Living in Santiago

Ran into a new area code for the Dominican Republic yesterday.  First time I have seen it used.  The area code is 849 and the provider was orange.  Did a search and according to DiarioLibre, the code was was activated on the 15th of February.  With this new area code we now have 3 area codes here in the country, 809, 829 and now 849

We are going to try and do a couple articles on owning a car in Dominican Republic and more specifically Santiago. Like in most places the there are certain expenses to owning a car. We are going to talk about some of those expenses and some differences you might see. Here is a list of items we want to cover, in no particular order.

• What type and brand to buy
• Import or buy local
• Registering
• Inspection
• Drivers license
• Mechanics
• Insurance   More...

I was on the internet recently researching something when I came across a forum post that was not even related to my search, this is not uncommon but it dealt with the Dominican Republic so I read it. The author was ranting and raving about how expensive it was here and that prices were “triple” the cost of the US for basic necessities. I wanted to answer this post and find out where he was getting his prices, but there was no link to comment or reply. From the exchange rate he was using in his article I would say that the article was about 4 maybe 5 years old. Of course he never used actual prices to compare the 2 countries; he would just make blanket statements and then he asked why anyone with money would want to live in this country. One of his blanket statements was about coke and cars. Is this true?  My experience living here says that this is not true. More...

Due to spam programs put out by people like becposter we have had to turn off comments on all of our blogs.  We hate to do this but until we can find a way to stop spammers from flooding us with 100s of spam comments a day, we have no choice.  Can anyone tell me what a sexual harassment lawyer in california has to do with Santiago, dominican republic.  I mean please.  We try to do the right thing and grow our site by proper coding, relative and useful content and user recommendations.  And these people try to make a buck on the backs of our hard work. 

We love hearing from readers and still want to hear from you  so please drop us a note through the contact page or adminATlivinginsantiagoDOTcom

Like most other countries that observe Constitution Day, today we are celebrating the signing of the first constitution of the Dominican Republic. Different activities will scheduled to celebrate the 165 anniversary of the signing in San Cirstobal on November 6, 1844.

Even though Christopher Columbus stumbled upon this island in 1492 and the first colony established in 1493, the Dominican Republic did not become a sovereign country until 1844 when they won their independence from Haiti. The first constitution was sign in November of that year. I have read different articles stating since that time the constitution has been changed at least 20 times, mostly dealing with presidential terms and power.

Through the magic of laws and long week-ends, Constitution Day is now observed on the Monday that is the closest to November 6th.