Anyone NOT in NZ, Oz or Europe???

[Salbertina]

Just saying... Feels a little lonely, thats all!

[lilley77]

Hi barbie,
just wanted to know if ur on the island called goeje off south korea? if yes it would be great to touch base with u as implanning a temporary. Move there in 3 mnths.. any advice welcm??
thanks :)

[jacksmummy]

bubbleandbubble I'm on the same rollercoaster..are you out of the dark tunnel yet?.....have been here since the end of August and slowly it's starting to feel like home. Exhausting though making the effort to meet new people! How's it going?

[Turquoisehat]

I am in North Africa. This is my third year here.

I know this thread has moved on a bit, but I also have someone work in my home. I pay her twice what a local would pay, which allows her to fund her own education. She cleans and does a bit of childcare (dh and I both work full time) She also gets decent food during the day (she is live out), lots of very decent hand me downs and several weeks off per year as we travel a lot.
I do not feel guilty at all, she is wonderful and I am grateful for her. Like a pp, we struggled at home with work, no family to help with childcare and being unable to afford a cleaner.
One of the reasons we moved overseas was to have a better life. I know I am a much better mum when I am not stressed about mopping the floor after dinner or scrubbing the bath on weekends.

[Salbertina]

Morning, Zam, yes it was this one. Completely with you, eye-opening to be here and to be an employer. Am going to see if i can buy any Zambezi honey here! V status- conscious here too and moany when people feel they don't get their due.

[ZamMummyInGabs]

Sorry meant that last bit for the other thread Am on my phone so can't read while posting. Was it here that there was much agitation about employing housekeeper/nanny etc? Am resolutely not going to get into it here but am cooking up a blog post on the subject, having just hired an extra person. Who is the main breadwinner for her family. I will throw in a figure from Lusaka though, which was that every person with a job supported an average of TEN people with that wage. [runs away & seeks cover]

[ZamMummyInGabs]

Hey fellow southern Africans! (not that I am one, having only been here 9 years) salbertina where in SA are you?
No more rain to report but I can confirm about the Zambian honey - if you can find it it's all organic (called Zambezi Gold) & is even better than the fynbos one IMO.

The Zam in my name is because we lived in Lusaka from 2004-2009, during which time I joined MN (and started our expat journey, got married, & had DS1 & DS2) Even though we've been in Botswana for 4 years a large piece of my heart remains in Zambia. Here just doesn't feel like home in the same way, though it's better now we have DD1, something about having a baby around.

Would love to meet some others in Gabs, it can be quite hard to make friends here as a roving expat - most are long-term stayers who aren't that keen to invest in a friendship with someone who will bugger off in a couple of years .

somuchtosortout where in Malawi are you? We went there for our honeymoon & would love to go back - Botswana too flashy & grumpy....

[Salbertina]

Amazing, so you can bottle it
Made me think of fynbos honey, nothing like it!

[zimbomaman]

I once bought a jar of Zambian honey which I had spotted by chance in the supermarket. Those clever bees had produced 'Africa in a pot' - the instant strong bush smell on opening and the dark bittersweet taste transported me back to another life.

[MasterOfTheYoniverse]

yes red red and turning into dense thick clay after the rain. Then drying and cracking until the next rain. And then the sand storms.

[Salbertina]

I can imagine, Master...
That smell and that red, red, African soil.

[MasterOfTheYoniverse]

:-(
Am originally from N Africa. toooooo many (not so happy) years in France.
Sorry to intrude but your stories bring me closer to home.
That post on the smell of soil after the rain on the other thread really brought me to tears.

[Salbertina]

Hard to be so scattered.the lot of many expats esp African ones.

[bunnyfrance]

Distant uncles, aunts and cousins, but no immediate family.

[Salbertina]

Shame. Anyone in SA?

[bunnyfrance]

No, last time I went back was 2007, to show my husband around. Family (parents, siblings) have all left, all on different continents now.

[Salbertina]

I can imagine. I know a fair few
here. Some predict SA going same way as everyone knows. Didn't used to believe it but now i wonder. Longterm future here good, i think, but probably going to be a few arduous, even (more) violent years to get there. When i hear SA (black) friends say they've decided not to have a baby because they can't trust in the future here, i really start to lose faith.

[zimbomaman]

Sadly no for me. I don't work at the moment so making ends meet on one salary with three children doesn't leave much for 5 tickets 'home'. As you know, many zimbos had to leave for financial reasons when inflation hit 1000s% - my family now lives in 4 different countries.

We do get to go occasionally but not every year.

[Salbertina]

Do you guys go back and visit much?

[zimbomaman]

You can take the girl out of Africa but can't take Africa out of the girl, hey?!

Feeling very of where you live. It is a beautiful par of the world.

[bunnyfrance]

I don't feel any more French now than I did the day I got here, funnily enough!
Love Dambach la Ville - we live not far from there!

[zimbomaman]

Sorry - far too many 'ands' in that last sentence.

[zimbomaman]

That makes you almost French Bunny. I'm still a Zimbo having only been here since 1997 .

Living in Yvelines to the west of Paris but love Alsace. Our closest friends originally come from Dambach la Ville and have a house there and very generously let us holiday there as and when.

[bunnyfrance]

Since 1996, zimbomaman. And you? Whereabouts are you? I'm in Alsace.

[zimbomaman]

Bunny you could be me apart from the growing up in SA bit . How long have you been in France?

[bunnyfrance]

Hi all,
Can I join? Was born in Zim, grew up in SA and now live in France. Interesting reading about everyone now living in Africa.