Dominican Republic Bateyes

You probably know what or more specifically where Dominican Republic is; but what about Dominican Republic bateyes? Most people haven’t got a clue what that word means. Actually, the three words have one meaning. So let us elaborate further.

Dominican Republic is a country in the Caribbean, more specifically, a country in one of the islands of the Caribbean, the “Hispaniola Island”. Dominican Republic is the two-thirds of the tropical heaven “Hispaniola”. What about bateyes? Well, bateyes is derived from the word “batey”, which means “a “company town” where sugar workers reside. A company town is a town or a urbanized area wherein all the structures (real estates, buildings, utilities, hospitals, businesses), whether commercial or residential, are owned by a single company. Bateyes are mostly found in Dominican Republic and Cuba. The basic corporation of a sugar manufacturing company is called “ingenio” in the Dominican Republic. A single ingenio is made up of one main administrative office, a sugar processing plant, the settlement that surrounds the office and processing plant, sugar fields and various production equipments and machineries. all of the above mentioned is collectively called a batey. To summarize, Dominican Republic bateyes are company towns where sugar workers reside.

Most, if not all, of the Dominican Republic bateyes are situated near sugarcane fields. The sizes of Dominican Republic bateyes vary, depending on the size of the sugar company.

For more than seventy years, male Haitians immigrate to work on Dominican Republic bateyes each year during harvest season. These immigrants from Haiti who want to work on Dominican Republic bateyes are called “congoses” (or “un congo”, term for one individual), which is a mocking expression the same as “hick” or “chump”. These people who want to work on Dominican Republic bateyes are accommodated in five on a small room that has no bedding. These people experience long and hard work on these Dominican Republic bateyes.

In the old times, government leaders of the country pay the Haitian leaders to recruit large number of Haitians to work in the Dominican Republic bateyes. Today, individual ingenios and colonos hire people called “buscones”. Buscones are headhunters that collect a percentage of the earnings of the congoses.

The sugar industry used to be a profitable industry in the Dominican Republic. However, due to low wages and the ever present lack of education, workers of the Dominican Republic bateyes get poor health services. Today the government of the Dominican Republic is slowly transforming these bateyes into new kinds of community. A good example of this is the Los Alcarizos in the city capital Santo Domingo. The Los Alcarizos was once a batey, now it has grown into a totally different kind of community.

Dominican Republic Art

The Dominican Republic art did not develop a national style until 1865 after independence was declared. Following independence declaration, all the basic nineteenth century European trends rapidly started to blend with Dominican subjects of popular mythology, religion, African heritage, and folktales to create a national style of art.

The first huge display of Dominican Republic art work was in 1890 in Santo Domingo, at the Salon Artistico. The exhibit was consisted of portraits, landscapes, and copies of renowned European works. The first Dominican painter to surface was Domingo Echavarría, who was also recognized as a caricaturist and printmaker.

Dominican Republic art on Realism and Neo-Impressionism style of art became dominant between the 1920′s and 1940′s. Yoryi Morel, Jaime Colsón, and Celeste Woss y Gil, were the three artists of significance who came forward during this period. The drawings, watercolors, and paintings of Morel had a pictorial style that utilized the vibrant colors of the Dominican scenery and his work has become a symbol. Gil on the other hand, introduced the Modernist treatment of the nude to Dominican Republic art of painting. She took attention from critics at home and abroad when she made the first paintings of nude black and mulatto Dominican women.

During the period of the corrupt and authoritarian despotism of Rafael Trujillo from 1930 to 1961, had a dramatic and permanent effect on the history of Dominican Republic art. Eager to fabricate a positive public image in the countenance of increasingly horrific crimes against his own people, the Trujillo government offered substantial artistic support in the forties, founding the National School of Fine Arts and the National Biennial in the year 1942. Additionally, Trujillo provided asylum to Spanish Civil War refugees including famous artists which gave young Dominican artists access to a more international outlook.

In 1961 when Trujillo was assassinated, marked the beginning of numerous years of social and political turbulence that ended in the Civil war of 1965. The long-lasting distressed social and political setting has inspired present-day artists such as Tony Capellán and Belkis Rameríz to develop into social commentators, exposing problems such as child prostitution, boat people who cross the unsafe Mona Passage, and migration.

Central American Painting and Domingo Biennial of Caribbean was inaugurated in 1992, to provide closer artistic contact within the area. Modern Dominican Republic art has come to symbolize the style in Caribbean art as a whole to find common ground, crosscurrent, which prevails over national differences.

Dominican artists have some of the most fine arts that cannot be found just in tourist galleries, some of the artists works are not reproduced in mass to be sold to the general public. They represent true Dominican artists in all senses, unique and contemporary.

Clothing In The Dominican Republic

The tropical weather greatly influences clothing in the Dominican Republic. Although traditional clothes such as long dresses with bright colors like orange, yellow and red showing Spanish influence with matching necklaces, bracelets and earrings are worn on occasions, Dominicans most of the time wear summer clothes such as t-shirts, sandals, shirts or blouses, skirts, light jacket, and sweaters.

Weather is one of the major aspects that play a part in the kind of clothing travelers would want to bring on their vacation to the Dominican Republic. The climate is generally warm with small variation on the island; there can be some heavy rainfall at certain times of the year so taking along some rain gear is advisable in case of rain showers.

Social setting is also imperative when considering clothing in the Dominican Republic. Religion is essential to everyday lives of Dominicans, who are mostly Roman Catholics, so tourists planning to visit a church or attending a religious ceremony should keep in mind that it is significant to wear a conservative style of dress. Do not wear shorts to church and it is always deferential for women to cover their heads before entering a church building. In addition man should not wear hats or remove hats or any head coverings before entering the church as a sign of reverence. Church clothing in the Dominican Republic for women, frequently wear long sleeves and veils when attending church services.

Beach or resort clothing in the Dominican Republic is fairly informal when it comes to the appropriate attire. Shorts and bathing suits under a warp at breakfast or lunch are considered acceptable most of the time. Dinner time is generally more formal, skirts and long pants and collared shirts are typically worn. Some restaurants in certain places like Santo Domingo can at times have a stricter dress code. It is recommended that men wear trousers and women wear dresses during lunch and dinner in this part of the Dominican Republic.

Standard clothing in the Dominican Republic by the Dominicans are similar to Americans, the usual casual clothes such as shirts, shorts, skirts, and sandals are definitely in, summer clothes are timeless as the weather seems to be like summer all year round. Light jackets and sweaters are worn to wrap for some night’s cold winds and breeze. However, the Spanish influence in clothing in the Dominican Republic is also present in the way Dominican people dress, and every now and then women exhibit this through brightly colored dresses and Spanish-style accessories.

For tourists who want to get a taste and a feel of the traditional clothing in the Dominican Republic, these types of clothes can be bought in special shops found all through the island. Ask around the locals or hotel staff of where to get these items at great prices and take home some of your Dominican Republic vacation with you through real Dominican Republic traditional clothes.

Capital Of Dominican Republic

The capital of Dominican Republic is Santo Domingo. Santo Domingo is where the settlement of all Americans began and it is the oldest city in the New World. Located on the south coast of the Dominican Republic, about halfway to the western border of Haiti and the eastern coastline, the place bequeaths Spanish colonial architecture with cobble stone streets that bestow imagines of how things were back in the 1600s.

No other city in the Caribbean has bigger assortment of restaurants and night life than this capital of Dominican Republic. There are numerous restaurants in the city that it becomes nearly impossible to visit every single one of them, even for the locals themselves. Santo Domingo is a great place to meet people, and many of those single young executives who visit the city end up getting married to a Dominican.

This capital of Dominican Republic is the most busy and diverse city in the Caribbean, with a population of over three million residents in a city that sprawls out over two-hundred-fifty square kilometers. Santo Domingo is a city that never sleeps, from doing great shopping at major chains from all over the world during day time, to the vibrant nightlife that awaits every visitor when the sun goes down.

To get around the city, most tour groups will be bussed in big leased busses, however for those traveling individually, will need to take a taxi from the airport to the city which will charge about RD$600 and prices are posted at the airport. Always agree on the price with the driver before leaving for the destination. Another alternative is to rent a car, which is quite easy driving into the city, just take the Las Americas Expressway westbound till passing over the Duarte Bridge and continue on to the 27 de Febrero overpass structure. The cheapest way however, to get to the city capital of Dominican Republic from the airport, is to take a taxi or motoconcho (motorcycle taxi, but only if no bags) up to the highway which is about half a mile, then take a public bus to Santo Domingo. Within the city, there are first-rate radio-taxi services that will cost RD$100 and will get you to most points.

In exploring the city, start with the Colonial City which is the ideal starting point for visitors to get to know the city. Visitors will find a lot of diverse attraction from parks to rivers, museums, oldest fortress, church, and many more that will be a wonderful glimpse of the place’s past. Other attractions include Plaza de la Cultura, Museo Bellapart, Columbus Lighthouse, Los Tres Ojos and National Aquarium, Botanical Gardens and Parks, Sports City, Baseball, golf, horse, auto and Go Kart Racing, and a lot more.

This city capital of Dominican Republic also offers hotels that cater to the different tastes of visitors, from business executive hotels to several small hotels that offer attractive rates for those on a budget or extended stay. Santo Domingo will definitely make for a wonderful trip.

Dominican Republic

The Dominican Republic is one of the most visited tourist destinations in the Caribbean. It has lots of glorious beaches and resorts. The most notable aspect of the Dominican Republic is the white sand and crystal clear waters. The capital city of Dominican Republic, Santo Domingo, is considered as one of the oldest cities in the New World.

Located on the eastern part of an island in the Caribbean called “Hispaniola”, Dominican Republic comprises two-thirds of the Caribbean island while the other one-third belongs to Haiti. The country has little seasonal temperature variation and is composed of rugged highlands and mountain ranges along with diverse topography, ranging from barren semi-arid plains to lush green valleys of tropical rain forests.

The country has numerous attractions which include sixteen national parks, nine natural monuments and six scientific reservations. The country has sixty-seven protected locations that consist of panoramic roads, recreational sites and ecological corridors. All of these protected locations are supervised and controlled by the National Parks Office of the Dominican Republic (Nacional de Parques). The country has two pine forests located on the mountain range Cordillera Central. These are the Armando Bermudez and Jose del Carmen Ramirez pine forests. Dominican Republic also has lots of secluded beaches. Some of these secluded beaches have cave systems that have pre-Columbian arts painted on its walls. The country is also the habitat of various kinds of wild life. Some of these are the white-headed dove (paloma coronita), rhinoceros iguana (Columba leucocephala) and numerous species of turtles.

Located on the northwest of the Haitian border is the “Montecristi National Park”. The Montecristi National Park is coastal lagoon. This national park is full of marine and land ecosystems and numerous species of fauna. The country has numerous panoramic roads, botanical and zoological areas, recreational sites and lots of historical interests that have been selected as national parks. The popular dance style “merengue” is said to have been originated in the Dominican Republic. The local population of the country is considered to be a music loving population. You can be assured to see the locals vibrate to the tempo of its native music.

The most well-liked sport in the country is baseball. As a matter of fact, some of the famous “Major League Baseball” players came from the Dominican Republic. Today, baseball considered as the national passion and sport of the country. The other favorite recreational sport of the local population is domino.

Lots of people visit or migrate to the Dominican Republic for business or recreation reasons. Some visitors even decide to permanently reside on the country of Dominican Republic because of its splendid, breath taking and magnificent beauty. The country is known for its rich history, diverse culture and beauty of Mother Nature.