Dominican Republic - GoFuckYourself.com

mkx · 06-22-2005, 07:06 PM

Any webmasters living and working in the Dominican Republic want to share their experiences on the advantages and disadvantages?

sherie · 06-22-2005, 07:07 PM

It's a great place to visit if you are 5 starring it, I don't think I would take up residence there. Good luck!

mkx · 06-22-2005, 07:56 PM

Why not residence?

shann · 06-22-2005, 08:29 PM

It's ghettttto ville there that's why! lol

DWB · 06-22-2005, 08:41 PM

They are poor there man. Real poor. I looked into buying some property there and was <--- this close ---> to getting a vacation condo in a small beach town of Sosua, but it was just too damn dirty. Though property is booming there.

I think life there full time would be SLOW and get old fast.

mkx · 06-22-2005, 09:13 PM

Yah it is a pretty poor country but I am sure there are some decent foreign business areas there.

mkx · 06-22-2005, 09:14 PM

Oh and beer is cheap

DWB · 06-22-2005, 09:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by raulph

Yah it is a pretty poor country but I am sure there are some decent foreign business areas there.

They do have tax free business zones down there in certain areas...

Webby · 06-22-2005, 09:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by raulph

Any webmasters living and working in the Dominican Republic want to share their experiences on the advantages and disadvantages?

Depending what you are looking for, most of the Caribbean islands are the same, - like small :-) But each often has a different geography even tho they are close to each other.

Agree, DR is probably not the best choice for webmastering. It is *very* poor.

There are plenty other islands which may offer more (depending on what you want)... St Maartin for example, is still small, but got plenty more infrastructure - one half of the island is Dutch, the other French - both with their own cultures. I kinda like breakfast in Dutch bar on St Maartin :-)

If you want some space - and larger land mass to move around - have a look at some of the Latin American countries - Panama, Costa Rica blah...

marketsmart · 06-22-2005, 09:18 PM

Costa Rica is good especially the Guanacaste Province. Going to check out Nicaragua next month.

Webby · 06-22-2005, 09:20 PM

BTW... St Maartin is a tax-free zone. Got more luxury crap being shipped thru there than anyone could dream of.

Webby · 06-22-2005, 09:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by marketsmart

Costa Rica is good especially the Guanacaste Province. Going to check out Nicaragua next month.

Odd ya should mention the Guanacaste peninsula area - yea, - good place and already being "discovered" sadly! :-) (Already have a place there)

Nicaragua can be even better - costs are about one third those of Costa Rica and there are still many great opps for real estate.

ULVideo · 06-22-2005, 09:35 PM

Sosua is the armpit of the DR where only the cheapest pervs go to score underage girls. It's tough being a webmaster in the DR because you can't get a decent internet connection. When the exchange rate went from 17 to 55, everyone adjusted prices upwards, and then when it fell back to 25 no one re-adjusted, so it's made things very tough $ wise for Americans. Anything which needs to be imported (like computers, TV's and other elctronics) is VERY expensive. It's tough to get a decent steak/beef there, so you'd better like chicken. You REALLY need to know how to speak Spanish if you want to live there and not CONSTANTLY get ripped off. There's tons of young, pretty girls there who will want to be with you if you're American, but they're almost all hookers (to some extent or another), and by the time they turn 25 they look like they are grandmothers (it's a tough life down there; middle class means you've got 3 walls and a concrete floor). You can find a nice appartment/house for a reasonable rent (but it costs a lot to "start it up", because appliances aren't included, and you really need an inverter, or better yet a "planta" - generator because the power goes out ALL THE TIME). You spend a lot of money on bribes, because EVERYBODY wants them; OTOH you can get away with a lot because everyone takes them. but be really careful about breaking any laws, because if you go to jail THEY DON'T FEED YOU, so your friends have to bring you food. the restaurants are really expensive considering how bad they are and the rest of the economy; a decent bowl of pasta costs the same as in Manhattan, which is probably a week's wages for the average Dominican.

2HousePlague · 06-22-2005, 09:50 PM

My mom was from there, and I guess I feel obliged to say something about it. I've been there many times.

DR is another one of those places where it's warm and pretty enough to draw tourists from other places in the world where it's not so warm and not so pretty.

At the extremes, the poverty there is quite severe. There are easily hundreds of thousands of people in the country who live in homes they have constructed from materials they have collected over time, with dirt floors and no electricity or plumbing. If you venture into the interior, where very few tourists have any reason or inclination to go -- unless they are "seeking" for something -- you will see scenes like this:

I can't imagine that anyone in the world with a computer, much less an adult Webmaster will, will so much as see scenes like this fio they were to visit. These are the noble poor, who live lives of extraordinary physical hardship, punctuated wherever and whenever opportunity permits by excruciatingly brief (but soul-deep) moments of unequivocal joy. If anyone reading this plans a visit, I would say stick to the resort grounds and your nightly banquets of snapper and shrimp -- I don't say avoid the poor for your sake, but for theirs. They are very perceptive and instinctive, and you will njot be ale to conceal the discomfort, disgust and shock at the conditions in which they live. It hurts their feelings, but, still, they will concern themselves more for you than for themselves.

In the city, there is also terrible poverty but a different sort -- this will seem more recognizable to those of you who have traveled to any of a number of places around the world, like Phuket and Sao Paolo where the many complex layers, wheels and levers of a Big City are gritted over and "gummed" up with the smashed flesh of people so poor they can't get out of the way of the metaphorical "machinery" even when they see it coming.

Of course, the Big Cities (Santo Domingo, in the case of the Dominican Republic) also bring haves and ultra-have-nots into close proximity. I'd say this is going to be very terrible for your average JCrew wearing "Delicate Person" from the US. In Santo Domingo, like the other two cities I mentioned above, youthful beauty and the innocence that usually remain attached to it at least through late adoloscence have been destroyed in these children. You will see them leaning on lamposts or idling in hotel lobbies with an expression on their faces that will tell you they don't know why they are their or what they are waiting for. On the advice of an older version of themselves, they have exposed a malnourished midriff or a thigh brown thigh no thicker than a baseball bat, because they at least have been made to sense what parts of their bodies will bring over a customer from Europe or the US. If the older mentor has been kind, they will not have told them too much about what happens up in the rooms or in the backseats of cabs that do nothing more than drive around the block until the patron has gratified himself.

You will look at these White Men, and they will seem almost recognizable to you from your own American or Canadian cities. You will see them later in the Airport, and you will wonder how they go back to "civilization" with the spiritual blood and guts of children under their fingernails.

[changing subject...]

One of the most beautiful beaches I have ever seen is Boca Chica -- though it is not so beautiful there now as it was when I was child with my mother. But the beach's most exceptional attribute is always there. Owing to the arrangement of sand banks and mangroves and reefs there are never any waves -- it's glass flat and you can walk out for hundreds odf yards in the direction of the horizon without the depth of the water climbing above your hips. As a child, this made it possible for me to enjoy the Sea as I never had in New York or anywhere else. An aspect of my strengh must have developed on that beach, and I always think of my moments alone, feeling utterly safe in the embrace of salt air and motionless crystal clear water. But that was just my trip, along time ago --

2HP

Webby · 06-22-2005, 09:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 2HousePlague

My mom was from there, and I guess I feel obliged to say something about it. I've been there many times.

Excellent summary! And well put!!

marketsmart · 06-22-2005, 10:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Webby

Odd ya should mention the Guanacaste peninsula area - yea, - good place and already being "discovered" sadly! :-) (Already have a place there)

Nicaragua can be even better - costs are about one third those of Costa Rica and there are still many great opps for real estate.

Are you close to Tamarindo? I am trying to decide between Tamarindo and SJDS NIcaragua to relocate. I was set on Tamarindo, but lately I have been hearing so much about the opportunities in Nicaragua..

06-22-2005, 07:06 PM	#1
mkx Confirmed User Industry Role: Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Toronto Posts: 4,001	Dominican Republic Any webmasters living and working in the Dominican Republic want to share their experiences on the advantages and disadvantages?

06-22-2005, 07:07 PM	#2
sherie Confirmed User Join Date: Feb 2002 Posts: 7,020	It's a great place to visit if you are 5 starring it, I don't think I would take up residence there. Good luck! __________________ AIM sherierocks ICQ 127-296-286 Skype traffichor

06-22-2005, 08:29 PM	#4
shann Confirmed User Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Toronto bishes Posts: 896	It's ghettttto ville there that's why! lol __________________ Don't you know who I think I am? Buy my shirts or i'll punch you in the nutz, TWICE! www.dirtybishes.com

06-22-2005, 09:20 PM	#11
Webby Too lazy to set a custom title Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Far far away - as possible Posts: 14,956	BTW... St Maartin is a tax-free zone. Got more luxury crap being shipped thru there than anyone could dream of. __________________ XXX TLD's - Another mosquito to swat.

06-22-2005, 09:50 PM	#14
2HousePlague CURATOR Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: the attic Posts: 14,572	My mom was from there, and I guess I feel obliged to say something about it. I've been there many times. DR is another one of those places where it's warm and pretty enough to draw tourists from other places in the world where it's not so warm and not so pretty. At the extremes, the poverty there is quite severe. There are easily hundreds of thousands of people in the country who live in homes they have constructed from materials they have collected over time, with dirt floors and no electricity or plumbing. If you venture into the interior, where very few tourists have any reason or inclination to go -- unless they are "seeking" for something -- you will see scenes like this: I can't imagine that anyone in the world with a computer, much less an adult Webmaster will, will so much as see scenes like this fio they were to visit. These are the noble poor, who live lives of extraordinary physical hardship, punctuated wherever and whenever opportunity permits by excruciatingly brief (but soul-deep) moments of unequivocal joy. If anyone reading this plans a visit, I would say stick to the resort grounds and your nightly banquets of snapper and shrimp -- I don't say avoid the poor for your sake, but for theirs. They are very perceptive and instinctive, and you will njot be ale to conceal the discomfort, disgust and shock at the conditions in which they live. It hurts their feelings, but, still, they will concern themselves more for you than for themselves. In the city, there is also terrible poverty but a different sort -- this will seem more recognizable to those of you who have traveled to any of a number of places around the world, like Phuket and Sao Paolo where the many complex layers, wheels and levers of a Big City are gritted over and "gummed" up with the smashed flesh of people so poor they can't get out of the way of the metaphorical "machinery" even when they see it coming. Of course, the Big Cities (Santo Domingo, in the case of the Dominican Republic) also bring haves and ultra-have-nots into close proximity. I'd say this is going to be very terrible for your average JCrew wearing "Delicate Person" from the US. In Santo Domingo, like the other two cities I mentioned above, youthful beauty and the innocence that usually remain attached to it at least through late adoloscence have been destroyed in these children. You will see them leaning on lamposts or idling in hotel lobbies with an expression on their faces that will tell you they don't know why they are their or what they are waiting for. On the advice of an older version of themselves, they have exposed a malnourished midriff or a thigh brown thigh no thicker than a baseball bat, because they at least have been made to sense what parts of their bodies will bring over a customer from Europe or the US. If the older mentor has been kind, they will not have told them too much about what happens up in the rooms or in the backseats of cabs that do nothing more than drive around the block until the patron has gratified himself. You will look at these White Men, and they will seem almost recognizable to you from your own American or Canadian cities. You will see them later in the Airport, and you will wonder how they go back to "civilization" with the spiritual blood and guts of children under their fingernails. [changing subject...] One of the most beautiful beaches I have ever seen is Boca Chica -- though it is not so beautiful there now as it was when I was child with my mother. But the beach's most exceptional attribute is always there. Owing to the arrangement of sand banks and mangroves and reefs there are never any waves -- it's glass flat and you can walk out for hundreds odf yards in the direction of the horizon without the depth of the water climbing above your hips. As a child, this made it possible for me to enjoy the Sea as I never had in New York or anywhere else. An aspect of my strengh must have developed on that beach, and I always think of my moments alone, feeling utterly safe in the embrace of salt air and motionless crystal clear water. But that was just my trip, along time ago -- 2HP __________________ tada!

06-22-2005, 07:56 PM	#3
mkx Confirmed User Industry Role: Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Toronto Posts: 4,001	Why not residence?

06-22-2005, 08:41 PM	#5
DWB Registered User Industry Role: Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Encrypted. Access denied. Posts: 31,779	They are poor there man. Real poor. I looked into buying some property there and was <--- this close ---> to getting a vacation condo in a small beach town of Sosua, but it was just too damn dirty. Though property is booming there. I think life there full time would be SLOW and get old fast.

06-22-2005, 09:13 PM	#6
mkx Confirmed User Industry Role: Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Toronto Posts: 4,001	Yah it is a pretty poor country but I am sure there are some decent foreign business areas there.

06-22-2005, 09:14 PM	#7
mkx Confirmed User Industry Role: Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Toronto Posts: 4,001	Oh and beer is cheap

06-22-2005, 09:18 PM	#10
marketsmart HOMICIDAL TROLL KILLER Industry Role: Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Sunnybrook Institution for the Criminally Insane Posts: 20,419	Costa Rica is good especially the Guanacaste Province. Going to check out Nicaragua next month.

06-22-2005, 09:35 PM	#13
ULVideo Confirmed User Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: New York Posts: 405	Sosua is the armpit of the DR where only the cheapest pervs go to score underage girls. It's tough being a webmaster in the DR because you can't get a decent internet connection. When the exchange rate went from 17 to 55, everyone adjusted prices upwards, and then when it fell back to 25 no one re-adjusted, so it's made things very tough $ wise for Americans. Anything which needs to be imported (like computers, TV's and other elctronics) is VERY expensive. It's tough to get a decent steak/beef there, so you'd better like chicken. You REALLY need to know how to speak Spanish if you want to live there and not CONSTANTLY get ripped off. There's tons of young, pretty girls there who will want to be with you if you're American, but they're almost all hookers (to some extent or another), and by the time they turn 25 they look like they are grandmothers (it's a tough life down there; middle class means you've got 3 walls and a concrete floor). You can find a nice appartment/house for a reasonable rent (but it costs a lot to "start it up", because appliances aren't included, and you really need an inverter, or better yet a "planta" - generator because the power goes out ALL THE TIME). You spend a lot of money on bribes, because EVERYBODY wants them; OTOH you can get away with a lot because everyone takes them. but be really careful about breaking any laws, because if you go to jail THEY DON'T FEED YOU, so your friends have to bring you food. the restaurants are really expensive considering how bad they are and the rest of the economy; a decent bowl of pasta costs the same as in Manhattan, which is probably a week's wages for the average Dominican.