Decoding Dominican Slang: “Jevi,” “Vaina,” and Beyond
I still remember the first time a motoconchista in Santo Domingo slowed down, glanced back at me and said, “¿Ta’ jevi la vaina?” We’d just do
Decoding “Rango de Referencia”: Reading Your Colombian Lab Results Like a Local
The Morning I Misread My Own Blood Work I was sitting in a Medellín café, still sweating from the hill up to Laureles, when an email pinged my phone
Decoding “El Boletín”: Making Sense of Report Cards and Grading Culture
An unexpected math crisis in Santo Domingo I still remember the knot in my stomach the afternoon Sofía bounced out of her Dominican elementary school
Dealing with Power Outages in the DR: Reporting “Apagones” Politely
When the Lights Flicker Off: My First Santo Domingo Blackout I was mid-sentence, explaining to my Dominican landlord why my blender smelled like it wa
Dealing With Noise Complaints in the Dominican Republic: How I Learned to Argue With Bachata, Not Fists
Last September, at precisely 3:07 a.m., my Merengue-soaked dreams were pierced by a bass line so thundering I thought an earthquake had hit Santo Domi