This dish was taught me this Ndeye Diouf, who helped cook for my host family in Senegal. While it wasn't my favorite meal, I appreciated it as one of the non-fish options, which, in turn, made everyone believe that this was one of my favorite dishes.

Friendships are one of the hardest things to lose. The pain cuts especially deep when you long to rekindle a friendship but find no reciprocation from the other side. You tell yourself it's okay that you let the friend go for the sake of your mental health, but knowing you missed the chance to be lifelong friends still aches. Everyone struggles with situations differently, and how people handle them varies. Looking back, perhaps situations were handled poorly, but at the time, what was needed was more maturity, time, and emotional stability…

I have been on a journey of building myself up and letting go of the past. Through this process, I've reached a point where I'm starting to reflect on the decisions I've made. I'm not saying these decisions were wrong—at that point in time, they felt right. But do I look back at my choices and ask myself, "Why did I do that? That was a terrible decision." While understanding where you went wrong is important for future improvement, understanding and reflecting on why my past self made those decisions can provide so much more perspective on who I am...

For the past couple of years, I've been stuck in Journey 1 - Innovation. I've occasionally visited this website to write a few blogs or use it as a platform to sell the bags I used to sew. However, one can only remain in the Innovation stage for so long before it's time to move on, become consistent, and overcome the fear of posting content...

I used to have a website that hosted all my recipes, blogs, photos, and videos from my gap year in Senegal. I recently took the website down, so I thought I would post them here. I only have a couple of blogs I wrote back then and this is the last one I wrote. This blog debate squat toilets to westerner toilets. This blog was originally posted on 10/20/2019.

Berlin, a city that was once just a name on a map, now holds memories of reuniting with a friend from my Gap Year. The mix of excitement and apprehension filled me as I wondered if our bond would still be as strong. Settling into Berlin, I found that our friendship had endured, but also evolved....

I was going to lie and write this as if I just left Portugal, but I have always been told that it's best to be truthful. Also, having time and reflecting on Portugal, I would say it was the catalyst for me to start expressing my inner self to the world. There were a lot of firsts in Portugal: traveling entirely by myself, being the person to go and talk to strangers, surfing, making a TikTok, freely dancing at a bar with no care, and many more little things. All of these firsts have impacted who I am today in a meaningful way, and I would not be able to reflect on how it has affected me if I did not write it from today's perspective. Procrastination may have been in my favor this time…

I used to have a website that hosted all my recipes, blogs, photos, and videos from my gap year in Senegal. I recently took the website down, so I thought I would post them here. I only have a couple of blogs I wrote back then. This is the second to last blog from Senegal. This blog was originally posted on 9/25/2019.

While I took my Gap Year in Senegal, I learned and collected recipes from my host family, friends, and community. I posted this recipe on my Senegal blog, but since taking that down, I thought I would re-share some of the recipes:) This is Ndeye Diouf recipe and out of all the Maafe I have tried while in Senegal hers was my favorite.

While I took my Gap Year in Senegal, I learned and collected recipes from my host family, friends, and community. I posted this recipe on my Senegal blog, but since taking that down, I thought I would re-share some of the recipes:) This quick recipe (If you can call it that) comes from Yaay and Ndeye Diouf. They put it on everything, and I especially like it on the salads Yaay used to make me.

While I took my Gap Year in Senegal, I learned and collected recipes from my host family, friends, and community. I posted this recipe on my Senegal blog, but since taking that down, I thought I would re-share some of the recipes:) I can’t remember who’s recipes this was. It was either Yaay’s or a community member that showed me. This is not my favorite dish, but if one was running low on time it was always handy to have in the fridge or freezer. Sometimes the school shop would make them and I would pick them up before heading to a friend’s house.

I used to have a website that hosted all my recipes, blogs, photos, and videos from my gap year in Senegal. I recently took the website down, so I thought I would post them here. I only have a couple of blogs I wrote back then. I remembering writing this blog after everyone went to bed while listening to the thunderstorm. This blog was originally posted on 9/19/2019.

I used to have a website that hosted all my recipes, blogs, photos, and videos from my gap year in Senegal. I recently took the website down, so I thought I would post them here. I only have a couple of blogs I wrote back then. Being fully truthful this is not my favorite blog, but if you bored give it a read. This blog was originally posted on 8/25/2019.

While I took my Gap Year in Senegal, I learned and collected recipes from my host family, friends, and community. I posted this recipe on my Senegal blog, but since taking that down, I thought I would re-share some of the recipes:) This specific recipe comes from my language teachers family. His wife made it for us when we went to his house for lunch. Bissap was one of my most favorite drinks in Senegal. So if you make it please share your thoughts!

I used to have a website that hosted all my recipes, blogs, photos, and videos from my gap year in Senegal. I recently took the website down, so I thought I would post them here. I only have a couple of blogs I wrote back then, but after you read this one, you may realize nothing has changed. This blog was originally posted on 8/20/2019.

While I took my Gap Year in Senegal, I learned and collected recipes from my host family, friends, and community. I posted this recipe on my Senegal blog, but since taking that down, I thought I would re-share some of the recipes:) This specific recipe comes from my Yaay (host mother). This is a sour homemade yogurt like consistency and taste(ish) that people put on top of creamy dishes. Either you like it or you don’t.

While I took my Gap Year in Senegal, I learned and collected recipes from my host family, friends, and community. I posted this recipe on my Senegal blog, but since taking that down, I thought I would re-share some of the recipes:) This specific recipe comes from my Yaay (host mother). She made this for me when I was sick and also when she needed to make a quick dinner. It only takes about 10-15 minutes to make.

While I took my Gap Year in Senegal, I learned and collected recipes from my host family, friends, and community. I posted this recipe on my Senegal blog, but since taking that down, I thought I would re-share some of the recipes:) This specific recipe comes from my Yaay (host mother). I helped her make it for my host sister Fama’s birthday, and ever since then, I could not get enough of it.

This is Marika’s Garlic Goat Cheese Butter. She let me try her butter when I went to visit her. I have to say that this does not taste the same as hers, but it does come close. This is because it can only taste the same if you go to Georgia, get fresh goat cheese from the local farmers, and then bring it back to the states. Something about the cheese is much richer over there, but give it a try because it tastes great!

Marrakech Express was created by the excellent chef Amal Alaoui. She learned how to cook her mother, family and chefs in Marrakech, Morocco. She bringing the untouched traditional Mediterranean cuisine to Atlanta. Almost everyone can grab a bit to eat at Marrakech Express because she offer gluten free, vegetarian, and vegan options. And of course everything is Halal.