100 Posts Later

This blog post marks my 100th since I started blogging shortly after arriving in Yemen in 2012. On August 23 of that year, I posted my first blog post, Marhaba from Yemen on YemenEm.com, which later became TheDameinSpain.com. Over nine months of living a (practically) cloistered life in Yemen, I blogged about the digestive woes that befall many Americans who move to Yemen, how to cook things in your kitchen-less hotel room, and how I chose my “So Yemen” wardrobe.

Then Mr. Dame in Spain and I traveled for a bit, set up in Washington DC for the summer, New York City for the fall, and moved to Madrid in January of 2013, when I changed the name of the blog to The Dame in Spain and where I continue to write about quirky cultural differences, but also delicious food, home decor, and travel.

Starting a blog was one of my best-ever decisions. Not because The Dame in Spain has a ton of followers or gets a ton of views. It doesn’t. But it allows me a form of expression I didn’t have before. It’s also super fun for me to write. Here are my most popular posts since the inception of YemenEm/The Dame in Spain.

1. What I Think of Yemen
2. A Love Story from Yemen
3. The Eclectic Historic Michigan Home of My Aunt and Uncle
4. Protests in Yemen
5. Chunk or Hunk

And a few interesting stats:

• The Dame in Spain has been viewed by people in 120 different countries. Most of my hits, not surprisingly, come from the United States, but next up are Spain, Brazil, the United Kingdom and Canada (Yemen is number seven).
• Back when I was blogging from Yemen, this site would get some major spikes in traffic tied to major news events in Yemen. (For instance on the day protestors marched to the U.S. Embassy, YemenEm.com got 473 views, which is an all-time one-day high.)
• Some people stumble upon my blog while Googling terms such as “oily party” and “I have no idea what a Diplomat is.” (I assume they’ve had all their questions answered by my posts: An Oily Party, and What’s That, A Diplomat?) I’m afraid I wasn’t much help for the people searching “sexy yemenis,” “yemen sexy story,” “the girlfriends of Yemen,” and “a veggie called a yemen.” But I hope I did provide some help in people searching for “deviled eggs spain,” and “cheap easy appetizers for a crowd” with Best Bites: My Favorite Appetizers.

Thanks to everyone who read YemenEm and reads The Dame in Spain. I’m looking forward to the next 100.

To blogging,

The Dame in Spain