The Dominican Republic

My geographic and cultural knowledge of the Caribbean has gone up exponentially since coming to New York City. I got a lot of it down and even live with a Caribbeaner (well his family is from Grenada, he might have been born in Brooklyn). Before that all my understanding was basically encompassed in the Puertan Rican Day Parade Seinfeld episode, and maybe a little bit of what Michael Scott brought back from Jamaica on The Office.



Also- Michael: The Jamaicans don't even have a word for "impossible". Jim: Yep. They do. It's, "impossible."

So despite this, the one thing I will just never get used to is the way everyone refers to the Dominican Republic as "D.R." I mean really, it just doesn't work. I've heard it before and was really confused, and I'll hear it again and I'll still be confused. Last night I was in Banana Republic (hahaha I just got the irony of that... I should rephrase... Last night I was in B.R...) and I overheard a woman say "He just got back from D.R." and I had to think long and hard before my informal education came back to me and I realized she meant the Dominican Republic. Is it because when they abbreviate they leave out the "the" ? I don't know. But it just doesn't GO and I want to veto the practice. I mean, it sounds like more of a mouthful to say "D.R." than just spit out "THE DOMINCAN REPUBLIC." Maybe we should just start referring to it as "The Republic" in some freaky Star Wars way.

The below picture is me and Ronnie from Betsy's lethal birthday brunch this past weekend. (Tip: Never try to "get your money's worth" when mimosas are unlimited. Just don't.)

And happy birthday to Cherisse, the newest mum in the fam, all of a quarter of a century old now!