DR1 Paranoia?

Are DR1ers paranoid?

  • Yes

    Votes: 54 56.8%
  • No

    Votes: 41 43.2%

  • Total voters
    95

NALs

Economist by Profession
Jan 20, 2003
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In reviewing some of AZB's threads - regardless what anyone think of his threads or posts or opinion, we can all agree that its very entertaining - there are some recurring aspects of DR1 members that continually comes to light in such threads. For starters, its amazing how many gringos - in the context of this poll, gringo is used to denote all foreigners interested and/or living in the DR - are completely clueless as to how Dominican society functions. Even more interesting, is noticing how some gringos only subject themselves to particular subsets of Dominican society and then take the liberty to assume that such subset represents all Dominicans and everything that Dominicans are. To the detriment of many, AZB is one of the few gringos who gets it. In fact, I don't even consider AZB a true gringo anymore, since he understands the DR better
than most Dominicans. Ironic, no?

In anycase, in AZB's most recent thread (you can access by clicking here) an interesting phenomenon that has been prevalent in the forums for a while now presented itself.

Even after AZB made it clear that the guy that followed him in PUCAMAYMA was gay and not some criminal, and he should know since of all the participants in that thread AZB is the only one who was present in the incident, there are people that continue to insist that it could had been a criminal of some sort.

And this is only the tip of the iceberg. Some DR1ers seem obssessed with kidnappings despite these being relatively rare since less than 50 kidnappings a year occur in this country of barely 10 million people. Expatriates being scared to death of being kidnapped, when on a yearly basis if 2 foreigners are kidnapped in the DR, that is a record for any year!

And this is the case with pretty much everything else. There seems to be a high level of interest in the crime issue, the interest elevates even more when it deals with crimes of isolated incidents; despite crime having registered a continous decline since 2005 and despite the relative rarity of crime against the expatriate minority.

So, my question is this:

Do you think DR1ers are paranoid?

-NALs
 

A.Hidalgo

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Apr 28, 2006
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I can't understand why you used that thread by AZB (Oh no, secret service is after me) as an example for your paranoia question, but after reading post #21 from that thread I can understand why some are.;):cheeky:

now the crimes in santiago have become violent but still nothing in comparison to capital. now-a-days, some junky criminals shoot first and then rob later. A friend of mine was coming out of main Ochoa ferretaria on av. imbert, at 2pm. It was a bright day with hot sun shining above. 2 tigres come on a motrocycle, one simply shoots my friend 2 times on his leg. While he was down, they take his wallet and gold chain and run off. This was in bright daylight with 2 guards watching. I am not sure if the guards were armed or not. they are the ones who give you a ticket when you enter the parking.
 
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ElvisNYC

New member
Jan 27, 2006
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I don't know if I'm paranoid, but I was born and raised (and travel there regularly every year) in Guayaquil, Ecuador - where the norm is car hijackings, muggings after ATM usage, hiring an assassin for US$100, regular holdups of restaurants, buses, banks and other business establishments, I can say that Santo Domingo is a haven.

As for Santiago, I have never been exposed to the dangers people talk out, even going to dangerous barrios (always have been with dominicans), but I always compare my hometown to any place I visit, because I take the same precautions everywhere. I know that rarely would you hear about someone robbing you at a restaurant, but I don't discard it either. It's quite weird that the level of criminal activity is nowhere near what you see in Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador. Although it helps that DR is nowhere near Colombia :D
 

sawsky

New member
Jan 12, 2007
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good 1 lmao. lambada,when i hear about crime in the dominican republic,i dont see it being any worse than any other country in the world, including the safe havin of canada,crime here too,but not put on a billboard like dr1, bad news is a seller,if put under a magnifieing glass would yours pass,the posts on ripoffs and different scams are always a good read and informative, but paranoid, no.thks dr1, try too be on here everyday feliz novidad
 

POP Bad Boy

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Jun 27, 2004
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.......But just remember............

.............


"Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they aren't after you" :paranoid::paranoid::paranoid:
 
A

apostropheman

Guest
If you mean most of the DR1 members....then no :D:bunny::bunny:
So, my question is this:

Do you think DR1ers are paranoid?

-NALs
Not to say that paranoia is absent from DR1...not at all. ;)
 

BushBaby

Silver
Jan 1, 2002
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In reviewing some of AZB's threads - regardless what anyone think of his threads or posts or opinion, we can all agree that its very entertaining - there are some recurring aspects of DR1 members that continually comes to light in such threads. For starters, its amazing how many gringos - in the context of this poll, gringo is used to denote all foreigners interested and/or living in the DR - are completely clueless as to how Dominican society functions. Even more interesting, is noticing how some gringos only subject themselves to particular subsets of Dominican society and then take the liberty to assume that such subset represents all Dominicans and everything that Dominicans are. To the detriment of many, AZB is one of the few gringos who gets it. In fact, I don't even consider AZB a true gringo anymore, since he understands the DR better
than most Dominicans. Ironic, no?

In anycase, in AZB's most recent thread (you can access by clicking here) an interesting phenomenon that has been prevalent in the forums for a while now presented itself.

Even after AZB made it clear that the guy that followed him in PUCAMAYMA was gay and not some criminal, and he should know since of all the participants in that thread AZB is the only one who was present in the incident, there are people that continue to insist that it could had been a criminal of some sort.

And this is only the tip of the iceberg. Some DR1ers seem obssessed with kidnappings despite these being relatively rare since less than 50 kidnappings a year occur in this country of barely 10 million people. Expatriates being scared to death of being kidnapped, when on a yearly basis if 2 foreigners are kidnapped in the DR, that is a record for any year!

And this is the case with pretty much everything else. There seems to be a high level of interest in the crime issue, the interest elevates even more when it deals with crimes of isolated incidents; despite crime having registered a continous decline since 2005 and despite the relative rarity of crime against the expatriate minority.

So, my question is this:

Do you think DR1ers are paranoid?

-NALs

As usual NALs has produced us a preamble which has little to do with a sane, structured & unbiased Poll. It makes various 'assumptions' & 'suggestions' that (I would suggest) many of us would refute.

To be objective in responding (& maybe even answering) to the poll question I would need to know:

1. Is this really NALs that is asking the question?
2. If 'YES' what HIS interpretation of Paranoia is & to which type of paranoia he is referring?
3. Are we being requested to give our response to HIS interpretation rather than the DEFINITIONS given in recognised medical reference manuals (MDM4, Merck etc) on the subject or those as given on Wikipedia, OED, or Google ET AL?

A GOOD Poll will make reference to the SUBJECT MATTER of the question, so as to give insight to those not aware of the what the question is really asking rather than giving vent to some totally irrelevant diatribe trying to produce a biased response from the person being questioned.

So NALs, may we (I) have YOUR INTERPRETATION of the word/medical condition referred to as Paranoia? OR do you perhaps mean "Do you think that DR1'ers have PET HATES that cause them to respond forcefully at times"?

Please keep the response to one side of a 10x8 sheet if you can!!:paranoid::paranoid: ~ Grahame. (Having a pet hate about poorly designed Polls!!):paranoid: :bunny::bunny:
 
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BushBaby

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Okay, to help you a bit NALs, my reference to MDM4 was a ploy - it should be DMD4 :paranoid::paranoid::paranoid:. I was interested to see how you came back on that & to show your level of understanding on the subject. Get back into wikipedia with the above reference & I am sure you will have more success.

Or was the problem that I asked you to limit your reply to only a 10" x 8" page? :cheeky: ;) ~ Grahame.
 

Yachtguy1

New member
Sep 30, 2008
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Sorry to hear that

Many years in the DR...NEVER robbed (knock on wood)

When/where did this happen?
 

AK74

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Jun 18, 2007
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When an Eastern Europe friend of mine recently bought a villa in a gated community in Sosua his RE agent told him - "When you catch a dominican man in your home at night - kill him, bury in back yard and plant tomatoes - tomatoes grow very well on dead bodies". My friend thought that it was a nice joke.

After two months later he and his family became victims of robbery at gun point in their home (in gated community) he does not think any longer that it was a joke.

Is he to be called paranoid trying to sell his house now and to get out of the country where such thing as physical personal safety and security does not exist ?

Or can be called paranoid a nice Italian lady from California who also tries to sell her house in La Mulata that she bought four months ago and to leave with her son after her sister was robbered just three weeks into being in this country and left home?

Coming from places like Ecuador or Columbia - surviving in DR is piece of cake. But naive and street unsmart overgrown american baby boomers are a different story. Who decided to relocate to this country and to buy condo after two stays at an AI sunkie resort.

DR.1 posters are not paranoid. They know the real game (mostly on own painful experience). That`s it.
 

La Mariposa

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Jun 4, 2004
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When an Eastern Europe friend of mine recently bought a villa in a gated community in Sosua his RE agent told him - "When you catch a dominican man in your home at night - kill him, bury in back yard and plant tomatoes - tomatoes grow very well on dead bodies". My friend thought that it was a nice joke.

After two months later he and his family became victims of robbery at gun point in their home (in gated community) he does not think any longer that it was a joke.

Is he to be called paranoid trying to sell his house now and to get out of the country where such thing as physical personal safety and security does not exist ?

Or can be called paranoid a nice Italian lady from California who also tries to sell her house in La Mulata that she bought four months ago and to leave with her son after her sister was robbered just three weeks into being in this country and left home?

Coming from places like Ecuador or Columbia - surviving in DR is piece of cake. But naive and street unsmart overgrown american baby boomers are a different story. Who decided to relocate to this country and to buy condo after two stays at an AI sunkie resort.

DR.1 posters are not paranoid. They know the real game (mostly on own painful experience). That`s it.

That's the way I have learned the real game too. My house has been sold fast and at my price,thanks god. Almost 5 years later I still fill the psycological pain though
 
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NALs

Economist by Profession
Jan 20, 2003
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Well, the people living in Puerto Plata gated communities are not normal... read on.

When an Eastern Europe friend of mine recently bought a villa in a gated community in Sosua his RE agent told him - "When you catch a dominican man in your home at night - kill him, bury in back yard and plant tomatoes - tomatoes grow very well on dead bodies". My friend thought that it was a nice joke.

After two months later he and his family became victims of robbery at gun point in their home (in gated community) he does not think any longer that it was a joke.

Is he to be called paranoid trying to sell his house now and to get out of the country where such thing as physical personal safety and security does not exist ?

Or can be called paranoid a nice Italian lady from California who also tries to sell her house in La Mulata that she bought four months ago and to leave with her son after her sister was robbered just three weeks into being in this country and left home?

Coming from places like Ecuador or Columbia - surviving in DR is piece of cake. But naive and street unsmart overgrown american baby boomers are a different story. Who decided to relocate to this country and to buy condo after two stays at an AI sunkie resort.

DR.1 posters are not paranoid. They know the real game (mostly on own painful experience). That`s it.
Its also well known that many of the people living in those gated communities in Puerto Plata, many filled with foreigners to a degree most gated communities in other provinces are not, also have little concept of social class and how a person is suppose to act with people from other classes.

Many of these people move from Europe or North America thinking they are still in their respective countries where they are surrounded by people of their own social class, most of the time. We also know what many of them do for "fun". Some take it a little further, inviting some of the poorest and least moral people to decent gated neighborhoods, and then everyone wonders why a rash of robberies follows.

(Sidenote: I'm not saying poor people don't have morals, but there are poor people without morals and those are being invited along with the others to places of luxury they are not used to, read on).

Most people seem to not make the connection between violating social class rules, but many are paying the price.

You don't hear of such things occuring with such frequencies in places like Bayardo, which is an upscale neighborhood right next to "downtown" Puerto Plata. Why?

A) Its filled with Dominicans

and

B) the few foreigners that live there take the necessary precautions to not invite dirt poor and moral-lacking people like courtesans or tigueres for a "picnic".

Do you know that many Dominicans are very weary when someone new moves into a nice neighborhood? Do you know why?

If its a chopo or a foreigner, they pray to God such person limits his/her contact with the riff raff.

Why?

Because when chopos or foreigners with little concept of social class move in, they invite people that are not used to those settings and then, everyone and their mother is robbed in the entire neighborhood during the following months. This happens in apartment buildings too.

Look at the Puerto Plata gated communities. Those have to be some of the most unsafe gated communities on the island and its directly related to the naive attitude of many of the foreigners that live there regarding the reality of social class.

You can't pretend that everyone you meet, especially if its someone you "paid to have fun", is not going to be extremely impressed with your higher than normal lifestyle.

This goes along with the sankie ordeals and the so gringo typical "I fell in love with a dirt poor courtesan and now I'm taking care of her family and feel being taken advantaged" crowd.

-NALs
 
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BushBaby

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Aren't you being a little PARANOID :)paranoid:) in this post NALs? (just to keep this 'On Topic'!):ermm: ;) :cheeky:
I do SO agree with you about Bayardo though, the guards are requested to keep 90% of DR1ers from entering the area. Photos from the DR1 gallery have been CIRCULATED!! :cheeky::surprised ~ Grahame
 

Lambada

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Mar 4, 2004
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You don't hear of such things occuring with such frequencies in places like Bayardo, which is an upscale neighborhood right next to "downtown" Puerto Plata.

I live in Bayardo Nals. Just in the interests of accuracy we're at the other end of town from 'downtown' Puerto Plata. Not even walking distance - when I go to downtown PP I drive.


Look at the Puerto Plata gated communities. Those have to be some of the most unsafe gated communities on the island and its directly related to the naive attitude of many of the foreigners that live there regarding the reality of social class.

Again, in the interests of accuracy Nals, you're referring to gated communities in Sosua I believe (or maybe even Cabarete?). As far as Puerto Plata town is concerned there are very few gated communities - Bayardo is about to become one, Torre Alta is not gated, I believe. Plus of course far fewer foreigners live in PP than Sosua.
 

cobraboy

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Jul 24, 2004
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NALs may have a little of his geography skewed, but the essence of his post is sound.

I am thankful that Alida's family here in Jarabacoa has advised us wisely on security...and "who" should be befriended, "who" is of questionable character, and "how" to secure your home.

The best anology I can make about moving to the DR for the average European/Canadian/American would be that it's like moving to a recently regentrified neighborhood in a large, Urban city. YOUR neighborhood may contain fine, honest, upstanding folks, but 100 yards away...an entirely different story. Secure your property for that other barrio, not your specific neighborhood.
 

NALs

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Jan 20, 2003
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NALs may have a little of his geography skewed, but the essence of his post is sound.
Bayardo is a little over 1 kilometers (barely 1 mile) away from the center of town.

-NALs :ermm:
 

ExtremeR

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Mar 22, 2006
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Is the same as the deliveries boys from colmados, some people like them to enter into the kitchen to deliver the heavy 5 gallon bottled water, without knowing that in the process those guys are checking the entire house to send their panas to wipe out the entire house.

I always say the delivery boy to leave the water in the front door and I take it from there.
 

bachata

Aprendiz de todo profesional de nada
Aug 18, 2007
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Reason for what we decided to move to the US.

I was afraid to be attacked on the mountain roads, as my business in the DR was Tourist Cab. Driver and almost every day I had late pm. or early am. airport Pickups (those 731-1:45 am & 733 ? 2:45 am. JB flights ) I was driving all nights from STI to the north coast and some time in my way back home driving alone I got so sleepy that I needed to stop in a gas station and pour water over my head to keep me awake. I remember one night on my way back to Santiago 3:30 am driving through Carretera Turistica a pickup truck was parked in the side of the road and when I passed by they started to follow me and tried to pass me but I blocked them all time until we got to the other side of the mountain then I stopped my van in the first gas station located at Gurabo Santiago. I had a lot situation during the rainy season when the roads were flooding every where one night I had to backup half way STI / POP couse the road washed out, I saw many people killed by car and motorcycles accident in the roads specially on Fridays and Saturday night.

No todo es color de rosas.

JJ.