Homesick/I want to go back to D.R!!!!!!!!!!!

Dominicana#1

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I have been in the U.S for more than 12 years, I can't take it, I

love my country and I would love to go back but although I travel

there every year for at least a month I would love to stay there

and live. My problem is the insecurity, I have fasmily there but i'll

like my own place and a job. What I need to know is where do I

go to find a job what jobs are better where can I find a cheap

apartment to buy or rent and for how much? The only thing i have

is a high school diploma and will be certified travel agent is there

anyone that can tell me any info that would help. I am stuck living

here where I forget that there is a bright side to life. Unlike when

I go over there am revived maybe the US aint that bad but is not

for me. CAN ANYONE HELP?????
 

AnnaC

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Sorry for saying this but I find it hard to believe that you go to the DR every year for a least a month but you have never looked into finding a job. If you have family there, don't they know where cheap apartments are? Anyway good luck with your search.

Anna has a head cold, no patience today, sorry.
 

Keith R

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I wish you luck, but consider this move veeerryy carefully first

Dominicana,
Maybe you'll be one of the lucky ones who moves back and likes it. I am sure that such Dominicans exist. Trouble is, I have yet to meet one. I've been married to a Dominicana since 1986, traveled there every yr like you, and even lived there 1995-99. I can't count the number of Dominicans I know (including several from our family) or have met who moved back to the DR from the US, only to turn around and return to the US because they (1) found that living in the DR was no longer the way they remembered it; OR (2) found that living in the DR these days was not the way they imagined it or were told it would be by their relatives; OR (3) discovered that many of their attitudes have been reshaped by American life to the point that real DR day-to-day life (NOT what you see when you visit relatives for a few weeks once a yr) is a different kind of drag they can no longer tolerate for long, or which drives them crazy; OR (4) some or all of the above.
One of these was my wife. She had lived in the US for 21 yrs before returning. She has many friends and relatives in DR. Had an excellent job in the DR, and could easily have switched to another if she wished (she has a degree in finance, a CPA in the US and is an experienced auditor). She was certain she would enjoy living there again. Wrong! In some ways she was more eager to return to the US than I was. And no, it was not just the electricity problem (first thing that many people say). It was a multitude of things. The short version is that she had changed and the DR had changed and the DR was not how she imagined it would be after 21 yrs of visiting family and talking to them constantly about life there. Many of her Dominicana friends here in the US and some of her family there in the DR tried to warn her before the move, but she wouldn't believe it until she went through day-to-day living there.
I guess what I'm trying to say is that don't let homesickness alone dictate your decision. Consider it very carefully from several angles (for example, with only a high school diploma, meaningful job opportunities will be limited). And discount the assurances of family there that all will be okay -- they mean well, but chances are they want you to come and are not weighing rationally the difficulties you'll face.
Best Regards,
Keith
 

AZB

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Sorry keith, I don't agree.
I didn't read your whole post but I did read the part where you had mentioned
"I can't count the number of Dominicans I know (including several from our family) or have met who moved back to the DR from the US, only to turn around and return to the US because...".

Where I live, almost all of neighbors are ex residents of USA and would never imagine moving back there again. My land lady lives in NYC and counting days until her son turns 18 so she too can return.
Most of my Dominican friends would never return to USA to live there again. I would never consider returning to USa to join the rat race.
I guess it all depends on what type of a socio-economical circle you move in. I agree, a poor dominican might be better off in USA as opposed to a well-to-do dominican who would prefer to stay right here where he belongs.
Bottom line is this: if you have a good job or a good business and live well, why anyone would ever go to USA?
Most of my friends live way better than many people i meet in usa and spend far more money on daily bases than many american are able to afford. So it all depends on who you are and what is better for you.
 

Keith R

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Maybe

Azb,
Well, maybe it works for those returning to Santiago. I admit I spoke of people trying to return to Santo Domingo life.
As for your socio-economic circles remark, please re-read my post. My wife and I are both well-educated professionals, trilingual and we're not poor, and we were not living poor in the DR for those four years. We too thought that we'd live far better for our money in SD than in Virginia, but the truth is, we only lived marginally better. The savings were not as dramatic as often claimed. Perhaps this is a function of SD costs vs. Santiago costs. Or maybe it's because we were a family instead of single, had kids in school (we chose private school because of concerns about the education in public school), chose not to spend hrs in public transport (and thus spent more money), etc. I'm not sure. We didn't try to duplicate our Virginia lifestyle by any means -- for example, we did not buy a planta and use an air conditioner (we had only a modest inversor), we did not go out to dinner often or even order out for pizza often, etc. We didn't buy only imported foods at the supermarket, and didn't shop the most expensive markets. Nonetheless the costs were much higher than we had imagined and been advised, and the additional hassle factor to achieve this marginal savings was considerable.
Atentamente,
Keith

P.S. My wife also found that by the time we moved back to the States in 1999, anyone working for a large corporation in SD was working long & hard hours -- that the worklife was becoming more and more like the rat race you complain about in the U.S. Perhaps for a Chiro living in Santiago, setting his own hours, this is not true. But not all of us have that luxury.
Add to this the consideration of the immense hassle of getting to and from work everyday in SD traffic, my wife felt that worklife in SD can be every bit as stressful in its own way as the US rat race (remember, she lived in NYC for 12 yrs prior to moving to the Washington area, so she knows what all about that rat race).
 
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bob saunders

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adjusting after return

What my wife find more frustrating everytime she returns, is dealing with goverment offices. Every year when she returns she has to make several or more trips to Santo Domingo, or Santiago, or La Vega to accomplish things that here, she can do over the phone or any local goverment office. The lack of electricity dosn't bother her but the lack of a consistant work ethic sure does.
ABZ do you think if you were raising a family there you would think differently. The RATRACE isn't everywhere in NORTH America.
 

Ken

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Bob, as you await the answer to your question, keep in mind that AZB is not an American. He is from Iran and his comments on the US in some previous posts were far from positive.
 

Robert

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Ken...

I think you need to get a little better aquatinted with AZB.
From what I know, he's not Iranian and is USA born and breed.

I'll let AZB fill in the gaps...
 

Keith R

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Now that you mention it...

AZB said:
Where I live, almost all of neighbors are ex residents of USA and would never imagine moving back there again. My land lady lives in NYC and counting days until her son turns 18 so she too can return.
Most of my Dominican friends would never return to USA to live there again. I would never consider returning to USa to join the rat race.
I guess it all depends on what type of a socio-economical circle you move in. I agree, a poor dominican might be better off in USA as opposed to a well-to-do dominican who would prefer to stay right here where he belongs.
Bottom line is this: if you have a good job or a good business and live well, why anyone would ever go to USA?
Most of my friends live way better than many people i meet in usa and spend far more money on daily bases than many american are able to afford. So it all depends on who you are and what is better for you.

Azb,
After having a bit more time to reflect on it, I can recall a few cases like those you mention. One of my wife's uncles spent many yrs working in NYC saving up for his retirement in SD, and now is happy to be there in retirement. [His wife, also Dominican born & raised but who lived in NYC some 20 yrs, is unhappy and wants to live in the US again.] My mother-in-law "moved back," and still owns a home there, but in truth spends more far time in the US than the DR (in fact, has not been back for nearly 3 yrs now). The people we bought our home from in SD had lived & worked in the US for many yrs but were supposedly happy to be back living their later yrs in SD, but I noticed that the wife actually only was in DR during the holidays -- the rest she spent in NYC. And finally, one of my neighbors in SD was a semi-retired veterinarian who had lived many yrs in NYC and enjoyed living in SD -- except that he could frequently traveled to NYC and had a wife who supported him.
I'm not sure that any of these examples really makes a strong case for younger folks thinking about returning to SD, particularly one already fretting about "insecurity." When I said in my original post that I did not know people who had returned and were satisifed about it, I had in mind the many folks in their 30's and 40's, many of them with families but some who were single, who had returned thinking it would be some idyllic escape from the North American rat race, or it would be like returning to the home they left yrs ago. Most of these I know or have met didn't last six months back in the DR, much less the 4 yrs my wife tried it.
In closing, I would also suggest that this is not exclusively a Dominican question. I suspect I would not enjoy returning to my hometown to live, no matter how quiet and relaxed it appears. What was it Thomas Wolfe said?
Regards,
Keith
 

ricktoronto

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Re: Ken...

Robert said:
I think you need to get a little better aquatinted with AZB.
From what I know, he's not Iranian and is USA born and breed.

I'll let AZB fill in the gaps...

Maybe he thinks AZB "sounds" Iranian. Or maybe Aberzijanian. More of the letters are the same, anyway.
 

Ken

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Robert,

If you are correct, I apologize to AZB. I was recalling some of the l?os in which he was involved on the "former" board. My recolection is that he was of Iranian or Arab extraction. Suppose I could go back into the archives and check, but I'll take your word for it.

Ken
 

AZB

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Ken,
I was born in Pakistan but raised in USA and an American citizen. But to you we are all Iranians. Keep watching CNN, you will learn a whole lot more about us people. Oh yes, we are all terrorists and we kill every American on site or kidnap them.
So if I or anyone else is critical of American foreign policies that makes us anti Americans? What ever happened to freedom of speech?
I can name you several guys from this board who have left the american rat race to come here and many are in the process in making this exodus to DR.
Ken, please get you facts straight and stop acting like an ignorant gringo
 

AnnaC

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Just because Ken doesn't remember where you were born doesn't give you the right to call him an ignorant gringo. He never said anything about blah blah terroist. Do you remember where I was born? If not, does it make you an ignorant AZB? Some people know the difference between Iran, Iraq, Pakistan, India.. missing_dr is from India. Hi missing_dr ! And No most of us don't think your all terrorist but you sure are silly ( to use a nice word) when you say these things about others, azb

Anna still has head cold, not a happy camper!:mad:
 

MommC

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I love the time we spend in the DR.

4-6 months per year. However I would never consider living there permanently.
We own our "accomodations" and have spent about $25000. above the purchase price to make them as close as possible to living conditions at home. We spend about $2500-3000. per month while we are there to maintain our lifestyle much as it is at home.
I would hate to have to hold down a job in the DR that would provide me with this much income /mnth. Then I would be back in the rat race (both hubby and I have "trades" or training that would allow us to make this much income however Ken said it - work,traffic jams,long hours etc....Not!!).
Cost of living to live "americanized" is way too high. Electricity is frustrating,water is a big problem,sanitation drives me wild,transportation while fairly inexpensive (if using public transport) leaves much to be desired,gov't is corrupt and difficult to have dealings with for even the most basic of things, health care can be difficult to obtain in emergency situations,education is fraught with low standards (many times even in private schools) ,work ethic leaves much to be desired, certain "necessities" can be difficult or impossible to obtain, repairs to house, appliances,vehicles,etc the same.
I could continue but you get the point. We come back every year and will continue to do so but trust me when it's time to head "home" we're grateful to be able to leave until it's time to come back!
Many people have made the transition to living in the DR permanently and have fashioned a lifestyle suitable to them (noteably HB and BB) however they've been there a long time and have undoubtably made many concessions to "adapt" to the lifestyle they've fashioned. I like the lifestyle I have and wouldn't want to have to drastically change it now. Ken also pointed out that individuals like AZB and Jazz are just that -individual, no families and have sufficient wealth or income to allow them to live the lifestyle they want while not being too bothered by the things that drive those with families crazy.

My advice to "I wanna go baaaaaackk!" would be to stay in school,learn a trade or a "profession",then go back for a year to see how you do or work a few years to build up a "fund" and then move back if that's what you really want to do.
 
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Criss Colon

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When I was in Boston last April,I had to renew my Massachusetts Drivers License.I could have done so "On-Line" from the DR,but it had "expired" in Dec 2001,and I wanted a new Foto(I am much better looking after living in the DR for 6 years)...So I looked on the "WEB-Site" found the office near me,a shopping center nearby,and went in.I walked to the "Information" desk,he gave me a "form" to fill-out,a pen, a clipboard,and a number.I sat in an empty chair,in a beautiful air-conditioned office,and filled out the very simple form.my number was displayed on an electronic "ticker tape",I was directed to one of about 10 windows where I handed in my form,my picture was taken with a digital camera,I handed over $35,got $3 in change,she didn't have to take up a "collection" among all the clerks to find the $3,got my new license,and was out the door.Elapsed time?,20 minutes!That is what makes it hard to return to live in the DR after you have lived in the USA! That and ;No electricity,water,health care,education,government,The garbage,the burning tires,squalor,stench,thieves;white collar,blue collar,and no collar!Local drivers,and traffic.One day in the DR is like a year in Mississippi! Sorry Mississippi!CRISCO
 

Charlene G. Pic

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Jul 13, 2002
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Liven in the USA

Been to the DR 6 times, love it but I like coming home again, and then ready to go back in a couple of months. Once we get home I realize how good this mid western,small town girl has it. No rat race here. We thought alot about buying some property in the DR and once we started adding up the cost, repair bills, to the house we were looking at, up keep, someone to house sit while not there, ect. just not feasible at this time. To the person who really, really,really, is home sick, stay in the US, get a good education, come home, and try to help with local goverment, education. It's a great country and so is the USA. Char
 

Dominicana#1

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Aug 2, 2002
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Thanks 4 ur replies and...

Thanks guys for ur replies and just to let u know I really dont care how financially stable I am in DR As long as i have a good job that provides food and shelter. I am not in to luxuries my whole point is the enviroment and the people. Over there in it's ways it's alittle more laid back, people are more friendly and there's always a weekend when u can just kick back on the beach or go dancing in a disco I dont even have the the motivation to do that here to me over there is a different kind of life(by the way i dont stay with family when i visit i usually stay in a resort) so iam not a drag to any family members for that one who said that. Some of you may find it hard over there and some of u wont but most of u are americans(no Offense) my point is ur more adapted to the us life I was born over there, if there werent any us in the world or planes i would be there and would have to live there no matter the conditions because its my country I am not afraid to live a dominican life in Dr good or bad because iam dominican when i first wrote i just wanted data on employment places and organizations etc..... ty guys
 

dulce

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Jan 1, 2002
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homesick

Aldaba is the name of a website for jobs in the RD. I have a couple of others also and if you are interested in them you can e-mail me.
 

AZB

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Dominicana, you hit it on the nose. You are right, even if we don't have the american luxury we can always kick back on a beach and enjoy. That is something most americans have to plan, once a year.
I went to Jarabacoa on the weekend, just 40 mins of driving from santiago with a stop in between. We had a woderful time at a river and enjoyed a few cold onces in a local restaurant. If you convert the pesos into dollars, it almost cost next to nothing. A whole day at the most natural setting, river and green mountians on the back ground. All happy people having fun without any worries in the world.
Do come back and start a new life, free of western civilized problems and stress.
 

tnt

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Aug 12, 2002
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my opinion

Well, this exchange reminds of the heated debate I used to hear amongst expats living in Africa about life in the developing countries. Basically, there is a big difference of attitude between American/Canadian expats on one side, and European/other expats in the other side. To summarize, North Americans tend to be obsessed with negative things like
- garbage and sanitation problem
- delays
- corruption
which reflects the difference they perceived of how those things are in the US.
Europeans tend to be more relax with those aspects because they think (realistically) they do have the same kind of problem back home.
I do think that Americans have a reduced and probably biased view of how the world really is. Maybe they start to realize they need to adjust a bit now, expecially since the Enron/Andersen scandal reveals how corrupted the business and political elite can be in the US. And with the stock market crash they discover that only investment bankers and insiders make money by pulling all the strings and leave the rest of us holding the bag.