Newbie Gringo Greetings

Status
Not open for further replies.
C

Chip00

Guest
Hello fellow gringos!

Just want to introduce myself. My name is Chip and my wife's name is Sonia and we live in Stgo with our two beautiful daughters. My wife is from Moca and I'm from South Kakalaki (re-Carolina). We're here in sunny Stgo because my wife hated the US and I had the opportunity to move here but yet continue to work in Florida. We have a house in Los Llanos(at 19% interest) and are happy to be here. If you notice some white nutcase on a black Yamaha 115 around town it probably was me! Let me know something about some of youse guys

Personal notes:

Age: 41 white (with long ago Dom. heritage)
Wife: 31 y una dominicana hasta la tambora!
'92 Clemson U.
Ex. 82nd Abn.
Profession - Civil Engineer
Spanish - I have "good" spanish days and "bad" spanish days - depends a lot on how lazy I want to be.
Weaknesses: A mi me gusta comer los semafaros!

Take Care

Chip
 

Gringo

Bronze
Jan 1, 2002
1,314
58
0
Hey Chip.............

If you go to Scotia bank right now you can secure a Mortgage @14% per year and they will pay all the legals....................What ever you do "Stay Away From The Loan Sharks" that will offer you their deals at Mafia rates.........these people are the scum of the DR. and you can politely say thanks but I will pass at this time. Beware the Vultures are every where.

Good Luck

Larry (A.K.A. Gringo)
 

AnnaC

Gold
Jan 2, 2002
16,050
418
83
Welcome to DR1 Chip, hope you hang around and contribute to this board.

We may seem a little crazy sometimes but only while typing. ;)
 
C

Chip00

Guest
If you go to Scotia bank right now you can secure a Mortgage @14% per year and they will pay all the legals....................What ever you do "Stay Away From The Loan Sharks" that will offer you their deals at Mafia rates.........these people are the scum of the DR. and you can politely say thanks but I will pass at this time. Beware the Vultures are every where.

Good Luck

Larry (A.K.A. Gringo)

Larry

Thanks for the info. I'm fine with the loan we have from Coop. San Jose because I've found from inspection that it's not easy to get loan/credit siendo extranjero. I plan on paying it off in two years w/o penalty si Dios quiere! As to the vultures quote I'm with you on that. I'm not easily deceived and I actually feel bad for the poor caras de platano that see us as a pot of gold after I've cooled off a little after realizing what they would like to charge me for whatever. It's actually become a little fun to play with the locals about what they want for something (especially on the north coast). I need to start another thread to discuss this obsession with the locals as to charging whatever they can get to their eventual detriment. Walmart didn't get to where they are today by charging the maximum and offending all their customers! The PRD says p'lante que vamos but they are actually dandole para atras with this backwards business mentality.

BTW if you play golf let me know as I'm a member of the course here in Stgo and I play once a week, work permitting.

Chip
 

Rick Snyder

Silver
Nov 19, 2003
2,321
2
0
Chip00,

Welcome to DR1. Always nice to have another gringo in country.

I live way out here in El Seybo and have been here 10 years. I too am married to a Dominican and we have a 8 year old son.
I'm;

58 with no heritage
36 year old Dominican wife
82 University of Tampa
Retired US Army, 22 years
Profession - vago
Spanish - No puedo hablar espa?ol
Weaknesses - A mi me gusta comer!!

I notice that you joined us back in 2003 with a few posts back then. Hope to be hearing a lot from you in the future especially now that you have joined our ranks of being in country. Good luck.

Rick
 

Tuan

New member
Aug 28, 2004
204
2
0
Chip: thanks for your service in the Airborne (yours too, Rick).
You may find some of your experience useful here -- at least until they repopulate the police force ...
all the best!
 

Hillbilly

Moderator
Jan 1, 2002
18,948
514
113
Heh-heh, my first judo fight was with a Capt of the 82nd...down in Santo Domingo (1965!) We hasseled and rasseled and when we both went up into the air after some counter attacks, we fell and broke the dojo floor. He was a Ni-dan and i was a white belt. Matsunaga, the head judo teacher for the DR, told me to get a brown belt as I walked out the door!! I was glad I didn't have to pay for the flooring!! We did have fun!!

Welcome to Santiago Chip, are you here now?

I'm "older than dirt" according to my friends, but we still have good coffee here at the HB Hovel.....

Not too far from you. On Ave. Metropolitana....

Send me a PM if you want to stop by...

HB

Older than dirt

"A sus ordenes aquí en Santiago."
 

Rick Snyder

Silver
Nov 19, 2003
2,321
2
0
Chip00,

On my third cup of coffee now and am therefore a little more attune with my mind. In your OP you stated that your wife hated the US. If you don't consider it too personal would you care to expand on that? I'm always interested when someone says they don't like the US and am interested in hearing the reasons behind their determination.

Rick

Tuan your welcome. I'm proud to have served.
 
Last edited:
C

Chip00

Guest
Chip00,

On my third cup of coffee now and am therefore a little more attune with my mind. In your OP you stated that your wife hated the US. If you don't consider it too personal would you care to expand on that? I'm always interested when someone says they don't like the US and am interested in hearing the reasons behind their determination.

Rick

Tuan your welcome. I'm proud to have served.

Rick

No problem. I'm probably overstating her dislike a little. It's not that she hates americans or gringos for that matter (good for me) but the situation that we were in. Bear with me a sec to get you up to date. I met my wife here in Santiago at the old airport in '99. She worked as a nurse and I was sent down from the states on a joint project with the DR gov't. I cut my head and she fixed me up and three months later I had sold all of my stuff and moved to the DR and we got married. Wife gets pregnant, money runs out, I go back to the states to wait for her paperwork (pre k visa) she joins me in Orlando a few weeks before 9/11. Although my wife worked as a nurse she doesn't have the highest education nor a lot of initiative. She never learned how to drive nor speak English but to her credit raising two kids ain't too easy. The situation was tough because engineers, like most professional, are expected to work a lot of hours to advance but I also had to do all of the grocery shopping and take her and the kids to the doctors. I was pretty busy and our marriage suffered. I finally got licensed and started my own business which eventually allowed us to consider moving here yet I would continue working in Orlando. We are much happier of course, gracias a Dios because she is closer to her family, etc Hope this explains things well. I for one love my country and hope to love this country one day too. I never liked the fact of the poor race relations - in that sense a lot of americans are screwed up - but no place is perfect right? Otherwise what would have to look forward too in heaven?

Sincerely,

Chip
 

Rick Snyder

Silver
Nov 19, 2003
2,321
2
0
Thank you Chip and according to your extended explanation I can see that you were overstating yourself in the OP with the use of the word hate.

Rick
 

Hillbilly

Moderator
Jan 1, 2002
18,948
514
113
I have had the pleasure of talking a bit with Chip and the problem was one of extensive "culture Shock"....His wife was way out of her comfort zone, and as many of you all are aware, to Dominicans, family is everything. The idea of the nuclear family in the States (Mom, Dad and 1 7/8 kids LOL) creates too much internal pressure....no one to turn to.....

We will be playing golf this weekend....hehe

HB
 

JonyBetty

New member
Oct 14, 2005
10
0
0
Chip,

Welcome to the forum. I too am married to a Dominicana that is not totally enthused with the US. Fortunately, we are not there right now. I am still in the military (1.5 years left) stationed in Italy. We look forward to moving to the Dr once we get out. I remember when my wife couldn't speak English or drive. Boy it makes work all that much more difficult when you have to do everything with your wife. When we were younger w/o kids it was actually enjoyable, but as the kids were born, my schedule got fuller each year. The only thing I can say about my wife is "How proud I was in her". I eventually taught her to drive, and she used her 'cedula' as a drivers license for almost a year. The police in Oklahoma did not have a clue (haha). She eventually learned enough English to take the drivers test and pass (another funny story). I guess it's fair that I return to her home country and be the big white gringo in the neigborhood. Again welcome to DR1 and welcome back to the DR.
 

dv8

Gold
Sep 27, 2006
31,266
363
0
hola chip,
i have moved here just two months ago with no spanish, i know exactly how your wife must have felt in the states... i do go out without my man (he's dominican) sometimes, can do shopping, use transport. my spanish is improving constantly and i'm slowly getting used to life here yet it does not diminish my home-sickness. but as you know, for dominicans family is everything and now i have a new family too, my man's family. life in a north coast is difficult for gringos, but we have our dominicans to help us.
 
C

Chip00

Guest
hola chip,
i have moved here just two months ago with no spanish, i know exactly how your wife must have felt in the states... i do go out without my man (he's dominican) sometimes, can do shopping, use transport. my spanish is improving constantly and i'm slowly getting used to life here yet it does not diminish my home-sickness. but as you know, for dominicans family is everything and now i have a new family too, my man's family. life in a north coast is difficult for gringos, but we have our dominicans to help us.

Dv8

Hang in there! FYI when I met my wife 7 years ago I knew about as much spanish as Arnold Swarzeneggar in the Teminator! However, I did have about 5-6 years total studying french and it really helped because the structure of the language (verbs, sentences) is very similar - you just have to learn new words and pronunciations. My recommendations are to study the grammar if you can at least an hour or two everyday until you feel that you have a good grasp on the verbs and sentence structure and then at that point the next step will be to immerse yourself in speaking and listening - which should be easy! I did the same thing when I moved here in '00 and even though I couldn't communicate with a whole lot of people due to the general lack of patience with me it was a good foundation. I went back to the States after 8 mos. and my wife joined me a few months later but since my wife speaks no english I was able to continue progressing. Another very important piece of advice I have for you as well is don't take yourself too seriously! You will make a lot of mistakes! And some dominicans may laugh at you (mainly the kids) but that's ok! Confidence is important because if you don't have it your're going to be shy which is going to prevent you from pronouncing the words correctly. Be a little thick skinned but humble and you'll get it. I was able to get along speaking more or less with most people after about 3 or 4 years. Also, I believe I still have the grammer book if you want to borrow it - let me know.

Best of luck

Chip
 

SantiagoDR

The "REAL" SantiagoDR
Jan 12, 2006
5,808
946
113
We will be playing golf this weekend....hehe

HB


Welcome Chip.

I live in Santiago and also North of Tampa.

What time and day is your golf game?

I don't play golf, but thought it would be a good chance to meet if my schedule permits.

If you are talking about the golf course across the bridge, Campo de Golf - Las Aromas, I pass it everyday. The turn off to my house is the very next turn. I live in Reparto Peralta up on the hill, my security camera can zoom in and see the cars in the parking lot of the golf course.
 

ZEUS

Bronze
Feb 14, 2003
577
26
0
Mi say to you 'Comer semaforos' no good to your health... mi siendo Dominicano hasta la tambora.. If you want to hang-out with a loco Dominican in Nov, send me PM.. Will be in Stgo the week of Nov 20th..

See ya,

Zeus (primus chopus):D
 

Hillbilly

Moderator
Jan 1, 2002
18,948
514
113
The golf begins Saturday at 8:30 at my house. Breakfast and then golf, then beers. He has to be home before 4 PM 'cause Mrs. Chip has a thing to do at 7 pm...heel boy, heel!

We'll be at the course at about 9-9:30 a.m.

HB
 

BushBaby

Silver
Jan 1, 2002
3,829
329
0
79
www.casabush.org
?So I should look for some guy on a leash and a hillbilly dragging Daisy Mae around by the hair?
NO Don, you look for a Mitsubishi Montero with a Union Jack number plate on the front - that is MY car!! I think you know what I look like???

Now this should be interesting, me finally meting up with the SantiagoDR!!~ Grahame.
 

CyaBye3015

Bronze
Jan 8, 2003
1,462
23
0
I'm "older than dirt" according to my friends, but we still have good coffee here at the HB Hovel.....

Not too far from you. On Ave. Metropolitana....

Send me a PM if you want to stop by...

HB

Older than dirt

"A sus ordenes aqu? en Santiago."

I'm older than dirt too, also I've been a member of DR1 for quite some time and I'm still waiting for an invite to the HB Hovel!
 
Status
Not open for further replies.