Stories Beneath the Surface.

Opening Scene: The Clock Tower and a Coffee-Fueled Epiphany I was leaning against the warm coral-stone walls near Cartagena’s iconic Torre del Reloj, balancing a paper cup of tinto in one hand and my laptop in the other, when reality struck: my Dominican data plan was wheezing under Colombian roaming fees, and I needed a […]

When Code Meets Cafecito: My First Bogotá Pitch Night Ten years of island life in Santo Domingo had taught me that business deals can hatch beside a beach bar, with the thump of dembow and the smell of sancocho drifting over the table. So when I flew into Bogotá for my first tech networking event […]

I remember the first time a Colombian dentist tilted me back under that blinding lamp in Medellín. Ten years of living in the Dominican Republic had sharpened my Caribbean Spanish, but the moment the drill whirred I realized how regional Spanish can be. My Dominican “¡coño, qué dolor!” didn’t land the same way here; the […]

El Banco y Yo: A Dad Moment in Santo Domingo I still remember the morning my eight-year-old godson, Luisito, tugged my sleeve outside Banco Popular on Winston Churchill Avenue. His backpack was bouncing with the coins he had been hoarding since Christmas. “¡Quiero un banco para mí solo!” he declared, chest puffed out like a […]

An Unexpected Lesson in the Banco Lobby The first time I tried to open a bank account in Santo Domingo I walked in wearing my optimistic expat grin and clutching every document I thought I needed. What I did not have was a cédula, the laminated Dominican ID that functions like a golden ticket. The […]

The Curtain Chronicles Begin: My Sunlit Wake-Up Call I woke up on a Saturday in Gazcue, bathed in sunlight that my thin, store-bought blinds simply surrendered to the Caribbean morning. Ten years in the Dominican Republic and I still hadn’t invested in proper cortinas, even though I knew I’d be staying for the long haul. […]

That Time My Couch Arrived on a Motorcycle I still remember the moment a diminutive Suzuki pulled up to my apartment in Santo Domingo, balancing a three–meter sofa on its rear like an oversized surfboard. The driver—one of those wiry local carpenters who looks half-man, half-MacGyver—grinned and shouted, “¡Mi loco, llegó tu mueble!” My neighbors […]

I still remember the first time I confused a Dominican cashier by asking if their “pollo broaster” came with yucca fries. Her raised eyebrow said everything: here in Santiago de los Caballeros, fried chicken is pica pollo, thank you very much. A month later, landing in Medellín, I tried the opposite strategy—“Me da un pica […]

When My Rent Was Due and the Peso Danced Merengue The first time I wired money from Bogotá to Santo Domingo I felt like I was auditioning for a telenovela about financial panic. I stood in a Dominican remittance office clutching a Western Union reference number, while a line of señoras behind me tapped their […]

The Morning I Failed the Eye Test in Medellín I had been driving the curvy mountain roads outside of Medellín for years, confident in my ability to dodge moto-taxis, fruit sellers, and the occasional stray goat. Yet when my Colombian driver’s license hit its expiration date, the real obstacle wasn’t the paperwork or the fees—it […]

“¡Pero eso no es lo que dice la pantalla, loco!” The cashier at the corner colmado in Santo Domingo laughed as I fumbled with my phone, trying to explain why my Colombian EPS portal kept rejecting my renewal. Ten years in the Dominican Republic have toughened my accent and given me a taste for mangú, […]