Learn. Speak. Belong.

One humid Thursday night in Santo Domingo, while the neighbor’s rooster crowed at the completely unhelpful hour of 11 p.m., I opened my apartment door to three Colombian backpackers clutching guitars, coffee beans, and the shining optimism that only a cross-country language exchange can produce. Ten years living in the Dominican Republic have taught me […]

Una primera cerveza en Medellín No long-haul flight feels shorter than the one that ends with a cold pint. Last February I landed in Medellín, traded my carry-on for a pint glass at Cervecería 20Mission, and heard a paisa bartender ask, “¿De una, parcero, una IPA bien lupulada o más suavecita?” In that moment, all […]

My first Colombian eSIM almost stranded me in Medellín’s José María Córdova airport. I’d spent a decade in the Dominican Republic, so I swaggered to the kiosk certain I could skate through another Spanish interaction. Then the paisa agent fired off a question: “¿Vas a querer que tu paquete se renueve solo o lo cargas […]

Three years ago I was halfway up the fog-soaked switchbacks of Cerro Quitasol, outside Medellín, when the right shoulder strap on my trusty hiking backpack gave a dramatic ¡crack! I was still a recent arrival from Santo Domingo, only just learning how Colombian Spanish bends, stretches, and occasionally ignores the textbook rules I thought I’d […]

From Santo Domingo to Santa Fe de Antioquia: My First Mangostino Misstep I still remember the sweat rolling down my back the afternoon I landed in Medellín after a quick hop from Santo Domingo. Ten years in the Dominican Republic had taught me how to flirt with a guanábana vendor and when to squeeze an […]

El cafecito that almost clawed my ego My first week in Santo Domingo, a decade ago, I walked into “Garras y Tazas,” the island’s pioneer cat-café, thinking my basic survival phrases would suffice. I greeted the barista with an overconfident “Hola, ¿puedo tener un cappuccino?” and was met with a polite grin that said cute, […]

A Morning at the Ayuntamiento The sun had barely cleared Santo Domingo’s pastel skyline when I strolled into the Ayuntamiento with a rolled-up blueprint, still smelling of printer ink, tucked beneath my arm. I was convinced everything was in order for my condo renovation—until the security guard cocked an eyebrow and asked whether I had […]

My first brush with Dominican eco-tour guiding happened on a sweaty Tuesday when I was coaxed into interpreting bird calls for a group of German backpackers in Los Haitises National Park. I had been chasing coconut-water shade for hours, secretly rehearsing the word guaraguao—a red-tailed hawk—in case anyone asked. A ranger overheard my mumbling, handed […]

El Primer Zapateo: My First Tap on Dominican Soil The first time I tried a flamenco-fusion class in Santo Domingo, the teacher—an ex-bailarina from Cádiz who now mixes palmas with bachata footwork—clapped her hands and shouted, “¡Marca el tacón y desliza, corazón!” I froze, left foot in mid-air, mentally translating while everyone else executed the […]

Mi Primera Maceta Dominicana: a Chlorophyll-Fueled Wake-Up Call The first time I tried to buy a house plant in Santo Domingo I asked for “una planta para la sala” and thought I was done. The vender, a sun-worn guy in flip-flops, shot back a volley of questions: “¿De sol o de sombra? ¿Cuánta brisa entra? […]

“¡Profe, se acabó la tiza!” Ten nine-year-olds were shouting at me, a lanky gringo with a half-erased chalk mustache, the day I began volunteer teaching on the north coast of the Dominican Republic. I froze, searching my head for the right comeback. I knew how to ask for chalk in textbook Spanish, yet my brain […]