The Dominican Republic is known for it’s stunning beaches and sprawling resorts but what few know is that it’s rich in history stretching back thousands of years. So to celebrate that history here are some things you may not have known about the Dominican Republic! AN ISLAND OF FIRSTS After colonization the Dominican Republic was …
The Dominican Republic is a country rich in folkloric traditions and beliefs. They’re woven into our everyday lives and are an important, vibrant part of our culture. Part of that folklore is the magic, monsters and mythical creatures that populate our stories. Much like our magical rituals and superstitions, Dominican monsters can trace their origins …
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Magic, superstition, and religious beliefs are woven into the very fabric of Dominican culture and it’s hard to see where one ends and the other begins. It was so normalized, that in my household, no one batted an eye whenever anyone mentioned spirits or witches. Not in a puritanical, fearful way or dripping in skepticism, but …
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For some reason a popular misconception about Dominicans is that the only thing we eat is rice, beans, and stewed (guisado) chicken, pork or beef. While I can’t argue that this isn’t a main staple in our food, its really not the only thing we eat. In fact, there are so many dishes that are …
My students often joke that I speak four different versions of Spanish and English: their prestige versions, a southern Dominican dialect, and an English a friend likes to call “urban vernacular Dominican-inflected Spanglish.” While I teach prestige English and Spanish I have a deep-rooted love for my dialect and “non-standard” English. They are my default, …
https://youtu.be/BWeFHddWL1Y CABARETE TIMELINE PRE-1492: Four thousand years before European contact, the Taíno people come up from the Orinoco and sail into the Caribbean Sea. They inhabit the island and split it into five chiefdoms. Maguá is the Chiefdom in which Cabarete is located. 1492: The arrival of the Spanish sparks indigenous resistance. Within years the Taíno population is …
Today we’re going to talk about dominicanismos or the words, expressions, and phrases that are common and unique to Spanish spoken in the Dominican Republic. Like any language, Spanish is subject to regional peculiarities, in the Dominican Republic we’ve adopted Taíno (indigenous) and African words and we’ve also repurposed Spanish words in some pretty interesting …
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YIELD: Serves 6 | ACTIVE TIME: 40 minutes | INACTIVE TIME: 15 minutes | DISH TYPE: Vegetarian In Dominican culture whenever anyone drops in during a mealtime we say ¡a buen tiempo! (meaning the person has arrived just in time), we serve an extra plate, and invite them to join us. Food is a family/community affair. Dominican food is traditionally meat heavy. Personally I love …