Do expats feel accepted by Dominicans?

[Chip00]

One trait of many Dominicans I refuse to accept is pushing in ahead of me in line.

I agree with you Ken - it still irks me. I guess I've learned(adapted) to not make a big show as public complaining is note really seen a whole lot. The way I deal with it is I do the same thing they do - I go right up to the front. By the way if you go to a colmado and sit their waiting for your turn all I can say is don't be surprised if your there for a while. I certainly have "modified" my behaviour in this respect.

Sometimes I think this type of behavior is only found only with the more uneducated crowd until I was give a stark reminder today when I went to my daughters school to talk with her teacher about her mid year review. When I got there there was already a lady their with the teacher so they asked me to sit outside. After about 15 to 290 min. of chisme another lady comes in and guesss what - she takes my place. My normal American behavior would have been to say "Voy yo primero" but I've quickly learned that it can be offensive at times. So I patiently waited another 10 min. before I told the teachers assistant that I neede to get back to work whereupon they finally stopped talking about jibberish and finished. The funny thing is the teacher apologized and said "oh forgive me, it's just so that so many people are coming at one time". This reminds me of the Dominoes pizza guy who comes 20 min. late with a cold pizza and I said, hey what about the guarantee and he responds "Hey I got lost and besides it's not easy to deliver pizzas on time (typical!) and guess what - I still gave him a tip the bozo - how's that for adaptation?

 

[Lambada]

This one really doesn't irk me any more because I don't let it happen. I use the OAPWEALV routine - old age pensioner with elbows & loud voice......

If I'm in a desperate hurry & the breadshop/colmado is crowded I have been known to rush in breathlessly with 'Hey did you see the accident down the street.........?' A bit naughty I know but works every time. Even the follow up as I exit shop with purchases 'Not there? Gosh didn't they clear that up quickly...........' :cheeky:

 

[Texas Bill]

When I first came to the DR in 2000, I was living on a boat anddidn't have much interaction with the locals in Manzanillo. As a result, I was fairly isolated from the community. I did befriend 3 or 4 of thelocals that hung around me looking for any work that I might need done. Of those, 1 or 2 turned out to be lasting friends. The others stole me blind over time.
When I became ill, one of the two got the doctor to my rented house, then to the clinic in Monte Cristi. Even stayed in theroom for the two days that I was there. In other words, I was taken care of like family. I'll always have a place in my heart for those.
As to theones that stole so much from me, well one went to jail for a couple of years for that and the other disappeared from thescene (no, I didn't do anything to him, he's in Santo Domingo)

When we first moved to Santiago for medical reasons, I wasn't sure whether we would be accepted or not. My fears along those lines have long been put to rest. We're fully accepted by our neighbors. And while I frequently criticize the government for some of their folly, I find that I'm agreed with without rancor. Perhaps it's because I usually preface such remarks by saying I don't understand the motivation or cite a similar occurance about the States. In other words, none of that "We do it differently in the States" type stuff. I frequently walk up and down the street in front for exercise and am in thehabit of wearing shors whiledoing so, At first, that was viewed with askance, but now everyone is accustomed to that "silly old gringo who doesn't dress up" and everyone is tolerent of me, at least.
While the new road has been under construction several of us have been furnishing theworkers and "jefes" with morning and afternoon coffee. They've been very appreciative of that and don't mind thequestions I pose as to their method of construction. One thing I have gleaned from these conversations is that the various agencies reallydon't care a hoot about scheduling their different work forces in order to improve the overall efficiency of the total construction. They don't cooperate very well with each other and that is a shame.
But that's off topic,so I won't go any further.

About it.
Last comment... I really feel accepted here, Gracious A Dios.

Texas Bill