Ex-Pat Fatigue

bigbird

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A pity that this thread devolved into this. But when The Gorgon gets attacked by a couple of the biggest a-holes on DR1, the mods suddenly forget how to moderate. The bias is nauseating.

And the one who shall remain nameless, if you think he's petty and vindictive on the internet, get a load of how he back stabs people in person.

The angriest, most vindictive people you'll meet in the DR are NOT Dominican. This is just another pathetic example of it. I cannot imagine something more pathologically egregious than messing with another man's hustle for absolutely no reason.

But of course, if anyone dared to attack the other one's business, the offending comments get deleted and warnings handed down with the quickness.

Don't worry, my fanboys. I plan to stay away. But this one time I had to come to the defense of a man that certain people on this forum could never hold a candle to in terms of integrity and friendship. And this no one told me about. I've experienced it personally on many occasions.



nice to hear from you Berzin, I see you haven't changed :). Still speaking the truth and telling it like it is............
 
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the gorgon

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Sep 16, 2010
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A pity that this thread devolved into this. But when The Gorgon gets attacked by a couple of the biggest a-holes on DR1, the mods suddenly forget how to moderate. The bias is nauseating.

And the one who shall remain nameless, if you think he's petty and vindictive on the internet, get a load of how he back stabs people in person.

The angriest, most vindictive people you'll meet in the DR are NOT Dominican. This is just another pathetic example of it. I cannot imagine something more pathologically egregious than messing with another man's hustle for absolutely no reason.

But of course, if anyone dared to attack the other one's business, the offending comments get deleted and warnings handed down with the quickness.

Don't worry, my fanboys. I plan to stay away. But this one time I had to come to the defense of a man that certain people on this forum could never hold a candle to in terms of integrity and friendship. And this no one told me about. I've experienced it personally on many occasions.

isn't it entertaining that the first guys to offer up a sermon about free cheese, and pulling one's self up by one's bootstraps, are the same guys who try to wreck your hustle when you are trying to do some good and make a dollar?
 
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AlterEgo

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Jan 9, 2009
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Okay guys, if all the bickering is done, can we get back to the OP, which is ex-Pat fatigue?? I’m sure many have forgotten.

Any more OT posts will be deleted an infractions will be given.
 

cobraboy

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Post deleted and infraction given
 
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AlterEgo

Administrator
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Jan 9, 2009
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This is talked about elsewhere in the world but I think we all know waht it is....

My best cure is an airport..


Agreed - we all get 'worn down, short tempered.. fact of life in the 3rd (OK 2.5) world

But then, when you least expect , along comes a nice pick-me-up

I had one this afternoon

WIFE'S CAR
needed the annual oil/filter change and tire rotation... ordinary stuff
I have a man in RSJ who does mine - Javier by name... fluent English

You would have thought I was Jackie Stewart in an F1 race...
In/Out in 15-20 minutes.

Oil/Filter/Labor 1400 pesos
Tires flipped 200
Done like dinner

Not even time to fetch a beer across the street

Sometimes life's easy here

THIS is the OP. Let’s see if we can stay on topic please.
 

bob saunders

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Jan 1, 2002
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I go every April to Canada to visit my kids, check on my house, do my taxes, fish a little, and after two weeks I can't wait to get back home to Jarabacoa. Canada is too quiet for me now, although it is a pleasure to drive there.
 

windeguy

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Jul 10, 2004
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At about which number of dr1-posts one gets this service?

It is not about posts, that would be about connections to those that satisfy your requirements.
I have my list as well, that is for sure. The problems come up when the excellent plumber moves back to Switzerland, etc.
 

windeguy

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I was all set to make a trip out and a flight got cancelled and all of the plans would have been much more difficult to do with a rescheduled flight. Then I got screwed over by Migracion trying to get a 10 year renewal and I am waiting until May to get another residency card. I could go any time, but I don't want to pay an exit fee when I have been a resident since 2003 until Migracion decided to make me go through hoops.

Sometime in the upcoming summer or fall, I might travel out unless something urgent is needed before that. I never want to travel during the winter months to the US. I never want to see snow/ice/freezing rain or even temps below 60F again if I don't have to.
 

mountainannie

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Dec 11, 2003
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It is not about posts, that would be about connections to those that satisfy your requirements.
I have my list as well, that is for sure. The problems come up when the excellent plumber moves back to Switzerland, etc.

I used to observe how the work got done in Las Terrenas - It took 2 Haitians to do the job, 4 Dominicans to stand around supervising, and 1 Frenchman to send the bill.

I had a very good friend who was in LT for many years -maybe 15?- and had established a full legal business - paid taxes, salaries, and all - kept a full Dominican crew working (and even on salary when there was no actual work) trained them. He did solar panel design and installation. When he left, he turned over the business to his crew.

I doubt it is is still in operation.
 

mountainannie

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Dec 11, 2003
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This is talked about elsewhere in the world but I think we all know waht it is....

My best cure is an airport..


Agreed - we all get 'worn down, short tempered.. fact of life in the 3rd (OK 2.5) world

But then, when you least expect , along comes a nice pick-me-up

I had one this afternoon

WIFE'S CAR
needed the annual oil/filter change and tire rotation... ordinary stuff
I have a man in RSJ who does mine - Javier by name... fluent English

You would have thought I was Jackie Stewart in an F1 race...
In/Out in 15-20 minutes.

Oil/Filter/Labor 1400 pesos
Tires flipped 200
Done like dinner

Not even time to fetch a beer across the street

Sometimes life's easy here

When I would get stressed in the Capital I would check into one of the All INclusives for a mid-week SPA trip-

These were particularly lovely in the rainy season and summers when there were few foreign tourists and Dominicans only on the weekend...

The rates were amazingly low.

If I could go with someone with a cedula, the rates were really - REALLY low

I never felt that a trip back to the US was much of "stress reliever" - I travelled back for about 3 months a year for the first 3 years during the beginning of my 14 years there- kept a car at my nephew's place. But then I started to figure that in those months I spent about what an entire year cost me in the DR and instead spent the money on round trip tickets for various folks to come visit me. When they came, I would get a week's "vacation" as a tourist - showing them around the Zona Colonial, up to Las Terrenas or down to Pedernales. There is SO MUCH to see in the Dominican Republic. So many places that most folks never see.

If you have never been to the high pine forest outside of Pedernales? Which is like Canada? And actually gone on the back of a MotoConcho? Well- I can not say that you have never Lived - but you have certainly missed something.

There is an adorable hotel right near the border- near Elias Pina - outside of San Juan de Maguana - which is a high plateau and the weather is beautiful. It has a great swimming pool and owned by a Haitian (or at least it was) who has an AMAZING chef..

If you get a new copy of the Lonely Planet guide to the DR - or the Moon Guide from the UK - or the French guide (I forget the name ) you will get the most recent listings of all the adorable little hotels that are always opening (and some closing)...

For those of you who can actually afford a trip back to the USA, it will be much cheaper to send a ticket to a kid, a grandchild, nephew, niece, old friend - and travel about the DR with them.
 

RockyM

New member
Jul 16, 2018
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Thanks everyone. This is all great info for someone relocating to LT in 20 months. I understand the biggest risk to relocation is simply cultural adjustment. It is nearly impossible for some, and a serious consideration for all. I think my wife and I have fairly reasonable expectations; but, the conversation about it all is priceless.
 

william webster

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Jan 16, 2009
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I used to observe how the work got done in Las Terrenas - It took 2 Haitians to do the job, 4 Dominicans to stand around supervising, and 1 Frenchman to send the bill.

I had a very good friend who was in LT for many years -maybe 15?- and had established a full legal business - paid taxes, salaries, and all - kept a full Dominican crew working (and even on salary when there was no actual work) trained them. He did solar panel design and installation. When he left, he turned over the business to his crew.

I doubt it is is still in operation.

reillyp ??
 

mountainannie

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Dec 11, 2003
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Thanks everyone. This is all great info for someone relocating to LT in 20 months. I understand the biggest risk to relocation is simply cultural adjustment. It is nearly impossible for some, and a serious consideration for all. I think my wife and I have fairly reasonable expectations; but, the conversation about it all is priceless.

I lived in LT for my first 2 or 3 years (they sorta flow together there) - made some really LIFE long friends. It has so many advantages in that it is really an international destination and there are expats from all over. Before I got there I expected it to be this wonderful melange but the reality on the ground was that they were quite segregated into the French colony, the Italian colony, the Germans.., etc.. which makes for some wonderful restaurants! Once your Spanish is up to speed you will be able to make friends with lots of others. There is a big environmental group which holds 5k runs and stuff and a sweet open market in the main shopping plaza on Saturdays which also gives one a good opportunity to mix with others.

The main drawback of LT - as it perhaps is with all the other towns in the DR - is that it is a town. The shoeshine boys will know that you have moved from one side of the village to the other within a day. Everything that you do/say will be monitored and seen by the locals.

LT is a deeply religious and Protestant village and there are also lots of folks there who are hiding out from Interpol for one reason or another - which certainly makes for an interesting mix. Like all the other places, there is no way to know the back story of any of the other ex-pats - there are lots who live quite mysteriously on wealth that comes from who knows where. Some of the lawyers there - and else where in the DR - are so crooked that they would make a wonderful series on Netflix (stick with Guzman Arias)

The other down side on LT is that it is a long way from anywhere - not as far as it was when I first got there before the Samana highway. There are now regular buses to the Capital. If you are primarily an English speaker - Canadian/Brit/USA - you will be in the minority of the ex-pats there. You might want to make an effort to meet some of the posters on this board who live elsewhere along the North Coast so that you can visit with them and get around more native English speakers should you wish to watch old Monty Python movies or the Super Bowl.

All in all - LT is about the most gorgeous place on the entire island, imho..

and I was there for 14 years working as a journalist and have probably seen more of the island than most.
 

RockyM

New member
Jul 16, 2018
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Thanks mountainannie, we are headed back to LT in April. Been there 5 or 6 times in total. Met some great people, but yes, all North Americans! Our friends also advise us that the locals are VERY social and will know us and everything we do before long! We do like that it is off the beaten track so to speak. Kind of a pain getting there but is a acceptable trade off. :0)
 

windeguy

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Jul 10, 2004
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There is nothing unusual about immigrants from different countries hanging together with their fellow countrymen. It tends to happen for at least a couple of generations until the grand children and great grand kids of the immigrants mix together in larger numbers over time. There are plenty of examples of this from the enclaves found in the world's largest cities to even my home town of 30,000 people. Chinatowns, Little Italy's, Pollack Hill, etc.

I hate to say it, but it happens everywhere.

As for LT, I went there once and may not visit again. Others really like it there.
 

mountainannie

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Dec 11, 2003
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Thanks mountainannie, we are headed back to LT in April. Been there 5 or 6 times in total. Met some great people, but yes, all North Americans! Our friends also advise us that the locals are VERY social and will know us and everything we do before long! We do like that it is off the beaten track so to speak. Kind of a pain getting there but is a acceptable trade off. :0)

Glad to hear that there are more North Americans there now - I got there way back in 2004 and there were really only 3 of us United Staters and no Canadians that I met. The Village only had two paved roads. So you will have a much easier time of it.