rant on
thinking about moving out as well, after being here for most of 8years.
Many things are cool here, but the other stuff, while small... keeps coming back. Like a pesky mosquito.
Kitchen sink stops working regularly. Stopped up. Need to pay someone every 3-4 months to empty the dry drain. It's a nasty, smelly job.
Our frost-free nivera / refrigerator frosts up regularly. Some dude came by and 'fixed it' four times already. Gets old.
There is no such thing as a plumber in San Cristobal, AFAIK. Tried many. The last one I paid 2000 pesos to stop the drippy faucets in the banera / tub. He replaced one faucet, and said that the rings / washers were not available to fix the other faucet. Seriously? 2000 pesos for that? Now I put a bucket in the tub- so that the water does not wear a hole in the porcelain in the tub of our rented house. He did empty out the kitchen dry-drain Ok though.
Our car is old. Recently they replaced the coolatta. It was inexpensive. There was a valve ticking noise in the new motor- which they said that if it wasn't good- they would replace it for free. This is the course of action we decided on. Turns out that the mechanic's time to replace it is not free. He says that it's not his culpa / fault. He didn't test it when he put it in the first time?
My wife wanted to surprise me by getting our Dominican car painted when we went back to the US last time. The job looks pretty good... But upon receiving my car... all three of the windows and doors, except one, does not function right. Windows don't go up, locks don't lock automatically... The gas cap cover basically fell off before- which I said before to our friend needs to be welded... is held in place with two loose screws. The first time I get gas, it gets even more looser, and doesn't close. I doubt that the painter has welding equipment... we'll see. The car is back there to get fixed as we speak.
Visa overstay charges... which used to be almost free... are a lot of money now.
Yes, things are generally cheap around here. But if you have to pay, pay, then pay again... It's not so cheap any more. Life here seems harder now.... when looking at the same problems over and over again.
The problems may seem small, but in the US, where I have a condo, I deal with none of these. It's a different way of life there.