My time in Côte d’Ivoire has been a mishmash of many jobs (just as I like it). I teach English-speaking classes at the Embassy, I run the English Club at the American Space on the university campus, I conduct teacher training for English teachers around Côte d’Ivoire (and Burkina Faso remotely), I teach English to…

Some years ago, I worked with a student who always smelled like moth balls. For the first few months of school, I thought he was wearing some clothes that had been stored in a closet with moth balls, but the smell never diminished. Then one day, I saw him take a moth ball out of…

In the fall, my friend Adi (an Ivorian teacher) and I taught English for hospitality and tourism classes at the US Embassy. The students were so fun, and I was instrumental in explaining the differences between British and American English in many scenarios using words like “lift” vs. “elevator.” As a comic interlude, I also…

So sorry for the long pause here. Things have been super-busy and equally stressful as we wonder if our program will be cut and we will be sent packing. In my neighborhood, USAid has closed down and many people in Côte d’Ivoire and greater Africa will suffer from preventable diseases as the medicine sits here…

You know who has had a tough time adjusting to life in Côte d’Ivoire? My hair. My hair is complicated – not in the styling of it, but in its mere existence. When I was young, there were no hair control products unless you count DEP, which was basically glue marketed for tortured teens. I…