Hello!! Any advice on starting a life in the DR??

[travelhippo]

Hi everyone...

My boyfriend and I have just returned from a vacation in the Dominican Republic, where yes, we did spend a lot of time relaxing and enjoying the beach, but also spend a great deal of time visiting the countryside and mingling with the locals. And in that time, we absolutely fell in love with the country, its people and its culture.

I have spent a great deal of time travelling and volunteering throughout Central America, The Caribbean and South America and had already fallen in love with the Latin American way of life myself, but for my boyfriend, this was his first visit. Although he had enjoyed stories and tales of my past adventures, it took seeing it for himself to know that this is somewhere we'd like to be.

My boyfriend is a certified teacher in both regular ed and special ed, as well as a History major. I am a college graduate in Travel and Tourism and also have a certification in Teaching English as a Second Language. Our dream would be to open up a private school in the Dominican Republic where my boyfriend could teach as a qualified teacher and I could help out as well as teach English to those in need. What I hope to learn from some of you is, do you know of anyone who has opened a private school in DR? If so, would I be able to contact them? Any idea of what it would cost? What schools charge? Any other information on opening a school that may be useful? Also, just to add, I do speak Spanish, but my boyfriend does not at this time but is certainly willing to learn, from now until the move and continue to learn upon arrival.

Also, with the dream of opening the school perhaps remaining a dream for sometime, we would like to start working on something upon arrival in the DR. With our qualifications, do you think this would be a possibility? Does anyone have any information on giving private English speaking classes?? Or any sort of tutoring?? Going rates of such things? Is the demand there? How about tutuoring or private classes for English speaking children living with their families in the Dominican? I am sure they would be looking for a qualified English speaking teacher. But perhaps there are already enough?? Im not sure. Thats why I need your help!

And last but not least, I know that so many people seem to ask about housing but none are quite the question/answers I am looking for. My boyfriend and I are looking to rent an apartment, 1-2 bdrm, somewhere on the coast, and somewhere that does have the demand for the teaching, tutoring, that we would be offering. Does anyone know where the best places to start looking would be?? I see most listed online are on the luxary end of the scale which is not at all what we are looking for. We are hoping for something around $200 a month. I lived for most of my time in Central America, in dirt floored homes with no bathroom or shower, and loved every minute so we really aren't fussy when it come to our apartment. (Although I suppose a bathroom would be nice!!!!) Is $200 a reasonable amount? I am sure it varies a lot from town to town so for example, does anyone know the average price of a 1-2 bdrm in Sosua for something quite simple?

Sorry, one more thing! High speed internet... How plausible would it be to have high speed internet available in our home? We would be willing to pay most any price (to an extent) , as I do have a administrative job at current that I can access online with high speed from any location. As well, it would be such a great resource for our teaching.

We are currently living in the US but due to visas expiring (we are not US citizens), we are due to leave this summer. Up until recently, England was our destination of choice, due to the fact it is the only location we both hold citizenship...but other than that we are not tied down to anything in anyway. At this point in our lives we have finished school, do not own property, no children, will be finishing our jobs in the summer, and we are ready for a new adventure... an adventure of discovering new cultures, a new language, new friends, a new home. There may not be another time in our life when we will have this chance, a time when we have no where we need to be and no one else we need to be near. I think the time is now. But please, let me know what you think!!!

Any information or advice that anyone has on making the move, life in DR, work, schools, costs, stories, etc.... I'd love to hear from you. Or even if you want to tell us "STOP. BAD IDEA!" we'd love to hear from you as well. Thanks so very much for your time!!!!!!!

All the best

[coppersun2001]

Hi travelhippo,

Welcome to the forum and our little family. Wow, it is great to hear from you.

Lots of things to think about with your information you have shared. I am hoping some of the other members will post their advice as well, but here is my thoughts on this.

My hubby and I have also thought about moving to the DR for retirement purposes, however we are still sitting on the fence about this and if I had to make a decision today it would be No.

My advice for you:
1. Take an extended trip to the DR, not a holiday type but one that you need to rent a condo or apartment. There are some nice and reasonable ones around. I am only familiar with the Sosua area but there are other locations. I suggest the Sosua area as there is a lady who is a teacher there and she would be able to direct you with the teaching aspect of the DR. Anyway, make sure you get a really good look at this before you decide anything, thus I suggest an extended stay NOT at a resort, you will need to see if you can live there on your own without the safety net of a resort. you need to cook and feed yourselves with what it available in the market and supermarkets. They have lots of stuff, very similiar to home but there is definately a difference.
2. You will need to do lots more research on this before you decide anything as it is NOT like living in a country that has services you can access. Example, health care, dental, pharmacy, emergency services etc. , these are available for a cost and you will need to figure out what you will need. there is no health care system down there, no insurance so services you will pay for.
3. Remember even if you fell in love with paradise this is still a third world country. What it looks like on the outside is NOT what it is, a poor country with everyone trying to make a buck.
4. Have a game plan in place before you try this. You can't go down there thinking that you will make your fortunes. Go down with the attidude that you don't have to dip into your savings to survive. Don't sell everthing where you live and think that that will be enough to live on, for it gets expensive there, you will have to pay for everything you want and need.
5. To set up a private school you actually should work in one first to get first hand experience. I would think it would be very costly to set one up and maintain it. Private school or any of the schools do not make huge wages nor do they make lots of money. The people have to pay for this service and it is a struggle just to get the kids into schools. You need to do a huge amount of research on this. You may get teaching jobs but again they do not pay well.
6. There is crime down there, whether people want to admit it or not. Don't think that the police service will help you out as most of the time they are in on it. Very shady and crooked.
7. High speed internet comes and goes. Some days you will be lucky to have power, especially if your residence does not have a generator. Example we were down for a month this year and were lucky enough to get on line twice. Not a good average, most of the folks I know who live there say its not to bad but they do tend to struggle with the internet. So again you will have to ask the questions on your next trip.

IF you decide to pursue this venture, by all means go for it, BUT YOU NEED to do lots more research and many more trips down to the DR. You need to open your eyes, ears and minds, things in the DR are great on a holiday but if you are going to make the move you will need to go back and start asking many questions and again get a plan in place. Please do lots of research when you are there, this is a move that should NOT be made hastily.

I am sure that many of the ex-pats down in the Sosua area can give you good advice, listen hard to them and make good decisions.

I can give you more information if you like.

Good luck with this.
coppersun