?The peace is almost overwhelming, when I stand outside my house. I keep my eyes closed and allow myself to be carried away by the morning's
tranquillity. The early rays of the sun filters through the leaves of a
palm tree in my garden before embracing me in a cool warmth.
I open my eyes and I see a kolibri, as if suspended in free air, giving me
a quick glance and then darting off, looking for nectar. There is a
lingering flash of green-blue sparkle from its glittering feathers....
I feel how the morning is washing away my anxieties, my worries, my
stress. I go inside my house, leaving the door open, and begin preparing
my breakfast...?
Well, it is Friday morning and I have finished my late breakfast. Sipping some tea with milk, I am thinking about the lure of ?the simple life?, that so many people go in search for in the Dominican Republic.
What is ?the simple life?? What do people mean by it? What is it that they really look for? Do they really know it?
Or is ?the simple life? one of those evasive things which are so hard to define, so hard to catch; you have a gut feeling what you are looking for, but can not really translate your desire into words or a defined target that you can grasp and focus on. So, like a crab, you move sideways warily searching for the unsearchable, groping like someone blind in unknown territory, hoping that you will find whatever you are looking for, not completely knowing what it is, in a ?I will recognise it when I find it? sort of way. Hm... it resembles the search for ?true love?, does it not?
Let us go semantic for a moment. The first two definitions of ?simple? in my dictionary tells me this:
1) understood or done easily and without difficulty
2) not complicated or elaborate; plain
Aha, so people are looking for a life which is not difficult and not complicated. Can they find that in the Dominican Republic?
Not difficult... Not complicated... Let me give you an example: I live in a camp for westerners in the countryside of south-western Saudi-Arabia. Accommodation is part of my contract. My accommodation is a house of three bedrooms. Well, some time ago, I noticed a water leakage. Apparently, a pipe or valve had burst and water was bubbling up in a corner of the terrace in front of the house. What did I do? I called ?Camp Administration? and advised them about the problem. They said: ?We will take care of it, Sir!? The next day, when I got back home from work, it was fixed! This is a ?simple life?, is it not? Can I find that in the Dominican Republic? Without being quite wealthy?
I guess this is part of my thoughts here. It is easy to live a ?simple life?, in the above sense of the word, if you have a lot of money (which I do not have) or some other circumstance, such as a very good contract of employment (which I do have!).
If you have the money, you simply (?simply?! Hahaha!) buy the simplicity. But I get a feeling that many people who are thinking of moving to the Dominican Republic are not wealthy! So what will they do? If the water boiler bursts and you do not have the money to fix it, then life will be everything except ?simple.
Another definition
...of the ?simple life? is one that reminds of Jean-Jacques Rousseau and his thoughts on the artificiality of modern society and how it corrupted people, who were by nature, fundamentally good.
I think these kind of ideas are what make people talk about moving to the Dominican Republic, in order to get out of ?the rat race? of Europe , North America or wherever they come from.
And then I smile, when I think about one of my friends in Santo Domingo, who has three jobs to make ends meet and be able to save a few pesos. ?Simple life?, huh? ?Get out of the rat race!? huh? Well, sure, but only if you can afford it!
Does the absence, in the Dominican Republic, of the ?artificiial? qualities of Europe make you happy? If you live in Europe, can you not just avoid them if they have no meaning for you? You do not have to go to theatres if you live in London. It is not compulsory.
I, for one, crave ?culture? and without it, I will wither away, like a plant deprived of water and sun. Here I use the word in the lexicographic meaning: ?culture? = ?intellectual or artistic achievement or expression?. I need to see a theatre performance (in February , I will travel to Hong Kong to see genuine ?Chinese Theatre?), I enjoy art (Tate Gallery in London is like a sacred temple for me), I am fascinated by a dance performance ( I remember seeing a fantastic performance of Flamenco in Madrid) and so much more expressions of ?culture?.
An example close to me: My brother lives in the country side in Sweden. He makes a small income by helping the local farmers, repairing tractors and other equipment. He chops wood, to burn to heat his little house in the winter time. He rarely goes into the city, never goes to a cinema and has never been to an art museum in his life. His income is only a fraction of the minimum wage in Sweden. He is indeed living a very ?simple life?, without moving to the Dominican Republic! What is my point with this paragraph? It is that you do not have to move to the Dominican Republic or anywhere else, to live a life of simplicity, avoiding the trappings and artificiality of modern society. You can stay home and you do not even have to learn Spanish... Sure, there are no white beaches or palm trees in Sweden, and my brother could not care less.
Well, I am intrigued by this subject and I can go on raving forever, but I will stop here. What IS ?the simple life? ??? I find the question interesting not only from a practical point of view (money, accommodation, work etc) but much more from a philosophical angle. What do people REALLY mean, when they say that they are looking for a ?simple life?.
I do hope that no-one was offended by my words above! That was not my intention. I have visited the Dominican Republic many, many times and I like the charm of the country. But does it offer a ?simple life?? I am not so sure about that...
tranquillity. The early rays of the sun filters through the leaves of a
palm tree in my garden before embracing me in a cool warmth.
I open my eyes and I see a kolibri, as if suspended in free air, giving me
a quick glance and then darting off, looking for nectar. There is a
lingering flash of green-blue sparkle from its glittering feathers....
I feel how the morning is washing away my anxieties, my worries, my
stress. I go inside my house, leaving the door open, and begin preparing
my breakfast...?
Well, it is Friday morning and I have finished my late breakfast. Sipping some tea with milk, I am thinking about the lure of ?the simple life?, that so many people go in search for in the Dominican Republic.
What is ?the simple life?? What do people mean by it? What is it that they really look for? Do they really know it?
Or is ?the simple life? one of those evasive things which are so hard to define, so hard to catch; you have a gut feeling what you are looking for, but can not really translate your desire into words or a defined target that you can grasp and focus on. So, like a crab, you move sideways warily searching for the unsearchable, groping like someone blind in unknown territory, hoping that you will find whatever you are looking for, not completely knowing what it is, in a ?I will recognise it when I find it? sort of way. Hm... it resembles the search for ?true love?, does it not?
Let us go semantic for a moment. The first two definitions of ?simple? in my dictionary tells me this:
1) understood or done easily and without difficulty
2) not complicated or elaborate; plain
Aha, so people are looking for a life which is not difficult and not complicated. Can they find that in the Dominican Republic?
Not difficult... Not complicated... Let me give you an example: I live in a camp for westerners in the countryside of south-western Saudi-Arabia. Accommodation is part of my contract. My accommodation is a house of three bedrooms. Well, some time ago, I noticed a water leakage. Apparently, a pipe or valve had burst and water was bubbling up in a corner of the terrace in front of the house. What did I do? I called ?Camp Administration? and advised them about the problem. They said: ?We will take care of it, Sir!? The next day, when I got back home from work, it was fixed! This is a ?simple life?, is it not? Can I find that in the Dominican Republic? Without being quite wealthy?
I guess this is part of my thoughts here. It is easy to live a ?simple life?, in the above sense of the word, if you have a lot of money (which I do not have) or some other circumstance, such as a very good contract of employment (which I do have!).
If you have the money, you simply (?simply?! Hahaha!) buy the simplicity. But I get a feeling that many people who are thinking of moving to the Dominican Republic are not wealthy! So what will they do? If the water boiler bursts and you do not have the money to fix it, then life will be everything except ?simple.
Another definition
...of the ?simple life? is one that reminds of Jean-Jacques Rousseau and his thoughts on the artificiality of modern society and how it corrupted people, who were by nature, fundamentally good.
I think these kind of ideas are what make people talk about moving to the Dominican Republic, in order to get out of ?the rat race? of Europe , North America or wherever they come from.
And then I smile, when I think about one of my friends in Santo Domingo, who has three jobs to make ends meet and be able to save a few pesos. ?Simple life?, huh? ?Get out of the rat race!? huh? Well, sure, but only if you can afford it!
Does the absence, in the Dominican Republic, of the ?artificiial? qualities of Europe make you happy? If you live in Europe, can you not just avoid them if they have no meaning for you? You do not have to go to theatres if you live in London. It is not compulsory.
I, for one, crave ?culture? and without it, I will wither away, like a plant deprived of water and sun. Here I use the word in the lexicographic meaning: ?culture? = ?intellectual or artistic achievement or expression?. I need to see a theatre performance (in February , I will travel to Hong Kong to see genuine ?Chinese Theatre?), I enjoy art (Tate Gallery in London is like a sacred temple for me), I am fascinated by a dance performance ( I remember seeing a fantastic performance of Flamenco in Madrid) and so much more expressions of ?culture?.
An example close to me: My brother lives in the country side in Sweden. He makes a small income by helping the local farmers, repairing tractors and other equipment. He chops wood, to burn to heat his little house in the winter time. He rarely goes into the city, never goes to a cinema and has never been to an art museum in his life. His income is only a fraction of the minimum wage in Sweden. He is indeed living a very ?simple life?, without moving to the Dominican Republic! What is my point with this paragraph? It is that you do not have to move to the Dominican Republic or anywhere else, to live a life of simplicity, avoiding the trappings and artificiality of modern society. You can stay home and you do not even have to learn Spanish... Sure, there are no white beaches or palm trees in Sweden, and my brother could not care less.
Well, I am intrigued by this subject and I can go on raving forever, but I will stop here. What IS ?the simple life? ??? I find the question interesting not only from a practical point of view (money, accommodation, work etc) but much more from a philosophical angle. What do people REALLY mean, when they say that they are looking for a ?simple life?.
I do hope that no-one was offended by my words above! That was not my intention. I have visited the Dominican Republic many, many times and I like the charm of the country. But does it offer a ?simple life?? I am not so sure about that...