You wanted my stories about this country!

Jan

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Jan 3, 2002
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Santo Domingo Este
www.colonialzone-dr.com
01/26/2002
S?bado 26 de Enero de 2002

Dominican Washmachine!


Well, I did it! Bought a Dominican Washmachine. I never used a semi-automatic before...washmachine that is.For those of you who don't know what a Dominican Washmachine looks like...its plastic, light weight and had a place to wash on one side and the other side is a spinner to extract the water out of the clothes. I never saw anything like it in America!
So got this thing delivered to my house. Lucky the instructions were in English or I may still be interpreting the thing. I had so many dirty clothes I couldnt wait to use it. So I looked at the hose that hooks to the water. Since my place is so small I fugured I'd just slide it over to the sink and fill it there. I put i by the sink and the hose they gave me didn't fit on the spigot. So I got the hose from outside and draged it into the house, stuck it in the machine and commenced filling the thing. The hose flipped out of the tank, got the floor a little wet. But hey! No Problema! The floor needed a washing anyhow. So I got the tank filled and started washing the clothes. Seemed to be doing good. So I got the drain hose ready. Tried to stick it in the sink to drain there then I realized water doesn't flow up hill. But by the time i realized this and set the hose down to try and figure something out, I forgot to sut off the drain thing and water was shooting out all over the floor! Took me a few seconds to shut the water off, but you neder realize how much water can drain out of a hose in a few seconds! I had a small pool in my home by this time! So I got my trusty bucket and put the hose in there. But the bucket filled up pretty fast and i had to keep lifting it and dumping it in the sink, and in the meantime between dumps the water was going on the floor!
Finally got the thing emptied and put the clothes in the water extractor. More water came out! Go figure! But the thing made the clothes pretty dry, better than the hand wringing they were used to getting.
So I had my first load of wash done and was sweeping the water out the door. Started to do the second load. All was going well,water draining into the bucket, holding the hose up as I emptied the bucket so no water got on the floor. Then the stupid hose came unattached from the machine! This time the whole machine full or water emptied on the
floor. I was creating a pond in my kitchen! Then Sniffy, the blind wonder dog, comes out to "see" whats happening. She didn't see the water and slipped and fell in it. So now I have a wet dog and I was pretty wet myself .
Only one more load to go! So I pretty much had this thing figured out. I gave up on sweeoing the water out of the house til I was finished, just in case there were any more mishappes. I got the hose in the machine went out to turn the water on and the hose popped out again. But oh well,the floor was already a pond! Got the last load done and the hose popped off again. But this time the neighbor was walking by the door and saw me on my knees in the flooded kitchen with water shooting out of the machine. I was laughing out loud to myself. She stopped and had a look of shock on her face,she said something but I have no clue what she said in Spanish to me. But she was laughing also. Then, of course, she got two other people to come see the Gringa kneeling in a pool of water in her kitchen. They were laughing at me laughing at myself and all this time Sniffy had no clue what was going on. She was sitting on the edge of the pool looking very confused!
So this is my first laundry experience. I got all the water cleaned out and cleaned the patio also. There was alot of water! Never realized how much water a washmachine held! I hope this doesn't happen everytime I wash or I'm going back to handwashing...it takes less time!


Jan
 

Tom F.

Bronze
Jan 1, 2002
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I had a similiar experience

Living in the DR really made me think about where the electricity and water come from, and how to understand and fix the things you use in your life. Much more than in the US and is a positive part of living in the DR in my opinion. How to stategically set up and connect the machine, the amounts of clothes, soap and the rest come with time. You can only do about 2 pairs of blue jeans at a time. You will everyonce in a while forget to close the drain and as you fill it up for the next load, it comes out the bottom. From what I understand, they are made in Korea or China and are used in those countries. I used to fill it up will a large bucket if a good drainage spot is not close to the water source.
 

John El ?nico

New member
Jan 9, 2002
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you have to try wash machines in italy. it takes 24 hours to wash 3 pairs of jeans, 6 t-shirts, socks and underwears. next time I will pack enough clothes for a month.
 

Pib

Goddess
Jan 1, 2002
3,668
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www.dominicancooking.com
That made me laugh

I have to assume that you don't have the instalation for a washing machine in your place. New places do, like in my appartment there is a outlet for the cold water, one for hot water and drainage installation. I guess you'll have to figure out yourself how to install it permanently. If you need some help email me. I will go see, I am pretty good at fixing stuff around the house and it will only cost you a cup of coffee. :)
 

dulce

Silver
Jan 1, 2002
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Jan, you sure do bring back memories of my first days living in Santo Domingo! I was laughing so hard at your post my whole body was shaking. Here's one of my stories. Shortly after moving to SD Hurricane George followed me. For three months there was no running water in my apartment.The first apartment I had also did not have a generator for when the power went out. Finally we got water and electricity back to the neighborhood but when the electricity got shut off ( se fue la luz) the pump for the water did not work either. I got used to this minor detail,like you said, no problema. When the power went out I went to do errands or shopping at Plaza Central. So..... one day I was in the middle of doing my laundy by hand in the kitchen sink when the power went off. No problem.... I called a cab and took off. I was hanging around and ran into some friends and ended up going home about 6 hours later. When I arrived home there was a waterfall streaming off from my porch upstairs and down into the driveway. The power had come on and I had not turned off the water faucet. The water was running for all that time with the sink plugged and filled with clothes. My apartment had as much water on the floor as it did the night of Hurricane George. Thank God the landlord was away on business that day. I ran as fast as I could to find his giant floor squeegie and just about had a heart attack getting rid of that water before he got home. Ahhhhh ya gotta love it!!!! I got another funny story about water that I will save for you when you need another laugh.
 

ArJay

New member
Jan 1, 2002
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I love it.......

especially since you could laugh your way through it.

I find the simple things to be the most enjoyable when I'm there.
 

PJT

Silver
Jan 8, 2002
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Dominican Washing Machine

I enjoyed your stories. It's nice to have a chuckle at someone else's expense.

When I first got the washing maching you speak of I was amazed at its simplicity, no automation and no bells or whistles to pay extra for. There are less parts to break. But then my attention turned to how am I going to use the machine properly. Of course, being a gringo does not help, they tend to think in technical terms, like how to get water into the machine; where to construct, place the hot and cold water faucet to connect to the machine, where and how to drain it and where is the nearest electrical outlet.

If you go to the campo you will see some of these machines outside the home hooked up to an extension cord running to it from inside the house or to a planta (portable generator). You add water by garden hose or bucket and drain it by gravity feed direct to the ground. No big deal, simplicity at its best.

Well, my wife has the answer. Put the machine in the bathtub (we have the luxury of a spare bathroom), connect the machine to the tub faucet with a small length of hose. Use the nearby wall outlet for power. Drain the machine directly into the tub.

Somehow, I like the way they do it in the campo.

Regards, PJT
 

Jan

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Jan 3, 2002
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Santo Domingo Este
www.colonialzone-dr.com
Great story Dulse! It is best to laugh when things go wrong..no use getting upset..tears would just add more water to the problem!jejeje
I am looking outside at connections..but there is no hotwater hookup anywhere...the only hot water is in the shower..so I guess when I need hot water I'll have to bucket it out. We have to outside sinks...the one is under a little shelter but someone already had that spot with a broken machine...Do I take liberties and move it? This is the question...But I'll figure something out. Pib and I ..we'll figure this thing out.
And as always...still love this country!!!
 

AnnaC

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Jan 2, 2002
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Jan, the picture that you sent me of the washing machine looks very much like the one I had many many many years ago in Canada. They didn't make a big splash here. hehehe..but as remember they were best rolled up to the kitchen sink. hooked to the facet and the hose hanging over the sink to catch the water.
 

lilsam

Santo Domingo Sammy
Jan 2, 2002
224
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jan I know its off the thread how is sniffy

Been doing I was concerened when I first heard about him.
 
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Jan

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Jan 3, 2002
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Santo Domingo Este
www.colonialzone-dr.com
Sniffy is blind still. But shes learning how to be blind and shes getting around ok concidering. I still have hope that she will see someday,but it doesn't look good. She still likes to walk to the Colmados,but its just a little slower going.
Thanks for caring. If she can see someday I'll let ya'll know. I still haven't given up hope. I hope to find a doc sometime that can help her.
 

Nicolita

New member
Jan 5, 2002
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Sniffy....... que paso?

i am an animal lover.... so of course when mention was made about sniffy... my attention was caught..... in between laughing at you guys and your washing mishaps.... i guess i won't be laughing for long though... i will probably have some mishaps of my own to report in a few months... i am moving to the DR in 3 weeks!!!
so anyways about sniffy... how did she loose her sight?
 

Jan

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Jan 3, 2002
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Santo Domingo Este
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It should be in the archives in open forum under dominican drivers...I think thats where it was... If you cant find it you can email me and I will tell you...do not want to repeat it all here again and bore everyone. But please get intouch with me. Where in RD you moving?
 

Susan

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Jan 23, 2002
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just wanted to thank you for the best laugh today!

The smiles were most appreciated. What a lovely spirit to just laugh!

I'm lookin forward to my own washing machine adventures! But, I can't imagine being as good natured as you.. :)

I'm bringing my little dog with me... he weighs seven pounds and is a TerriPoo (part toy terrier and part toy poodle! very cute!). When I read about your pup, I related, as my little pooch is old and has cataracts. He is loosing his sight also. Poor Sniffy! What good friends they are to us, even when they are having hard times themselves...

perhaps I'll email you someday when we are settled in a few months.... *Mitch* (my dog) can come and cheer Sniffy up!

all the best, susan