When we first moved to the DR, I didn't really know what to expect, except for the beach. So, when we moved to Samana in 2016 for 6 months, it wasn't really what I expected.
For example, it was very 'campo' (a lot of rural territory). I liked it but it was a little too campo for me. There wasn't much to do there. Well that's in my opinion anyways. So thinking about these things, I wanted to make a list for younger kids who are moving to another country, specifically DR, with their family. For you it may be different, especially if you're moving to a different country or a different city in DR. But here are some things I think you should know before-hand.
1. Food. some of you are probably used to going to McDonalds, Taco Bell, and a lot of other fast food restaurants, because I know I was XD. In most cities on the island... there no fast food restaurants, this is something I had to get used to because I love fast food XD. But the good things is that on the majority of the island, there are still A LOT of great Dominican restaurants that you can find, like Pica Pollo (a chicken restaurant that you can find in almost every part of the island), Crazy Ranch (a barbecue and chicken wing restaurant in Sosua), and a lot more that you can't find in America!
2. Transportation. In the DR, most people walk to places they need to go to. When we got here the first time, we walked everywhere, and we still do sometimes. But a lot of people have a car, but a car can still be hard to buy. for the people that don't, there are Moto Taxi's, which is basically just a taxi but on a motorcycle, and they're really cheap too! there is also JC's which is kind of like a taxi but it only takes the JC route, and its even cheaper than the Moto taxi's!
But when you need to get to places that are farther than normal, like the Assembly, or beaches in different parts of the island, we take guaguas. which is a mini van that fits more people than they should XD. Once we were in a guagua, and normally mini vans fit like 8 people counting the driver. One time we fit 20 people and 1 chicken! They had to leave the door open because there were too many people to close it! So just remember that there won't always be seat belts! But don't worry, you'll be fine!
3. Countryside territory. this is something that I personally didn't expect when we first got here. especially in Samana, there is A LOT of campo territory. In fact, we lived in a rural neighborhood. but where we live now (Puerto Plata) there isn't as much campo territory compared to other places on the island.
So you can't always believe the pictures you see online of the island, yeah there is A LOT of beautiful spots on the island too, but most of the island can be very campo. our Kingdom Hall is in a very campo part of Puerto Plata, and a lot of our ministry is too. but that can be nice too sometimes!
4. Staying positive! this was a really big thing for me when we first moved, and I still struggle with it nowadays sometimes. especially when I had to leave all of my friends and family when we left. I always thought things like "I will never find friends again" or "if only I had all of my friends and family, it would be so much better!". I wouldn't even try to make any friends because I thought that it wouldn't be the same.
I was homesick for the first year we were here! Because of that, I didn't like being in DR, I thought I was never gonna make friends. But I soon learned the if was never positive, my life would've been very bad! So I tried making new friends in the congregation, and I did. And I made friends in other congregations aswell!
And now, I have more friends than I had before! Always try to remember that you will never lose the friends you had before, no matter how far away you are from them, you'll just have even more friends in different countries! Not a lot of kids can say that! And I still get homesick sometimes, but thats normal. We are all imperfect and we will always have bad days, so its ok to feel that way. Just remember to pray to Jehovah for help and think positively!
Thats all I have for right now. But if any kids around my age have any questions, just ask! See ya!