Sosua Reports

[QUOTE=OldKool;1611632]In Sosua I wear what ever I want because we are incharge. As a black man I thought I could blend in the DR. Until I spent time on El Conde watching black men who stuck out as much as gringos. Clothing, shoes and hats all shouted Americans. The only downside is that you become a target for hustlers. In SD I rarely wear shorts and dress down a beat. This allows me to less visible. I think it makes me more acceptable to locals.[/QUOTE]Huge difference between SD and Sosua in that regard. Sosua is a beach town, and what's more a vacation town. Shorts are absolutely fine during the day and probably acceptable at night if not too outrageous. In SD OTOH, one will really stand out wearing shorts anytime of the day or night.

[QUOTE=OldKool;1611632]In Sosua I wear what ever I want because we are incharge. As a black man I thought I could blend in the DR. Until I spent time on El Conde watching black men who stuck out as much as gringos. Clothing, shoes and hats all shouted Americans. The only downside is that you become a target for hustlers. In SD I rarely wear shorts and dress down a beat. This allows me to less visible. I think it makes me more acceptable to locals.[/QUOTE]Where what ever you want. At the end of the day we come to Sosua for the women, and the women of sosua do not care.

[QUOTE=Frannie;1611427]Good points. It is quite common to get amoebic infections like giardiasis from the tap water, and you should drink bottled water at all times and use it to brush your teeth too. You can buy medicines for these conditions over the counter in the DR and a course of metronidazole antibiotic and some loperamide tablets for the diarrhea would have helped.

Point 6 is also interesting. We read here sometimes of denial of service in restaurants, but without knowing the people concerned in person, it is hard to know if they are displaying signals or behaving in a manner that could trigger a negative response. A couple of points worth noting are that Dominicans tend to not like or disapprove of:

1. Smoking of any kind, especially cigars. Most Dominicans don't smoke and smoking is regarded as a negative behavior that creates a negative impression. Yes, it is allowed in outside bars, but it is not regarded positively.

2. Overt display of tattoos is looked down on.

3. Inappropriate dress, such as wearing wife-beater undershirt in restaurant, appearing in restaurant in exercise clothing or basketball kit.

4. Not greeting people appropriately. It is considered rude to speak to someone without first greeting them with a buen dia, buenas tardes, buenas noches, or even just a hola, before asking a question or asking for a menu, etc.

5. Overt displays of affection in public. One time I was eating in the New Cafe restaurant across the road from Club Residential. Also in the restaurant at one table was a family group with two young children and at another table a group of four adults, two men and two local women. The men at this last table were smoking cigarettes in between courses with smoke wafting over to the family group and while waiting for the main entree one of the women straddled one of the men on his chair and performed copulatory movements. Those guys probably did not know that they were doing anything wrong.

I have not stated whether the two men were Dominican or from another country, but I will let you draw your own conclusions.[/QUOTE]One should cut a brother, especially a newbie, a little slack on this political correctness stuff.

It may be hard for him to comprehend that folks in a a town who's major source of income is derived from selling the bodies of young girls to old tourists, beer and cigars, can get a little uptight about a dress code.

So, as long as your cap is on straight, and your shorts are pulled up, it's ok to walk hand in hand with a girl young enough to be your great granddaughter through town on the way back to your room at the New Garden.

The puta may be on drugs, but please do not light that locally made cigar in public.

Or is it just some crusty old mongers who are mainly offended?

I'm reminded of the time back home in a local illegal brothel. I had two strange ladies all over me trying to get me off, while I was smiling a the big prominent sign on the wall, No Smoking, $5,000 fine.

[QUOTE=Oakie;1611722]One should cut a brother, especially a newbie, a little slack on this political correctness stuff.

It may be hard for him to comprehend that folks in a a town who's major source of income is derived from selling the bodies of young girls to old tourists, beer and cigars, can get a little uptight about a dress code.

So, as long as your cap is on straight, and your shorts are pulled up, it's ok to walk hand in hand with a girl young enough to be your great granddaughter through town on the way back to your room at the New Garden.

The puta may be on drugs, but please do not light that locally made cigar in public.

Or is it just some crusty old mongers who are mainly offended?

I'm reminded of the time back home in a local illegal brothel. I had two strange ladies all over me trying to get me off, while I was smiling a the big prominent sign on the wall, No Smoking, $5,000 fine.[/QUOTE]So what is the explanation for the Miley Cyrus tour being cancelled? It is that the Dominican authorities see her as a very poor role model for their youth, plus they don't want to deal with the hassle of having to arrest her for smoking blunts onstage--or finding out that they are just stage props made from herbal tobacco. (Of course, another explanation could be that she just didn't sell enough tickets and was looking for an excuse.).

So I don't think Dominicans perceive the idea of putas using recreational drugs as something to be tolerated--more something that they don't give any thought to. Nor do I think that old men walking hand in hand with young putas is something that Dominicans particularly approve of, even in Sosua, especially in front of schoolchildren coming out of local schools like the one next to Classico disco. It is tolerated sure, but the current trend in Sosua is to make prostitution as invisible as possible.

Personally I don't care what people wear in Sosua. In any case people are pretty much restricted to what leisure clothing is available where they live. For example, short sleeve shirts are hard to find in the UK, and people don't buy them just for vacation use, so in hot weather you will even see wealthy young men like Prince William photographed wearing a long sleeve shirt with the sleeves rolled upm which I would never do. You will probably see them on vacation in the DR too.

[URL]http://images.tangomag.com/sites/default/files/misc-assets/williamandkate.jpg.jpg[/URL]

It is just that some posters here have recently reported denial of service in restaurants and stores that I have not personally experienced in more than 50 visits to the DR, plus living there for an extended period, and I have suggested a few points of etiquette that could possibly lead to Dominicans forming a negative impression of some visitors that might be borne in mind. Nothing to do with "political correctness".

[QUOTE=OldKool;1611632]In Sosua I wear what ever I want because we are incharge. As a black man I thought I could blend in the DR. Until I spent time on El Conde watching black men who stuck out as much as gringos. Clothing, shoes and hats all shouted Americans. The only downside is that you become a target for hustlers. In SD I rarely wear shorts and dress down a beat. This allows me to less visible. I think it makes me more acceptable to locals.[/QUOTE]There is no reason for foreigners to instantly stand out. I met Tempoecorto at the Puerto Plata airport a few years ago the first time he set foot on Dominican soil, and right from the moment he came through the swinging doors, you could not tell he was not a Dominican until he opened his mouth and started speaking Italian with a few Spanish words thrown into the mix. He walked right out of the airport, hailed a publico taxi going in the right direction, and piled in just like a Dominican.

Now, of course, he speaks Spanish like a Dominican, only minus subjunctives. Being unobtrusive is not that difficult.

[QUOTE=Frannie;1611757]It is just that some posters here have recently reported denial of service in restaurants and stores that I have not personally experienced in more than 50 visits to the DR, plus living there for an extended period, and I have suggested a few points of etiquette that could possibly lead to Dominicans forming a negative impression of some visitors that might be borne in mind. Nothing to do with "political correctness".[/QUOTE]For the most part, I am with you Frannie.

I've spent a lot of time with Dominicans where they live, and I've blended in as much as it is possible for a white Canadian to do. I'm respectful, especially when it comes to smoking, I always leave the table, the room, or the street party to smoke, in spite of their protestations that it's ok.

I see a lot of idiotic behavior amongst tourists down there, but they're spending their own money so I don't concern myself with what others do, or how they do it. I don't feel it gives me personally a bad rep.

The reverse is probably true, the worse others behave, the more they see me as a "good" gringo, LOL.

Complainig about "bad taste" in the sewer that is Sosua, strikes me as a little odd, that's all.

We're not talking Monaco or Bermuda here.

[QUOTE=Frannie;1611757]... short sleeve shirts are hard to find in the UK[/QUOTE]Bizarre assertion, unless you are writing of the Hebrides. You have been away from the UK for a long time, haven't you?

[quote=charlespooter;1611830]bizarre assertion, unless you are writing of the hebrides. you have been away from the uk for a long time, haven't you?[/quote]not really. yes, of course you can get short sleeve shirts or tennis shirts in the uk, but the reason why prince william wears a long-sleeved shirt with the sleeves rolled up is that he wants to give the impression that he is just like an ordinary bloke who doesn't own something like the dozens of ralph lauren polo shirts that wills probably has in his closet back at the palace.

most of the time in the uk it is too cold for long sleeve shirts, so most guys never buy them just for the occasional hot day or a vacation overseas. see pictures.

most people just buy what is available and on sale in the local mall wherever they live. i swim every today and i prefer trunks or speedo style briefs, but they are hard to find in the us and expensive too, so i wear the surfer shorts that are popular in the us. ugly and hard to swim in, but cheap. i needed some new ones today so i picked up some green ones in walmart. they were $5 plus 35 cents tax. screw the color and screw the style. they were $5 and they will last me a few years. i could wear them in the street in sosua if i was on the way to the beach. i wouldn't, but i could.

i got this shirt the other day. not exactly my taste, but hey for $3 with my seniors discount, i'll take it.

[QUOTE=Oakie;1611819]

We're not talking Monaco or Bermuda here.[/QUOTE]I lived in Bermuda for several years. One thing in common with the DR is that you MUST greet people like taxi drivers or shop staff with a "good morning" before you ask for something or you WILL be ignored. In Bermuda shorts can be worn for business situations or lunch, but must be at or just above the knee and worn with knee stockings and lace up shoes, not trainers. Not allowed in the evening, though. See picture. Gloves are not normally worn in Bermuda, but he is a traffic cop directing traffic.

[QUOTE=Frannie;1611761]There is no reason for foreigners to instantly stand out. [/QUOTE]Ha, speaking of subjuntives, just got a msg with a pic: (quiero que me folle'.

I think I make what the statisticians call a biased sample, speaking of your post. Many in Sosua are first time out of the country (referring to US of course). I am not young. Young people tend to stand out by their dress code, without referring to their ethnicity. Finally, I am interested in women of course but also in an experience as an insider. Something I could not in my business travel days. So, I tried the carro publico at POP thanks to you and later tried the same at STI and recently a similar but somwhat more convoluted one, at SDQ.

And one does stand out: these days people in the DR often wonder if I am not a Chileno. I guess partly owed to my (Indios) eyes (thanks, Genghiz Khan), when they cannot place my accent!

[QUOTE=Frannie;1611852]I lived in Bermuda for several years. One thing in common with the DR is that you MUST greet people like taxi drivers or shop staff with a "good morning" before you ask for something or you WILL be ignored. In Bermuda shorts can be worn for business situations or lunch, but must be at or just above the knee and worn with knee stockings and lace up shoes, not trainers. Not allowed in the evening, though. See picture. Gloves are not normally worn in Bermuda, but he is a traffic cop directing traffic.[/QUOTE]Ah, Bermuda, beautiful place. Very civilized. Tea and scones with clotted cream, but no mongering to be had.

[QUOTE=Oakie;1612237]Ah, Bermuda, beautiful place. Very civilized. Tea and scones with clotted cream, but no mongering to be had.[/QUOTE]It was long before my mongering days, but there was some to be had, I know, because I knew a woman who provided a discreet service to tourists who was my coworker. I was there for 11 years, but I never heard of tea and scones with clotted cream when I was there in the eighties. It WAS served on British Airways on the London to Bermuda flight, though.

[QUOTE=Adinga;1611181]I just returned home after 5 days in Sosua.

A few observations.

1] It appears that the Gov is cleaning up the streets and directing prostitution into the clubs like Castro did with Havana.

2] There is a much more visible police presence on the streets than last year.

3] Many of the chicas are using cocaine which often leads to unpredictable behavior and mood swings. I had to report 2 girls to security at New Garden Hotel.

4] Don't go near the tap water- had a serious case of diarrhea all 5 days.

5) Always negotiate price and conduct a interview before going back to Hotel. GFE in Sosua is hard to come by and most of the girls are pros.

6] More of the Rapper want to bees from the US now coming to Sosua. These guys just hang at the pool all day long drinking the Hennessy, smoking blunts, blasting the hip hop and showing no respect to the locals.

Hope this helps.[/QUOTE]Thanks for the update it is well appreciated. Its so rare that we get anything of any real use any more. I had the same experience back in May very few GFE and very professional (not in a good way) service in the bedroom. What prices were the chicas asking. When I was there in May they were pushing real hard to make 2000 p the new norm for what is now mostly professional mechanical service.

Chris

[QUOTE=Tomjackin;1611099]Not much has change, except the chicas come out a bit later. There was a steady flow of chicas in Rumba last night.

Many can't afford the 200 pesos to get into Classico. I did not go myself because I got busy in a hurry in Ramba.[/QUOTE]Thanks Tomjackin its good to get some useful information. What prices are the chicas pushing for. When I was there in May they were pushing real hard to make 2000 P the new norm for short time.

Chris

[URL]http://www.sosuanews.com/mobi.php?id=3808&article=1[/URL] If this is true I'm a little bummed that I'm about 2 weeks too early.