Echoes in the Gallery: Mastering Museum Spanish from Santo Domingo to Medellín
I stepped into the Museo de las Casas Reales on a humid Thursday, eager to escape the Caribbean heat and pretend I’d time-traveled into a stone-cool fortress. The ticket clerk leaned forward with a conspiratorial grin: “¿Quiere el audioguía en español o en inglés, manito?” My Dominican street Spanish failed me—I’d never said “audio guide” […]
Sun, Sand, and “Sombrillas”: Spanish for Renting Beach Gear in Two Caribbean Worlds
The breeze smelled like fried fish and sunscreen when I strolled onto Playa Alicia in Sosúa, clutching a half-melted limoncillo paleta. A vendor in a Red Sox cap shouted, “¡Sombrillas, manito!”—umbrellas, bro!—and waved me toward a forest of blue canopies. I’d lived in the Dominican Republic nearly ten years, but my beach-rental script was rusty. […]
Footfalls & Fireflies: Spanish for Guided Eco-Hikes from Jarabacoa to Jardín
The sun hadn’t cleared the conifer ridges of the Cordillera Central when our Dominican guide, Don Roberto, halted the small group beside a river the color of old glass. “Escuchen,” he whispered, pressing a finger to the brim of his straw hat. A lilting birdcall—three rising notes, one long sigh—floated through the bamboo. “Cigua palmera,” […]
Keys, Check-Ins & Colmado Wi-Fi: Booking Hotels and Airbnbs in Spanish
The first time I tried to book an Airbnb in Santo Domingo, I was sitting on a plastic chair outside a colmado, balancing my laptop on my knees while bachata shook the sidewalk. I typed, “¿Incluye aire acondicionado?”—does it include air-conditioning?—and the host shot back, “Claro que sí, manito, y abanico por si se va […]
Candles, Marigolds & Perico Ripiao: Explaining Latin Traditions in Spanish
The December heat in Santo Domingo wraps you like a flannel you never asked for. I was stringing blinking lights around our mango tree when my Colombian friend Marcela video-called from Medellín’s brisk evening. Behind her, neighbors lugged bundles of candles and paper lanterns—Alumbrado season had begun. She laughed at my sweaty forehead, I shivered […]
Candles at Sunrise: Belting “Las Mañanitas” from Santo Domingo to Medellín
The morning my Dominican neighbor Doña Milagros turned seventy, I woke to a brass banda and half the barrio huddled beneath her balcony, waving papaya-colored balloons. Someone handed me a lyrics sheet and whispered, “Sigue el coro, manito.” I garbled the first stanza of Las Mañanitas, botched the second, and finally surrendered to the percussion […]
Playdate Diplomacy: Scheduling Fun Across Two Cultures
The first time I tried to organize a playdate in Santo Domingo, my daughter sprinted through the colmado aisle brandishing a plantain like a lightsaber. I was busy WhatsApp-typing “2 p.m. sharp” when Martina’s Dominican mom chuckled, “Ay, James, aquí la hora es orientativa.” An hour later—plantain bruised, patience thinner than mangú—the family finally rolled […]
Navigating Elder Care in Spanish
I first realized my Spanish Vocabulary for senior health was laughably thin on a humid Tuesday in Santo Domingo. The ceiling fan in my mother-in-law’s living room spun like a lazy propeller while Doña Clara, her part-time caregiver, asked if I’d already “cambiado la sonda.” I blinked, picturing a satellite dish instead of a urinary […]
From Nervous Dad to Linguistic MVP: Mastering Parent-Teacher Conferences in Spanish
A drizzle drummed the zinc roof of Escuela Primaria Juan Bosch when my son’s teacher, Profesora Mercedes, waved me into a pastel-green classroom that smelled of chalk dust and guava candy. I had rehearsed my questions during the motoconcho ride, but the moment I sat on the tiny plastic chair my brain turned into scrambled […]
From Mangú to Ajiaco: A Bilingual Guide to Hosting the Perfect Latin-Fusion Dinner Party
The ceiling fan whirred like a lazy helicopter as late-afternoon light spilled through my Santiago de los Caballeros balcony. I was wrist-deep in mashed mangú—those ripe plantains stain your fingernails yellow for days—when my phone pinged with a voice note from Julián in Medellín: “Parce, alista la olla grande que llevo un ajiaco con el […]