Anastasia Ashman, who is the creator, writes that her site is 'a neocultural hub for global citizens'. I will read a few of posts on the site, armchair travel through some personal blogs and pronto! I am swept away to different worlds.
The posts are populated with women from all walks of life, with 'hybrid identities' and as they relay their stories, communicating their love and at times, frustration with assimilation, expression and setbacks of living life in a country other than their own, I get a glimpse of something very personal and real.Having traveled and lived abroad (meaning non USA) much of my life, I never really felt I belonged to any country with whole heart and soul. It is possible that is why I find the stories at expat intriguing, familiar and admittedly, I often succumb to a questionable form of travel envy!
I love that expat +HAREM is inventing new spaces to tap into for those of us that crave to be or who live in cultures that are different than our own. The editors create interest by exploring the voices of the women who are building businesses, raising children and adapting to work conditions abroad. Everything on the site is easily accessible and engaging. Anastasia writes about women finding a personal 'global niche', appropriate to the fast changing, social media infused lives we live now.
Next time you are in the mood to see what it is like to live and work in an 'exotic' country where 'challenging situations' are sometimes a matter of everyday life, check out the lives of 'global hybrids' and 'culturati' here.
Thanks for this appreciative post, Silvana. Anastasia has indeed created a welcoming space in which we can truly be ourselves. expat+HAREM has helped me embrace my hybrid life by making some vital connections with women who 'get' the attraction of blending cultures to create our own. In our fragmented world, it's an important venue for expressing the commonalities, the everyday human challenges, our 'exotic' lives share.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for taking the time to read the post and to comment on it. Since posting, I am even more in awe, as I really am feeling the wide reaching possibilities, just as you mentioned, of opening to women with whom I have a lot in common with. This portal expat+HAREM so generously offers can truly be instrumental in overcoming the boundaries we normally have to deal with. Silvana
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