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Category: Foreign Service

December 3, 2021October 25, 2022The Next Dinner Party

Cold November Rain/Warm Diplomatic Parties

It was a cold and rainy November in Algiers, but the dreariness was lifted with some cozy diplomatic parties, including the annual Marine Ball.

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April 19, 2021October 25, 2022The Next Dinner Party

Algiers Living Room Reveal

Hello from Algiers! After three trips to Michigan in the past four months, my cancer scare ordeal is over and behind me. The biopsy from the last surgery on my cervix revealed no cancer and do disease of any kind. I arrived back to Algeria a week ago, and have been getting re-acclimated (melatonin has […]

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February 28, 2021October 25, 2022The Next Dinner Party

Weekend Trip to Tipaza

Adam and I talked this week about how every Foreign Service Officer posted abroad is having a not normal tour and will forever look back at this time as say “Oh, that was my corona tour” as an excuse for why she didn’t see much of France/Kazakhstan/Nicaragua/Senegal, or wherever the posting is. No exception here […]

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February 14, 2021February 14, 2021The Next Dinner Party

From Snow to Sun, Another Return to Algeria

Happy Valentines Day from Algiers! Yes, I’m back home in Algeria and it feels good. We have nothing specifically romantic planned for the day. But it does feel holiday-ish because while Sunday is normally the start of the work week, we have today off for President’s Day. I’m spending the day getting dosed with sunshine […]

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January 27, 2021July 14, 2022The Next Dinner Party

A Cancer Scare

A few weeks after we arrived back in Algiers, we had settled back into our routine: Working from home Sunday-Thursday, an hour of early evening exercise, shaking up an ice cold gin martini at 7, making dinner, kitty cuddles and TV before bed, socializing with a few friends on the weekends. In the midst of […]

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January 12, 2021January 13, 2021The Next Dinner Party

Best of 2020

2021 was supposed to be the new year/fresh start we all hoped for, but so far it’s pretty shit. Here we are with the coronavirus still lingering (but a vaccine, yay!); still working from home; I just received pretty bad personal news (more on that when I’m ready to share it); and then what happened […]

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January 3, 2021January 3, 2021The Next Dinner Party

Happy New Year, or Jet-lagged in Algiers

Happy 2020 Is Over! Or, Happy New Year! Whatever you call it. I need to admit something: I woke up today at 4pm. I am still sitting here, sun starting to set, in total shock. Mostly that my husband let me sleep until 4pm – something I’ve never in my life done. Hadn’t he the […]

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July 16, 2020October 26, 2022The Next Dinner Party

Numbers Mistakes in a Foreign Language

Quarantine update: We’ve been locked down here in Algiers now for four months. The situation isn’t terrible here: Stores have reopened; I go in to work one day a week (and work from home the rest of the week); we play tennis often; we order Indian food often from our favorite restaurant; we’ve drank through […]

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July 1, 2020October 26, 2022The Next Dinner Party

One Year in Algiers

One year ago today — on July 1, 2019 — we landed in Algiers to start our three-year tour. Back then, we thought we’d be here for two years, but we quickly extended for an additional year. I’m glad we did, because otherwise we’d be trying to figure out where to go next right now, […]

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June 6, 2020October 27, 2022The Next Dinner Party

Beachy Textured Master Bedroom

Whew, what a month. In the midst of the continued coronavirus lockdown here in Algiers, back home there’s yet another police killing of a black person, and now protests all over the country in response. It feels like the start of a major public reckoning on racism in the U.S. and it’s a wild time […]

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