REFLECTING THE REAL: BRINGING THE GOSPEL OF NATURAL HAIR TO AFRO-LATINA WOMEN IN SANTO DOMINGO, D.R.

The most shocking development at the most recent Paris runway shows was not a hem length, but a hairstyle. Lineisy Montero, a stunning freshman model from the Dominican Republic, walked in shows for Prada, Louis Vuitton and Céline with a close-cropped afro similar to that worn by actress Lupita Nyong’o or singer Ms. Lauryn Hill. […]

STRANGE BEAUTY: Orquid Explosion at Expo 2015 in Santo Domingo, D.R.

It’s a very nice thing to be in a country that is famous for the world’s most exotically beautiful flowers.There are more than 300 varieties of orchids on the island of Hispaniola, and the members of the Sociedad Dominicana de Orquideología are fiercely passionate about all of them. I know: I spent an evening with […]

THE HIT SQUAD: GETTING YOUR LICKS AT CARNAVAL IN LA VEGA, D.R.

CARNAVAL IN THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC CAN BE A REAL PAIN IN THE REAR. If you’re unlucky enough to be swatted on the behind with the heavy smack of a vejiga, you will literally feel it. The vejiga is as much an integral part of Dominican Carnaval as are lustrous feathers, bright wigs and rhinestones. This […]

THE BEAUTIFUL SOUTH: SIMPLE PLEASURES ALONG MIRADOR SUR IN SANTO DOMINGO, D.R.

MY AUNT MINERVA IS LIVING IN A DREAM WORLD. Her graceful two-bedroom apartment is nestled within an unassuming apartment complex in the comfortably affluent Bella Vista neighborhood of Santo Domingo here in the Dominican Republic. Bella Vista has no real distinction from its even more well-heeled neighboring wards apart from accessibility: The bustling Avenida Sarasota […]

SURREAL BARRIO DREAMS: CARNIVAL IN SANTO DOMINGO ESTE, D.R.

SOMEWAY, SOMEHOW, CARNIVAL WILL ALWAYS UPEND YOUR EXPECTATIONS. This was the case when we went down to the first weekend of the local carnival parade in Santo Domingo Este, the up-and-coming annex to the Capital. Santo Domingo Este is the newer, younger municipality that only shares a namesake with the Western Hemisphere’s oldest city. Let the […]

BLUE MONDAY COPING TOOLS: SERGEI POLUNIN X DAVID LACHAPELLE

Mondays are such a let-down, right? That’s why I’m introducing this new series of inspirational images and news to keep you inspired throughout the week. Check out the amazing aerodynamic dancing of award-winning ballet upstart Sergei Polunin. The Ukrainian Polunin, was previously known as the youngest ever principal of London’s Royal Ballet (he got the […]

A GREAT DAY IN THE NORTH: CHARM AMIDST THE CRUISING IN SOSUA, D.R.

SOSUA OFFERS TOP-QUALITY SUN AND VIEWS—AND FOR BETTER OR WORSE, HANKY-PANKY FOR A SHEKEL. The loftier charms of the North Coast life lie in the coast’s other towns. I only ever came up to these towns very early in my childhood. What I remember of Sosúa and Cabarete were seemingly untouched swathes of gorgeous beachside […]

THE GET: TOM MISCH AND CARMODY’S EP, “OUT TO SEA”

Keep your eye on Tom Misch. The singer, songwriter and producer has been pumping out a number of releases over the last couple of years that meld the sensibilities of dance music, hip hop and jazz, all to arresting effect. At the beginning of December, he released Out to Sea, with vocalist Carmody, on the […]

Moving Too Fast

I haven’t gotten the full grasp of just how fleeting the public’s attention span or just how voracious their appetite for stimulus has become until this week. This past weekend, Azealia Banks dropped her debut album a full four years after the release of her first single. Thankfully for her, the music on the album’s […]

THE NEW CIRCLES

UNDISCOVERED COUNTRY | UNDERRATED CULTURE