Learn. Speak. Belong.

Why a Blinking Meter Changed My Spanish The summer I first rented a one-bedroom in Santo Domingo’s Zona Colonial, the ceiling fan became my life-support system. One August afternoon, the fan stopped and the digital display outside my door flashed 888888. Panic dialed up my anxiety until the elderly neighbor, Doña Claribel, assured me that […]

From Rooftop Gardens to Mercado Modelo: My Path to the Spanish Vocabulary of Freshness I still remember the first Saturday after I moved into my tiny apartment near Santo Domingo’s Zona Colonial. The landlord’s mother knocked on my door at dawn, balancing a wicker basket loaded with cilantro, ajíes, and a mysterious striped squash. I […]

I was sipping a late-night cafecito on my balcony in Santo Domingo when a cockroach the size of a small drone dive-bombed my keyboard. Ten years in the Dominican Republic have taught me patience, but not even bachata on repeat could muffle the squeak that escaped my throat. Twenty-four hours later, a fumigation truck rolled […]

Why I Ended Up Translating Epidural Dreams at 3 A.M. I never planned on becoming the unofficial interpreter for my buddy Tom and his Dominican fiancée, much less while she was dilated seven centimeters under the unforgiving glare of fluorescent lights. Yet there I was at Hospital Materno Nuestra Señora de la Altagracia, 3 a.m., […]

When My New Dominican Neighbor Knocked—A Tale of Two Countries I was seasoning a pot of sancocho in Santo Domingo when Doña Mercedes, the neighbor two doors down, appeared with a knock so soft I almost missed it. She handed me an ornate card smelling faintly of vanilla and declared, “Para mi inauguración de casa, […]

One Corner Colmado, Two Campaign Posters: My Election Awakening The first time I realized that elections could hijack my carefully curated Spanish Vocabulary was on a humid May afternoon in Santiago de los Caballeros. I’d stopped at the corner colmado for a cold Presidente, intending to sip in blissful anonymity. Instead, I found myself between […]

I was halfway up a guayaba tree in Las Terrenas, chasing an ambitious drone shot, when a ripe mango thudded against my shoulder and landed—mockingly intact—on the sand below. A señora hanging laundry next door laughed, tossed me another one, and said, “Ese está bueno, cómetelo antes de que se ponga aguado.” The moment I […]

La primera vez que metí la pata con unas pinzas My very first week in Santo Domingo, ten years ago, I waltzed into a corner panadería feeling smug about my basic survival Spanish. I spotted a golden pan de agua, reached for it bare-handed, and was intercepted by an elderly señora wielding metal tongs like […]

How a Wobbly First Ride Turned Into a Linguistic Lesson I still remember the clang of a loose muffler and the salted breeze the first time I hopped on a rented pasola in Las Terrenas. Ten years in the Dominican Republic have taught me that a scooter is more than two wheels and an engine; […]

Clay Under Caribbean Fingernails I still remember the first time a lump of Dominican barro rojo squished between my palms. I had drifted into a tiny workshop in Higüerito, north of Moca, after a morning surf session and a cup of coffee so sweet it could have doubled as glaze. The potter, Don Ramón, eyed […]

Last Tuesday, squeezed between a grandmother fanning herself with a lottery ticket and a university kid bobbing his head to dembow, I missed my stop in Santo Domingo. It wasn’t the first time. After ten years of Dominican guagua rides and countless vacation loops through Medellín’s metro buses, you’d think I had it locked down. […]