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Tag: foreign service

October 9, 2021October 10, 2021The Next Dinner Party

Guess Where We’re Moving in 2022?

I’ve been blogging for so long now that I feel like I’ve written quite a few “And Our Next Post Is” posts. (And I have! Big reveals for Jerusalem, Morocco, Algiers). I’ve even done polls on where my blog readers think we should go. None of that this time. I’ll just come out and tell […]

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November 7, 2019December 21, 2019The Next Dinner Party

The Vulgarity of Learning a Language

It was near the end of our time in Rabat when I decided I’d make pillows out of the cool African mud cloth I’d bought in Marrakesh. I had a new sewing machine and I had the fabric. I just needed zippers and so I went in searching in the Rabat medina, a place that […]

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September 12, 2019September 16, 2019The Next Dinner Party

Settling in to Life in Algiers

Hello readers! August was a slow blogging month but a fairly busy IRL month. I went home to the States for a nine-day visit with the family in Michigan, and then to Washington DC for a few days for good friend’s wedding. Adam stayed in Algiers for most of that, although he did fly to […]

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July 24, 2019June 11, 2020The Next Dinner Party

Our New Home, Algiers

Bonjour and marhaba from Algiers, our city of residence for the next two years. We arrived a little more than three weeks ago and, as in times past, I feel the urge to put off a post on our new city until my impressions are more fully formed. But that could take ages. This is […]

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September 20, 2018September 20, 2018The Next Dinner Party

Settling in to Rabat

We’re just over three weeks in to our Gap Year in Rabat, and already I’m thinking in percentages. As in that’s 10% of our 10-month tour already gone! First impressions: Rabat seems chill and very livable although probably not the exotic color and spice explosion I’d imagined Morocco to be. It’s modern, clean, and seems […]

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December 17, 2017December 18, 2017The Next Dinner Party

A Gap Year in Morocco

I recently posted that our next post is Algiers, Algeria, but we just learned before we land there for a two-year tour, we’ll be in Rabat, Morocco for one year! And I am so excited about it.  For the food, for the climate, for the chance to explore a colorful new country. And for the […]

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January 31, 2017January 31, 2017The Next Dinner Party

I’ve Got a Real Pants-Wearing Job

Just when I was complaining about how lazy I am, I got the call: My security clearance finally came through and I could begin work at the government job for which I was hired ten months ago. So, last week I bid farewell to the Diplocats and the blue velvet sofa and I ventured out of my […]

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June 11, 2015September 22, 2016The Next Dinner Party

And Our Next Post Is…

  …Jerusalem! Surprised? Remember back when I painstakingly outlined all the pros and cons of moving to seven different cities and asked ya’ll to vote? Well, the winner, Lima, Peru, and all the rest of the places for that matter — London and Papau New Guinea among them — didn’t pan out. We were without […]

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February 12, 2015June 11, 2015The Next Dinner Party

Vote on Our Next Post!

It’s Bidding Season! In Foreign Service land, this is the time of year when a list comes out with all the places Mr. Dame in Spain, and myself by association, could be posted to next. Imagine seeing a list of cities, some of which you’ve never even heard, and knowing “One of these will be […]

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April 11, 2014January 8, 2020The Next Dinner Party

The Cultural Adjustment Cycle

Wednesday was a red letter day for me in Spain. I successfully asked for all of my desired vegetables in the market, got my hair cut and highlighted (and even cracked a joke with my stylist!), and, most importantly, after spending four hours over the past several days on the truly terrible RENFE website (Spain’s […]

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  • Djanet is Magic
  • Sexy & Seedy Zanzibar
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I worried that three days camping in the Sahara wilderness would be too much but it wasn’t enough. I visited Djanet in November, 2021 and I hope to go back someday. It captured my heart. New blog post up on that excellent trip (TheNextDinnerParty.com)
One last Algiers yacht ride. It’s easy to forget I live on the Mediterranean Sea but I want to remember.
Happy Mother’s Day to my mom, Kathy, a great cook, who on the day I became a vegetarian at 13, started making me meatless versions of whatever she was making for the family. She always fueled my creative projects, from drawing patterns for the Troll clothes I had a real phase with, to sewing me a Renaissance dress when I (for some reason) chose to be a famous Italian prostitute for a school project, to setting up a mock dorm room in the basement months before I left for college so I could envision my new well-designed room. When I moved to DC, we talked on the phone after every job interview, roommate interview, and breakup. In short, she supports me in all I do, always has. (She was also a bad ass boss who started at the bottom and left her company as a VP). Being far from her in Michigan for the past 10 years has not been easy. She’s the top of the list of people I’m most excited to spend more time with when we move back to the US in a few months.
From a cappuccino to a chenin blanc on a sunny Paris day.
Just spend a lovely three days in the Loire Valley, biking around and stopping at castles. My favorite type of vacation: active enough to not feel guilty about all the cheese and wine.
Our Zanzibar trip, while fun, was a little weird, partly on account of a message we received accusing us of being well-known swingers. Read about Sexy & Seedy Zanzibar in a new post in my blog, TheNextDinnerParty.com

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I worried that three days camping in the Sahara wilderness would be too much but it wasn’t enough. I visited Djanet in November, 2021 and I hope to go back someday. It captured my heart. New blog post up on that excellent trip (TheNextDinnerParty.com)
One last Algiers yacht ride. It’s easy to forget I live on the Mediterranean Sea but I want to remember.
Happy Mother’s Day to my mom, Kathy, a great cook, who on the day I became a vegetarian at 13, started making me meatless versions of whatever she was making for the family. She always fueled my creative projects, from drawing patterns for the Troll clothes I had a real phase with, to sewing me a Renaissance dress when I (for some reason) chose to be a famous Italian prostitute for a school project, to setting up a mock dorm room in the basement months before I left for college so I could envision my new well-designed room. When I moved to DC, we talked on the phone after every job interview, roommate interview, and breakup. In short, she supports me in all I do, always has. (She was also a bad ass boss who started at the bottom and left her company as a VP). Being far from her in Michigan for the past 10 years has not been easy. She’s the top of the list of people I’m most excited to spend more time with when we move back to the US in a few months.
From a cappuccino to a chenin blanc on a sunny Paris day.
Just spend a lovely three days in the Loire Valley, biking around and stopping at castles. My favorite type of vacation: active enough to not feel guilty about all the cheese and wine.
Our Zanzibar trip, while fun, was a little weird, partly on account of a message we received accusing us of being well-known swingers. Read about Sexy & Seedy Zanzibar in a new post in my blog, TheNextDinnerParty.com
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