Dominican Republic - the people!?

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Yue M

What are u talking about

Marlene

Is not as bad as this previous guy said. Its true all of that happens, but you will not forget the friendliness and warmth of our people, the beauty of our sandy beaches and the amazing taste of our Dominican food!!. What is considered over-friendly=nothing, you can be as friendly as you want. Most of our women would not be too happy if you say hi to their man with kiss on the cheek without knowing them, but otherwise I don't think an English girl can be too friendly compared to a Dominican Girl. Otherwise, shaking hands will do. Slightly rude=not learning, and using AT LEAST the basics in Spanish "hola, por favor, gracias,hi, please and thank you respectively", and wearing very skimpy clothes (men will be delighted and may want, (depending where you are, this will not happen at your work, but outside of your work area), will grab you, women can snap at you for beign seductive). Offensive=talking about us, in English or Spanish, many , if not all, of the people you will be working with will be fluent in more than one language, specially English and Spanish. So be careful, the person you might think knows nothing about what you are saying can put everyone against you at your workplace. Hope this helps...

Judy

As a woman traveling alone, you will definitely get hit on, which is common in many Latin American countries. Here's a tip: say that you're married. Regardless of whether you are or not, saying you're married tends to ward off unwelcomed advances and generate additional respect. I have traveled quite a bit by myself and this tip has always worked.

Hope this helps!

dantav8941

Well, being Dominican myself, we are all laid-back and talk really fast so watch out lol.

Richard K

Dominicans for the most part are wonderful, caring people. Your co-workers will most likely speak English and try their best to help you adjust to their country. Be leery of becoming involved romantically with Dominicans, the men like to add gringas to their conquests and many will try to use foreign women for their own motives by promising most everything in order to advance themselves. Although they may be involved with a Dominicana or another gringa they will still look on you as fair game. Since those relationships are rarely successful and rather than end up being hurt my sugestion is to avoid getting involved emotionally and stay with people who share your own background. That isn't intended to be a racist statement , it is just the reality of living in the DR. Look on your job as an oportunity to learn and broaden your horizons.

Happy Feet

Hi Nickinoo !,
Welcome on board of the island of "Alice in Wonderland"!
I'm here for many years and like my friend "Jazzpaging" I love it so much (I'm European). What kind of job you gonna do?
Where? If you wanna real help ( you have much questions)
just mail me, and will try to help so good as I can. Hope to ear from you and : Enjoy it! ( By the way we only missing Alice!)

mystcarol

They are friendly I go over there 3 times a year. You do need someone to do the purchasing for you because you may be charged more if they see that you are an american. People like to enjoy life even the poor. You will see lots of motorcycles since its the most common way of travel. Email me if you need some advice while your there

^^Smile^^

people that like to party and drink beers. and they wished everyday is holiday!! Puerto Plata is Tourist Area; mixed with locals. so there quite a few international community. Specially Europeans, the English Culture is way Different from Dominican Culture. people like to gather around and party and drink a lot cold beers. they like loud Music specially if it Bachata and Merengue. They are not so organized and when you tell them at 8:00 most of the time show up late, very late. Also you will se a lot Motorbike riding around as way transportation. Dominican Speak spanish very fast. (You have to know you are going to find people that will take advantage of you. so you have to know with who are you dealing with. not everyone but some. just be cautious.) you should hang out with your people most of time until you can be on ur own. here is a guy who is european and lives there can is a Tourist operator (he can gave u more details about Puerto Plata his nick is LÂ´Antipodien.) Good luck lady. I hope you can adjust to the system. Also men like it over there most women dont..

Bev P

Hiya
We have just come back from the Dom Rep and having been 15 years ago I was looking forward to the friendly people. But 15 years have really changed them. They are friendly don't get me wrong but all they want now is your money and that's all. If they can skank you, they will, or cry the poor tale of wives having operations that they have still to pay for. Or having to buy medicine for diabetes and if they don't work braiding your hair they won't get paid and wont be able to buy medicine. We took a trip to Sosua for the day. 15 years ago we had a young man called a secretary who for a small charge protected us from the local beggars who have tales of falling of motorbikes and have no money for food and stupid magicians who hammer screwdrivers up their noses and ask you for 50 dollars for the "show". This time we had a taxi driver and guide from the hotel who asked for Â£65 for the taxi and Â£40 for the guide from 1pm until 5.30pm. Who did nothing to stop these people in fact I am sure they encouraged them. We took Dominican money but they didn't want that, they all work on the US dollar. So take plenty of small dollar bills. I don't mind giving to the needy, but it is now almost daylight robbery. All in all I don't think I will go back again, or if I do I would learn Spanish first so I could tell them to go away and understand what they were saying about meat the same time.

jazzpaging

As an American you can do what you please and they will excuse you because you are an American!

The men want you for your money and they will promise you their love forever but when your money runs out you will have NOTHING!

The women also want your money but they make the deal in advance! The police will take advantage of you because you are not Dominican and so will the business people! Not unusual to have gringo prices!

You will love the culture! Men pissing on the side of the street without a care and driving is completely uncivilized! Not unusual for two dominicans stopping on a main highway side by side and having a conversation blocking traffic both ways and when you honk your horn or say anything they look at you like you have 5 eyes in your head!

Other than these points and many others I love living here!

for the person that said it isn't as bad as I say it is you have no clue! It is worse than I say it is by a long shot! You evidently don't have any experience here or you wouldn't disagree with a word I say but I fail to see your advice as helpful!

I have lived here for going on 8 years-have a Dominican Passport as well as a US passport and the woman happens to be "ENGLISH" from "ENGLAND" folks!

Be more careful here than you are at home!

heckyeah81

Please be careful and know your limits. Don't go out alone. I was there in May and was shocked by the cultural differneces. The folks on the resorts were super friendly, helpful and nice. But as soon as you left a tourist area, it was another world entirely. I saw opportunisitic people leering at anyone who looked like a tourist. Pick-pocketing is big there. I mean, this is a place where they guard their chickens with machine guns. LITERALLY.....I saw it with my own eyes, more than once.

dtravelbiz

What type of work will you be doing. Be very careful, do not use american money for no reason. Be careful because they can smell an american a mile away. Also, their food is great and I would suggest to check the hotel where you are staying and have someone there guide you. Many times the hotels have people that speak many languages. Try that!

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