Is it so much better back in the U.S. ? Check out this video
Americans are NOT stupid - WITH SUBTITLES - YouTube
Americans are NOT stupid - WITH SUBTITLES - YouTube
As I am making preparations to be in the DR full time in the next 18 months, this board has been invaluable! I feel as though I have hundreds of eyes on the ground giving very real, hard core info that will make my move and acclamation so much easier. I LOVE the varied opinions and oft times "mean" or should I say heated convesations and opinions! It is real life but SO invaluable for me. I am very grateful, excited and looking forward to my next adventure. Keep it all coming and may I say thank you for all of the assistance and wealth of information!
It's not so much about contrasts and comparisons, it's the complete ignorance to how things really work.
Dominicans are stupid!
I think this comment is more of a reflection of the people some expats hang around.
Most expats socialize at the low end of the economic scale and are clueless about who's who etc.
Who runs the banks, factories and owns the businesses?
How about those nice cars, kids in good schools/UNI, families that travel or have a net worth many times most expats here? Are these the stupid Dominicans?
On that note...
How many expats actually socialize with Dominicans? Go out to dinner, resorts, BBQ's etc.
How many have Dominican friends beyond the maid, watchy etc? Most cannot name 1 or 2 at best.
I got robbed and scammed, nothing works, why isn't it like home?
Once again, this is often down to your circle of "friends" or that you live in a crappy part of town and everyone around you thinks your just another Gringo pendejo!
Many Dominicans are resourceful, know how to get stuff done, but most expats don't have any or the right friends. The maid, chopa girlfriend or your wife's primo that lives in the campo cannot get you a bank account, get you out of jail, best deals or hook you up with the right people. Get out of your comfort zone and go and meet some "other" Dominicans.
What we are discussing here is two different "Things".
#1.Peolpe who have lived in the DR,and don't yet know,or want to know,what makes Dominicans,or the Dominican Republic,"TICK"!......."How to LIVE in the DR".
#2.People,"DR WannaBe's",those people who think you have to 'GO Dominican" to be happy,and "Fit In" in the DR.
You know,dance "Bachata" at a Colomado in "Capotillo,while drinking "Presidente",con "Clamto",and saying,"Ay Cono Que SI!",after anything a Dominican "Chopo" says!
THEY ARE TWO DIFFERENT THINGS.
I once describbed the "Stages" an expat passes through,after moving to the DR.(Maybe Anna C can find that???)
Stage 1 is the "Wanna Be"stage.EVERYTHING Dominican is "COOL",maybe "Better" than where they came from.Poor Dominicans are,indeed,"Poor Yet Happy",living a simple lifestyle.
Stage 2,a LITTLE bit of "Reality" sets in.
Those "Poor yet happy" people are having a very difficult existance. No electricity,education,health care,(How "Happy" can they be watching a child die due to the lack of care,and then they get to pay the bill,BEFORE, they get the dead body!
Stage three,you pull back a little from stage 1.Are not an "Amigo" to every poor Dominican with their hand out.
Have fewer Dominican "Friends",and Don't go to "Poor Barrios" anymore.
At this time,some expats withdraw from Dominican "Society",and stay home,or only socialize with other expats.
Too many make getting drunk their main focus.
Others decide to make the DR their "HOME".If they haven't learned "Dominican Spanish",they better!
How can you live in a country if you don't know/speak/read/write the language of the country???
That is easier for some,harder for others.You have to do it to "Fit" in the Dominican life.
Last "stage",
you have a few really good Dominicans that you can call "Friends".
And I do mean "CALL".
Like when I blew a tire at 2 am on Luperon,under Kennedy.My van fell off the jack. :disappoin
I called a friend,who sent his brother(who I had never met) who lived nearby.He fixed the jack, and changed the tire
When I offered him some money for his help,he said "No,you are "Familia"!
If you want to live at "The Beach",in a gated community,and get drunk,that's OK by me.You are putting needed foreign exchange into the DR economy.
You wanna be, a "Dominican Wanna be",that's cool too.
It's "Cool",but as far as I'm concerned you have no more "credibility" in your posts on DR 1 than someone who spends a week in an "AI",then starts posting here,and telling those of us in the "Last Stage" that we don't really "Know" the DR,or it's people.
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It's not so much about contrasts and comparisons, it's the complete ignorance to how things really work.
Dominicans are stupid!
I think this comment is more of a reflection of the people some expats hang around.
Most expats socialize at the low end of the economic scale and are clueless about who's who etc.
Who runs the banks, factories and owns the businesses?
How about those nice cars, kids in good schools/UNI, families that travel or have a net worth many times most expats here? Are these the stupid Dominicans?
On that note...
How many expats actually socialize with Dominicans? Go out to dinner, resorts, BBQ's etc.
How many have Dominican friends beyond the maid, watchy etc? Most cannot name 1 or 2 at best.
I got robbed and scammed, nothing works, why isn't it like home?
Once again, this is often down to your circle of "friends" or that you live in a crappy part of town and everyone around you thinks your just another Gringo pendejo!
Many Dominicans are resourceful, know how to get stuff done, but most expats don't have any or the right friends. The maid, chopa girlfriend or your wife's primo that lives in the campo cannot get you a bank account, get you out of jail, best deals or hook you up with the right people. Get out of your comfort zone and go and meet some "other" Dominicans.
PICHARDO, I feel for you!
Are we to assume that you, Robert, believe that the Dominican Republic is on the gold standard? Or that an expert leaves out about 20% of the population when doing statistics because they don't fit into his choice of what he is wanting to prove?
Or what is it that you feel for Pichardo about?
Der Fish
...etc.It's not so much about contrasts and comparisons, it's the complete ignorance to how things really work.
Dominicans are stupid!
I think this comment is more of a reflection of the people some expats hang around.
Most expats socialize at the low end of the economic scale and are clueless about who's who etc.
Who runs the banks, factories and owns the businesses?
How about those nice cars, kids in good schools/UNI, families that travel or have a net worth many times most expats here? Are these the stupid Dominicans?
On that note...
How many expats actually socialize with Dominicans? Go out to dinner, resorts, BBQ's etc.
How many have Dominican friends beyond the maid, watchy etc? Most cannot name 1 or 2 at best.
I got robbed and scammed, nothing works, why isn't it like home?
Once again, this is often down to your circle of "friends" or that you live in a crappy part of town and everyone around you thinks your just another Gringo pendejo!
Many Dominicans are resourceful, know how to get stuff done, but most expats don't have any or the right friends. The maid, chopa girlfriend or your wife's primo that lives in the campo cannot get you a bank account, get you out of jail, best deals or hook you up with the right people. Get out of your comfort zone and go and meet some "other" Dominicans.
I agree. C.Colon has the best handle on living here of all our contributors. His description of the stages immigrants go through is spot on. However, if he does decide to write a book I offer my services as copy editor. I don't think we can inflict 200 pages or more of random capitalization and eccentric punctuation on the readership.I would love to read a book Living in Dominican Republic through the eyes of C. Colon. You should think about it I will be first in line to purchase it.
Also to understand Dominican cultural norms and values prevalent in this society, is to understand a society that is organized with a social hierarchy and a permanent under class.
In this society we are not all equals (some more equal than others) and great emphasis is placed on class which is not only provided by quick money, but a combination of virtues. And the unwritten rules are pretty much observed, few, hold Kardashian style values and marry ball players.
Top 10 expat misconceptions and wrong assumptions:
1.) Despite the fact i'm nearly 60yrs old, bald, and fat, this 20 year old girl that i met at the Arriba bar absolutely loves me!
Frank