This is an area where the Dominican Republic excels. In the US, you can live next door to someone for 20 years, and not know them. Here, well at least in the lower middle class neighborhood, and the poor areas, we all need each other, and we all depend on each other. You will get to know almost everyone in a short time. This makes for some great friendships.
Neighbor women will send over a serving of the special meal they made, and of course, the favor is returned from time to time.
Neighbor men are happy to help you move that heavy box from one room to the other. (Being a single woman, I try to make intentions very clear, and ask this favor while their wife is over for a visit.)
This week I had some interior house-painting to do. I was able to borrow the paint scraper from one neighbor, and the roller from another. And they know that I have tools likewise at their service. Of course there is a caveat; you get to know who can be trusted to return things in good condition, and who never gets around to it, or returns it in bad shape, just as in any part of the world.
When you need to get some place on time, be sure to allow a little extra, for if you run into an old acquaintance, or a recent one, you will want to stop and talk for a few minutes.
If you have an issue with the phone company, you can see which of your neighbors has a relative working there. And you will share your "wealth" of connections as well, with those you trust.
Neighbors here just naturally watch out for each other. At the apt. I used to live in, I heard about 8 shots one night, about 3AM. I got up and told my visitor to stay away from the windows. She went back to bed and so did I. The next day, I asked my landlady what the shooting was about. "Oh," she said, "The guy across the street saw a burglar coming up your stairs. He asked him if he knew you, and the guy took off running." Here's a neighbor that will even shoot at your burglars!
People still talk to each other here. You can get on a bus or in a public car, and strike up a conversation with your fellow passengers, or the driver of the car. They will be happy to share their views on religion and politics; two topics almost forbidden in the US.
There is a wonderful freedom of speech here, and you are not required to be PC. Just be friendly. That's an important part of this Dominican Life.
Monday, July 13, 2009
Sunday, July 12, 2009
It's raining in my bathroom
Yes, once again, water is dripping from my ceiling. Now if I were not on the first floor with two floors above me, I might think of this as just the heavy rains filtering through the cement ceiling. That's very common here.
I was going to start painting some of my inside walls tomorrow, but now I'm thinking maybe I should wait. You have to let them dry out for a month or longer, once they've have water filtration problems. I had waited and waited, and now, just when it was time--gotta reset the clock for the bathroom and the bedroom next to it. And I'm not sure that filtration is not going to hit the other rooms as it did last time. At least this time the leak is much slower.
Other things that have happened in this apt.: The light fixture no longer works in one bedroom. I use that room as a storage room, so mostly I visit it during the day. Since I moved here, I have only turned on that light a few times, probably. Still, occasionally I need to look for something there after dark, and it is rather inconvenient to have to use a flashlight.
In the kitchen, behind the stove, the water pipes that were installed were used pvc in not so good shape. Friday, I noticed that the little rug I stand on to wash the dishes was soaked. Water is dripping from the pipes, running down the crack between the tiles, and passing under the stove.
I've decided not to repaint the whole apt., even though the recent paint job has been ruined in every single room. The reason for this is that I'm not confident it will last. Instead, I'm painting the parts that are the worst looking. Like the wall in my living room that has blue paint showing up in large blobs, up to two feet long, on a cream colored wall. This is where the paint peeled off due to um....hard to say. No preparation of the wall before painting. Using the cheapest paint possible. Watering down the paint to the point is is practically whitewash. Very high indoor humidity due to the previous plumbing problems. Pick one or more or add another. All I know is that it looks kind of bad.
Here, you cannot just call up your landlord to fix things. Once you are in the place you are pretty much on your own, except for external issues. (That does mean that they should fix the rain in the bathroom, though, since its source is external.) When you rent an apt., you usually sign a lease that says you have received it in good condition. Of course, you cannot get the apt. at all, if you refuse to sign it. There are verbal agreements made at the time. "We will fix this or that." Some landlords are honest, and will keep their word, although perhaps not as quickly as one would like.
Others will simply refuse to do anything. Dominican law, however, does support tenant's rights pretty well in some ways. And if the owner won't take care of something that is clearly their obligation to repair, such as a leaky roof, for instance, you can deposit the rent in a special bank account in a certain bank, and withhold it until the repairs are done.
There are also rent controls, that prevent the owners from raising the rent exorbitantly from year to year. Once your lease is up they can "ask for the house," giving you an excuse that Uncle Joe is coming back to the country and needs it to live in, and then once you are gone, re-rent it at a much higher price. But they cannot get that price from you, even though your contract expired after a year. If they want to keep you as a tenant (and they always want to keep me, because I pay the rent on time and even improve the place) then they keep the rent within the legal limits and Uncle Joe stays in NY.
But then, what do you want for $210USD for a large 3BR 2 bath apt? You get low rent in lower middle class areas. The annoying leaks and electrical problems come with that. It's all a part of this Dominican Life.
I was going to start painting some of my inside walls tomorrow, but now I'm thinking maybe I should wait. You have to let them dry out for a month or longer, once they've have water filtration problems. I had waited and waited, and now, just when it was time--gotta reset the clock for the bathroom and the bedroom next to it. And I'm not sure that filtration is not going to hit the other rooms as it did last time. At least this time the leak is much slower.
Other things that have happened in this apt.: The light fixture no longer works in one bedroom. I use that room as a storage room, so mostly I visit it during the day. Since I moved here, I have only turned on that light a few times, probably. Still, occasionally I need to look for something there after dark, and it is rather inconvenient to have to use a flashlight.
In the kitchen, behind the stove, the water pipes that were installed were used pvc in not so good shape. Friday, I noticed that the little rug I stand on to wash the dishes was soaked. Water is dripping from the pipes, running down the crack between the tiles, and passing under the stove.
I've decided not to repaint the whole apt., even though the recent paint job has been ruined in every single room. The reason for this is that I'm not confident it will last. Instead, I'm painting the parts that are the worst looking. Like the wall in my living room that has blue paint showing up in large blobs, up to two feet long, on a cream colored wall. This is where the paint peeled off due to um....hard to say. No preparation of the wall before painting. Using the cheapest paint possible. Watering down the paint to the point is is practically whitewash. Very high indoor humidity due to the previous plumbing problems. Pick one or more or add another. All I know is that it looks kind of bad.
Here, you cannot just call up your landlord to fix things. Once you are in the place you are pretty much on your own, except for external issues. (That does mean that they should fix the rain in the bathroom, though, since its source is external.) When you rent an apt., you usually sign a lease that says you have received it in good condition. Of course, you cannot get the apt. at all, if you refuse to sign it. There are verbal agreements made at the time. "We will fix this or that." Some landlords are honest, and will keep their word, although perhaps not as quickly as one would like.
Others will simply refuse to do anything. Dominican law, however, does support tenant's rights pretty well in some ways. And if the owner won't take care of something that is clearly their obligation to repair, such as a leaky roof, for instance, you can deposit the rent in a special bank account in a certain bank, and withhold it until the repairs are done.
There are also rent controls, that prevent the owners from raising the rent exorbitantly from year to year. Once your lease is up they can "ask for the house," giving you an excuse that Uncle Joe is coming back to the country and needs it to live in, and then once you are gone, re-rent it at a much higher price. But they cannot get that price from you, even though your contract expired after a year. If they want to keep you as a tenant (and they always want to keep me, because I pay the rent on time and even improve the place) then they keep the rent within the legal limits and Uncle Joe stays in NY.
But then, what do you want for $210USD for a large 3BR 2 bath apt? You get low rent in lower middle class areas. The annoying leaks and electrical problems come with that. It's all a part of this Dominican Life.
Friday, July 10, 2009
The reality of poverty
Yesterday I was shown a small building that had been abandoned. Any time you abandon a building, be it a house, or any other, the process of destruction begins. First sinks, toilets, and windows are removed, along with anything else of value that could be used in someone else's house. Then it becomes one giant bathroom, for every male that passes by. Drug addicts begin to use it as a place to stay. The spray paint comes out and vulgarities appear on the outside. Curiously, inside this one were painted pictures, also vulgarities,but painted with obvious artistic talent.
As we drove up, a woman came up to meet us. She is a squatter who lives in a tiny room in the abandoned property. She is a drug addict. Her six year old deaf son was tagging along with her. I "talked" to him a bit with sort of a home sign. He was responsive and bright. He doesn't go to school, and chances are he never will, so eventually that intelligence will be dimmed, as he suffers from extreme language deprivation
The mom said that she didn't have the money to send him to school. I'm sure that is true, since any money she gets she needs to feed her habit, and probably her income is tiny. I told her about the school, that she should bring her son over, knowing at the same time that it's unlikely she'll ever come.
Here, it isn't just a matter of reporting the situation to social services.
It's just a part of this Dominican Life.
As we drove up, a woman came up to meet us. She is a squatter who lives in a tiny room in the abandoned property. She is a drug addict. Her six year old deaf son was tagging along with her. I "talked" to him a bit with sort of a home sign. He was responsive and bright. He doesn't go to school, and chances are he never will, so eventually that intelligence will be dimmed, as he suffers from extreme language deprivation
The mom said that she didn't have the money to send him to school. I'm sure that is true, since any money she gets she needs to feed her habit, and probably her income is tiny. I told her about the school, that she should bring her son over, knowing at the same time that it's unlikely she'll ever come.
Here, it isn't just a matter of reporting the situation to social services.
It's just a part of this Dominican Life.
Friday, July 3, 2009
Working in the Dominican Republic
Some of the things provided by the labor laws here that are different:
The employees of a profit-making company share something like 10% of the profits. I'm not sure of the exact amount.
Despite these additions to the regular salaries, wages remain very low for the majority.
- An extra month's salary at Christmas--that is, workers get double pay that month.
- Six weeks before a baby's birth and six weeks after the baby's birth a woman gets paid leave.
- A worker gets three days paid leave upon the death of a parent, sibling, offspring, spouse, or grandparent.
- You get five days paid leave when you get married.
- A man gets two days paid leave when his wife or companion gives birth.
- Severence pay is huge. It accumulates from year to year, but is always based on the salary paid in the last year of work.
- A person gets 14 vacation days a year for the first five years, then four more after that.
- There are about a dozen paid holidays during the year.
The employees of a profit-making company share something like 10% of the profits. I'm not sure of the exact amount.
Despite these additions to the regular salaries, wages remain very low for the majority.
Blackouts & phones
We have daily blackouts here. It's helpful when you can track them, and more or less predict them. Sometimes they get into a rhythm. But now and then, they become unpredictable, and that makes for more difficulty. One thing I'm thankful for is that this area usually has electricity from 11:00 or 12:00 at night to about 7:00 in the morning. That allows for fans, which not only help keep you cool, but to keep the mosquitoes off too. The rest of the day has been rather unpredictable.
Right now the blackouts in this area are usually coming twice a day, and total about 12 hours out of each 24 hour period. That is more than usual. I think the norm is more like 8 hours a day. There is probably some major problem like several plants are shut down. That happens from time to time.
A note on phone service. It's bad. Customer service in both of the phone companies I've used has been dismal. Apart from that, there are other problems. When my phone was installed, a couple of weeks ago, it rang almost right away. It was a bill collector. It seems the person who previously had my number owes money to a number of banks, mainly with visa cards. Daily I receive recorded reminders from the banks that Sandra X's account is overdue and would she please pay it. I asked the phone company if there is any delay time between reassigning a number. Their response was that it could be a day, a month, or a year, before the number is reassigned. There isn't any requirement. I have two choices: get a new number, for which they will charge me about $15--and it will have no guarantee not to have the same problem--or call the banks and ask them to stop calling. They have no way to block the numbers, according to their rep.
I had already called the banks. They both assured me they would take care of it, but I could tell that they were suspicious that maybe I really was Sandra, and was lying to them. I received a call from a person asking for the Sandra soon after reporting to the bank. I suspect the bank was trying to catch her (or me) in a lie! At any rate, I just began speaking English with them to convince them that I really am not Sandra, but an American.
It's all just part of this Dominican life.
Right now the blackouts in this area are usually coming twice a day, and total about 12 hours out of each 24 hour period. That is more than usual. I think the norm is more like 8 hours a day. There is probably some major problem like several plants are shut down. That happens from time to time.
A note on phone service. It's bad. Customer service in both of the phone companies I've used has been dismal. Apart from that, there are other problems. When my phone was installed, a couple of weeks ago, it rang almost right away. It was a bill collector. It seems the person who previously had my number owes money to a number of banks, mainly with visa cards. Daily I receive recorded reminders from the banks that Sandra X's account is overdue and would she please pay it. I asked the phone company if there is any delay time between reassigning a number. Their response was that it could be a day, a month, or a year, before the number is reassigned. There isn't any requirement. I have two choices: get a new number, for which they will charge me about $15--and it will have no guarantee not to have the same problem--or call the banks and ask them to stop calling. They have no way to block the numbers, according to their rep.
I had already called the banks. They both assured me they would take care of it, but I could tell that they were suspicious that maybe I really was Sandra, and was lying to them. I received a call from a person asking for the Sandra soon after reporting to the bank. I suspect the bank was trying to catch her (or me) in a lie! At any rate, I just began speaking English with them to convince them that I really am not Sandra, but an American.
It's all just part of this Dominican life.
Thursday, July 2, 2009
Pizza, other foods, and water
Dominican pizza...notice anything different from its US counterpart? It is sprinkled with corn. And it's quite good that way. Try it sometime!
Grocery stores
If you are in the capital, or another large city, you will find grocery stores pretty similar to the ones in the US.
There is less convenience food, which is probably not a bad thing. There is one thing you have to do when shopping that you cannot do in the US. You must open some of the containers. For example, if you don't open the mayo jar to be sure it still has its contents well sealed within, you may find out at home, that you have just bought a jar of mayo that is spoiled. This has happened to me more than once, but still, it's easy for me to forget. I did it again just last week. And I also bought some of the potato chips which come in the long tube-can, and found they had been opened and sampled. Sometimes you can get your money back, but sometimes they won't give it to you, because maybe you spoiled it yourself through lack of refrigeration--how can they know for sure? You will not be reprimanded for this checking under the lid, even if you do it in front of store personnel, because they know it is necessary.
Eating healthy is the best buy, as it is all over the world. There are lots of fresh fruits and veggies. Supermarkets have them, but if you go to a local outside stand, you will probably get them fresher and for less money. I can go to the guy on the corner and ask for 30¢(usd) of cabbage. He'll even slice it thin enough for cole slaw in the bargain. Or I can ask for 60¢ of "salad." He'll point to different things, tomatoes, lettuce, etc., asking what should be included in the salad, and he'll make it up right there.
When I get home, I will soak any lettuce or cabbage in a mild solution of bleach and water, to avoid any problems with parasites. I generally don't eat salads out, because I have no way of knowing if they've been adequately cleaned. Some people are less fussy than I am, and just rinse them with clean water.
By the way, being served impure water is no longer an issue, as far as I can see. Twenty years ago a lot of people drank tap water, which is not suitable for drinking here. But these days, virtually everyone buys their water, and use that water for ice as well.
There are two main ways to get your drinking water. You can buy it at a corner store, usually within a block or two of your house. If you call the store, they will send out a motorcycle with your purchase of water, and/or anything else. You swap them your empty container for a full one. Since these are water cooler size--5 gallons, it's better to have them bring it over. They will put it right in your kitchen.
The second way is to buy it from little tanker trucks that go around the neighborhood honking their horns. You take your container out, and they fill it for you. That's the method I use. Everyone has an opinion on water, which brand is clean, which isn't, but I've never had a problem. Oh, and on the street, at traffic lights, you can buy a 30¢ bottle of water, or a 6-8¢ plastic envelope of water. Just tear off the corner and suck out all the water.
I do prefer to buy my meat at the grocery, since at the outdoor butcher shops, the meats are often subject to swarms of flies. Mind you, I don't see what happens indoors at the supermarket, so I take it on faith they have less of that! I've noticed one brand of chicken that consistently gives you less than you pay for. The company puts a sponge like paper under the chicken and makes sure it is full of water. Then they package it, and weigh it in the package. So you are paying for the packaging, the extra water weight, and less chicken than you had hoped. A Dominican friend of mine who moved to the states complained about our chicken. She said the pieces were too big and the flavor different. Dominican chickens are usually a lot bonier than ours, that's for sure. Seems it is a matter of what you are used to as to which you prefer.
Some stores, including my favorite grocery store, have "scribblers." That is what I call the guy that scribbles on your receipt as you go out the door. Another thing you won't find in the US, is that you may hear worship music being played over the store's sound system as you shop. That's a nice touch.
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Cold water
This Dominican life includes cold water. Deliciously cold showers after a hot day, or in the event there is not water left in the rooftop tank, deliciously cold bucket baths.
The tank on the roof is black, so you would think it would warm up the water. It probably does take a bit of the edge off, but only the very hottest days, and when the tank is nearly empty, do you get warm water. And if it's that hot, you actually look forward to the cold water.
I have my own solar water heater for when I want warm-hot water, usually in the morning. It consists of a small black tub. I fill it about half full, cover it with clear plastic, and set in the sun for a few hours. The water will get so hot that I must dilute it with cold water so as not to burn myself!
At other times, I have been known to heat a small pot of water on the gas stove, just to take the edge off for morning bath.
Here it is common to take many showers a day. You of course take one before you sleep and when you wake up. You also take one before you go anywhere and when you get home from anywhere. And it is a good idea to take a shower just after the sun goes down, so that the whole evening you feel cooler.
The tank on the roof is black, so you would think it would warm up the water. It probably does take a bit of the edge off, but only the very hottest days, and when the tank is nearly empty, do you get warm water. And if it's that hot, you actually look forward to the cold water.
I have my own solar water heater for when I want warm-hot water, usually in the morning. It consists of a small black tub. I fill it about half full, cover it with clear plastic, and set in the sun for a few hours. The water will get so hot that I must dilute it with cold water so as not to burn myself!
At other times, I have been known to heat a small pot of water on the gas stove, just to take the edge off for morning bath.
Here it is common to take many showers a day. You of course take one before you sleep and when you wake up. You also take one before you go anywhere and when you get home from anywhere. And it is a good idea to take a shower just after the sun goes down, so that the whole evening you feel cooler.
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