Day 3 Quarantine

After having hastily fled from Côte D'Ivoire, I finally have the time and mental capacity to round up my thoughts and start writing again. It's our 3rd day in France, and 2nd day to be fully under the quarantine. I'm at Augustin's Dad's house here in Bordeaux. Luckily it is big and spacious with a …

A Walk in Banco National Park

It's a Sunday afternoon and we decided to take a trip up to the Parc National du Banco to get some fresh air. Sunday in Abidjan means no traffic, so we hailed a taxi and cruised on up to the park. Many people suggest getting a guide, including the personnel at the entrance, but being …

It’s not clouds, it’s “Harmattan”

Harmattan. This was a word unfamiliar to me until I got first-hand experience of its effects. It's not something you can touch per se, but definitely something you can feel. According to Wikipedia: "The Harmattan is a season in the West African subcontinent, which occurs between the end of November and the middle of March. It is characterized by the dry and …

Wild Camping in Norway

May 2019 It was a long weekend in France and we spent our time driving through the Western Norwegian Fjords and let me just stop right now to say that this region took my breath away (literally and figuratively, it was beautiful, but still quite cold!). Very often, I found myself standing in awe at …

J’ai passé le Delf A2!

June 14, 2019 I am teeming with excitement as today was the day I finally took my first DELF test, the official french government test to score your language skills and assess how well you really know french. PS English speakers, “passé” means to take the test (not literally like pass and not fail the …

The Irish Whiskey Museum of Dublin, and Why You Need to Go

Living in Ireland, I learned they had quite the drinking culture. Okay well, I actually already knew that, but I didn't realize how thoroughly engrained it is in their society. The weather is not often nice, and instead often cold and bitter. What better way to spend the day than in a nice warm pub, …

My Paris To-Do List

I've been in Paris for about 3 weeks now and I finally feel like I have fully settled in. I bought some furniture on Le Bon Coin, I started a babysitting job, and I've been more serious about studying French. Now that I have adjusted to my living space I want to spend more time …

Le Bon Coin: The Craigslist of France

Back home in Texas, I'm a huge fan of Craigslist. I love being able to buy used items which is essentially a win-win-win: win for me for getting an affordable item, win to the seller for getting money for their unwanted item, and win for the earth because well reusing an item instead of buying …

Thrifting in Dublin

I'm a huge fan of thrifting and finding a good deal. As I have grown older I have tried to adopt policies of buying less, buying higher quality, and buying reused (recycled, up-cycled, second-hand, whatever word you want to call it). I find buying new to be mostly unnecessary and in some cases a waste …

I Moved to France

Oui, c'est vrai! About a week ago I packed my bags and left Dublin for good and took a flight to Paris where I met my boyfriend at the airport and have begun a life in the proclaimed City of Lights. Overall, Dublin just wasn't doing it for me. It was cold... and well rather …