If I were to live at a Metro stop and only needed to move around downtown SD, I wouldn't need a car - just like you said. But in the outskirts, like Villa Mella or Los Minas, it's not easy without one I can tell you. At least not with a toddler that can't take as much heat, exhaust fumes and noise as we grown ups.
- Thread starter Makinater
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Santo Domingo - an acquired taste
If I were to live at a Metro stop and only needed to move around downtown SD, I wouldn't need a car - just like you said. But in the outskirts, like Villa Mella or Los Minas, it's not easy without one I can tell you. At least not with a toddler that can't take as much heat, exhaust fumes and noise as we grown ups.
We are out of the capital at the moment, but keep longing back to the chaos. It is wonderful, but hard in the beginning and especially without a car. Ain't no other place like SD though ...
Go home? I believe that our home is where we are at the moment, the place where we sleep at night. And no, we won't be moving back to Northern Europe again. Not because the memories wouldn't hold up to the reality, the problem is that they most likely would. I have memories of a cold, depressing and dark landscape. I prefer that image to be just a memory rather than my everyday surroundings ... We do miss family and friends like crazy though, but they will visit here and we will visit them. It's not like we went on a one-way-trip to Mars!
It would be truly amazing if I had moved here a six weeks ago without never having had the experience of living in the Caribbean. But I was in the DR my first time in 1986-97 when I was only 5 years old. After that in -95, -99, -00, -01, -02, and now 2013. Never spent more than a couple of days in hotels, sino en la casa de mi familia where we seldom had luz, agua or any other commodity. And I didn't come for short vacations, but rather several months every time. Things around here aren't exactly to me, except that it makes a great difference if one is to endure it by oneself, or if one is trying to make things as comfortable as possible for a small child. But we are getting there, step by step. Kiddo is happier than ever at the play grounds, beaches and on the streets.
That said, I still got lots of issues with this country that I will take years to adapt to (if ever). The way children is raised is one such issue, traffic irresponsibility and drunk driving is another. But then again, one can't get everything in one place. Happiness is all I need, not perfection. And lots of sun, of course ... :smoke:This was an awesome account of life in DR. When my relatives or friends ask me why I moved back I say, "porque a mi me gusta".