). Also
we found the prices very low compared to USA. The small towns and remote villages have little pizza places - "Mom and Pop" businesses. We love the most northeastern, tiny, fishing village of Las Galeras. A "large" is really HUGE, with "the works" - around $4.00 US dollars. (The current rate of currency exchange, I believe, is 16.6 pesos per UD dollar.) Very inexpensive for tourists to live there on the American dollar, but the Dominican people have to work for pretty low wages, so their economy is not as great as USA. (How old are you?!)
Also, the wages are quite a bit lower in the small villages, so you can "get the picture ..." Your parents and/or teachers can explain such economy to you (but am sure you're pretty smart anyway, and you have it all figured out).
I think that for a person to fully understand and realize about a foreign country which is remote and economically stressed, one has to go there - or live there for a while. Oh, yeah, you also have to realize that the greater percent of income there is through the tourism industry - and believe me, I don't think any person ever visited there and went away disappointed. Awesome!
In the meantime, I wish you much luck with your research paper and here's hoping that a lot of people will answer your questions as best they can. Bet you get an A+!

Sincerely, Mame from Florida (former English teacher)

Hello. I'm from Canada, and I visited DR a year and a half ago, and I'm going for a couple months again in Dec.

One thing I noticed by the Dominicans is that they love to dress nice. Well, some of them. You'll walk down a street in the evening, and they have Tommy Hilfiger shirts or, or Guess, etc... and clean jeans. It's pretty cool. And they love it.

Besides that, I once saw a family of 5 on 1 small motorcycle. 2 kids on the tank, then the mom, then dad driving, and a kid in back of the dad. Way to use their motor skills. ha.
Enjoy!
-Patrick!

I can try to tell you what little I know and it is little.

1. General attitudes (likes, dislikes)
Not much help here. But like the US and Canada it will change depending on the person.

2. Personal appearance (types of clothing worn generally by men, women, and children)
When I see some of the people working their clothes are dirty and torn, but when they are done they dress nice. The ones I know that do not have a lot of money and can not afford designer name clothes still have very much pride in their appearance. I watch my friend and everytime her 5 year old leaves the house she is spotless and very pretty .... until she gets with her friends. You will not see adults wear shorts very often in public. The mom will wear shorts around her house but when she went to the store just 4 doors down the street, she changed into pants, went to the store then changed back to shorts when she returned home. I have not seen a Dominican man wear shorts. The daughter will wear dresses, shorts and pants. When she goes to school she will wear a uniform.

7. Diet & types of food eaten
Well most of the people I am with when I am down there do not really eat the fast food like we do. Most of the meals are made from scratch and can take a long time to cook. We normally eat soups Homemade not from a can), pasta, meats, chicken, fish, rice and beans, and a varity of vegetables. We do go out for pizzas, or a small cafe in the neighborhood and sometimes to an Italian restaruant.

9. Recreation & sports
baseball is big and I think that boxing, track, basketball and volleyball are growing in interest.

10. Transportation Some of the people I know own cars, others own motorcycles. Those that do not use a public or private taxi or one of the many different types of buses they have.

Not much but hope it helps
Jerry

Well, let's see if this helps...

Attitudes: Dominicans like politics, music, baseball and children

Dominicans dislike politicians, imperialism, lack of opportunity, lack of electricity and the disorganized way of doing a lot of things-like getting a driver's license or a birth certificate...

Personal appearence: Generally speaking, neatness is evident, no matter what economic class. At the universities, jeans, t-shirts or golf shirts (polo shirts?) are pretty much the norm.
Way back when-35 years ago-shirts and ties, polished shoes, dresses and salon perfect hair do s were the norm. An evening at a disco will be pretty much like it would be in large cities in the states, as far as clothes..., but generally speaking the people are much much thinner than comparable agees in the US.

Special customs and courtesies: Here you might want to look up a book called "Body Language" and read how the society differs with respect to women and their 'look' and 'walk'.
One special custom is the tradition of baptizing children and forgeing(sp?) relationships. It is called "padrinazco". This, in turn forms a unique relationship called the "compadrazgo" which can be defined as the relationship that is formed by the godfather with the parents of the child to be baptized. Once cemented, this relationship literally opens up the two families to each other. In one area of the country (San Juan de la Maguana) in the central highlands, a "compadre" will kneel before his compadre as they meet on a country path and literally ask for his blessing: "La bendici?n, compadre" Answered by: "Que Dios te bendiga, compadre."
There is also the custom of "Los Quince", which is the coming out of the young lady at 15. This has been written up in TIME, but in the Cuban manner...years ago..Some people really go all out to impress society with the grandeur of the occasion, but most just have a nice party and the girl gets a couple of nice presents...
Greetings: "Como estamos?" (How are we?)is a very traditional greeting, somewhat antiquated but still in use. Of course, the young people have a different way of doing things: "Que hay?" (What's up?); or "Y qu??" (And?) Plenty of variety there.
Gestures: Hands, hands, hands!! And touching. A Dominican can hardly hold a conversation without touching a knee or a wrist or a shoulder..
Mouths are also used for gestures. Can be funny, too. One that comes to mind is two lips puckered way out like a monkey: Means
"I don't think so, but I won't say so."
Meal times: What are they like differes pretty much by economic status. The higher classes will have servents preparing breakfast for the children before they go off to school. In the lower classes, the mothers are up early and preparing milk for the kids. At the work places the bosses arrive already fed but the workers will take off 20 minutes or so, around 9 or 9:30 for a breakfast of fried eggs, plantains and avocado...
At noon time, my family used to gather and eat together. But we were sort of strange in that aspect. Dinner is generally catch as catch can.
Diet: Generally speaking most Dominican meals are prepared with fresh ingredients that are purchased on a daily basis. What is called the "Dominican Flag" meal is: Rice and red kidney beans, plantains in some form, cabbage and tomato salad, and some meat.
Family structure is a touchy question. There are more common law couples than there are married couples. The divorce rate is very high. Machismo is still prevalent at the poorer economic levels, but not in the highest levels. Generally speaking, children are adored, although we have had instances of tragedies among young, ignorant and un wed mothers...
Recreation and sports. All sports are practiced, but baseball, softball, basketball are the big three. Boxing is up there too.
Dominos and checkers are favorite passtimes that you can see on every street corner at dusk and on Sundays. Curiously, swimming is not a big sport on the island. There is an outstanding Dominican hurdler-Felix Snachez, world 400 mt champion, but he was raised in New York...don't know if that counts..
Finally, transportation. Everything from burros to Rolls Royces are here. There is a growing system of intercity buses, and the two main cities are equipped with bus systems. Taxis abound-581-TAXI, for example. A"Dominican" transport system is called "publicos", small, privately owned cars that run a fixes route and charge a fixed amount. Up to 8 people can be crammed into one of these. And another one is the system of "Motoconchos" (conchos being another word for 'publico'). These are motorcycles of varying sizes that take you from the "Publico" stops to your house...

Hope this assists you is some way..
HB

HILLBILLY: Re: Well, let's see if this helps...

Thanks for that! Even I learned a lot!!

THANK YOU ALL (more)

WOW! Your replies are very much appreciated and I thank you all for taking the time to answer!

The report is due Friday and I am pleased to have so much information!

I forgot to mention that this is for my 8th grade Spanish class. I had to pick a Spanish speaking country and do a report on them (written, visuals, and oral presentation). I'm sure to get an A with all of this info!

I'm so glad I found this web site......thank you all!

Maybe one day I will get to visit DR!! It looks and sounds beautiful!

THANKS AGAIN!!

Just to add to Hillbilly's post...

1.General attitudes (likes, dislikes)

Hillbilly is right on with his response.

2. Personal appearance (types of clothing worn generally by men, women, and children)

Dominicans for the most part tend to pay a great deal of attention to their appearance. Indeed, neatness is paramount no matter what economic class one comes from. Dominicans love to iron everything it seems - even T-shirts! Dominican women, particularly in the major cities, are very fashion conscious. Dominican women also pay a great deal of attention to their personal grooming. It seems that the concept of a bad hair day does not exist in the Dominican Republic. Dominican women are slaves to their hair! They love to have their hair done as well as their hands and feet done at the hair salons. These rituals tend to transcend socio-economic class, by the way.

3. Special customs & courtesies

Aside from Hillbilly's well described response, Dominicans are really a very polite bunch - you will find a rude person everywhere you go, but manners are very important in Dominican society. Greetings are always exchanged - i.e. good morning, good afternoon or good evening or simply a "Saludos!" We greet our parents by saying "bendici?n papi or mami", which means you are asking for your parents' blessing. The parent will respond "que Di?s te bendiga", meaning may God bless you. The tradition of celebrating a young girl's 15th birthday is like the equivalent of the Sweet sixteen party in the US. For some families, this party is no small affair - indeed, I once went to one which would have rivaled Lady Di' wedding! I had one of these parties, by the way. We did it at home with family and friends?no big deal. I have really nice memories of my "Quince" still have that pink dress somewhere and those infamous pictures to prove it - thought I looked cute in tulle?sister thought I looked like a dork!

5. Gestures

We are very touchy people like Hillbilly explains. My husband, who is from Pittsburgh, found all this touching amusing the first few times he traveled to the DR. By the time we married in Santo Domingo, he was often the initiator of handshakes and kisses on the cheek with just about everyone he was introduced to - it is a contagious thing!

6. What are meal times like?

The most important meal of the day is lunch. It used to be that Dominicans would go home from work to have lunch, but this is changing. Lunch at home is usually the "Dominican Flag" as Hillbilly mentions and at times preceded by a soup course and there is always a salad. At my home, lunchtime was the time to gather at the table, which was always beautifully set, and indulge in a gastronomic feast. Dinnertime, at least at my home, was uneventful on the other hand. We usually had a light dinner consisting of root vegetables (my sister had them cooked one way and I another way - very frustrating for my mother), eggs, salami or mortadella. Other dinner favorites were arroz con leche (hot rice pudding) which we also eat for breakfast, pastas or simply sandwiches and hot cocoa, yummmm!

7. Diet & types of food eaten

Dominican food is not necessarily the most healthy, but for the most part it is freshly prepared. Due to the electricity problems of the country, produce and meats tend to be bought daily. All types of foods are eaten in the Dominican Republic - from fast food (Dominican and American style) to gourmet. Dominicans don't snack as much as Americans do, but a mid-afternoon merienda or snack is customary.

8. Family structure

Touchy subject, very true. Divorce rate is high and common law arrangements are very common, up to 40% of couples are in common law unions. Dominicans are nonetheless very family oriented. Family goes beyond the confinements of the typical nuclear family to include the extended family.

9. Recreation & sports

I have one word for you: BEISBOL or baseball. Aside from that, all sports are practiced, but baseball is king. At the risk of being disowned by my fellow countrymen, I myself have never been a big fan of the sport. In schools boys and girls play all sorts of sports, most commonly basketball and volleyball, and let me tell you, I was a very good volleyball player in high school myself even though I am not that tall. My sister, on the hand, who is 5' 10" never played a thing! Dominicans, specially young people, pretty much do the same things that American teens and young adults like to do. Going to the movies is a popular past-time. Young professionals are into the after work "Happy Hours" at the local bars and restaurants. Bowling alleys are also very popular among teens in the big cities. Ballet and theater have a big follwing too.

Hope this helps and good luck!
Regards, Natasha

Contact the Dominican Studies Institute at the Ctty University of New York 138th and Convent Avenue, NYC 10027. Ms. Sarah Aponte will be more than glad to send you information. Also the Dominican Consulate at 1501 Broadway, New York 10018 has lots of information at their disposal that they can send you.