It’s been awhile since I’ve sat down and poured my thoughts onto the keyboard. With Canadian Expat Dad now on his way back to Congo, I find myself sitting here in France, sipping my morning coffee, and suddenly frantically trying…
Congo- My Year in Review
I’m back after being quiet for quite awhile. I guess we can call it a period of reflection, although as I write this, I feel like I might still be in the middle of that. For someone living what might…
A Trip to the Congolese Hair Salon
In order to get your hair done in the 3rd world, you basically need to be at peace with the fact that things may go terribly wrong. You need to go into the situation acknowledging that it’s ‘just’ your hair,…
Sports Day in Congo
What happens when a French girl, a Dutch girl and a Canadian walk into a Congolese aerobics class? We were about to find out! Earlier this week, my friend from Holland asked if I wanted to go to an aerobics…
Body Image From an African Point of View
“It’s too much!” That was our cleaner. She walked in the door and saw me on the spin bike. Again. It was my fall routine since the moment my bike arrived from Indonesia: Netflix in the living room, with me…
Getting Fresh in France
They say never forget where you came from- don’t change who you are. I know that I grew up on the icy, cold, Canadian Shield; but I can’t help it…I’ve changed. I’m currently living in West Africa, four degrees from…
Writer’s Block and Déjà Vu
A word I’d always used, but not until I learned French did I realize it’s directly translated from the French language, meaning, ‘already seen’. The feeling of having already been here before is in full force for me as my…
Expat Magic
I arrived to my new home in Congo completely not knowing what to expect. As far as expat postings go, I was a ‘first-timer’ in Africa. But here’s the thing about the expat community–once you’re in it for a few years,…
Settling into Congo: Part 2
“Are they flogging?” “What?” “That smell. Are they flogging for the bugs, like they did in Indonesia?” I question my husband. “You mean fogging” he replies, his face giving away that he finds my slip-up entertaining, “and no, that’s not…
Settling Into a New Country. Week One in Congo.
One of my best friends is a mom of five amazing kids. When I had my first daughter she gave me some very sage advise to help my marriage. She suggested that while we had a newborn my husband and…