Onion and Carrots said:
From my vantage point, you're right.
I simply based my assumptions of the three regions of the country based on a map I have supplied by the Dominican government.
I am assuming that those people who are Santo Domingo-centric will judge the east and south with Santo Domingo being the central point between the two.
However, there are plenty of official maps which shows San Cristobal as part of the east, along with the capital and everything west from there.
The Cibao or North region starts frm Monse?or Nouel northward and the south region starts from Peravia (although I have seen some maps include Peravia as part of the east as well) all the way to the Haitian border.
The reason why the South is called the South and not the West is because the Dominican territory used to include much of what today is central Haiti, including the Artibonite Valley and the Central Platue. In fact, there are still many towns in central Haiti with Spanish names, such as the small community of Las Cahobas.
That entire region was considered the West, but when that region was given to the Haitians by the American forces who invaded the country in the beginning of the 20th century, the designation of the regions of the DR as Cibao, East and South remained, while the west simply disappeared into Haiti.
At least, that is from what I have been told and read.
Onion and Carrots said:
Can you think of a more horrible place than San Pedro de Macoris? These people call themselves dominicans.
Well, I don't think San Pedro is horrible. Different from the Cibao, certainly. Horrible? No.
They can call themselves Dominicans, that's no problem. They are from the same nation. What they can't call themselves is Cibae?os, which only a person born in the Cibao and who receives recognition from the government as a Dominican citizen could do.
The east and south are both interesting parts of the DR. They are different, but not horrible.
Onion and Carrots said:
Compare SD and Santiago. SD is dirty, dingy place where people are agressive, street lights are adornments with no function. Red = green = yellow when they actually change colors. Usually they have 2 colors simultaneously.
You must really dislike SD!
SD is both, nice and dirty. Ugly and beautiful. Rich and poor. You know, like all other cities of the world with many other cities having even more blunt and wide extremes than does SD.
Santiago has the same display of disparity as well. Let's not get carried away...
-NALs