Hello All,
I have been a reader of this site for quite a while, although not a frequent poster. Last night I returned from my first trip to Santo Domingo. My husband has been twice.
We may have a unique opportunity to move to DR for about 2 years with our children ages 6 & 8. Originally thought that SD would be best place as it has more bilingual schools, capital of country, etc. But, having just returned, I realize that there is a reason that I choose not to live in such a large city in US so would prefer something smaller while living there. Santiago seems more tolerable in city size to me as it is closer to where I live now.
Primarly interested in living abroad not buying a home but renting during the time we are there. We are not looking for employment necessarily, but will need to educate our kids. We are considering home schooling initially because we would all need to learn Spanish better than we know it now. However, would eventually want a good bilingual school that would be easily transferrable to US schools when we return.
Finding as complete information about Santiago and areas around it is not as easy as finding information about SD. So here are a few of my questions:
(1) Are there long term rental options for a family in or around Santiago?
(2) I know that there are bi-lingual schools based on other threads, but is home schooling groups available or would I be forging new ground?
(3) In SD it looked like I would have no real problem purchasing western goods while my kids were transitioning to local goods - sundry items at supermarket. I assume that would also be available.
(4) Would we need a car initially to get around Santiago?
(5) Is Santiago traffic anything like SD? Disregard of lanes, traffic lights optional, etc?
(6) Are there any cultural differences between the two cities? (Like in US between urban city dweller and smaller city dweller?)
(7) I was very aware of costs in SD and wonder if there is a price difference in items -- gas, cars, apartment rents, etc because of city size.
(8) What about access to electricy - need generator or fairly consistent availability?
(9) I will just ask this here out of convenience, my list is already long, are avg temparatures milder than SD?
Thank you anyone who can assist me with information prior to our commiting to moving to the DR. - Mommit
I have been a reader of this site for quite a while, although not a frequent poster. Last night I returned from my first trip to Santo Domingo. My husband has been twice.
We may have a unique opportunity to move to DR for about 2 years with our children ages 6 & 8. Originally thought that SD would be best place as it has more bilingual schools, capital of country, etc. But, having just returned, I realize that there is a reason that I choose not to live in such a large city in US so would prefer something smaller while living there. Santiago seems more tolerable in city size to me as it is closer to where I live now.
Primarly interested in living abroad not buying a home but renting during the time we are there. We are not looking for employment necessarily, but will need to educate our kids. We are considering home schooling initially because we would all need to learn Spanish better than we know it now. However, would eventually want a good bilingual school that would be easily transferrable to US schools when we return.
Finding as complete information about Santiago and areas around it is not as easy as finding information about SD. So here are a few of my questions:
(1) Are there long term rental options for a family in or around Santiago?
(2) I know that there are bi-lingual schools based on other threads, but is home schooling groups available or would I be forging new ground?
(3) In SD it looked like I would have no real problem purchasing western goods while my kids were transitioning to local goods - sundry items at supermarket. I assume that would also be available.
(4) Would we need a car initially to get around Santiago?
(5) Is Santiago traffic anything like SD? Disregard of lanes, traffic lights optional, etc?
(6) Are there any cultural differences between the two cities? (Like in US between urban city dweller and smaller city dweller?)
(7) I was very aware of costs in SD and wonder if there is a price difference in items -- gas, cars, apartment rents, etc because of city size.
(8) What about access to electricy - need generator or fairly consistent availability?
(9) I will just ask this here out of convenience, my list is already long, are avg temparatures milder than SD?
Thank you anyone who can assist me with information prior to our commiting to moving to the DR. - Mommit