Dominican Republic

When Dominicans point to things instead of using their finger, they will use their lips You know, where's the where's the store at or where's your house at? Kind of weird another thing they do is when they point See if I can give you an example they will Stick out their arm like this and then at whatever However long it is they'll put their pinky next to it. So, you know, I caught a fish that was this big or You know my pencils this long Stuff like that is kind of funny a lot of Haitians live there obviously because they're connected There's a lot of Tension I guess between the Haitians and Dominicans a lot of Dominicans think that the Haitians take all their jobs and Ruin their vibe, but the Haitians are very nice, too

Two things, one, Dominicans are very straightforward, so check your ego at the airport when you come here. They'll tell you all about how fat or how skinny or how sunburned or how white you are. And that's just, they're just visual people. They don't see that as offensive, so you don't need to get offended by that. Another thing is Dominicans have an extreme amount of energy, so just be ready to have a lot of energy and be super excited and energetic about just about everything. Sometimes, you know, when I got there and didn't understand Spanish, I thought that they were always fighting with each other, but they just talk super loud and even when they're talking about what they're going to eat for dinner, if that makes sense.

Dominicans are honestly the nicest people that I've ever met in my entire life. Anytime you compliment them on anything, whether it be shoes, whether it be a shirt, whether it be anything, they'll literally offer it to you and say, hey, here, like, you take it. Or if you show up while they're eating food or anything like that, they'll offer you food. They're so generous.

So the Dominican culture, they're super nice and they're just very blunt but they don't mean it in like a malicious way. Like they like we don't call people fat like oh that's a fatty right there in English but in Spanish that's just or like in the DR that's just what they'll say they're like oh he like he's engordito and they don't mean it typically they don't mean it very maliciously they're just very blunt but kind of once you get over that fact they're just so open and that's why they'll just say what they're thinking and they're so loving and you'll realize that's just who they are they're open and I think once you show that you're open with them too like you talk about their culture like oh I like the food here like you just talk about things that they do they love that and you know the more that you try to learn about them or show that you're actually genuinely interested the better you get along with them and that they respond to you as well

Dominicans are some of the nicest, coolest people you will ever be around. Literally, once they accept you into their house, they want to give you anything and everything. They are the nicest, and they also love to have a good time. They love dancing and listening to music and partying and all that stuff. They also love their chickens. They're like pets.

Dominicans, like most Latin Americans, are really generous and really giving. And for example, anytime you arrive at someone's house and they're eating a meal, lunch or dinner, they'll offer you some food. They'll usually say something like, buen tiempo, which is like, you came at a good time, have some food. So a polite way to respond would be to say, buen provecho, which kind of means like, to your advantage, for your health kind of thing. Also, it's good to be careful with complimenting people on like items of clothing or something. I think that's pretty common here to say, hey, I like your bracelet. But if you say that to someone there, like 80% of the time they would offer me their bracelet and say, I'll take it. So they love compliments, they'll freely accept them, but just be careful what you compliment because they're so generous, they will literally give you the shirt off their back.

One thing that I had to get used to with the culture is that like they kiss your cheeks like all the women will kiss your cheeks. Another thing is to really connect with the people. They love talking about their children and food like just bring up different Dominican foods that you like and they'll be like wow you're so cool, and then like you'll connect with them, especially with the women. Don't bring up Donald Trump. It's a sore subject. But yeah, it's a lovely warm culture. I miss the people so much. You will love the people.