Tag: Living Abroad
-
Never-ending Rain and My Highly Sensitive Bird
Here’s how five straight days of rain turned into a self-regulated therapy session or as I like to call it: too much time to think! About eighteen years ago I was living in Madison, Wisconsin with my ex husband and our four adopted chihuahuas. Adopted is implied, I didn’t pop those out myself. We actually…
-
Charlie’s Chocolate Factory and the Conch Chef
DISCLAIMER: This post is about preparing conchs for dinner. Vegans and animal activists proceed with caution. I’m not looking to get canceled, I am just hungry. Having returned last week from a whirlwind, action-packed two-week Costa Rica/Panama vacation with my new British pal, Anna, I’m quickly reminded of what life is like here on this…
-
Kevin Moments
To be fair, Kevin wasn’t that bad. I was just not thrilled with his brand of customer service. By this time in life we should know that there are different personalities and lifestyles everywhere we go and love, tolerance and patience goes a long way. Once in a while my less attractive traits still show…
-
Planes Trains and Automobiles
This title is of course referring to the “classic” American movie from the 80’s that starred legends, Steve Martin and John Candy. Full disclosure, there’s really nothing about planes or trains in this story but anytime I have a long travel day or use multiple modes of transportation to get where I’m going, this movie…
-
Dipped in Chocolate
I will eventually get to a point with this story and shouldn’t have to defend myself because if you’ve been following any of my writing or been in the same room when I tell a story, you know by now that it’s never the short way to the conclusion. We typically take the long way…
-
Operation Dumbo Drop
Guess what? Not everyone speaks English! We should all know this by now – even us Americans. When you’re dropped into a foreign country and a limited amount of humans speak your native language (in this case, English) it’s a real game-changer: a real “fuck-shit” moment, as Tina Fey said in the cute Netflix movie,…
-
Dora the “Explora”
aka “Walkabout With Care” I don’t watch the news, maybe out of laziness, disinterest or because I don’t want to be bummed the hell out all day. Instead I’ll read select uplifting news feeds on Instagram, watch endless cat reels and stories from The Dodo. And I’m always up for viewing an inappropriate meme; if…
-
Easy Like Sunday Morning – Is It Though?
[I had to let the words below all marinate overnight because it’s truly ridiculous to me that I was so angered by a man’s bullshit, yet that is not an infrequent occurrence. Am I right, ladies?] If I’m remembering correctly, it was just a few Sundays ago that I also found myself headed to Koko…
-
AnthroCulturoPlatano
My dear friend/editor/surrogate dad/advisor/life coach Dr. Max says I should be an anthropologist. Let me start by saying I am grossly underqualified for that but it would have been a very interesting, and most likely fulfilling, profession. All I’m doing – which led to his statement – is observing humans around me. I’ve been doing…
-
blessed love
When I was here in March I became acquainted with one of the bartenders at the beautiful resort my friend Mandy and I stayed at. Bam is a small guy that moves quickly, customers love him and he makes the best drinks. Once I returned home we still sent greetings back and forth to see…
-
Callaloo & My Carnivore Card
(If you read until the end, let me know if the title above works or if “Chicken Doesn’t Count” is better. Sometimes the hardest part of writing is coming up with a snappy title!) Two days ago while in my usual “office space” at the cafe – second stool from the left, direct view of…
-
Naked and Afraid aka Six-Week Check-in
During a visit with family two weeks before I moved here, my mom and I were sitting in her living room one afternoon and she was asking me some questions about this trip. I answered them and she finally exclaimed, “Well it sounds like you’re going to be on an episode of Naked and Afraid!”…
Pixie in Paradise 