Category Archives: Expat experience

Keeping busy

Posted on 12 Sep 2020 by lornaofarabia

Like many people, we’ve had plenty of practice over the past few months with keeping ourselves entertained at home. The options in a hotel room are limited but somehow we manage to fill the days. I listen to my audio … Continue reading →

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Welcome to the Hotel Grand Richmond

Posted on 10 Sep 2020 by lornaofarabia

We are all just prisoners here, of our own device The government of Thailand has had a ban on incoming international passenger flights since April. The only exceptions other than emergency landings are for military planes and repatriation flights chartered … Continue reading →

Posted in Expat experience, Thailand | Tagged , | 2 Comments

Bangkok, at last (part two)

Posted on 4 Sep 2020 by lornaofarabia

Toward the end of June, our moving plans started to get a lot more complicated. The direct flight I had booked on United was cancelled. The Cairo airport was closed until further notice.There were no future commercial flights scheduled from … Continue reading →

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Bangkok, at last (part one)

Posted on 3 Sep 2020 by lornaofarabia

We decided a while back that 2020 would be the year we’d leave Egypt. Andreas would take his retirement and I would find a new job that would take us somewhere new and different. Last fall I spent evenings and … Continue reading →

Posted in Expat experience, Thailand | 6 Comments

Return to Ikaria

Posted on 26 Apr 2019 by lornaofarabia

When I started to outline some posts about the week we just spent on Ikaria, I was astonished to discover that I have written only once about the island in the eight years I’ve kept this blog. Since moving overseas … Continue reading →

Posted in Expat experience, Family, Greece, Ikaria, Islands | Tagged , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Should I stay or should I go?

Posted on 17 Nov 2016 by lornaofarabia

The recruiting train for international teachers is proceeding full steam ahead. At this time of year, educators looking for new horizons are researching schools, sending out resumes, and interviewing via Skype.  Administrators are seeking out the best candidates to fill the vacancies the … Continue reading →

Posted in Cairo, Egypt, Expat experience, Teaching | Tagged , | 2 Comments

Three part two: new beginnings

Posted on 25 Jun 2016 by lornaofarabia

I am not a superstitious person. At least that is how I see myself, as a not-superstitious person. But I am alert to what some people would call signs. I like to think this is my folklore training; it’s a universal human tendency … Continue reading →

Posted in Egypt, Expat experience | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

Tookish

Posted on 6 Jun 2016 by lornaofarabia

“Then something Tookish woke up inside him, and he wished to go and see the great mountains, and hear the pine-trees and the waterfalls, and explore the caves, and wear a sword instead of a walking-stick.” ― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Hobbit. I’ve … Continue reading →

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Disenfranchised no more

Posted on 20 Feb 2016 by lornaofarabia

In theory, American expats are able to vote. In practice, it can be almost impossible to do so. When we moved to Ethiopia I notified the county clerk’s office that I was living overseas and needed my ballot sent to me … Continue reading →

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Summertime

Posted on 18 Feb 2016 by lornaofarabia

I haven’t been home in a while. Four years, in fact. A summer at our house is a lot of work. My daughter Alice does a great job with maintenance, but certain activities like remodeling bathrooms and sorting out 30 years’ worth of clutter can … Continue reading →

Posted in Expat experience, Family, USA | Tagged , | 3 Comments