Late Night Paperwork Party This delightful description of what one family goes through to get Foreign Service vouchers processed and paperwork done is startlingly like the process my family goes through. (Although Ashley is much more good natured about it than I am, for sure.) Still Here encapsulates my feelings perfectly about my work right now. The Dirty Secret of ‘Secret Family Recipes’: a delightful description of how so many...
Our internet is more reliable than that of most people in EG (we can pay for an expensive connection and we live in a neighborhood with good signal). It’s still not fantastic, and it’s still limited. Try getting a family used to iPhones and kindles and Netflix and living in the future to live on a diet of 25GB/ month has been challenging. We turn off the wifi on all...
When I wrote about my New Year’s resolutions earlier in the year, I said that I was content to wait until February to really settle on my creative goals. My work here is engaging and interesting, but the pace of life is different here. I don’t have to spend my free time studying, for one. Without a car (yet), we don’t get out much on the weekend. And finally...
We made it to Malabo. Finally. After leaving Jerusalem in February of 2017, it felt like we’d never get here. Malabo is complex. Equatorial Guinea is complex. To set the scene for blogging over the next few years, I will not publicly grapple with colonial legacies and living here as a wealthy white woman married to a Beninese-American while carrying a diplomatic passport. Certainly, readers, we can discuss that in person...
2017 was rough for me and my family. However, 2018 is a new year, a new post (Malabo!), and a new chance to seize the opportunities that are sitting right in front of our noses. Themes for 2018 Last year, I chose “joy” as my One Little Word, and did a terrible job of following through on it. This year, I’ve chosen “thrive,” and I believe that my chances of actually...
We’ve been slowly settling back into life in America. Yes, America! We left Jerusalem and we’re now living in Arlington, VA, where we’ll be for the next several months as I prepare for Malabo. While not at work, I’ve been amusing myself by ordering my Starbucks coffee in English, and making desserts. But only easy desserts. Like cake pops. The nice thing about cake pops is that they require minimal preparation, minimal...
Keeping with 2017’s theme of doing shit that brings me joy, I went on a group hike again, this time to Nahal Tse’Elim, in the Negev. I love the outdoors. I love hiking. And I love the sense of self-sufficiency that I’m gaining the more I explore the world around me. This hike was short (7km out and back) and non-technical. No pressure to go faster or get back by...
I can’t live through another year like 2016. I don’t subscribe to a type of thinking where if you will good luck into existence, it will come. Positives attitudes don’t stop war or famine or poverty or injustice. But, not recognizing how good I’ve really got it is foolish, and my own negative attitude has made it difficult to appreciate everything that actually went well in 2016. 2017 may not...
Hiking in the Negev in Israel is as beautiful as it sounds, and something I’ve wanted to do since we arrived a few years ago. As our time in Jerusalem is growing short, I ditched my spouse and kids, and signed up for a group hike in the HaMakhtesth HaKaton, a small crater in the Nagev. The Makhtesh Katan is one of five craters in Israel, and seven in the...
It’s easy to bleed money when we’re traveling. It’s also easy to bleed money living in a city like Jerusalem. Lucky us, there are lots of free things to do in Jerusalem with kids. Explore the Old City The Old City in Jerusalem is beautiful and full of history. Whether you’re exploring the Church of the Holy Supulcre, walking the Via Delorosa, or visiting the Western Wall (aka the Kotel),...
Chocolate covered dates are an easy beginning to my foray into Palestinian desserts. They’re a special occasion treat, something that I’ve seen mostly in small quantities at iftars or to be sold to tourists at artisan markets. The dates are delicious and rich, a perfect accompaniment for coffee, but not something to be consumed in large quantities. I’ve had chocolate covered dates several times now, and each time I tell myself...
I am an expat, logistician, traveler, writer, paper crafter, lover of books and coffee, and occasionally doting mother. I am occasionally foul-mouthed, not nearly as diplomatic as my professional would imply, and fiercely feminist.
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The opinions expressed here on SVO are my own and do not reflect the opinions of the Department of State or the USG.
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