Our emigration: how do Russians live in the Dominican Republic

37-year-old Roman Rodriguez moved from Russia to his father in the Dominican Republic in the late 1990-s, fell in love with beans and Latin American dances, but remained faithful to Russian jokes and Russian love.

Photos from the personal archive of Roman Rodriguez

His story was told by the publicationBillboard Daily».

About childhood and departure

I was born in the small town of Bezhetsk in the Tver region. My father is a Dominican. At the very end of 1970's, he studied at the Kalinin Medical School (now Tverskoy Medical College), had an internship there - he is a surgeon. There he met my mother, and after a while I was born to them. Then it was the Soviet Union, he could not stay - he had to go back to the Dominican Republic. While I was little, my father regularly wrote letters to me, did not forget. And when I grew up, I asked my mother to let me go. The situation in the country was not the best then, 1990 is in the courtyard, the war in Chechnya ... In general, my mother decided to send me to my father. It was me then 17 years.

Father sent a ticket, we went with my mother to Moscow, looking for the Dominican embassy, ​​which did not exist in nature. But we were from a small provincial town, did not know all this. The mother at some point has already given up, says: well, everything, apparently, you will not go anywhere. And then one kind person told us: guys, well, the Dominican Republic is somewhere in the Caribbean, there is no need for a visa. At the same time very few people heard about the Dominican Republic, people asked - where is it? In Africa? I myself was not very imagined.

About adaptation

There were no direct flights - I was sent via Paris by plane Air France. In Santo Domingo met at the airport. Then for the first time I saw my father, my Dominican family, brothers and sisters - they all came to meet me. Of course, I was a bit stunned by this meeting and the climate: I flew in July, it was very hot and humid. I remember, I left the airport and could not breathe. It was the first time when I saw palm trees, the Caribbean Sea ... They brought them home, set the table, arranged a holiday. I did not speak Spanish, understood little, but immediately realized: this is my country. Genes, apparently, started talking. Mom, I wrote, they say, mom, I went to heaven, and do not expect me back.

I learned Spanish quickly: after three months I already understood quite well, and after six months I spoke. I didn’t immediately get used to food. I grew up on potatoes, pasta, meatballs, and here they eat rice, beans. In the Caribbean, a special set of spices, they make a chicken completely different. At first it all seemed strange to me. But then I got used to it, and now, if I put in front of me potatoes or rice with beans, I would prefer rice with beans - a typical Dominican dish.

The decree on my naturalization, that is, the granting of Dominican citizenship, was signed by the president himself. My father collected a pack of documents, filed an application, and after some time I was given a passport. Before that, I just lived in a Russian foreign country. Here, in terms of migration, no one really bothers anyone. Entry visa-free for 60 days, but if this period has passed, no one will expel you - in this regard, the country is free. Just when leaving the country you will have to pay a fine for late payment, it is somewhere 100 dollars per year. For two years - 300 dollars, for three years - 500. And if you live in the country for about 10 years, you can go and have nothing to pay.

Photos from the personal archive of Roman Rodriguez

About studies, work and money

When I arrived, my relatives sent me to study first at the Faculty of Medicine: my uncle was the rector of the university, then at the institute Infotep, where I studied mechanics. It was difficult - still a technical language. As a result, I was sent to a military academy, and from there I went to serve in the army. I served a year, and after that I was "lent" to the tourist police, in which I worked for four years. He served as a sergeant. They wanted to send officers to courses, but I made the decision to leave, because I understood that I could not support my family for a military man, and it’s not easy to live on this money. A policeman in the Dominican Republic gets 6 thousand pesos, that's about 130 dollars. I was enrolled in the army, in the police, and I earned 9 thousands of pesos, that is, about $ 200. I do not know how they are surviving now with such money.

In 1997, when I arrived, the dollar was worth 17 pesos, and a half-liter bottle of coca-cola was worth 4 pesos, a small beer - 10 pesos, a big beer - 11. You could have dinner at 25. Now for the dollar they give almost 47, and dinner will cost 250 pesos - inflation is terrible. Salaries are not particularly indexed, the military still receive little.

But the people here are positive and sincere, and everyone tries not to lose heart, but people live hard. There are, of course, those who earn good money, their units. To understand how ordinary people live, it is enough to get out of Punta Cana and take a ride through simple areas, and everything will become clear. In the Dominican Republic there is no such thing as a minimum pension. You pay contributions to a public or private pension fund. Either this is done by the employer or the person himself. Retired women in 60 years, men - in 65. In the public sector, in order to receive a pension, you need to work for the state at least 20 years, then there will be a state pension in the amount of the last salary. Experience while you can interrupt.

The Dominican Republic, like Russia, has a difficult past: here many still remember the dictator Trujillo. Now there is no dictatorship, but there is corruption, a certain crime index. And sometimes you can hear how people, especially the older generation, say that here, they say, when Trujillo was in order. Although it is difficult for me to judge, I did not live with him.

About tourism

Of course, there was no mass flow from Russia to the Dominican Republic in 1990 — these were, let's say, exclusive tours. People flew through Germany, France. In the 2006 year, Transaero launched direct flights, then several more airlines added, the flow increased. Now in the year of the Dominicana takes up to 250 thousands of Russian tourists. I work in this area and love it very much.

Dominicana is a gorgeous country, you just need to be able to navigate through it. And, of course, much depends on the guide. I personally do not like this trend: often representatives of travel agencies in hotels speak negatively about the country, they try to intimidate on purpose that tourists buy everything from them, and generally graze nearby. They say that it is worth going out of the hotel gates - and they are immediately robbed, killed, raped. This is complete nonsense! If you go to a disco in the Dominican bar, nobody will look askance at you and certainly will not hurt you. Here the people are very cheerful, self-sufficient, and foreigners are all friendly. I have been living here for 20 for years and have never had anyone show aggression towards me. I’m not saying that everything is perfect with us, we have our own elements, but in general the people are very hospitable.

About the family and the Russian mentality

My father is now 71 a year, he still advises young doctors, and sometimes operates. Our family is huge. My grandfather had twelve children, each of them had another five or six children, and our generation, my sisters and brothers, already had 2 – 3 children. So my family is in the hundreds. I see them, for example, at weddings - they rent a restaurant or a whole hotel and go for a walk. For the wedding, by the way, the family of the bride pays: when my sister got married, our father was put down. Where the wedding - there, of course, dancing, it's the Caribbean. Dance the merengue, bachatu. By the way, UNESCO declared the national merengue of 25 November 2016 of the year the national treasure of the Dominican Republic. And many people think that this is a Cuban dance, but nothing like this is ours!

My wife is Russian, but I met her in the Dominican Republic. She is my friend's sister, came to visit him - and met. Russian people are nevertheless more familiar. The Russian mentality was originally laid down in me, of course: my wife and I have similar tastes and common jokes. Russian will not laugh at what the Dominican will laugh at. They have more infantile humor, or something ... And in Russian humor there is more depth. I also listen to music more often European than Latin American, I love rock. I can sometimes turn on the mood and reggaeton or listen to a merengue bar, but rarely.

So, even though I lived in the Dominican Republic for 20 for years, in my heart I am still a Russian, Russian, Soviet person. Dominicans in me immediately calculate a foreigner, asking where I am from. They are surprised when they find out that the father is local. But I do not regret anything. I don’t know how life would be in Russia, but it’s normal here. Mother arrives to visit. She now lives and works in Petersburg, but then, maybe, she will move to us too.

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