What do you like about living in Santo Domingo as opposed to the USA? Pros and Cons
con: salaries half as in USA but most items and services same as USA.
pro: layback lifestyle, weather, lax laws
The living expenses are probably half of living in Santo Domingo as opposed to the USA. I guess if one manages his or her money properly then one can live in Santo Domingo comfortably on half of what it takes to live in most major cities here in the USA. People in the USA compete so much to have more material objects than others that it does not correlate to a happier way of living as opposed life in the Dominican Republic.
Just a tiny example:
I came home for my 3 hrs lunch and left the car at the local carwash located on my street. 3 young guys wash cars on their property. They wash the car as if the car was theirs. they clean every corner and nook and cranny. hand wash with soap and put wax etc. they even have machines to buff the cars. The whole job costs 70 pesos and I leave 100 total (less than 3 bucks). The guy even drives me to home so i won't have to walk for 5 minutes under the sun. After 2 hours I walk over to carwash and make a stop to a neighbor's tree. I see a ripped Guava hanging off a branch. I reach over and pluck the fresh organic guava. Delicious. Then I reach the car wash and the car is not ready. So I go in his open backyard and inspect his trees. I pluck 2 more guavas and then take a bag and take about 4 avocados right off the tree. The guys don't care at all and if I take 20 more, he won't even look at me. they are free for taking. I can do the same with fresh tree mangos. All free and anyone will give you a load of them just for asking. Then I play with his Siberian husky white beautiful dog. My car gets done and I get in and drive away eating away fresh guavas.
These simple joys in my life make it all worth while to live here.
AZB
Just a tiny example:
I came home for my 3 hrs lunch and left the car at the local carwash located on my street. 3 young guys wash cars on their property. They wash the car as if the car was theirs. they clean every corner and nook and cranny. hand wash with soap and put wax etc. they even have machines to buff the cars. The whole job costs 70 pesos and I leave 100 total (less than 3 bucks). The guy even drives me to home so i won't have to walk for 5 minutes under the sun. After 2 hours I walk over to carwash and make a stop to a neighbor's tree. I see a ripped Guava hanging off a branch. I reach over and pluck the fresh organic guava. Delicious. Then I reach the car wash and the car is not ready. So I go in his open backyard and inspect his trees. I pluck 2 more guavas and then take a bag and take about 4 avocados right off the tree. The guys don't care at all and if I take 20 more, he won't even look at me. they are free for taking. I can do the same with fresh tree mangos. All free and anyone will give you a load of them just for asking. Then I play with his Siberian husky white beautiful dog. My car gets done and I get in and drive away eating away fresh guavas.
These simple joys in my life make it all worth while to live here.
AZB