Well, let's see if this helps...
Attitudes: Dominicans like politics, music, baseball and children
Dominicans dislike politicians, imperialism, lack of opportunity, lack of electricity and the disorganized way of doing a lot of things-like getting a driver's license or a birth certificate...
Personal appearence: Generally speaking, neatness is evident, no matter what economic class. At the universities, jeans, t-shirts or golf shirts (polo shirts?) are pretty much the norm.
Way back when-35 years ago-shirts and ties, polished shoes, dresses and salon perfect hair do s were the norm. An evening at a disco will be pretty much like it would be in large cities in the states, as far as clothes..., but generally speaking the people are much much thinner than comparable agees in the US.
Special customs and courtesies: Here you might want to look up a book called "Body Language" and read how the society differs with respect to women and their 'look' and 'walk'.
One special custom is the tradition of baptizing children and forgeing(sp?) relationships. It is called "padrinazco". This, in turn forms a unique relationship called the "compadrazgo" which can be defined as the relationship that is formed by the godfather with the parents of the child to be baptized. Once cemented, this relationship literally opens up the two families to each other. In one area of the country (San Juan de la Maguana) in the central highlands, a "compadre" will kneel before his compadre as they meet on a country path and literally ask for his blessing: "La bendici?n, compadre" Answered by: "Que Dios te bendiga, compadre."
There is also the custom of "Los Quince", which is the coming out of the young lady at 15. This has been written up in TIME, but in the Cuban manner...years ago..Some people really go all out to impress society with the grandeur of the occasion, but most just have a nice party and the girl gets a couple of nice presents...
Greetings: "Como estamos?" (How are we?)is a very traditional greeting, somewhat antiquated but still in use. Of course, the young people have a different way of doing things: "Que hay?" (What's up?); or "Y qu??" (And?) Plenty of variety there.
Gestures: Hands, hands, hands!! And touching. A Dominican can hardly hold a conversation without touching a knee or a wrist or a shoulder..
Mouths are also used for gestures. Can be funny, too. One that comes to mind is two lips puckered way out like a monkey: Means
"I don't think so, but I won't say so."
Meal times: What are they like differes pretty much by economic status. The higher classes will have servents preparing breakfast for the children before they go off to school. In the lower classes, the mothers are up early and preparing milk for the kids. At the work places the bosses arrive already fed but the workers will take off 20 minutes or so, around 9 or 9:30 for a breakfast of fried eggs, plantains and avocado...
At noon time, my family used to gather and eat together. But we were sort of strange in that aspect. Dinner is generally catch as catch can.
Diet: Generally speaking most Dominican meals are prepared with fresh ingredients that are purchased on a daily basis. What is called the "Dominican Flag" meal is: Rice and red kidney beans, plantains in some form, cabbage and tomato salad, and some meat.
Family structure is a touchy question. There are more common law couples than there are married couples. The divorce rate is very high. Machismo is still prevalent at the poorer economic levels, but not in the highest levels. Generally speaking, children are adored, although we have had instances of tragedies among young, ignorant and un wed mothers...
Recreation and sports. All sports are practiced, but baseball, softball, basketball are the big three. Boxing is up there too.
Dominos and checkers are favorite passtimes that you can see on every street corner at dusk and on Sundays. Curiously, swimming is not a big sport on the island. There is an outstanding Dominican hurdler-Felix Snachez, world 400 mt champion, but he was raised in New York...don't know if that counts..
Finally, transportation. Everything from burros to Rolls Royces are here. There is a growing system of intercity buses, and the two main cities are equipped with bus systems. Taxis abound-581-TAXI, for example. A"Dominican" transport system is called "publicos", small, privately owned cars that run a fixes route and charge a fixed amount. Up to 8 people can be crammed into one of these. And another one is the system of "Motoconchos" (conchos being another word for 'publico'). These are motorcycles of varying sizes that take you from the "Publico" stops to your house...
Hope this assists you is some way..
HB