When I was living in puerto plata (1998-2000), I came to a point where I seriously thought I had made a mistake in moving to DR. At first i was happier than ever, living in costambar, ocean view and all. I made friends with expats and dominicans. had a few dominican female friends as well. Then I quickly got bored with all the daily routines. I soon, realized, there was no culture or genuine activities to do or to participate in except, drinking, talking BS with other drunk expats in bars and looking at hookers on malecon. The discos are full of hookers, the expats friends are always with hookers or chasing hookers. girls always in need of money, even the, so called, decent girls were not far away from being semi hookers. I thought I had learned spanish and was proud to be able to speak to street dominicans. hahahahaha. So I thought. But but, why was it I couldn't understand any spanish songs, spanish movies from other countries etc?
It came to a point when I totally gave up with everything there. I came to a premature conclusion that Dominicans were putos, poor, girls were hookers or semi hookers, people were uneducated and all looking for foreigners for $$$$$ and visa. The business was bad too, because expats and dominicans were both, either broke, or too cheap to pay for services that they needed.
So I was thinking of returning to atlanta and starting all over again. Thanks god I have a good, supportive family to help me out in a jam. As I was discussing all this with my american friend who lives in santo domingo, he advised me to stay and promised to find me work in another city. He calls me in a few days to tell me about a clinic in santiago, who were looking for a chiropractor to work in. I went over and they were happy to accept me in their group. from day one, I had come to realize, this was a whole different country. The people were far more educated, it was like a real country, not a senior citizen retirement beach resort. There were real businesses, people with real jobs and real american style grocery stores and the night life was something to write home about; not to mention the women, hahahaha, totally in a different class than the ones in puerto plata. I felt as if I had wasted 2 yrs of my life in the north coast. I had come to realize, I had gotten nothing out of living in the north coast. Except for a few people, I didn't meet any quality folks, expats or dominicans. It became apparent that i had learned no spanish either because I was unable to communicate with the santiagueros.
After this point, my life began to change. I started to make money. I learned spanish better and quickly. Made domincian friends who helped me get back on my feet. I got me a better house to live in, prices were far better here. In short, I found what i was looking for in a latin american country. i was finally with people whom I respected and was happy to live with. Life took the turn for the best but but then, Hipolito came and all went to hell. After 4 yrs of enduring PRD, I had reached another point in my life where I took a decision: if hipolito wins another 4 yrs of term, I am going back. Thanks god, he lost miserably and I was able to stay. Life is not all that great now, in this economy, but compared to my friends in USA and in europe, I think i am still better off here than anywhere else. If I had to move again, I would live in colombia.
AZB