Click here to read this post, first written in December 2016, in English. Décembre 2016 ‘Tu as peur? C’est ça?’Non, je n’avais pas peur de rendre visite à notre ménàgère dons son quartier. Enfin, pas comme il pensait. Mais ça faisait deux mois qu’elle avait eu son bébé, et il avait raison de me demander.… Continue reading Une Sortie Hors de la Bulle
Category: congo living
Re-bonjour à ma Version Française
(Click here to read this post in English.) Plus tôt ce mois, nous avons célébré une de nos traditions préférées. C’était le 6 janvier, l’épiphanie, donc nous avons mangé notre galette des rois, fait maison. Notre Galette des Rois Et oui, vous avez compris, ce n’est même pas écossais, cette tradition. Dans notre famille, entre… Continue reading Re-bonjour à ma Version Française
Re-Bonjour to my Version Française
(Cliquez ici pour lire cet article en français.) Earlier this month, on January 6th, the Frustrated Nester family enthusiastically took part in one of our favourite traditions: la Galette des Rois. Our Galette des Rois: puff pastry with a frangipane filling. A bean (fève) is hidden inside - whoever finds it wears the crown. You’ve… Continue reading Re-Bonjour to my Version Française
Moving Stories: Expat Time Travel
With 'Moving Stories', I'm writing a series of posts about what's on my mind as we prepare for our next move, with hopefully some insight into the unique circumstances of moving around the world as - like the word or not - an expat. So we're here again, well and truly waist deep in the… Continue reading Moving Stories: Expat Time Travel
Your Brazzaville Escape Plan
It's easy to feel a bit stuck in our industrial small-town corner of central Africa. Direct flights out are very few, and very expensive. In our case, MT has not so far been able to take any holiday time to coincide with the school holidays. Our last relaxing family holiday feels like a long time… Continue reading Your Brazzaville Escape Plan
Blue Sky Gazing
Ah, life in the tropics. Gets a bit hot, but at least we get the sun! Sunshine, beaches, palm trees and blue, blue skies. That's how you picture it, right? A friend posted a beautiful holiday photo the other day, and it took a moment to dawn on me what was so appealing about it.… Continue reading Blue Sky Gazing
Congo Sketch: The School Run at Walking Pace
It's another typically untypical morning in Congo, where no day ever goes quite as planned. Today, our driver isn't with us, as he had to take his child into hospital overnight with suspected malaria. So MT has taken the car to work with him, and I've hitched a lift with our neighbour to drop the… Continue reading Congo Sketch: The School Run at Walking Pace
How Congo is More French than France (and one way it’s a bit like the Big Apple)
Before arriving in Congo we had high expectations. We were not coming to Africa for the first time - our year in Uganda had dispelled many of the apprehensions most people would have about life in the sub-Saharan continent. There was much to enjoy and appreciate there; we’d had a good lifestyle (although that is easier… Continue reading How Congo is More French than France (and one way it’s a bit like the Big Apple)
Breaking Out of the Bubble
Cliquez ici pour lire cet article en français. ‘Tu as peur? C’est ça?’ No, I wasn’t scared to visit our housekeeper (ménagère) in her quartier, not in the way he meant anyway. But it had been two months since she’d had her baby, and he was right to wonder. I had plenty of reasons I… Continue reading Breaking Out of the Bubble
So you’ve learned French? Now here’s how to actually speak it…
You've learned some French at school, maybe at university, or perhaps you've lived long enough in France or a francophone country to learn the language. You can buy bread, order lunch, arrange a delivery, even sort things out over the phone with the electric company or the mairie. But when it comes to having an… Continue reading So you’ve learned French? Now here’s how to actually speak it…
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