DR1's Most insightful posts

MrMike

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Mar 2, 2003
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www.azconatechnologies.com
What are the most insightful, helpful posts you have found on DR1?

There have been a few posts on DR1 through the years that I have considered very insightful and have helped me a great deal to understand local culture and more importantly, how to get along in it. Here are two of them, there are more that I just cant think of. (or find right now) Please reply with your favorites.


"Why can't we all just get along?"
I'll tell you why,because we all come from different circumstances! That's Why"!!!
I may not be able to defend some of the "things"
that "AZB" posts,but I can,and will, defend his right to say them! (Within the "Guidelines" of DR1 of course!:cheeky:)

Here are "some" of the "Things" that I have "learned" about Dominicans after first visiting,(Starting in 1986) and then actually "Living here"!(THAT means 24/7 for the last 12 years!!,NOT going to an "AI" twice a year!!)
I started out as a "Dominican Wannabe"! That is "Stage One"! Hanging out with "Real Dominicans" Whores,Getto Trash" Chopos, Bachateros, you know,90 % of the Dominican people!!!
(Time for the "Disclaimer"!!) Not "ALL" Dominicans are "DUMBminicans" just 90 %!
After you actually live in the DR for a few years. You realize what you are doing,"Sluming", and start to withdraw from the "Street Culture" Dumbminican Wannabe state!! You may just withdraw to the "Expat" culture,you may,like AZB start to find some Dominican "friends" amoung the "Higher Class" in the DR. AZB likes "lightskinnen,intelligent, "Santiaguerras"! so that is now his "Bubble" to use your "classification"! That is "Stage Two"!
After a few years in "Stage Two" you begin to realize that "All Dominicans Are Basically The Same!"
Doesn't matter so much what "Class", or "Socio-Economic" group that they belong to,they are ALL from the same culture (Which is homogenious, due to the DR being an island, isolated for 500 years!)
Now what does THAT mean?? Now this is where we separate the DR1ers into two groups! Those that know what I mean,and that I am "right", and those who will claim "Outrage" at what I am about to say!,and beg to know "Why?" I,and those of you who know what I mean,continue to live in the DR,if we "HATE" Dominicans So much??"
Dominican "Culture" IS Really DIFFERENT!
Here are "some" cultural "Norms" in the DR:
Stealing,lying,gossiping,corruption,envy, promiscuity, RACISM,Classism, Chauvanism, disrespect,no self-respect,abuse of alcohol,and now drugs, can't drive,block your passage, EVERYWHERE! Loud music till dawn,polluting the evironment with impunity! My finger is tired,so I will not go on!!!!!!!!!!!!!
"OH!" child abuse,wife beating (Even when the DON'T deserve it!! Can You Believe THAT?)

Now lets get to "Stage Three",you "withdraw" into a "defensive perimeter"!
You only have a relationship with your family,and a very few close friends! The friends may be dominican,or "Expats"! You may have superficial "friendships" with "Others",but you NEVER allow them into your "Defensive Perimeter"!!!!!

I am VERY happy here! I could care less about how the Dominicans treat eachother ! I am "Above-The-Fray" so to speak! If you have enough $$$$$ living in the DR can be GREAT!
And Furthermore: I love to "Flame" ignorant posters on DR1!! "Duh!!"
But I really don't dislike anyone( Except Maybe "Nals",and that is not for his "So-call" posts, but because he is an exposed lier on DR1!) and I hate liers!) but some of you seem to get really and truely Pi$$ed at other posters for their opinions. Waht's Up With That?"
And could I make a post about DR Culture,and "WHY" I stay "immersed" in "IT" if I "Hate It So Much", without mentioning those beautiful,sexy,YOUNG, "EASY" Dominicanas,who "Give-it-up" to "Fat,Bald,Ugly,Old men,(Who have a few hundred pesos to spare)???
"The answer is; "NO!",I can't!

So, "Here's To" all those Domincan men who get all those young girls pregnant,and then "Move On",(NOT .org!) to the next "Victim"! Then those girls take the "Easy Way" of making money,and "Sell Themselves"! To the highest bidder!
Now to all you posters who think the girls "Have to sell themselves", to support their kids, "Bull$hit"!
Prostitutes,AND I KNOW Prostitutes!!, are Prostitues, because it "Beats Working For a Living"!!
Time to give "Nals" a chance to say:, It's worse in the US!"
The DR IS,"Just Like Everywhere Else!" but as a friend once said:, "Only Moreso!"

Cris Colon. With:.."Too Much Time On His Hands!"

and an older one:

A few things here.

First, conservative Dominican girls who are otherwise eligible for marriage to a Dominican man don't bother with foreigners.

Dominican society did not undergo Illuminism. This means that persons don't exist as individuals, but as members of a family/clan. Marrying outside the clan or to individuals who do not belong locally means losing all privileges and facilities granted to members, and since DR is not a democracy, but a kind of feudal society, this is almost equivalent to losing your civil rights.

Dominican society has got two casts, the "respectable" and the "poor". They don't mix, and poor people have almost no rights.

Dominican girls lose their right to marry to a "respectable" Dominican man when becoming pregnant outside of wedlock, or when making a similar social mistake. The sentence can not be appealed, and it is served by the "damas" who congregate in church. At that point, she can resignate to not marrying anymore, to marrying a poor, or marrying a foreigner, all equivalent choices.

In case she marries a foreigner who decides to take her abroad, she will go from a feudal society to the 21st century in a few hours, the time of a plane flight. I can hardly imagine apdating to such a shift.

If this were not enough, there is the problem of responsibility. In the Western world, responsibility is individual. I, as an individual, am responsible for my own actions. In DR (throughout casts) responsibility is shared. Whatever I do, my clans/family will bear the weight of my actions with me. Dominican women, who, in addition to the aforementioned, usually delegate responsibility to men, will crumble in a split second when confronted with the consequences of their actions and withdraw in total denial.

But of course, you might have met the daughter of a very tolerant father who actually taught their daughters to be opened to other cultures and lifestyles, made them live, through books, the Illuminism, gave them a passion for non-Dominican music and food, and so on.

Please investigate before putting your balls under a sledgehammer.
 

marliejaneca

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Oct 7, 2003
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This one is one of Hillbillys' posts, some of these are funny, some really make you stop and think. It can be applied to life anywhere. I have bolded some of my favourites.


An Old Farmer?s Advice



Your fences need to be horse-high, pig-tight and bull-strong

Keep skunks and bankers and lawyers at a distance

Life is simpler when you plow around the stump

A bumble bee is considerably faster than a John Deere tractor

Words that soak into your ears are whispered - not yelled

Meanness don't jes' happen overnight

Forgive your enemies. It messes up their heads

Do not corner something that you know is meaner than you

It don't take a very big person to carry a grudge

You cannot unsay a cruel word

Every path has a few puddles

When you wallow with pigs, expect to get dirty

The best sermons are lived, not preached

Most of the stuff people worry about ain't never gonna happen anyway

Don't judge folks by their relatives

Remember that silence is sometimes the best answer

Live a good, honorable life. Then when you get older and think back, you'll enjoy it a second time

Don't interfere with somethin' that ain't botherin' you none

Timing has a lot to do with the outcome of a rain dance

If you find yourself in a hole, the first thing to do is stop diggin'

Sometimes you get, and sometimes you get got

The biggest troublemaker you'll probably ever have to deal with, watches you from the mirror every mornin'

Always drink upstream from the herd

Good judgment comes from experience, and a lotta that comes from bad judgment

Lettin' the cat outta the bag is a whole lot easier than puttin' it back in

If you get to thinkin' you're a person of some influence, try orderin' somebody else's dog around



Live simply - Love generously - Care deeply - Speak kindly





HB

Marlie
 

Alyonka

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Jun 3, 2006
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This post and especially the part about Dominicans valuing loyalty more that honesty has provided very useful insight for me personally:



Originally Posted by sjh

"Maybe this should be a new thread but here goes:

What people forget is that this is a very different culture. They/We come in and try to interpret local behaviours from our set of cultural ideas. This just doesnt work!


Here are some basic differences:

Many dominican men are polygamous. Some men have 3 or more women with kids who they support and sometimes more they see on the side secretly. It really doesnt seem to be a big deal. In the lower classes marriages rarely seem to be formalized. Many women have multiple boyfriends but it is kept a big secret and is considered slutty.

North Americans believe in one man one woman and anything else is "evil". Even the idea of casually dateing two women isnt considered acceptable.

Dominicans have color that are very difficult for them to transend. Marrying up in color is a big deal. Straight hair is a really big deal. First question grandma asks: pelo bueno o pelo malo (sorry about my spelling)

White North Americans do not usually spend a lot of time checking the precise skin tone of future spouses. Imagine discussing exactly how white your girlfriend is? Is it permi-tan? clear? translucent? or if her hair is curly or straight.

Dominicans have a loose class system based on family name, skin color, and money. Some guy who makes it big is still low class even if he drives a 100KUS jeepeta and everyone knows it. Those who live here can spot them from 100m away

Dominicans value loyalty more than honesty. This does NOT mean that they dont value honesty. It is just that when the conflict comes between the two dominicans will choose to be loyal rather than honest. Additionally, dominicans will deny an obvious truth in the interest of being loyal. You can see this after any traffic accident.

Dominicans are a clannish, community-based people who are VERY attached to family, neighborhood, and hometown. Family importance is pretty obvious here. Dominicans leagues in NYC form baseball teams by hometown in the DR. Dominicans who have lived 25 years in santo domingo still are considered local to the town they were born in and must return there to vote. It is rare to find a dominican who moves from one town to another (excluding city migration). If they do you have to wonder why? did they have problems in the last town? Although it would be second generation now, note that towns like sosua and cabereta are largely populated by people who just up and moved there.

There are many many more but this post is long enough already. Try to see how these differences can drastically change your perception of relationships here."
 
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marliejaneca

Bronze
Oct 7, 2003
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Originally posted by Chirimoya

- Optimism in the face of adversity.
- Joie de vivre.
- Natural beauty and the growing sense of awareness of its value.
- Human warmth, beauty, dignity and grace.
- Community spirit.
- Manners.
- Food, art, music.
- Child-centered attitudes.

This is one element I can't sum up with a short phrase - the strong pride in many aspects of Dominican cultural heritage in the face of international influences - gastronomy is one notable example - but other cultural manifestations as well. On the other hand, the not-entirely-insular nature of Dominicans who welcome people and influences from other parts of the world at the same time as preserving and valuing their distinctive heritage.

This was posted under the thread called "What makes you proud of the Dominican Republic"

I found this post and a few others in that thread that really touched on what the DR is all about and the fact that this was written so eloquently, I thought it was a perfect example for this thread.

Marlie
 

Chris

Gold
Oct 21, 2002
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I cleaned up some of the chit-chat here ;) Let's hear it .. what has been an insightful post for you? If you want to quote just a post, go into the thread where it is and click on the post number. Then take the url of that specific post and you can cut and paste it on this thread.