Deciding to move countries every year can be exciting but stressful. Image by Jacob Axford. I have a confession: I’m sometimes jealous of those who travel the world with a…
Peace Corps Wishlist: The Top 3 Practical Things I Wish I Had as a Volunteer
Pulling water from this well every time I wanted to bathe made me much less likely to want to spend two buckets on washing my hair. Image by Samantha Marangell….
Christmas in France
Sapin de Noël in Cassis, amid the Platane trees. It is both exciting and saddening to spend Christmas in a country that isn’t your own. The prospect of learning about…
Returning Home: Reverse Culture Shock
Returning from Peace Corps service left Samantha split between two cultures: American and Moldovan. Image from cabincrewdreamer.blogspot.com. I totally underestimated what it would feel like to move back to a…
Market Tips: Finding the Perfect Souvenir in Guinea Bissau
Whenever I travel, I always look for things to bring back to my family, boyfriend and sisters in my sorority. Yet when I returned from my most recent trip, I…
The Delicate Art of Cutting Hair
I once had a linguistics professor who told our class “The two jobs that can get you anywhere in the world are teaching English, and cutting hair.” While I have…