Well here we are mostly settled into Kentucky. My sister survived her 4-wheeler accident. Her brain swelling went down with no brain damage. She was to have her face reconstructed as every bone except the jaw bone was broken on the left side of her face, including her nose. While they were waiting for the swelling to go down, the bones all healed perfectly except the one supporting her eye which was shattered. They just had to rebuild that one bone. Even her vision is okay. Thank you to everyone who asked about her recovery.
We are looking at another way to come to the DR, this time keeping our residency in the US. That way, we can keep US insurance for our daughter and buy the local and Mas Vida insurance in the DR. That will be sometime in the future, though.
My first post was going to be about homeschooling and the possibility of getting a US Diploma, but I just wrote it all down in another thread. That is probably the question I get emailed the most. The second would be budget. I posted all I know in an earlier thread, and I hear that prices have all jumped since we left anyway. I would like to stress that we made our move using money that would make a big "ouch" if we lost it, but would not devastate us financially. Most of our money was left in the good 'ole US of A. I admire people who have up and moved and invested totally in the DR, but it is not something that we were ready to do. However, we would certainly have stayed at least one more school year if not for the insurance issue.
Dogs:
Probably the thing that I liked least in the DR are the dogs. It seemed as though every neighborhood we looked into had many houses with 2, 3, or 4 barking, snarling dogs. It scared the children to go for walks. When we lived in Perla Marina, we had to walk past a couple of these houses to go to the beach. At Villas Karibik, dogs often got loose and into fights. A doberman got his gate open and went after our little Domincan puppy. First time in my life that I have ever thrown rocks at a dog.
When we left the country on May 30th which is 15 days past the date to fly dogs in cargo on AA. A dog can be carried under the seat in front of you if it is 20 lbs or less. (EDITED TO ADD: Wendy was a little over thirty pounds by now, and quite tall).We bought a ticket for Wendy ($50 bucks) and bought a pet transport bag. We had her on leash at the airport and an AA employee told me that she couldn't go. I said yes she could and she was going in that bag and pointed to it. She asked if she had been in it. I told her that is how she got here and I sort of turned up my nose and looked away. I meant to the airport. How could I help it if she thought I meant that she flew in that way. We squished the dog into the bag, and the sweet little thing stayed there quietly for five hours. I had no other choice but to abandon her. We spent 300 pesos for her health guarantee papers in English and Spanish, but when I tried to show them at customs in Miami, I just got waved through. I told them that I had a dog, and the agent asked if I had any dog food. I told him that I had brought a baggie full to feed her when we landed. He was floored, sent me to someone else who told me to have a nice day.
Now, every dominican dog that I met in the DR was mellow and just kind of nosed around. This thing is a wild little creature since we brought her here who has more energy than my six year old son. She is one of the smartest dogs we have ever owned, but she wears me out. She hates to be inside and chews everything in sight when left alone. I wonder if it the cooler weather. I am trying to get my Florida sister to go down and get one for her FEMA training.
I have more thoughts and experiences to post, and I will try to get them up this week.
Mainer (I hear it is snowing in Maine today. Is it true, MaineGirl?)
We are looking at another way to come to the DR, this time keeping our residency in the US. That way, we can keep US insurance for our daughter and buy the local and Mas Vida insurance in the DR. That will be sometime in the future, though.
My first post was going to be about homeschooling and the possibility of getting a US Diploma, but I just wrote it all down in another thread. That is probably the question I get emailed the most. The second would be budget. I posted all I know in an earlier thread, and I hear that prices have all jumped since we left anyway. I would like to stress that we made our move using money that would make a big "ouch" if we lost it, but would not devastate us financially. Most of our money was left in the good 'ole US of A. I admire people who have up and moved and invested totally in the DR, but it is not something that we were ready to do. However, we would certainly have stayed at least one more school year if not for the insurance issue.
Dogs:
Probably the thing that I liked least in the DR are the dogs. It seemed as though every neighborhood we looked into had many houses with 2, 3, or 4 barking, snarling dogs. It scared the children to go for walks. When we lived in Perla Marina, we had to walk past a couple of these houses to go to the beach. At Villas Karibik, dogs often got loose and into fights. A doberman got his gate open and went after our little Domincan puppy. First time in my life that I have ever thrown rocks at a dog.
When we left the country on May 30th which is 15 days past the date to fly dogs in cargo on AA. A dog can be carried under the seat in front of you if it is 20 lbs or less. (EDITED TO ADD: Wendy was a little over thirty pounds by now, and quite tall).We bought a ticket for Wendy ($50 bucks) and bought a pet transport bag. We had her on leash at the airport and an AA employee told me that she couldn't go. I said yes she could and she was going in that bag and pointed to it. She asked if she had been in it. I told her that is how she got here and I sort of turned up my nose and looked away. I meant to the airport. How could I help it if she thought I meant that she flew in that way. We squished the dog into the bag, and the sweet little thing stayed there quietly for five hours. I had no other choice but to abandon her. We spent 300 pesos for her health guarantee papers in English and Spanish, but when I tried to show them at customs in Miami, I just got waved through. I told them that I had a dog, and the agent asked if I had any dog food. I told him that I had brought a baggie full to feed her when we landed. He was floored, sent me to someone else who told me to have a nice day.
Now, every dominican dog that I met in the DR was mellow and just kind of nosed around. This thing is a wild little creature since we brought her here who has more energy than my six year old son. She is one of the smartest dogs we have ever owned, but she wears me out. She hates to be inside and chews everything in sight when left alone. I wonder if it the cooler weather. I am trying to get my Florida sister to go down and get one for her FEMA training.
I have more thoughts and experiences to post, and I will try to get them up this week.
Mainer (I hear it is snowing in Maine today. Is it true, MaineGirl?)
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