Curious to hear from all expats

O & C..only ex-pats?

Though your question is for ex-pats, let me give you my opinion as a recently inplanted Dominican(as you well know I came back in 1993 after a long stay abroad).
No matter what this jerk(Hipolito) has done to our country, this island is as resilient as the ex-pats who stay here. Even Hurricane George could not destroy us with a direct hit and a class 4 storm. Within months of the storm the country looked like it never happened. Our flora recovered and people built up again. I see huge Araucaria pine and palm trees that took the storm as a joke. The earthquake in the North region has been all, but forgotten. So Hipolito needs four more years of destruction before we may be willing to let go. It is true, he is the biggest natural or man-made threat this island has ever had,If Hippo cannot destroy us, perhaps nothing will. So I have not given up, although I am beginning to entertain Panama and Costa Rica, just in case. Even though I have a house in Miami, it is out of the question my return to the U.S. I had enough of Uncle Sam and the IRS.
There is nothing like DR. If nothing else, I give the edge to our women over any other country(thank god for making me a man in DR) This is a feast!! Even a destitute S.O.B. can have his share. So imagine the opportunities for those who have a little cash or more. Not that women in DR are just there for the taking. It is just that our women are very practical and enjoy a good time and know how to do it all. Foreign women seem to think the same of our men. Our sun is the next big asset. It is always there as faithful as a priest to God. And even when it rains our country looks good with its coconut and seagrape jungle. I read today in MSN(Retiree paradise?) where Panama is the biggest bargain in our continent area. But checking into it noticed that it is only competitive with our standards. Then Johannesburg is supposed to be the best buy as a world class city. But move to South Africa??? What do you suggest O & C in case Hipolito sends us all to hell??
TW

My health and safety would need to be at serious risk!

The only thing that would drive "She who must be Obeyed" & myself out of this country would be endangerment to our lives - a civil war, hatred spilling over to Ex-Pats (instigated by Hippo no doubt) or total uprising of the Dominicans against their elected Government & us "Gringos" getting caught in the crossfire!! I see Hippo as the only one who can cause this to happen so IF he gets re-elected, we shall start looking around as to our alternatives!! I am pleased to advise that I do not see this happening for at least 3 - 5 years!!

IF he gets back in this time, I see 'His Baldness' changing the next election to coincide with the Municipal elections (not the next ones due in 2006, but those due in 2010!!) & so instead of FOUR more years, we will have SIX more years!!! There may be minor unrest & discontent for three of those years before the populace starts to react seriously & THAT is the time for us to be ready to move i.e. 4 - 5 years down the road!!

Being in the "Evening" of our years, this is not something we look forward to & the UK is out of the question (Too Bl**^y cold!!) so Cuba might be one of our alternatives. However, we are hoping that this will NOT become necessary!!

LORD protect us from even ONE more year of this guy!!! - Grahame.

Safety or health at serious risk. See nothing on the horizon that would cause us to move away.

please don't go?

C'mon Guys...nobody's Going Anywhere!...we Are Getting Rid Of Hippo On May 16th Since The Majority Now Realizes What A Huge Mistake It Was To Hand Over This Country To A "functional Illiterate"...the Only Drawback Is All The Damage He May Do Between May 16th And August 16th When The New Government Will Take Over...hipo May Try To Steal The Election Too But He Is So Far Behind He Won't Be Able To...so, Please Don't Go?...better Times Are Yet Ahead!...e Pa Fuera Que Van!

Only if it gets like Haiti

would I up & go. We've discussed it, we have a plan but we DON'T think it is going to happen. Suspect I'll be leaving here in my coffin due to natural causes (old age). How's that for a vote of confidence?

I think that we have all the bad on our plates that can possibly be at the moment and I feel there won't be anything that will make me leave. Unless I find a more suitable place to live which I have been looking for and still look for.

http://babelfish.altavista.com/babelfish/tr

I just opened babelfish machine translation service to translate the following phrase : 'es para afuera que van' and got the following result:

'it is for outside that goes'


Mirador

Getting a good education for four children MAY,cause us to leave!

I have a 7th,2nd,pre-schooler,and a 5 month old to educate! I can't afford the "Carol Morgans" of Santo Domingo,so we may spend 9 months of the year in Boston,and 3 months in the DR!The United States has excellent schools(if you pick the district!) and its FREE!
Second reason to leave is a severe,or chronic medical problem.You need "Chemo",or radiation treatment,a bone marrow transplant(or any "transplant")kidney dialysis,major surgery,"Get Out"!
Third reason to leave for me would be "Impotence"!
Si "El Canario" no sirve,me voy"!
What reason to stay in the "Garden Of Eden" if you can't enjoy the fruit!Better "Cable TV" in the USA for old :nervous: men who can't get it "UP" anymore!
Right "Texas Billy"Eddy,Escott,and don't forget Ken,Bush Baby.Hillbilly,who am I leaving out here??????
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I love it here and often feel depressed from the thought of leaving this island. After my father's recent death and currently my mother's illness, I am quite afraid to end up like her and have no good health coverage or money to sustain my living expenses. I don't see myself getting rich in this country at the moment. I make good money in pesos but in dollars its a joke. I don't want to end up 60 yrs old and broke. Therefore, I would like to go to a country where there is no income tax (duty free port) and the living standard is equal or better than USA. I would like to work 10 years straight and save up enough money to come back to Dr or costa rica or brazil and never have to work again; maybe work for hobby. This is my current goal and that is whats keeping me up at nights. By the way, I just got a job offer from the medical center in sosua to work there as a chiropractor, 2 days a week. What do you guys think of that? Maybe I can charge in dollars?
Lets see what happens.
AZB

Criss Colon said:

Third reason to leave for me would be "Impotence"!
Si "El Canario" no sirve,me voy"!
What reason to stay in the "Garden Of Eden" if you can't enjoy the fruit!
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CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC

Click to expand...

But you have OTC (Over the Counter) Viagra there!!!!!!!!!

No hay espera?

Criss Colon said:

I have a 7th,2nd,pre-schooler,and a 5 month old to educate! I can't afford the "Carol Morgans" of Santo Domingo,so we may spend 9 months of the year in Boston,and 3 months in the DR!The United States has excellent schools(if you pick the district!) and its FREE!
Second reason to leave is a severe,or chronic medical problem.You need "Chemo",or radiation treatment,a bone marrow transplant(or any "transplant")kidney dialysis,major surgery,"Get Out"!
Third reason to leave for me would be "Impotence"!
Si "El Canario" no sirve,me voy"!
What reason to stay in the "Garden Of Eden" if you can't enjoy the fruit!Better "Cable TV" in the USA for old :nervous: men who can't get it "UP" anymore!
Right "Texas Billy"Eddy,Escott,and don't forget Ken,Bush Baby.Hillbilly,who am I leaving out here??????
CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC
CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC

Click to expand...

Right On!! For Medical, I'll go to Ponce and the new,big VA Hospital or to Keesler Field Miss. In the meantime, using Vigaro seems to solve the problem.
TV is no problem since I have DirectTV AND DishTV inhouse (if I can keep Margarita from watching all those Novelas on cable!).
As to anything else, well I still have my arsenal and am a pretty good shot!
Will defend against all comers!
"Remember the Alamo"!!!!!

Texas Bill

I have left and come back several times...just can't keep away for long.

Hey Golo until last year I rented out an apartment in Marbella sector right next to Paitilla on Ave Balboa on the "malecon" in Panama City. In short I really like Panama.

The people are very much like Dominicans in many aspects (good and bad), and the city is very modern and comfortable, although it has that rainy, gloomy, humid feeling of Central America where it rains non-stop from April-December.

I have also Lived in Costa Rica and did not really like to live there. Although it is a very "civilized" society, they are behind us on the higher-end standards of living.

If you have money the DR is one of the best places to live in the region because it is still much safer than most of Latin America and especially for ex-pats because they are treated very well here.

Narcosis

I've never been to Panama, but if like you say it rains non-stop from Spring to Fall I might as well move to gloomy Seattle. Scratch Panama from my list. I hate rain that much. I can't stand washing my car every day.
TW

E' pa' fuera que van!

Mirador said:

http://babelfish.altavista.com/babelfish/tr

I just opened babelfish machine translation service to translate the following phrase : 'es para afuera que van' and got the following result:

'it is for outside that goes'


Mirador

Click to expand...

Just to clear up this very popular political slogan of this election period, 'e pa fuera que van', it is really dominican slang: 'e' is really 'es' (it is), 'pa' is really
'para' ('for') 'afuera que van' is 'out is where they are going'....however, you cannot translate this literally as above since it makes no sense...the meaning is 'we'll kick them out' or, again, 'out is where they're going'...something like that...anyways, again, a very popular slogan with the majority that wants the present deficient authorities out...by the way, the counter-part which has just come out is, a merengue by Johnny Ventura that says "e' so?ando que 'tan"---ES SO?ANDO QUE ESTAN is the correct spelling---which means, "they are dreaming", meaning, of course, those that say 'we'll kick them out'...just some fun with the real Dominican sport, Politics!

Translation

"We're kicking 'em out" or "We're kicking 'em out of office"

I understand this was picked up from a George Bush slogan from the last election campaign, but I don't recall the exact words. Can anyone help with this?
TW

?We're bombing them out

Just jesting!!