In-Country Experts - British Expat Forum

Sorry for the misunderstanding I created Andrea - I was not IN Golspie visiting my Mother & Sister, they came south to the wedding of my niece & we met up then! HAD I been in the Golspie/Inverness area, you can be sure I would have let you know in advance & would certainly have been in touch to get a piece of the Scottish hospitality!! (hic!!)

You have got to wait until NEXT YEAR for another visit out here???? What on earth can you do to contain those yearnings for things Dominican until then?? Hmmmm, ............... watch this space!!! ~ Grahame

Well, a LOT has happened since my last visit to the UK in May & somehow this year seems to have just flown by. "She who must be Obeyed" went back for three weeks of medical inspections (Damage Control" not for any specific diagnosis) & whilst there got her book published QUITE unbeknown to me!! Since she has got back it has been rush, rush, rush with her website (www.ginniebedggood.com) mine (www.casabush.org) & settling in a couple of immigrant Brit Ex-Pats.

Come on Govenor52 - where is your update?

Thank goodness there have not been any serious hurricanes to contend with (other than 'The Boss') so far this year - only another 4 weeks or so to go before the 'official' season for hurricanes is over, but I suspect this year will be extended a bit due to Global Warming causing hot water for longer!

Keep your heads down Y'all (jings - I'm beginning to sound a wee bit American. I'll be writing things like 'thro' or 'baseball' next!!) ~ Grahame.

hi guys,
been offered work in the caribbean but the nature of the work will mean i will cover anywhere from st lucia to belize.
Dr seems the most strategicaly placed but is it good for family and if so where on the island is better than others?

hope you can help!

Welcome to the Dominican Forum dragon1503.
This will be a very brief response I am afraid as members of the family arrived today unexpectedly. Well, not quite true, they were expected ....... but NEXT WEEK!! Obviously routine is now totally 'out of sync' & replies are going to be short & to the point.

We live on the NORTH coast which appears to attract more Ex-Pats (YOU determine whether that is good or bad in your book). There are English speaking schools in Puerto Plata & Sosua if your children are of that age.

What are you looking for in the area you choose? we have some good golf courses within an hour/hour & a halfs drive from here (Playa Grande is the Caribbean version of Pebble Beach) whilst Santiago is a decptive & cheeky Pete Dye course!!

Puerto Plata International airport covers flights to Europe, USA (Miami & JFK) & San Juan in Puerto Rico. Santiago airport is rapidly building it's destinations & is perhaps more of a hub than Puerto Plata & that airport is 1 1/2 hours drive away. Santo Domingo airport (Las Americas) on south coast is getting quite a few new destinations too for the Caribbean & Lain American markets.

Sailing is NOT a favourite sport here so no clubs as far as I am aware on the north coast.

Read the websites as quoted above ( www.ginniebedggood.com & www.casabush.org ) & then come back for more info &/or specfic questions. Speaking Spanish (well, I presume you do living in Spain now?) you will be able to settle in any of these localities. For whiter sands & less choppy beaches - SOUTH is the answer. For infrastructure & a more Ex-Pat community, the NORTH coast is my recommendation. ~ Grahame.

Hi Grahame,
Many thanks for the info.
Once I've gone through a few things I will get back to you.
Our Spanish is good, although our 11 year old son does keep telling us we get it wrong grammatically!
Even with the information you have given us to date it has helped me focus on certain key issues.
I'll be in touch soon

regards

Dave

dragon1503 wrote: Our Spanish is good, although our 11 year old son does keep telling us we get it wrong grammatically!

You can tell your 11 year old "that means we will be better understood by the Dominican's as their grammar is diabolical too"!

dragon1503 wrote:Even with the information you have given us to date it has helped me focus on certain key issues.

There's plenty more available as & when you need/want it. The information you receive may not be 100% correct in all instances (I know I am perfect but some information I receive may be skewed to someone else's agenda that I am not aware of!!), but it will always be the correct information to the best of my ability. Some might also be a bit 'Hard Hitting'!!

Make a list of your questions & list them here or as an e-mail direct to me. I try to respond within a 48 hour period whenever possible. ~ Grahame.

[Comment by Site Admin - Grahame kindly answered a list of questions provided by dragon1503... after which he had to retreat briefly to a darkened room with a few Presidentes In the meantime, the questions have been hived off into separate topics as they contain a lot of useful information which we'd like to keep readily accessible. - Dave]

Hi Grahame,
I hope the darkened room did the trick, or at least a couple of Presidentes!

Many thanks for the info it certainly has helped square off a few issues.
I'll get back to you no doubt.
I see you're from Scotland. whereabouts? I'm from Belfast originally but lived in Troon on the West coast for many years. My wife is from the west coast as well.

kindest regards and many thanks

Dave

Well the darkened room & Ice Cold Presidentes helped, but I found that it was the Dancing Girls that really revived me ...... @ 08.00 this morning they did a spontaneous jig at the foot of my bed!!

Sorry, I am NOT from Scotland - I am Warwickshire born, Germany bred & Derbyshire schooled (of sorts) before hitting the smoke in 1965. My Mother, Sister (plus husband & two daughters) presently live in Golspie - t'other side & up a bit from Troon!! Now TROON I used to enjoy as a group of us would have a weeks golfing sabbatical there many years ago. Belaisle in Ayr was in those days one of my favourite courses to play!!

Ahh well, back to the Presidentes now!! ~ Grahame.