Dominican Barber Shop Lingo: “Degradado,” “Rayas,” and Tipping
From Botched Buzzcuts to Barber Shop Mastery I still remember the day I landed in Santo Domingo a decade ago. I was twenty-three, heat-struck, and stu
Dominican ATM Drama: How to Report a Swallowed Card in Fluent, Street-Savvy Spanish
A clunk, a flicker, and no card: my Tuesday in Santo Domingo I had just finished a sunrise jog on the Malecón, feeling smug after resisting the siren
Dominican Apartment Inspections: Pointing Out Repairs Needed Without Sounding Like a Gringo
Ten years ago, fresh off a one-way flight from Milwaukee and dizzy with beach-town humidity, I signed a lease on a Santo Domingo walk-up that looked c
Dominican and Colombian Gesture Differences: Hand Motions Decoded
A Coffee Spill That Spoke Volumes Ten years ago, on my first week in Santo Domingo, I ordered a “café con leche” and tried to squeeze between two
Dominican and Colombian Emoji Meanings: Text-Message Culture for Expats
My WhatsApp vibrated at 7:42 p.m. on a muggy Thursday in Santo Domingo. Laura—my first serious Dominican date—had just sent a single 🥵. Back in