I've just read a book called 'Quisqueya - Mad dogs and English couple' by Ginnie Bedggood. It's just been published and I would thoroughly recommend it as required reading by anybody thinking of relocating to the DR.
It tells the true story of an English couple relocating to Puerto Plata 14 yrs ago and the trials and tribulations they've experienced during the course of their time here. The story is told with humour and a true love and affection for the Dominican people. I hate to use the world 'delightful' because it's such a cliche, but it is delightful! It's a really enjoyable and uplifting read. However, along with that I also found it very informative and will definitely keep it to hand as a reference book with regard to building regs, buying property, prison/appeal system, overview of the way things work here etc.
The stories in the book range from the search for employment and real experience of living on a 'Dominican' salary, to running a B&B from a wooden 'gingerbread' house in the centre of Puerto Plata, and from aiding and assisting a friend who was incarcerated for 14 months to ultimately building a house against all advice. So you can be assured that this book is never going to be boring! I read it in 2 nights when the kids were in bed!
I also found it a lesson in humility, because it made me think about the Dominican people and their lives here and who they are, and where they're 'coming from' so to speak. I'd already come a long way in my (nearly...) first year here in terms of having more patience and understanding for the culture here, but I felt that the book helped to impart something that I hadn't yet felt......a real warmth and affection for the people here and the way they go about things. I was widely travelled when I moved here having trekked through leech infested waters in Borneo, backpacked around Thailand and trekked the Inca Trail in Peru, amongst other things, so I felt sufficiently prepared to move to the DR - WRONG! Living in a different country fulltime is a completely different 'ballgame' and I've had lots of lessons to learn here.
I've received many well meaning gestures from Dominican people, but sometimes the 'suspicion' that we're all taught to feel for any well meaning gesture from a 'native' here rules out the acceptance that would normally come naturally. I guess I'm more trusting that most, but there are times when I know that I have missed out on a genuine Dominican friendship through mistrust or (to be honest) laziness because I'm still learning Spanish and 'can't be bothered' to spend the time trying to communicate...... This book will certainly remain in my mind when I come up against these situations in future......
Throughout the book Ginnie Bedggood and Grahame Bush exhibit a remarkable tolerance, fondness and loyalty for all things Dominican. I can't say that my reactions would have been the same about certain things (motorbikes and noise in the living room at their first abode, no water coming out of the taps in their first rented house, wages not being received on time, the 'burning hot' electric pole outside their wooden house, the 'nearly' knife fight outside the same house, etc etc).
The thing that interests me, flicking through the book again is that this same story could have been written as such a completely different tale if experienced through other eyes. It's down to their humility, humour, tenacity and 'grit' and true love for the DR that makes it a 'delightful' story. To many people it could have been a book of 'doom' about why it didn't work out and about the pitfalls of living here but in Ginnie's hands it's a book of hope for all people looking to 'branch out' and experience new lives and other cultures. I feel that the book wraps the 'heart and soul' of the DR and lots of relocation advice all into one very enjoyable read which I know I shall keep referring to.
It tells the true story of an English couple relocating to Puerto Plata 14 yrs ago and the trials and tribulations they've experienced during the course of their time here. The story is told with humour and a true love and affection for the Dominican people. I hate to use the world 'delightful' because it's such a cliche, but it is delightful! It's a really enjoyable and uplifting read. However, along with that I also found it very informative and will definitely keep it to hand as a reference book with regard to building regs, buying property, prison/appeal system, overview of the way things work here etc.
The stories in the book range from the search for employment and real experience of living on a 'Dominican' salary, to running a B&B from a wooden 'gingerbread' house in the centre of Puerto Plata, and from aiding and assisting a friend who was incarcerated for 14 months to ultimately building a house against all advice. So you can be assured that this book is never going to be boring! I read it in 2 nights when the kids were in bed!
I also found it a lesson in humility, because it made me think about the Dominican people and their lives here and who they are, and where they're 'coming from' so to speak. I'd already come a long way in my (nearly...) first year here in terms of having more patience and understanding for the culture here, but I felt that the book helped to impart something that I hadn't yet felt......a real warmth and affection for the people here and the way they go about things. I was widely travelled when I moved here having trekked through leech infested waters in Borneo, backpacked around Thailand and trekked the Inca Trail in Peru, amongst other things, so I felt sufficiently prepared to move to the DR - WRONG! Living in a different country fulltime is a completely different 'ballgame' and I've had lots of lessons to learn here.
I've received many well meaning gestures from Dominican people, but sometimes the 'suspicion' that we're all taught to feel for any well meaning gesture from a 'native' here rules out the acceptance that would normally come naturally. I guess I'm more trusting that most, but there are times when I know that I have missed out on a genuine Dominican friendship through mistrust or (to be honest) laziness because I'm still learning Spanish and 'can't be bothered' to spend the time trying to communicate...... This book will certainly remain in my mind when I come up against these situations in future......
Throughout the book Ginnie Bedggood and Grahame Bush exhibit a remarkable tolerance, fondness and loyalty for all things Dominican. I can't say that my reactions would have been the same about certain things (motorbikes and noise in the living room at their first abode, no water coming out of the taps in their first rented house, wages not being received on time, the 'burning hot' electric pole outside their wooden house, the 'nearly' knife fight outside the same house, etc etc).
The thing that interests me, flicking through the book again is that this same story could have been written as such a completely different tale if experienced through other eyes. It's down to their humility, humour, tenacity and 'grit' and true love for the DR that makes it a 'delightful' story. To many people it could have been a book of 'doom' about why it didn't work out and about the pitfalls of living here but in Ginnie's hands it's a book of hope for all people looking to 'branch out' and experience new lives and other cultures. I feel that the book wraps the 'heart and soul' of the DR and lots of relocation advice all into one very enjoyable read which I know I shall keep referring to.
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