Something I’ve learned about living abroad is that the one thing you really cannot get has of way of becoming what you long for most. That living-in-a-hotel-with-my-colleagues lifestyle in Yemen made me long to be in crowded streets with people so much that the one day we spent in Geneva after flying out of Sana’a […]
Well, it’s August already. In the year 2021, supposedly. But is it truly even a new year? A year ago in Algeria, international flights had just started to open up, and Adam and I jumped on the chance to go to Greece for a few weeks. Our trip to Crete, Santorini, Naxos, and Sifnos, was […]
Some months ago, our Dutch friends came to dinner and brought us a jar of capers from the Greek island of Sifnos. I had never heard of this island, but those capers, wow. They were the plumpest, funkiest, lemoniest, absolute best capers I’d ever had. So I don’t want to say we went to Sifnos […]
We planned our Greek island trip as we went, so when we were in fancy Santorini, it was time to think about the next stop. Perhaps the obvious choice was Mykonos, mostly because I had heard of it. But an island with a reputation for where the super rich land their private jets for a […]
When you picture the Greek islands, Santorini — a honeymooner’s and Instagrammer’s paradise — might be what comes to mind with its whitewashed hotels, villas, and restaurants perched on a cliff face overlooking the sea. It also has the reputation of being the most touristy of the Greek islands, so we figured that now, in […]
Hello from day six of a two-week quarantine in our Algiers home. While sitting around our house and not being able to leave isn’t ideal, it was TOTALLY WORTH IT as a condition the nearly three-week Greek islands trip Adam and I just took. I know I said there were no flights out of Algiers, […]
First, some news: I am no longer Algiers’ foremost lady of leisure. (As much as this city lends itself to leisure, anyway). I have traded my well-worn pajama pants for pants with a zipper and a button as I have again found myself having a real pants-wearing job. This job is both a real, as […]
You might be aware of my ongoing love affair with Paris. From the first time I stared down the endlessly beautiful streets in 2015 to my right-in-this-moment Paris visit (my ninth trip here), she just never disappoints. I’m currently in Gray Paree where, for the second time in 30 days, I’m enrolled at a language […]
After spending a week at the artists’ retreat in France, my writing buddy Chris and I drove to the Mediterranean Spanish town of Cadaqués to meet Mr. Em in Jerusalem for a few days. Cadaqués is in the Catalonia region of Spain, on the Costa Brava. And oh my goodness, if you’re a Spain-lover like […]
I have just returned from a writing retreat on a mountaintop in France. Let me just let that one sink in, so you have a chance to be like “ooh lah lah, someone think she fancy.” But, there it is. After getting a writing degree that required twice a year stays in Paris, I just […]
The Next Dinner Party 