From Fritos to Fuses: Navigating Dominican Appliance-Repair Estimates While You Learn Spanish
My refrigerator decided to go on strike last August, precisely when I had a half-case of Presidente beer chilling for a beach run to Boca Chica. Ten years in Santo Domingo have taught me that when an appliance quits, the repair process is as much a language adventure as it is a mechanical one. I […]
Colombian Seasonal Fruits: Asking Ripeness & Recipe Advice in Spanish
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 […]
Colombian Language-Exchange Hosting: How I Learned to Say “House Rules” Without Sounding Like a Dictator
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 […]
Splitting the Cuenta Like a Local: Mastering Nequi & Daviplata Spanish
My first summer weekend in Medellín, I was feeling pretty slick. Ten years of Caribbean living had trained me to navigate Dominican banks, motoconcho haggling, and the labyrinth that is Santo Domingo rush-hour banter. Yet one little blue icon on my Colombian friend María’s phone humbled me faster than the hottest ají. “¿Me haces un […]
Dominican Volunteer Teaching: Classroom Spanish, Discipline Words & Cultural Bridges
“¡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 […]
Haggling for Home: Dominican Extended-Stay Hotels, Weekly Rates, and the Art of Sounding Local
Last August, after my fourth fill-up of Presidente beer and bachata at El Conde, I realized I had burned through half my housing budget for the month. That’s what happens when you land in Santo Domingo for what’s supposed to be a long research weekend and end up staying six weeks. The solution was obvious: […]
Reading the Forest: How Dominican Hiking-Trail Signage Turned Into My Favorite Spanish Classroom
El Punto de Partida: A Muddy Morning in Los Haitises The story begins with red mud clinging to my boots and a stubborn sprinkle of Caribbean rain. I had driven three hours from Santo Domingo to the Los Haitises National Park entrance, craving solitude after a busy workweek. At dawn, the rangers lifted the wooden […]
Dominican Cat-Café Visits: Ordering Drinks & Adopting Pets in Spanish
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, […]
Colombian Antique-Store Shopping: Asking About Provenance Like a Local
How a Wobbly Wooden Chair Started My Obsession Ten years in the Dominican Republic will teach any gringo how to admire a beach chair, but I didn’t expect that a half-broken rocker in Bogotá would catapult me into a new layer of how to learn Spanish. I remember the scene vividly: dusky afternoon light, the […]
How a Dominican Decade Prepared Me for Colombia’s Civil-Registry Circus
There I was, clutching a sweaty ticket that said turno 283 in a Medellín notaría, wondering whether the ceiling fans were actually pushing time backward. Ten years in the Dominican Republic had taught me patience—after all, the phrase “ahora mismo” on the island sometimes means “before sunset.” Yet this was my first Colombian quest for […]