Colombian Folk-Medicine Shop Talk: Herbs, Dosage, and Warnings
Guayabas, Gargantas Rasposas y Mi Bautizo Botánico Una mañana picante I still remember the first time I walked into a Colombian yerbatería. I had flown from Santo Domingo to Medellín for a weekend escape, sure that a couple of chilly paisa nights would cure my lingering sore throat. Instead, the altitude slapped me around and […]
Dominican High-Altitude Training: Gym Spanish for Oxygen Readings
When I first lugged my battered duffle up the windy staircase of “Altitud 1,200”—the only high-altitude gym in Jarabacoa—the trainer cocked his head and shouted, “¡Mide tu saturación, compay!” I froze, pulse already spiking from the thin mountain air, and realized I had no idea that saturación meant oxygen saturation, not drowning in Caribbean rum. […]
Booking Eco-Cabins in Jarabacoa: Solar Power Questions in Spanish
“¿Se fue la luz otra vez?” Those were the first words out of my mouth the night I arrived at a mountain eco-cabin above Jarabacoa, fresh off a prop-plane from Santo Domingo. Ten years in the Dominican Republic should have prepared me, but the sudden hush of appliances still makes my heart skip. The caretaker […]
Colombian Mercado Campesino: How Organic Tomatoes Taught Me to Listen
From Santo Domingo Rooftops to Andean Valleys: An Accidental Foodie I was leaning over the balcony of my apartment in Santo Domingo one humid Thursday night, coaxing my basil plant back from the edge of death, when my friend Juan in Bogotá video-called me. He rotated his camera to flaunt a crate of ruby-red tomatoes […]
“¿Qué vas a traer tú?” – Navigating Dominican Potluck Invitations and Dietary Spanish
From Burnt Brownies to Bacalao: My First Potluck Misstep Ten years ago, fresh off the plane and drunk on the thrill of island life, I strutted into my first Dominican potluck believing my Spanglish could carry me. Ana, the neighbor who’d invited me, had said, “James, tráete algo dulce.” I arrived with a pan of […]
Medellín Flower-Arrangement Classes: Stems, Vases, and Seasonal Spanish
A Blooming Morning in Laureles—How Flowers Led Me to Sharper Spanish I used to believe I had Dominican street-Spanish down pat after a decade of bargaining for mangos in Santo Domingo, yet on my first Saturday in Medellín I felt like a mute tourist again. The culprit? A sun-splashed flower-arrangement class tucked behind the basilica […]
Colombian Mobile-Plan Upgrades: Data-Rollover and Roaming Spanish
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 […]
Dominican House-Plant Shopping: Light and Water Requirements in Spanish
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? […]
Colombian Outdoor-Gear Warranties: Cracking the “Garantía de Fábrica” Code
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 […]
Navigating Colombia’s Digital “Carné de Vacunación”: A Real-World Bootcamp to Learn Spanish on the Fly
Ten years in the Dominican Republic have tattooed more than sand-tinted memories on my skin; they’ve etched Caribbean Spanish into my tongue. Yet last month, while I logged onto Colombia’s new digital vaccination-card portal from a café in Medellín, I realized language learning never clocks out. The barista leaned over my laptop, saw the government […]