Tag: expat
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My Life Resume
(Nothing To Do With My Work Resume) A few years ago, I quit my job and intentionally took some time off work. I didn’t have a timeframe in mind for how long I would be unemployed, but it ended up being six months. So it was that in that spring and early summer of that…
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How My Friend Helped Me Make Peace With My International Life
Flying across the Atlantic is one of my favorite things to moan and gripe about, so one day last winter, I found myself moaning and griping about it to my dear friend Rosi. I’d just flown to Wisconsin from Jordan by myself, because my husband Raja did not have a visa to enter the US…
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My Ongoing, One-Sided Battle With the Atlantic Ocean
I don’t think the Atlantic knows that she and I are in a fight. We fly to Amman tonight, and our two giant pink suitcases are nearly packed. By that I mean they are sitting in the middle of the living room floor surrounded by a huge mess of clothes, shoes, and gifts – chocolate…
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How to Set a Boundary Across Cultural Lines (Or Not)
Can I cut Alaa out of my life? Stop responding to his texts forever? “Yes!” say Brene Brown and Nora McInerny and Emily McDowell and so many others who have put their stories of loss and learning and boundaries out into the world (and Instagram). “Yes!” say Julia Cameron and Laura van Dernoot Lipsky –…
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I Can’t Remember A Time When I Wasn’t Tired
And why I lied to my colleagues about the cause of my exhaustion. This is part 2 of 3 in my series on burning out from humanitarian work a few years ago. Read Part 1 here: When I Finally Got Overwhelmed By My Humanitarian Job A week or so after I got back to Amman,…
Curious Georgie 
–مرحبا سلام Thank you so much, what a lovely comment to receive! I think you’re right; we can’t always be…