The Mainers have landed

mainer

New member
Mar 22, 2002
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We arrived the afternoon of Jan 30th, and here we are with our phone installed and on the internet. How we managed this, I dunno.

We came with eight 68 1/2 pound suitcases, four carryons, and three personal items. Our luggage was x-rayed in Miami, but so was everyone elses.

**Tip: We bought our visas $10 US each in Miami, so we didn't have to fill them out in POP

We breezed right through customs with our trail of luggage and kids, and the customs officials completely ignored us. We were met at the airport by a real estate friend of Ken's (a very pleasant surprise since we had no idea where the house was) and between his car and a taxi we got here. We found the house through Ken's friend, so we had never seen it.

Taxi fares have doubled from the airport since October from 200 pesos to Eddy's in October to 400 pesos now.

We are in a gated development within a gated community. It is very private and QUIET with a lovely pool and enough grounds for the kids to play. Definitely a gringo house with 3 bedrooms and 2 baths.

We are paying $800 US per month which includes the gardener, security guard at nite, and electricity and generator for 24 hour power. Trash pick up and running water is also included.

We paid 143 pesos for a five gallon bottle of drinking water and 20 pesos or so for refills. We brought our own pump from home to put on the top, but they do sell them in Sosua at the grocery store.

We had a little tiny propane tank for cooking like on a gas grill back home. We bought a 100lb gas tank for 2200 pesos delivered and set up with a new regulator.
 
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mainer

New member
Mar 22, 2002
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We were having a hard time finding room for the computer, so we left it in Maine and bought a notebook in Kentucky at Office Depot for $1300 bucks. We found the same computer at the computer store in Sosua for $1700 bucks. The bummer is that they had a Dell PC for 500 US right here in Sosua. To have a cd writer installed was $600 US. The computer was very similar, but a step up from the one that we left. That woud have saved us a lot of money. I am having a really hard time typing on this notebook, and I keep hitting the wrong key and deleting my stuff.

We packed the printer in a suitcase and put the scanner in a carry-on. The surge protector and cables were stuffed in the notebook bag.

**Tip: I would advise bringing a surge protector with a modem protector also. We brought several surge protectors.

We have a maid for two full days per week for 200 pesos per day. When she is done cleaning, she plays with my daughter.

We were told that laundry was $1US per pound or $3 US per load in Sosua. We don't have a car yet, so that would be a real pain. So, my husband set out to buy a washing machine in POP at Gonzales. He paid 9,600 pesos bartered down from 10,745 pesos. He then told the lady that she took all of his money, and he need a ride home in the truck. Needless to say, it got delivered right away. We had to pay 750 pesos to get a hook-up installed in the shed.

There are three kinds of machines that he saw. A simple one that had one bucket for washing and one for spinning. From what I see, the maid rinses the clothes by hand before putting them in the spinner. Not a nice thing to do to a maid, in my opinion. This was about 5,750 pesos. Then there is the European style that has a built in water heater. These require a 220 hook-up and cost around 17,600 pesos. We opted for the larger American model.

Public transportation IS available and varies. The cabs or vans with the blue thing on the top are publicos. They supposedly carry six people, although we had nine plus the driver in one. It costs us 30 pesos for the family to get to Sosua. The regular taxis have a yellow thing on top are 100 pesos (sometimes bartered down) to town. Then there are the guagua vans which are 15 or 30 passengers. They charge 9 pesos per person or 30 for four.

Picture the four of us standing at the end of our road waiting for a car with enough room to go by, and then flagging it down. Picture us on the way back with bags full of groceries. It's fun for now, but I am sure it won't last long.

Edited to add: Mr Mainer says that even though we had nice cars when we went to town with the kids, many of the publicos are junk cars and unsafe to ride in.
 
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mainer

New member
Mar 22, 2002
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I hope that I am not breaking Cris Colon's rule about three posts in a row, but I have an addendum to the washing machine. My husband brought a split hose that I thought was a funny thing to bring. We absolutely needed it to hook up the washer because there is only one water hook-up in the shed. This hose hooks there and then splits to the hot and cold hook-ups on the washer. We had inadvertantly brought a "reducer" thingy. It goes on a three-prong plug into an outlet without the ground. I am sure there is a name for it, but I hope you know what I mean. Bring a couple of those.

We are keeping a pretty good budget, and we will be more than willing to share it.

We are finding a container to ship our few remaining goods to be a little pricey, so we are probably flying back to Florida and hauling what we can in our 8 bags again. We will sell our car in Florida and buy one here. The rest of our stuff will get tossed out.

So far, our kids have made several friends and gone to a birthday party. We are not nearly as isolated as we had thought we might be. Lots and lots of foreigners with kids here.

BTW, the International School in Sosua is $5,000 US per child. A little expensive for our budget. One of the homeschools which uses the School of Tomorrow is about $2000 US. I will check on the Spanish schools when I get a chance.
 

AnnaC

Gold
Jan 2, 2002
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Glad everything is working out for you. The best of luck to you and the family
 

Art Covey

New member
Jan 2, 2002
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Very informative posts, sounds like your planning has payed off.
Good luck on your adventure.
Art
 

MaineGirl

The Way Life Should Be...
Jun 23, 2002
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amity.beane.org
Rock on, Mainers!!!!

Can I come over, in April?? : :) I'll give ya a thorough inspection of your current dooryard :)

Mainegirl, applauding

so you CAN get there from here...
 

BushBaby

Silver
Jan 1, 2002
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www.casabush.org
Sorry to have missed you at PJ's today Mary but enjoyed the meeting with 'MR Mainer'. Did he tell you about all those girls we had to keep fighting off???

Give me a call when you are coming to PoP & thanks for the new e-mail address. - Grahame.
 

mkohn

Bronze
Jan 1, 2002
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Hey Mainers,
Congratulations!
When I was a kid living in the DR, we couldn't afford the American school and were enrolled in a private, but Spanish-speaking school. The teachers were great, and we gradually learned Spanish. Speaking English in school might have held us back.
Good luck in your search for a school for the kids.
mk
 

MommC

On Vacation!
Mar 2, 2002
4,056
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dr1.com
Buen arrivata y Buena Suerte!

Nice to see things have gone so smoothly for you just starting out.
Despite all the negatives we sometimes post it really is getting better here in some ways!! :)
I too finally have a phone again (and JH has kindly "lent" his internet access) now all I'm waiting for is the phone to work properly, however everyone in the building seems to be having the same problem so it must be a "general" malady in the system.
Glad you've made it safely and are getting settled in without too many hassles!
Welcome home!!
 
Dec 9, 2002
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Fascinating stuff Mainers, well done. I'd just like to wish all of you the very best of luck for your futures there. I'm sooooo envious of you.
 

gretchsean

New member
Feb 7, 2003
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Congrats Mainers!

This is my first post I've been lurking and just trying to read enough so as not to sound like a newbie when I finally do post.

We are Michiganders, in case you were wondering, it is hovering around 0 here right now, that's -12ish for you centrigraders.

Anyway, please post more, we would love to see the budget, you could email it so other don't have to mess with it. We will be traveling with two children as well and as such would even like to see how you packed your clothes, well most of your clothes lol.

So impressed with the way you managed things, hope to pick your brain and make our trip even close to as smooth as yours.
 

mainer

New member
Mar 22, 2002
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Thanks for the welcome everyone!

I have gotten several emails regarding housing costs, so I will post this here. As I had stated, we are paying $800 US per month for a house within a development. I should also add that there are certainly less expensive rents available. We are between Sosua and Cabarete within walking distance of the ocean. The beach is very rough and rocky, and not a very safe place to swim.

Grahame gave us a tour of Puerta Plata, and there are some very nice housing areas there. One can even find cheaper rents going farther west. We specifically wanted a place with a pool and three bedrooms with room for our kids to run around. We found this area to be a little more private. The houses are reasonably far apart with good vegetation screening them. We feel quite safe here. Even in this area, there are nice apartment buildings with 2 and 3 bedroom apartments for rent at good prices. However, those of you who have met my kiddos know why we need a little more room than apartment living offers!

There are quite a few gated communities between Sosua and Cabarete that are all quite nice. Sea Horse Ranch is probably the most expensive, but the others all offer homes, some brand new, for reasonable prices.

**TIP There is a five to ten second pause from when our power goes out, to when the generator kicks in. If you don't have a battery back-up for the computer, you lose everything that you have been working on when this happens.
 

Ken

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Jan 1, 2002
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Mainer, have you taken a look at Casa Linda? Another friend of mine, also met through dr1, bought a house there this week through Dean and got a very good price. They are very enthusiastic about the area, and each house has its own pool. Security is also said to be excellent.
 

mainer

New member
Mar 22, 2002
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Some Rental prices

We have been checking around a bit on rentals, and I have a few prices to share on places between Sosua and Cabarete.

As I said, we have a three bedroom for $800 inclusive of utilities.

Cabarete: Three bedroom, two bathroom house with a pool in Cabarete. In an enclosed community on the golf course. $350 plus utilities.

Cabarete: Directly on the beach. 4 bedrooms, two baths in an enclosed upscale community. $1000 per month. dont know about utilities.

Playa Laguna: 2+1 bedroom, 1 and 1/2 baths apartment with a pool. 6 units in a very quiet neighborhood. Just a short path to the beach. $550 per month inclusive of everything.

Perla Marina: 2 bed house in gated development with four?houses and a pool. $750 pm all inclusive.

There are lots and lots of people coming and going, so places open up all the time. Just PLEASE be careful who you deal with. If you don't know the owner, I recommend that you find someone who does.

Also, there are plenty of other towns, which may be less expensive. I am just giving examples of THIS area.

Our budget for February is ready, but I will defer to Mr. Mainer to post that one.
 

mainer

New member
Mar 22, 2002
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Mainer 1 here, the following is a list of our monthly expenses 1/30 thru 2/28. A little background on these expenses. We do not eat a great deal of red meat, though we tried a couple of steaks, one was fine, one was comparable to the finished product of a cow hide. Most of our staples are from chicken, fish, and pork. We do eat a fair amount of rice and occassionally potatoes. Vegetables are about 50/50 fresh to processed due to not yet finding the right access to all fresh vegetables. Utilities are gas and phone internet only. Electric comes with the rent:


Transportation 855 peso
Groceries 9180 peso
Utilities 1450 peso
Rent 19600 peso
Maid 2x wk 1500 peso
Term Life Ins. 1056 peso
Kids allowance 165 pesos
Meds 165 peso
Mail EPS 65 peso
Extras 662 peso

These are based on the peso at 24 per dollar, fortunately found a place that exchangs personal checks. Hope that works out.
 
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