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Expat Abroad
Reflections of a two-decade expat in the Middle East, on common experiences of expats around the world, problems expats face, and solutions to expat problems.
41 articles
My British Friend Asked, ?Do Americans ?Announce' Themselves Before Walking Into a Room'?
From Expat Abroad, 6 days ago, Read 0 times. Similar articles
My British friend asked me, "Do Americans usually announce themselves before walking into a room'"
My brother from America visited us in Morocco several years ago.
At that time we had a maid who had become quite religious. This meant a bit of hardship for her during the time my brother visited us. A “proper” Muslim woman is not supposed to allow man outside of her extended family to see her hair. So even though it was quite hot in the kitchen (about 106°F or 40°C) my...
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Easy Solutions for Fruit Fly Troubles in the Kitchen!
From Expat Abroad, 1 weeks ago, Read 0 times. Similar articles
Many people are having trouble in summer with fruit flies on fresh fruit baskets in the kitchen.
One of the best solutions I’ve run across is to leave an open wine bottle with a little bit of red wine in the bottom right next to the fruit basket. Apparently, they LOVE red wine (and even get drunk on it)! Beer also works, according to some. Others say vinegar works, but it must be apple cider vinegar. An alternative to the wine bottle is a small bud vase with a narrow neck.
Another...
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WHY Royal Air Maroc's Prices Are So High
From Expat Abroad, 1 month ago, Read 0 times. Similar articles
I’ve lived in Morocco for almost two decades, and have always wondered why Royal Air Maroc’s prices seemed so unreasonbly high. Today I found the answer.
I stumbled by chance upon the Wafin Website in English (aimed toward Moroccan Americans living abroad in the U.S.A.), and upon an article in the Forum section dealing with the extremely high Royal Air Maroc prices. (The short video is in Arabic, but scroll down to the coments below which are in English.)
One of the commenters...
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George Bush, Jr.?s Dress and Behavior ? An Explanation for Europeans and Other Foreigners
From Expat Abroad, 1 month ago, Read 0 times. Similar articles
George Bush, Jr. - - Doesn't he look just like one of the Ewings, on Dallas'
Whether Americans like George Bush, Jr., or not, they DO understand his demeanor, and where it comes from. Most Europeans most definitely do NOT understand it.
The Dallas House Where TV Series "Dallas" Was Filmed
By chance, I decided to watch Dallas, an old, very popular American TV series. I did not watch it at the time it first came out, but later found when I married my Moroccan husband that it had...
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Are Expats Traitors'
From Expat Abroad, 2 month ago, Read 0 times. Similar articles
The first few years I was an expat, I got a lot of questions and comments like this:
“Why would you want to go there'”
“You are a traitor because you deserted your homeland.” For the longest time, I just couldn’t figure out where this idea would have come from. Recently, I speculated that it may have come from all the people who left the U.S. during the time of Vietnam War, and moved to Canada, because they didn’t want to fight. This might explain the...
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Cooking Challenges in the Developing World
From Expat Abroad, 2 month ago, Read 0 times. Similar articles
Typical Moroccan Lamb Tagine with Okra, Tomato, and Green Olives
This morning while cooking the day’s menu, I was thinking about the daily challenges we face that we’ve never had to worry about back home in a first-world country. I thought some of these would be interesting to share. (Thank goodness I knew how to cook well from scratch before moving here!)
Lately, my family has become very tired of Moroccan food, so I’ve been making some American meals. This also gives my...
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Non-Americans Under Misconception that Healthcare Is Now Completely Secure for Americans
From Expat Abroad, 2 month ago, Read 0 times. Similar articles
Most of my European and non-American friends (including my foreign husband) are under the misconception that the access to healthcare problem is now “solved.” Many people I know seem to think that everyone now has affordable, reliable access to health care. Unfortunately, that is still not the case.
First of all, these changes are not effective immediately (which is met with incredulity by my husand and some friends). My understanding is that these changes will be fully...
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Expat Easter Solution
From Expat Abroad, 3 month ago, Read 0 times. Similar articles
Expats usually don’t have access to either Easter egg coloring kits, or even white eggs. All of the eggs here in Morocco are brown. Our solution is to hand-paint eggs. It takes several days, and we do it in stages.
I got this beautiful macramé basket five years ago in an artisanal cooperative shop in southern Morocco. The chocolate eggs are from a fine French chocolate store here in Marrakesh.
Here are some close-ups of our hand-painted eggs.
A few of our hand-painted Easter eggs
A...
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Excessive Tweets!
From Expat Abroad, 3 month ago, Read 0 times. Similar articles
Excessive twittering is an issue which affects expats and non-expats alike.
About a year ago, I became a big fan of LinkedIn, once I learned how to use it well. I used to enjoy opening my main page to read with my morning coffee. Each day I looked forward to the interesting business discussions from the groups I belonged to on my business page.
Over the past few months, I’ve noticed that there seems to be a major move away from blogging and discussion participation, to daily twittering...
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Authentic Moroccan Orange Blossom Tea
From Expat Abroad, 4 month ago, Read 0 times. Similar articles
March is orange-blossom time in Marrakech, and the perfume of the orange flowers fills the air all over the city.
A Moroccan gentleman I worked with for many years shared this delicious, easy recipe for Moroccan Orange Blossom Tea. If you live in an area with orange trees, try this delicious tea.
Ingredients (six servings):
1.) Large handful of fresh orange blossoms, which have already opened on the tree (which is when the orange perfume comes), and with the yellow stamens removed
2.) 4-5...
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