To Anna Coniglio:
When you mentioned Turkey, was it only because of distance or were you making a comparison?
If the latter, one can't compare the 2 countries, at least not attitude wise.
Although Turkey is poor, basic services are good there - postal service, telephone service, electricity (few outages there), water, police protection, modern banking, etc. Even the taxicab drivers are scrupulously honest - one never asks what the fare will be because there is no need to, he won't be cheated.
It is actually possible (I've done it) to get one's computer connected to the internet through a provider in less than an hour - take a taxi to the provider's location, pay a deposit (a small one) and get the connection information, take a taxi back to one's abode, setup the connection parameters, dial up, and you're done. Contrast that to the seemingly endless waits and excuses in the DR (or to do anything).
Education is also taken very seriously there.
No, it is not a utopia either, but the DR could learn a lot from it - especially as to how being poor is no excuse for a meltdown.
By the way, for those interested, most Turks are Moslim, but it's government is secular.
Also, as a followup to a discussion several months ago about beautiful Moslim women, did anyone else notice that the Miss World contest recently was won by a Turk. It was no fluke, Turkish girls really take care of themselves.