7 bizarre facts about the Dominican Republic

Echo? Echo! Echo! Echo!

The most famous restaurant in the country, El Meson de la Cava, is located in a limestone cave, carved by waves millions of years ago. The view is beautiful, the food is delicious and there is an exhibition of relics left by Indians and pirates who used the place as a hideout.

pink and blue

In the 1970s, an isolated village became famous for several cases of girls who, upon reaching puberty, “gained” a penis and turned into boys. An endocrinologist solved the mystery: local families had a high genetic predisposition to produce male pseudohermaphrodites.

Speak, Pinocchio!

A habit of Dominicans is to communicate with nose and lip movements. Pouting, for example, can indicate contempt or sarcasm. If you ask for directions to get somewhere, they might point «left» or «right» with their nostrils!

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soap opera name

Only in this country can you find larimar – a rare mineral, from the silicate group, often used in jewelry. The color varies between white, light blue and dark blue – the more intense the tone, the more precious the stone.

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oral sex

The country is very Catholic (it even has a Bible on the flag!), but one of the most popular TV shows is intimately. With the help of psychologists and two strippers, presenter Juana Núñez discusses sex without taboos.

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Cocoricó

Carnival sometimes coincides with Independence Day, on 2/27. One of the typical fantasies is the “steal the chicken”, in which men dress up as women. The name came about because, in the past, they used chickens to simulate breasts!

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singing the vote

The most loved musical genre is merengue. He even baptizes a soda flavor, with a taste of vanilla. Singers of the genre are so popular that many become politicians: the “merentician” (“merengue” + “politician”).

STRANGE CURIOSITIES

84 cell phones per 100 inhabitants

196 thousand jobs generated by tourism

12 national holidays by year

18 mm is the size of the dwarf lizard, the smallest in the world, typical of the country

SOURCES Websites Team, Atlas Obscura, Go Dominican Republic, The Fact File It is Time and Date

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