What it means to be Dominican?

[expatsooner]

I think to be Dominican is to feel in your heart that this is so and to consider yourself as such.

My son was born there and lived his first seven years there - he has never lived in the US (my nationality) or Canada (father's nationality) and when he is asked he tells people he is Dominican. Now granted this made him receive some strange looks in Greece and other places since he is a green eyed blonde. At every one of his school's international day events he marches in carrying the Dominican flag and at all the baseball tournaments he plays in he identifies himself as Dominican. He is Dominican in his heart as seen by a conversation we had when he was about five as I was driving the car down the malecon.

son - Is God a man or woman?
me - That is a good question. What do you think? (trying to buy time to formulate answer)
son - I think he is a man since we say our father. He would be our number one father, right?
me - yes that sounds very logical.
son - So Juan Pablo Duarte would be our number two dad, since he saved our country for us? So I guess dad is our number three dad. But let's not say that, it might hurt dad's feelings.
me - What about George Washington?
son - Who is that?
me - Never mind......

My son can dance like there is no tomorrow, plays baseball, told teenage girls in the DR as they told him his eyes were beautiful - "me gusto Presidente por eso mi ojos son verde" he was 6 at the time (no he didn't actually drink Presidente but he quite fancied the green color of the bottles) loves mangu with egg and the onion with vinegar, wouldn't get out of bed without the nanny bringing him his toast and leche con un chin chin de cafe in the morning before he started school. He spent his formative years there so I agree he is Domincan. Born there, lived there, has the DR passport to back it up. :classic:

 

[Mr_DR]

1. I do not "criticize Dominicans in every aspect".
I asked you to substantiate your allegations (with quotes). So far you have failed.

2. Even if I did criticize Dominicans it could not be "personal to you", as you are not a Dominican.
(I know you are trying hard... :laugh: ).

donP

You must've missed the thread where he found out he is of Dominican descent, therefore that gives him all the rights to claim Dominican if he wants.

 

[Tamborista]

You must've missed the thread where he found out he is of Dominican descent, therefore that gives him all the rights to claim Dominican if he wants.

Search for his claim to Anglo French Haitian bloodlines for fun!
Leave poor Chip alone actually, he is harmless and adds value to this board, we really should not pick on him, well sometimes the religious mumbo jumbo gets annoying.

We love you Chip!

 

[Mr_DR]

Chip,

What happened to your Haitian bloodline, sheeeeeesh, I am not going to start digging up old threads now ole' boy. Happy Independance Day mang.

tio tambo'

I think you misunderstood when he said that his daughters have haitian blood from their mother's side.

 

[Tamborista]

I think you misunderstood when he said that his daughters have haitian blood from their mother's side.

Search his posts amigo, he claims to be Haitian from a few generations ago on his side of the family.
Really not important, perhaps he is only Haitian by injection?

t'

 

[Chip]

Search his posts amigo, he claims to be Haitian from a few generations ago on his side of the family.
Really not important, perhaps he is only Haitian by injection?

t'

To set the record straight, my wife has Haitian blood somewhere on her mother's side. I did state that my family came from the west side of the island but when it was still Saint Domingue and not yet Haiti. I think it's pretty obvious why our ancestor Capt. Alexander B. (as he was known) emigrated to either Santo Domingo or Charleston in the 1790's. His son, Peter, married a Sofia Vallinet who was born in Santo Domingo in 1803 and died in Charleston in 1820 something. Their son Theodore is the family "patriarch" and we still have his family Bible with dates from the 1850's.

 

[Criss Colon]

We are ALL, "GODS" children! No matter where we were born,or what color our skin!
CC

 

[bri777]

CC is that you ????
somebody help
lol
Manu

 

[bachata]

A real Dominican drive his car beeping the horn all time!!!

JJ

 

[donP]

The Right Side

A real Dominican drive his car beeping the horn all time!!!

JJ

... while driving on the good side of the road, not necessarily the right/correct side... :laugh:

donP

 

[bachata]

The first thing a Dominican Do after buying a new SUV, truck or minivan is to stop at a bumper place to install the famous "defensas" cowcatchers bumpers on the vehicle.

JJ

 

[the gorgon]

Bachata says

1 - To peel a coconut
2 - to peel a green plantain
3 - to peel sugar cane
4 - to peel a pineapple
5 - to peel casaba ( yuca)
6 - how to freeze water in plastic bags
7 - to drink water and coffee in aluminum cups
8 - to spend hours every day seating on a plastic chair under a shady tree playing Dominoes
9 - spend time on the streets socializing with people on a daily basis
10 - going to 'El colmado' every day for your groceries
11 - to have conversation with other people when taking a ride on public transportation vehicle

Sh**t !!! I know so many things that make us Dominicans different than the rest of the people around the world!

well, if that is a list of things that makes one a Dominican, i know Dominicans from every island in the caribbean.

 

[NALs]

My son... is Dominican in his heart as seen by a conversation we had when he was about five as I was driving the car down the malecon.

son - Is God a man or woman?
me - That is a good question. What do you think? (trying to buy time to formulate answer)
son - I think he is a man since we say our father. He would be our number one father, right?
me - yes that sounds very logical.
son - So Juan Pablo Duarte would be our number two dad, since he saved our country for us? So I guess dad is our number three dad. But let's not say that, it might hurt dad's feelings.
me - What about George Washington?
son - Who is that?
me - Never mind......

That was the perfect opportunity to let him know who George Washington was, for two very simple reasons:

A. Much of the Malec?n is officially named Avenida George Washington, ahem.

B. At the intersection with Avenida Abraham Lincoln (another Americano to be introduced), there's a statue of none other than George Washington.

Then you could had given him a lesson on Winston Churchill, John F Kennedy, etc all in the comfort of your car!

 

[expatsooner]

That was the perfect opportunity to let him know who George Washington was, for two very simple reasons:

A. Much of the Malec?n is officially named Avenida George Washington, ahem.

B. At the intersection with Avenida Abraham Lincoln (another Americano to be introduced), there's a statue of none other than George Washington.

Then you could had given him a lesson on Winston Churchill, John F Kennedy, etc all in the comfort of your car!

Yes thank you for the parenting tip about history lessons and I am sorry that I didn't continue on boring the rest of the DR1 community with our entire conversation but since the example is a vignette to illustrate a point I actually changed my last given line to my son to bring closure to the example. Although to be honest I generally allow his father who has two master's degrees in history to do the history lessons since my own master's degree is in English.

As far as giving lessons from the comfort of the car goes I must admit that I like to focus more on my defensive driving techniques than to lecture while behind the wheel. :laugh:

 

[ExtremeR]

We will have to instruct Dominican people to through away their trash inside the vehicles no thru the windows, yes this might sound sarcastic but it work fine here in the states....
Three weeks ago my supervisor switch me to the cleaning and fueling bay of the bus station as he was short of utility workers, I had to clean the interior of 80 buses, three 50 gl tank plastic bags full of all kind of sh**t at the end of my shif...

JJ

Not to generalize but there's nothing more disgusting than the interior of an American owner car. At least 75% of the ones I've seeing here think their car is their personal cesspool where they throw all kind of **** (coke cans, empty Twinkies bags, 25 water bottles). Recycle companies would go crazy with just one parking lot of those cars :S

 

[bri777]

Maybe we take our trash home and dispose in a garbage can versus throwing it out the window ?
Manu

 

[the gorgon]

ExtremeR informs

Not to generalize but there's nothing more disgusting than the interior of an American owner car. At least 75% of the ones I've seeing here think their car is their personal cesspool where they throw all kind of **** (coke cans, empty Twinkies bags, 25 water bottles). Recycle companies would go crazy with just one parking lot of those cars :S

i will concede that the interiors of some cars i have seen in the USA, including mine , on occasion, are like a sanitation truck. however, i can tell you something more disgusting....when the streets, parking lots, sidewalks, etc, look like the interiors of the aforementioned American cars, turned inside out .

 

[bachata]

One of my first jab here in US was parking cars in a small parking lot across in the downtown by the court house, many time I've to get in those nasty vehicles XtremeR is talking about.

My wife is living the American way in rush eating junk food every day, her car would be in the same shape as most American cars are if I don't clean it on the weekends.

I'm sure lot of people here in America keep the trash in the cars aware of $1000. fine.

I heard in La Vega DR the city was giving way tickets for this reason and city was cleaner by the time.

JJ

 

[the gorgon]

bachata observes

I'm sure lot of people here in America keep the trash in the cars aware of $1000. fine.

maybe they are a part of a culture that does not believe in public slovenliness, and which does not need to be fined in order to act civilised.

 

[Chip]

bachata observes

I'm sure lot of people here in America keep the trash in the cars aware of $1000. fine.

maybe they are a part of a culture that does not believe in public slovenliness, and which does not need to be fined in order to act civilised.

The gorgon is cool with his patented form of establishing the "high ground".

I see your back to your old habit of demeaning Dominicans and their culture as uncultured which by the way we all lnow you really mean to say that Dominicans are neanderethals.

Also, apparently you've never been to the States because I can remember as a kid when it was common to see people throwing trash out the car window and seeing piles of trash on the sides of the road like you do see here in some places. Granted people are more aware now but still municipalities and citizens spend a lot of money and or free time on the weekends picking up after others - been there done that.

I suppose too Cuba being the utopia that it is that they don't even produce trash.