I'm a Black Expat AMA

[Carolina Slim]

I'm not in the DR right now but yeah even on social media there was wall to wall coverage about this Listin Diario had a huge segment about him.

Yeah the funeral process seemed to be all day, from the actual funeral starting Saturday morning, the procession to the cemetery, then the entombment at about 8:30 at night. I was watching with my wife and saying that would be too much for me. His family (especially his son, who was always with him) had to be utterly wiped out physically and emotionally after that.

 

[Wiseborn]

Yeah the funeral process seemed to be all day, from the actual funeral starting Saturday morning, the procession to the cemetery, then the entombment at about 8:30 at night. I was watching with my wife and saying that would be too much for me. His family (especially his son, who was always with him) had to be utterly wiped out physically and emotionally after that.

Are you Dominican? I heard of him in New York but I didn’t know him that well.

I don’t know if I mentioned it but I was surprised by the lack of salsa I heard (not to mention merengue) because that’s what I heard in bodegas in New York but in the DR reggaeton is the what the kids are listening too

 

[Carolina Slim]

Are you Dominican? I heard of him in New York but I didn’t know him that well.

I don’t know if I mentioned it but I was surprised by the lack of salsa I heard (not to mention merengue) because that’s what I heard in bodegas in New York but in the DR reggaeton is the what the kids are listening too

Nah, I'm not Dominican, grew up in Brooklyn. Bachata and merengue is the main music in DR, although there are a couple of Dominican salseros, just like salsa in mostly Puerto Rican but there are a couple Puerto Ricans who do bachata and merengue (Romeo Santos is half boricua from what I understand)... Johnny Ventura was basically the OG of the merengue we hear today. Plus he was in politics too, and served as mayor for Santo Domingo for a time. So when I heard that he passed, I was interested to see how it was covered; he's basically considered the representative for the country.

 

[Wiseborn]

Nah, I'm not Dominican, grew up in Brooklyn. Bachata and merengue is the main music in DR, although there are a couple of Dominican salseros, just like salsa in mostly Puerto Rican but there are a couple Puerto Ricans who do bachata and merengue (Romeo Santos is half boricua from what I understand)... Johnny Ventura was basically the OG of the merengue we hear today. Plus he was in politics too, and served as mayor for Santo Domingo for a time. So when I heard that he passed, I was interested to see how it was covered; he's basically considered the representative for the country.

That's funny I'm from Brooklyn too but I didn't really fukk with Dominicans like that. It's low key wierd that I ended up there. I might even get a residence visa since I have developed legit friendships there.

 

[Carolina Slim]

That's funny I'm from Brooklyn too but I didn't really fukk with Dominicans like that. It's low key wierd that I ended up there. I might even get a residence visa since I have developed legit friendships there.

They was all the same to me (Spanish) growing up. Wasn't till I got older, and started hearing of low key beefs between Puerto Ricans and Dominicans, which I never really understood. Then when I was dating my wife (Puerto Rican) I started getting more hip to the cultural differences. I've been told I sound Dominican when I speak Spanish, and ironically when I met my wife she thought I was Dominican lol

 

[Wiseborn]

They was all the same to me (Spanish) growing up. Wasn't till I got older, and started hearing of low key beefs between Puerto Ricans and Dominicans, which I never really understood. Then when I was dating my wife (Puerto Rican) I started getting more hip to the cultural differences. I've been told I sound Dominican when I speak Spanish, and ironically when I met my wife she thought I was Dominican lol

I never really understood the beef either. I guess it has to do with Dominicans flooding into Puerto Rico or something. Other than the baseball rivalry you don't here about it. It's a New York thing.

 

[Wiseborn]

For those heading to Africa.

I again strongly suggest you have passive income in the west, but if you can't then you'd better have investments. I don't want to get heavy into financial advice since I'm not a financial advisor but I suggest the rule of 72 and having an account set up for big ticket purchases like Smart TV's refrigerators and furniture. I would put up to 20% in a local African Bank because they give a far better rate of return because they need foreign currency.

I know a couple of people who financed their return to the motherland by renting out their houses in america. (before Covid fukked that up)

I suggest that you sustain yourself the way I do and doing the Airbnb hosting thing. Farming is also a possibility If you know what you're doing


The concept of renting land for agriculture is not popular here but I think in the future it may be.

 

[Wiseborn]

Something that I didn't even think about for general travel expats and privacy in general.

Get a secured or prepaid reloadable credit card. You can take that card on your vacay and if you lose it while getting head in the whip Shout out to @Dray5K or leave your wallet in TJ no worries.

I'd still bring a back up ATM just in case If you fukk with apple pay Samsung pay or Google pay they accept that even in Kenya (but not TZ) so you could leave that card at home (I could suggest using a card with no international fees)

The Privacy app is a good CC masking service too use that and simple login and you should be good.

 

[Wiseborn]

Money saving protip: If you decide to go with a couple of stacks on deck check the daily bank rates, for example for a hot second the colombian peso went to 4000 to 1 USD. you could change your money at that time and make a few bucks., You could use that to pay rent six or more months out.

If you have a local bank account you could transfer some US money to your local account and withdraw it and get the best rate.

 

[Wiseborn]

If you travel getting Google Fi is a lifesaver. The ability to check priices by using Uber on a cheap red eye flight is worth it's weight in gold. Seriously get Google Fi or Pipeline.

Also I recommend a 5.11 Rush 72 hour pack as a carry on bag.

I don't see where I mentioned it but obviously you want an unlocked phone. On a short vacay you can get away with an international plan but trust me you will use way more data than you expect. Getting a local Sim card is invaluable.

The phone I suggest you get is a Google Pixel 5 you can get one now for around 450 if you know where to look. I bought my 4aXL (the latest model they had at the time) from amazon. It has great security not a thief magnet like an Iphone doesn't scream I'm a baller takes great pictures and of course it accepts google fi. You can use F-Droid apps and flash graphene on it for added security.

 

[Wiseborn]

More advice mainly for repats to Africa but for everyone.

If you do go to Africa or anyplace with a "big bag" but no passive income Get legal residency as soon as possible. Your costs go way down if you're a legal resident and speak the local language fluently. I lot of repats to Africa tend to just show up and stay not knowing that a lot of African countries will give you residency quite easily. You will pay thousands of dollars extra by overstaying especially if you have to go back to the states for a quick trip.

I met a lot of people who are stuck because they overstayed and spent so much money they can't afford to leave.

 

[Wiseborn]

Repat case study:



One of the good repat channels for those going Forward to Africa is The Jamaitians:




I know them personally. They're good people if you're heading to TZ and Arusha specifically look them up. They aren't dusty expats.


Again passive income is better than a big bag They have real estate in Florida.



That being said they mad the common expat mistake not just in Africa but all over the developing world.


Do not live in a community where you have 100 times more than your neighbors.

At best it will be like The Purge 1 where you're neighbors secretly hate on you and like she said in the video people literally stole from them. There was a white couple that moved to a small village in Mexico They lived there for ten years with no problems until they bought an SUV. Some joker robbed and killed them.

A lot of repats think that if they move to a village that that is the "real Africa" Nairobi is just as real as some rando village out in the bush and although you're house maybe dirt cheap it's gonna cost you a fortune for internet and electricity. That's why I left Arusha despite loving it. They had no real wifi. I used to stream moviies download random shyt using cell phone data, It got to a point where I was buying data damn every other day. I ran back to Nairobi where Safaricom had home fiber.

 

[Wiseborn]

Once you get established in a community You should go out of your way to deal with locsl businesses. Yes you will be slightly overcharged but you will become a member of the community. Even locals do this. You do business where you are known. They will protect you from other nikkas trying to scam you.
You should also help out local poor people from time to time. In non western countries there's no welfare, don't hand out money directly buy people food donate stuff that you don't need give things not cash. This will be remembered and go a long way in intergrating yourself in a local community.

Get to know your neighbors they certainly know who you are.

 

[Wiseborn]

One very important thing that you need to know as an expat is Tax Law. In some countries you can literally pay no taxes not even property taxes. In Colombia there's generally speaking no property tax on an owner occupied home. But if you're not careful who can be taxed like american on all income earned including income earned abroad. Some countries have double taxation laws where you can deduct foriegn taxes, You can deduct US taxes in Colombia.

That being said in the Dominican Republic retirees are subject to zero personal tax on retirement income (things can change but that's the case right now).


Protip: cheap way to learn a language and meet people is foriegn language exchange groups. Basically you meet usually in a Hostel Meeting area and sit down with a local and talk for a few minutes in English and a few minutes in Spanish. I met people who spend a lot of time in Hostels who learned languages that way.

 

[Wiseborn]

The US embassy: there's really no reason to go to the embassy unless you lose your passport or if there's a mass evacuation of the country.

That being said you do want to hit up the embassy's website. They have a wealth of information on safety, news and if you need a doctor or a lawyer they have a list of people who are at least legit in who they say they are. The embassy also has a reading room where you can read US newspapers and books about the local country in english so that you can better understand the country. But that's literally the only reason to fukk with them.