Living in Santo Domingo

Harmony

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Apr 18, 2002
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I copied and started a new thread with Hamony's Post, to Bijan's thread about schools in the DR.
Thanks
Tim H.:cool:

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Bijan,

I would think twice about bringing two young girls to Santo Domingo. I had a gold necklace ripped off my neck in broad daylight at 3:00pm on Ave. Sarasota last week just across the street from the school mentioned above. Guy on motor scooter wizzed up the side walk and ripped the necklace and shirt without skipping a lick. I almost admire his skill. I knew not to ware gold but figured I had that necklace for 25 years and it was a part of me. It's not a lone event. A business man was standing outside an insurance company on Ave. Sarasota the other day and someone rip his sunglasses off his face. I'm pretty big so didn't think they would mess with me in broad daylight. Most parents walk their children into and out of the school.

I am staying on Ave Sarasota #45 in Bella Vista one of the better parts of the city and will not walk the streets at night. No way. I still haven't ruled out moving here for good but I have to worry about my wife. Things are a mess down here now. The economy is taking a big high dive into an abiss. The peso has gone from 45 to 51 to a dollar in the short time I've been here. Another strike has been called for the 28th & 29th. There were a few deaths attributed to the last one. This is a third world country. Keep that in mind.

Harmony
 
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Timex

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May 9, 2002
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Yep, Lots of DOOM & GLOOM!!!

As Harmony put it.

And he has not distorted any of the facts that he stated.
That said......

I live in Barrio China, Haina, about 15min from the Capital.
On my level, in the last 3 years, from when the pesos was 16 to 1.

1. There has been no increase in crime in my part of the world.

2. People are buying what they need, and there has been a great drop-off of the, weekend corner, beer-drinking & girl-watching rituals. The girls are still walking the runway, but the audience has dropped from the usual 50+ to around 12.

3. No body, and I mean NO BODY, should try walking around the Capital, wearing loose, and or bold jewelry. The moto-chonco guys have been doing this for years!!!!
It's like the merry-go round ride, and the necklace & pocket-books are the Brass Ring for them! After Living in NYC, we already knew how to dress and handle our-selves before walking out the door, for a stroll around town.

4, Peso devaluation is a fact that people are living with.

5, Those who get their funds in another currency are probably seeing what I am, that even though prices on services are going up, do to the peso devaluation & inflation, I am actually spending about 10% less @month, for the same life style.

6. Most parents at New Horizons do not walk their kids into & out of the school, they pull up and drop them off and pick them up, just like back in NY. I do not know about the other schools.

Enough of that nonsense....

Come on down and check it out for awhile, read the archives and put your scouting list in order for when you come.

If you coming to the south shore, my wife and I can spend a weekend showing you and yours around the capital.

I'm sure you will get them same for the north shore from some of the other family members here.

Tim H.:cool:

P.S. Lets stick to the original thread. I'm going to copy and start a new one for the replies that are coming for this.
 
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Robert

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Jan 2, 1999
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Harmony said:
I had a gold necklace ripped off my neck in broad daylight at 3:00pm on Ave. Sarasota... A business man was standing outside an insurance company on Ave. Sarasota the other day and someone rip his sunglasses off his face...

I'd rather deal with petty crime than a kid walking into a class and blowing away a few of his class mates. This is petty crime, it happens all over the world. Yes, even in your country.

Most parents walk their children into and out of the school.
Not true! What schools? They might drop them off by car, but that's about it


I am staying on Ave Sarasota #45 in Bella Vista one of the better parts of the city and will not walk the streets at night. No way.
I know the area very well. Have friends that live in that area and never have a problem. I wouldn't hesitate to walk around that area at night. I have!

Let's get real here, crime happens in all parts of the world. If you are thinking of leaving due to the fact that your had a necklace stolen, then you better leave. You really are not cut out to live in the DR and you would be better off back home.

This country is not for everyone. It has it's problems like most other countries. But those that are capable of living here, usually love it and are not very happy to leave.
 

Harmony

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Apr 18, 2002
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Easy Robert!

I still have not ruled out Santo Domingo. I have lived in some mighty bad places including Luanda, Angola when they were having civil strife, Lome, Togo, and others. None of them had armed guards at nearly every entrance to a business or apartment. Bella Vista in Santo Domingo does. Why?

I also have friends who have lived here for 30 years without a problem but they now say it is getting worse.

I was just suggesting there are more appropriate places in the DR for a 7 & 12 year old.

As for walking the streets at night. Good luck. To each his own. Just remember what Willie Sutton (or whoever) said when asked why he robbed banks. That's where the money is. If I were a robber I wouldn't go to the getto.

Harmony
 

Hillbilly

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Jan 1, 2002
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Petty theft

My aunt was robbed of her gold as she stood on Ave. Bolivar waiting for a concho. My wife was heisted of her cosmetic jewlery as she walked home and one of our regular visitors was robbed just the other day. All by guys on motorcycles...

Would I live anywhere else? No way....unless I win the Lotto and move to the beach house....

HB
 

lhtown

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Jan 8, 2002
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I have lived in SD for over two years. So far, I haven't been involved in any kind of robbery attempt either personally or as a witness. As you will notice, most stories of such incidents are by pedestrians or people in public taxis. If you walk circumspectly when you must walk and use your own transportation staying in better areas of the city, you will greatly reduced your likelihood of being a victim of petty thievery.

Part of the reason you see guard everywhere in better areas is simply because there is enough money floating around to afford them. Good guards= no problems; No guards=opportunity for problems
 

Talldrink

El Mujeron
Jan 7, 2004
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Crime everywhere

There's crime everywhere you go. If your decision is going to be based on the crime, then the only safe place to move is under a rock.

I had my purse snatched from inside a car from a motoconcho in a traffic jam last December. However, I think I had beaten the odds a long time because that is the first time something like that has happened to me in DR.

I have been traveling every year since I was 8, and in the past 18 years I can say that I have walked at night and in high noon and nothing has happened. Meanwhile, I can start a new thread on the things that have happened to me and my family here in the States.
 

gringo in dr

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May 29, 2003
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The DR is a cake walk compared to Costa Rica. I live there for about 5 years. EVERYONE I knew, including myself, was robbed in CR.

You could not park your car on the street, at night, unless you lived far out in the campo. You can bet your last dollar that it wouldn't be there at sun rise.
 

Carla

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Jan 24, 2003
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no problems so far...

we have been living here in gazcue for 1,5 years, my teenage kids go out by themselves and with friends-I do the same-I am as careful as I would be in any big city in the world...feel much safer here, though, than in many other towns that I have lived in before.
Bienvenido-in one of the safest countries in the cariibean...