We all had similar reason to move to DR. I grew up in NYC and then moved to atlanta, georgia. as you all know how life spins in NY and now atlanta seems no different from NY. There are extreme traffic jams during rush hours and rents are also way up the sky. Atlanta is not what it used to be years ago. I first came to Dr in 1986 as a young tourist from NYC. I remember it was cold as alaska in NY when I boarded the plane and when I landed in POP, I was welcomed with the caribbean hot sun. I couldn't believe that I was back in summer in the middle of winter. As though if I had travelled through time. I was actually swimming in pool and drinking cold beer out doors. It was simply unimaginable. Then the relaxed atmosphere and the cheap prices just blew me away. I didn't know how beautiful life was until I came here. I made several friends (true dominican and foreign friends) and just kept coming back. I was fortunate enough to meet a very beautiful girl in hotel from santo domingo who was also visiting there with her friends (spring break) (my second trip). I kind of fell in love with her. she was 18 yrs old and very smart. She spoke english, french fluently. she was from a well-to-family. She took me to SD and showed me all over. She would come and visit me in pop whenever I would come to DR. I stayed with her for a long time. Then I got sick and tired of NYC life style and moved to atlanta. even atlanta was proved to be quite boring. I was simply not happy in USA. I always had fantasized of living in an island and being near the beach. i would come to DR 4 times a year. I was an engineer at the time so I knew I had little chances of making a good living if I had gotten a job in DR. So I took some time off to decide what I wanted to do and where I wanted to go in life. I decided to study chiropractic and open up a practice in DR. I knew Dr had very little number of chiros and I was sure I would make a decent living working in my own business. I then decided to move to DR and live. But I made a crucial mistake. I moved to POP. I was living in costambar near the beach. I soon realized that POP was not good for making money. I was wrong to think gringos would pay well. It seemed that gringos living in pop were almost as poor as the dominicans. Living on tight budget. They were either cheap or broke. I lost a lot of money in POP. I also realized that beach was not so exciting place to be near by. I would rarely go to beach. I simply got bored with pop and sosua area. Women were ugly and place had little to offer. Most foreigners were drunks and old. I was a bit lonely there. Then my friend from Santo domingo got me a job in santiago. thats when my life changed. I was ready to pack up and leave DR but antiago saved me. It was a big enough city but yet, not big enough as SD. I felt very comfortable there. For the first time I made some good money in DR. I realized that dominicans were better payer than foreigners in POP. Dominicans in santiago were more health conscious and would pay whetever I would charge them. The women were incredibly beautiful. santiagueros are proud folks and I felt like I was part of them. I learned to speak spanish among them. I didn't know that I had learned absolutely nothing of spanish in POP. I thought I knew some but when I came to santiago, I was dumb founded. I had lost 2 years in POP and I was upset. I didn't know this country had so much to offer. from that time on, I started to hate sosua and POP, not to mention the people who live there. They know nothing of this country. Most foreigners know only pop and sosua and nothing apart from that. These DR1 gurus know only their small world and nothing else. If you want to know this country, get out from resort towns. I wasted my time and money listening to gringos and puerto plata dominicans in pop. So for me, its santiago and only santiago. I love this town and the people here. I don't think if I can ever go back to USA and live there happily. If I ever move from here it would be for economical reasons. AZB