Sorry for the three week absence but I've had a monumental task to tackle-- getting to know São Paulo. This city is HUGE.  Anthony Bourdain put it best ... SP feels like LA threw up on New York. Forget the Big Apple *this* is the city that never sleeps... she doesn't...

... is hard to do. And, right now Nikkita and I are on the farewell tour. Friends and fam in NYC last weekend. A-100 friends in DC last night. More friends and fam in Miami tomorrow. But this is the reality of Foreign Service life. We say goodbye a lot. Eventually, I...

Meet Nikkita ... aka Diplo Dog. Normally, Nikkita is a pretty fun loving, carefree and impossibly-cute Pomeranian who doesn't mind traveling all over the world with mom so long as the treats keep comin'. But Nikkita and all the diplo dogs (and cats) just like her...

I need you to help me help Hannah. Hannah Cha is my A-100 classmate. She is a beautiful, smart, funny, twenty-something year old woman who was beyond excited for her first tour -- Tokyo. She was in the process of learning Japanese and we would often swap language studies...

I am beyond grateful for my yoga practice. Not only has yoga taught me to remain still and at peace on the inside no matter what type of turmoil is swirling on the exterior, but it has also taught me compassion. Not just for others, but for myself. I have made mistakes...

Passover begins at sundown on April 6th. It is my absolute favorite Jewish holiday and I'm hoping to find a Seder here in DC I can crash. I need my fix of Charoset -- and in the Klarman household it was always my job to make that dish (several recipes here) for the Seder...

In exactly one month I will be moving to my new home for my first assignment as a Foreign Service Officer-- São Paulo, Brazil. I have lived abroad before--  England, Scotland & France. I have traveled to nearly forty countries. I have even visited Brazil twice! So...

I passed my Portuguese test! 3/3. So tonight I am celebrating with a bit of Favela Funk. Favela Funk is one of the most popular types of music in Brazil for the under 30 crowd--in Rio  particularly. As the name suggests, it originated in the Favelas, much like rap originated...

I have learned from several teachers at FSI that Brazilian women love fashion, shopping and, in particular, Michael Kors.  I recently saw a post from one of my Facebook friends, who works as a personal shopper in Bal Harbour in Miami, that he thinks he should learn Portuguese...