Moving to / Living in Jarabacoa

[NYEddie]

Hi all...I'm new to the Forum and was pleasantly surprised when I found this discussion board.  I have a question and would like your thoughts, please...

I have a lot of family in Jarabacoa and have been there countless times (uncle owns Supermercado Collado, grandma, many aunts/uncles still live there).  I usually go for a week or two at a time and absolutley love the atmosphere, people, etc.  I was born and raised in NY, now live in NJ, and have been thinking of moving to Jarabacoa.  My dad has been trying to convince me to buy some land and build a house.  I am concerned that I will have a difficult time adjusting to the culture, economics, politics, etc. of Jarabacoa and the DR in general. 

My wife and I (also an American born Dominican) have talked many times about moving to DR, and Jarabacoa is out first choice.  I'm interested in learning about how you adjusted to the DR culture, etc. compared to your norm.

I'll be in Jarabacoa early next month and would love to grab lunch and a fria w/ non-Jarabocenoes while I'm there to talk about how you adjusted to life in Jarabacoa, ideas on earning a living, education for your children, housing, etc.  I can obviously talk to my family there, but their perspective is very different.  Oh...lunch and the frias are on me!  Let me know if you're interested.

Thanks
Edgar

[Russ Offord]

The biggest hardship for me while living in Jarabacoa was the language barrier and lack of understanding of 'how things work' in general day to day life.

Yes, Spanish classes helped quite a bit, and having Dominican friends helps, but it is still very frustrating when you don't understand things like:

WHY your car can't be easily fixed and WHY it will take a week to find the right part in Santo Domingo, etc, etc....

Russ :)