Monday, March 28, 2005
In the years we have been in Boca Chica we have seen the same explosion in telephonic communication just as anywhere else in the world. Most eye-catching of all is the now entirely universal use of mobile cellular phones. A short résumé of the cellular options lists four distinct companies offering services. They are, probably in order of customer base, Verizon, Tricom, Orange and Centennial.
A casual ‘Playa Vista survey’ reveals that any important differences among the four options can be summed up rather like this:
The service of each fully covers the largest center of population in the country, namely that of the municipality of Santo Domingo also conveniently encompassing Boca Chica. Orange would appear to be the most economic with Centennial too offering some very competitive deals. However, Verizon, being the longest established, has wider coverage in the country as a whole. People visiting from overseas and already subscribers to Orange’s system can even conveniently arrange to have their phone activate the moment they walk off the airplane in the DomRep with a warm and welcoming “bienvenido to the DR” message. This roaming facility is also an option for visitors with Centennial and Verizon phones but such a convenience is generally considered to be far more expensive than simply activating a completely new account on arrival.
The increase in internet usage is less directly visible but still countable in the sense that there are now quite a number of sites dotted around town where visitors can drop in to maintain their usual contact with the outside world and read the all important DR1 Blogs section. The range of services offered is now far beyond the single dial-up speed through the single national operator Codetel (renamed Verizon last year) that we encountered when we first arrived more than seven years ago. Cable TV companies too, though mainly restricted to Santo Domingo and Santiago, have even joined in offering internet services. Diversification has also come to landlines because the same single national operator was joined by Tricom firstly in 1992 with long distance services and then later on with full telephone services. This and the entrance of other cellular companies to the market were made possible by new government legislation specifically to encourage competition beginning in the 1990s.
So… what has all this cellular talk to do with Playa Vista and Boca Chica you might ask?
The answer is that the motivation to report on the subject as a whole has come as a result of our own need to increase our telecommunications network and install an additional line affording a speedier connection to the WWW. But… more about that patience-trying Caribbean adventure next time. Meanwhile you may or may not like to check in the archives to see how Verizon (in those days Codetel) treated us the last time we had purpose to write about them well over a year ago in the blog posted on August 31, 2003.
So until next time’s speedy delivery… a quick over and out!
Posted by Playa Vista @ 04:41 PM CST
Friday, March 11, 2005
We receive quite a number of e-mails from people responding in some way or other to our Boca Chica/DomRep blog. The norm is to be asked for more information about something to do with the country in general, Santo Domingo in particular or, of course, good old Boca Chica. We did on one occasion, October 8th 2004 to be precise, post a piece of interesting correspondence in its entirety received from Sarah Frey in order to help keep the entertainment rolling. In her letter Sarah took us back to the late 1950s early 60s. It would seem that Fred of Washington DC was in town just after her as he refers to the civil war: of 1965 we presume. A war, by the way, that was relatively easily and quickly ended but not without a little friendly help from neighboring Uncle Sam. Since then the country has been moving ever forward on its increasingly politically democratic and peaceful path.
Fred says:
I came across your blog- love it!
As a child, I lived in Boca Chica during the civil war, on Calle Duarte. Of course, back then Boca Chica was a sleepy little village and not much happened. I remember how people would go the park and watch the novellas (soap operas) on the park's TV. Anyway, I bet Boca Chica is quite different these days. I will continue checking your blog to see what’s up over there.
Regards,
Fred- Wash DC
We were wondering if there is anybody out there who can provide even more detail of that immediate post-Trujillo period or perhaps go back still further – amongst you native English speakers we somehow doubt it, but we keep on being surprised. And thank you Fred!
Posted by Playa Vista @ 09:42 AM CST
Wednesday, March 2, 2005
We claim, and there is plenty of proof-positive, that Playa Vista attracts a very wide spectrum of individuals from around our little planet earth. All kinds of types, from all kinds of backgrounds earning their living in all manner of ways far beyond the rudimentary list of tinker, tailor and candlestick maker, gather in this crazy but entertaining corner of the world.
We hadn’t seen Randall - and for regular Playa Vista visitors we are not referring to the vacationing sunbather extraordinaire farmer from western-Kentucky - for some months, but brightly and breezily he came to the bar one Sunday lunchtime and generously handed us two personally signed copies of a work of fiction he has recently had published.
We are particularly pleased by the association because as he placed the books on the bar top he proclaimed that perhaps as much as 70% of it was written while ruminating here in the heart of Boca Chica relaxing on a Playa Vista sun lounger. For those of you who are general DomRep aficionados you will be interested to know that the content of the story clearly draws extensively on Randall’s more than two years of experiences in this country as well as his own extensive military background.
For your further information the writer’s full name is Randall H. Miller, he teaches and lives in Santo Domingo and the book , independently published by ‘iUniverse’, is titled “The Xpatriot”.
Posted by Playa Vista @ 05:54 PM CST
