Too Much GENERALIZATION!!

This is in response to both Tony & Craig. First, I would like to say that I've been holding back and did not want to really get into the argument of the changes that the DR has gone through. The reason for that is that most (if not all) of the time you will get tons of different views. However, it bothers me when someone comes to this board and decides to bash the whole country because they had a bad experience in one city or in more then one city. That's like me visiting California and because things might not have gone well there I'm going to tell the world to stay away from the U.S. Please, and I mean please, stop the GENERALIZATION. I respect everyone's opinion for they have the right to state them as they please but some have gone a little beyond. Now, Craig mentioned in an early post that he had a bad experience at the airport and also mentioned that Santiago is full of trash. Ok..that's fine. However, I have a few questions. Did you go through every airport in the DR? Did you tour the entire Santiago city? The reason for these questions is that I just came back from Santiago and let me tell you this...I do agree with you on the fact that some areas are rather dirty but not the whole city. I must also mention that I did not have a bad experience at the Santiago airport. Notice that I said SANTIAGO airport and not just airport. Get my point? Don't generalize. Now, back to the city of Santiago. There are beautiful areas in Santiago. Take for example the area where the Monumento (Monument) is, it's beautiful there as well as it is very clean. There are other areas as well that are nice and well maintained. Look, I will respect everyone's opinion but only when they stick to the facts. I am sorry to say that sometimes I question some of your motives. My problem with your opinions is not that I don't believe what you are saying but it's your generalization that kills me. It's like me bying a toyota and because my car goes bad I'm going to tell the world not to buy a toyota, please!!! That's ridiculous. First do some research! I would respect an opinion that would have warned everyone about a certain area and not the whole country like some of you have stated. That is the only time when I must say that your opinion/s is or are wrong.

On another note, I would like to tell everyone that even though I am a Dominican I would be the first one to tell it like it is. I for one detest Dominican politics and think that there is too much greed and that they only care about themselves and not the people. I am not here trying to make the Dominican Republic look good when it is not. I'm not going to gain anything from it, anyhow. I just want people to think before they put a post up on this board. It's easy to do the wrong thing when you are angry. Well, like I said before...don't GENERALIZE, please!

I felt the same way about staying away from this and agree with your assessment. For a first time visitor, the trash, the uncompleted construction all over the place, the begging, the persistent vendors and the armed security all over the place, can be a bit overwhelming. These were ususally the comments I received when entertaining first time visitors. When you get used to the eye sores and learn to deal with aggressive people you can enjoy all the positive aspects of the country and it's people. I rememeber my first visit to the country in 1987 as a Peace Corps volunteer and my initial impressions. There is no doubt that street crime as gone up in the last 10-15 years, but this is true in most major cities in the developing world. I find the countryside a good place to see the really beautiful parts of the country. The Colonial Zone, el Parque Mirador, la Plaza Cultural, el Faro, el Parque Olimpico in the Capital and the Monumento in Santiago are good examples of nice urban sites. The Malacon is nice but all the garbage floating around the edge of the water takes something away from it. We can be honest and frank about our experiences and observations in the country, and at the same time, sensitive to how we state them publically. "Generalizations" will be quickly responded to by many on the board and most times these are interesting and informative threads.

Re: A Dominican's View

As an introduction to my wife's comments:

~ ~ ~ Government operational expenses increase 27% ~ ~ ~

El Siglo newspaper indicates that the government bureaucracy has cost taxpayers 27% more in September and October 2000 than during the same period in 1999. The government bureaucracy now costs the country RD$19,131.4 million, up from RD$15,043 million. Of these, the payroll was RD$13,832.9 million, up 27.7% in regards to the RD$10,829.1 million spent in 1999.

"DR1 Daily News"
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"Una Compatriota" is presently in Santo Domingo, on vacation and loving every minute of it. She tells me the city has an air of affluence, many large "SUVs" and a good number of Porches' and other exotic cars are to be seen on the busy thoroughfares. Also she commented favorable on the large number of architecturally impressive buildings going up. "The city is beautiful."

In her opinion:

The former President Fern?ndez affair in just politics as usual, no big deal.

Most* - middle class - Dominicans think President Hip?lito Mej?a will serve out his four years as chief clown of an openly corrupt regime. Enough said. . .

. . . CES

*most, meaning the ones that haven't or won't lose their jobs in the foreseeable future. The government workers that lost their jobs due to political patronage are P-----, ah peeved, and want him out of office now. . .

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