Most of the month of July, my wife and I will be in the US. The last time I was there was in 1995, Barbara's last visit was 1996. During the past 10 years we spent a lot of time in Puerto Rico, Trinidad, Venezuela, and most of the islands of the eastern Caribbean, but we have not been in the US.
The archives on dr1 don't help us with our concerns, but we are hoping some of the posters will. We have a lot of apprehensions.
1. Security is a major concern. We feel very safe in the DR, but we know you can't take security for granted in the US. We see almost daily on the news about drive by shootings, murders and robberies, children carrying knives and guns, and, apparently, most adults are armed, too. We presently don't own a gun; should we try to get one before going to the US? We certainly don't want to be defenseless; if we can't get a gun, what should we do to protect ourselves?
2. Health is another concern. Hopefully we won't get sick while there, but what if we do? Getting sick here doesn't worry us because we have a number of excellent specialists looking after us. If we get sick, we just go to the office for treatment, or in an emergency, call the doctor on the phone. But we know from others this isn't how it works in the US. To see even a general doctor requires a long wait for an appointment, and you may even have to be part of a health group. We don't have any doctors in the US, and we certainly aren't part of a health group. What do we do; go to a hospital emergency room and wait our turn while they treat the accident victims, victims of knifing and shootings, etc.?
3. Is it safe to drink the water, or should we plan on buying bottled water? We don't want to get sick from drinking industrial waste and other chemicals that have polluted many water supplies.
We have other questions and concerns, but these are some of the major ones. Any advice on how to cope with these issues will be appreciated.
We are looking forward to seeing family members, but we are apprehensive about leaving Sosua and going to the US.
The archives on dr1 don't help us with our concerns, but we are hoping some of the posters will. We have a lot of apprehensions.
1. Security is a major concern. We feel very safe in the DR, but we know you can't take security for granted in the US. We see almost daily on the news about drive by shootings, murders and robberies, children carrying knives and guns, and, apparently, most adults are armed, too. We presently don't own a gun; should we try to get one before going to the US? We certainly don't want to be defenseless; if we can't get a gun, what should we do to protect ourselves?
2. Health is another concern. Hopefully we won't get sick while there, but what if we do? Getting sick here doesn't worry us because we have a number of excellent specialists looking after us. If we get sick, we just go to the office for treatment, or in an emergency, call the doctor on the phone. But we know from others this isn't how it works in the US. To see even a general doctor requires a long wait for an appointment, and you may even have to be part of a health group. We don't have any doctors in the US, and we certainly aren't part of a health group. What do we do; go to a hospital emergency room and wait our turn while they treat the accident victims, victims of knifing and shootings, etc.?
3. Is it safe to drink the water, or should we plan on buying bottled water? We don't want to get sick from drinking industrial waste and other chemicals that have polluted many water supplies.
We have other questions and concerns, but these are some of the major ones. Any advice on how to cope with these issues will be appreciated.
We are looking forward to seeing family members, but we are apprehensive about leaving Sosua and going to the US.