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theakpisinmalawi

Welcome Woézonlo Takulandirani

We are the Akpis; a Togolese-American family living in Malawi.

Sit down with a cup of tea

Life is an adventure waiting to unfold. Join us as we share stories about our blended family and navigating life across the continent of Africa and the globe.

I’ve spent the last few weeks sharing the beginning of our story.

How Kossi and I met, moved to Malawi, welcomed twins, and then found ourselves trying to navigate marriage, parenthood, grief, and life in a country that still felt new to us.

Looking back now, I think the biggest lesson those years taught me is that joy and grief can exist at the very same time.

Those years were deeply hard.

But they were also deeply beautiful.

If I’m honest, I don’t think I truly felt like myself again until about five years after the twins were born, and two years after Delali. Somewhere along the way, I slowly found myself again.

I know there are women who genuinely loved every minute of those early years, and I’m thankful for that.

But that wasn’t my experience.

I loved my children fiercely.

I loved my husband.

I loved the life we were building.

And I still struggled.

For a long time, I wondered if that meant I was doing something wrong.

Now I think it just meant I was human.

Someone once told me, “Hard isn’t bad. Hard is just hard.”

I’ve never forgotten those words.

Looking back now, I wouldn’t change these last eight years for anything. They’ve stretched me, humbled me, and given me more joy than I knew was possible.

If I could change one thing? Maybe I’d have given the twins an occasional bottle and slept a little more. 😄

But the story itself?

I wouldn’t change that.

So if you’re in a season that feels impossibly hard, I hope this encourages you.

You don’t have to pretend it’s easy.

You don’t have to rush yourself through it.

One day you’ll look back and realize that somewhere along the way, you made it through.

But that’s enough about me! Tell me about you! There’s a few new people here and I want to hear about you!

#MotherhoodJourney
#PostpartumRecovery
#ChristianMotherhood
#JoyAndGrief
#Storytelling

I’ve spent the last few weeks sharing the beginning of our story.

How Kossi and I met, moved to Malawi, welcomed twins, and then found ourselves trying to navigate marriage, parenthood, grief, and life in a country that still felt new to us.

Looking back now, I think the biggest lesson those years taught me is that joy and grief can exist at the very same time.

Those years were deeply hard.

But they were also deeply beautiful.

If I’m honest, I don’t think I truly felt like myself again until about five years after the twins were born, and two years after Delali. Somewhere along the way, I slowly found myself again.

I know there are women who genuinely loved every minute of those early years, and I’m thankful for that.

But that wasn’t my experience.

I loved my children fiercely.

I loved my husband.

I loved the life we were building.

And I still struggled.

For a long time, I wondered if that meant I was doing something wrong.

Now I think it just meant I was human.

Someone once told me, “Hard isn’t bad. Hard is just hard.”

I’ve never forgotten those words.

Looking back now, I wouldn’t change these last eight years for anything. They’ve stretched me, humbled me, and given me more joy than I knew was possible.

If I could change one thing? Maybe I’d have given the twins an occasional bottle and slept a little more. 😄

But the story itself?

I wouldn’t change that.

So if you’re in a season that feels impossibly hard, I hope this encourages you.

You don’t have to pretend it’s easy.

You don’t have to rush yourself through it.

One day you’ll look back and realize that somewhere along the way, you made it through.

But that’s enough about me! Tell me about you! There’s a few new people here and I want to hear about you!

#MotherhoodJourney
#PostpartumRecovery
#ChristianMotherhood
#JoyAndGrief
#Storytelling

I used to think that if we could just get through the hardest part, life would finally settle down.

Our first year with twins was anything but easy. We were newly married, living in a new country, learning to become parents, and surviving on very little sleep. Some days it felt like we were simply trying to make it to bedtime.

But we were together.

And slowly, things began to feel a little lighter.

Then Kossi’s mom unexpectedly passed away.

Overnight, we found ourselves packing for Togo with two seven-month-old babies, stepping into a season where joy and grief lived side by side.

Sometimes life doesn’t become easier.
Sometimes it simply asks more of us than we ever imagined we could give.

This is one of those chapters.

Part 6.
🤍
#twinmom #MotherhoodJourney #LifeAbroad #CrossCulturalMarriage #thisgloballife

I used to think that if we could just get through the hardest part, life would finally settle down.

Our first year with twins was anything but easy. We were newly married, living in a new country, learning to become parents, and surviving on very little sleep. Some days it felt like we were simply trying to make it to bedtime.

But we were together.

And slowly, things began to feel a little lighter.

Then Kossi’s mom unexpectedly passed away.

Overnight, we found ourselves packing for Togo with two seven-month-old babies, stepping into a season where joy and grief lived side by side.

Sometimes life doesn’t become easier.
Sometimes it simply asks more of us than we ever imagined we could give.

This is one of those chapters.

Part 6.
🤍
#twinmom #MotherhoodJourney #LifeAbroad #CrossCulturalMarriage #thisgloballife

For years, I had looked forward to labor.

Before I ever became a mother, I spent three years helping women give birth in my husband’s village in Togo. Those births shaped me. They gave me a deep love for the beauty, strength, and sacredness of birth, and I quietly carried the hope that one day I would experience it too.

Instead, at 39 weeks pregnant with twins, I found myself recovering from foot surgery, my blood pressure climbing, and my birth plan slipping away.

When the decision was made for a C-section, I grieved more deeply than I knew how to express.

For a long time, I wrestled with questions that felt impossible to say out loud.

Had I even given birth?

I know now that birth is not defined by the way our babies enter the world. Mothers who birth by C-section are no less mothers. But grief doesn’t always listen to theology or logic. Sometimes it simply mourns the loss of what it had hoped for.

Looking back now, I can see what I couldn’t see then.

God was protecting us.

At the time, all I could see was the loss of the birth I had dreamed about.

Now I can see the infection, the rising blood pressure, and how many ways those final days could have unraveled. I don’t know how my story would have ended if I had gotten the birth I wanted.

But I do know this.

We all came home healthy.

What felt like the death of a dream, I now recognize as one of God’s mercies.

I just didn’t know it yet.

Because I thought losing my dream birth was the hardest part of my story.

It wasn’t.

The hardest part was walking into motherhood in a foreign country without community.

Stay tuned…

#twinmom

#birthstory

#missionarylife

#crossculturalmarriage

#lifeabroad

For years, I had looked forward to labor.

Before I ever became a mother, I spent three years helping women give birth in my husband’s village in Togo. Those births shaped me. They gave me a deep love for the beauty, strength, and sacredness of birth, and I quietly carried the hope that one day I would experience it too.

Instead, at 39 weeks pregnant with twins, I found myself recovering from foot surgery, my blood pressure climbing, and my birth plan slipping away.

When the decision was made for a C-section, I grieved more deeply than I knew how to express.

For a long time, I wrestled with questions that felt impossible to say out loud.

Had I even given birth?

I know now that birth is not defined by the way our babies enter the world. Mothers who birth by C-section are no less mothers. But grief doesn’t always listen to theology or logic. Sometimes it simply mourns the loss of what it had hoped for.

Looking back now, I can see what I couldn’t see then.

God was protecting us.

At the time, all I could see was the loss of the birth I had dreamed about.

Now I can see the infection, the rising blood pressure, and how many ways those final days could have unraveled. I don’t know how my story would have ended if I had gotten the birth I wanted.

But I do know this.

We all came home healthy.

What felt like the death of a dream, I now recognize as one of God’s mercies.

I just didn’t know it yet.

Because I thought losing my dream birth was the hardest part of my story.

It wasn’t.

The hardest part was walking into motherhood in a foreign country without community.

Stay tuned…

#twinmom

#birthstory

#missionarylife

#crossculturalmarriage

#lifeabroad

I had dreamed of a home birth for years.

Instead, at 39 weeks pregnant with twins, a blister on my foot became a serious infection.

I couldn’t walk. Kossi carried me everywhere. Friends who had traveled across the world to be part of our birth slowly flew home without ever meeting our babies. Doctors worried the infection had spread deeper than anyone realized, and I found myself in an operating room instead of preparing for labor.

Even then, I still believed we’d have our home birth.

Sometimes the hardest part isn’t when life changes overnight. It’s when you spend days slowly realizing that the story you imagined isn’t going to unfold the way you hoped.

Thankfully, this isn’t the end of the story. ❤️

#BirthStory #HomeBirthJourney #LifeInMalawi #CrossCulturalLife #storytelling

I had dreamed of a home birth for years.

Instead, at 39 weeks pregnant with twins, a blister on my foot became a serious infection.

I couldn’t walk. Kossi carried me everywhere. Friends who had traveled across the world to be part of our birth slowly flew home without ever meeting our babies. Doctors worried the infection had spread deeper than anyone realized, and I found myself in an operating room instead of preparing for labor.

Even then, I still believed we’d have our home birth.

Sometimes the hardest part isn’t when life changes overnight. It’s when you spend days slowly realizing that the story you imagined isn’t going to unfold the way you hoped.

Thankfully, this isn’t the end of the story. ❤️

#BirthStory #HomeBirthJourney #LifeInMalawi #CrossCulturalLife #storytelling

Every story has a moment that seems insignificant at the time.

For us, it was a walk.

A tiny blister.

Something I never imagined would matter.

Looking back, I can see that life is often changed in ordinary moments—not because we recognize them then, but because we only understand their significance years later.

This chapter ends just before everything changed.

Part 4 is coming soon. 🤍

#LifeInMalawi #OurStory #CrossCulturalMarriage #Storytime #christianfamily

Every story has a moment that seems insignificant at the time.

For us, it was a walk.

A tiny blister.

Something I never imagined would matter.

Looking back, I can see that life is often changed in ordinary moments—not because we recognize them then, but because we only understand their significance years later.

This chapter ends just before everything changed.

Part 4 is coming soon. 🤍

#LifeInMalawi #OurStory #CrossCulturalMarriage #Storytime #christianfamily

Part 2 of our origin story:

We moved to Malawi in faith. We literally googled “hospitals in Blantyre”, as a backup option, because we were hoping for a home birth. Many of our friends and supporters in the US were concerned for us.

We thought we would live here for 2 years, and then try to move to the US.

#LifeInMalawi #CrossCulturalMarriage #MissionaryLife #OurStory #lifeoverseas

Part 2 of our origin story:

We moved to Malawi in faith. We literally googled “hospitals in Blantyre”, as a backup option, because we were hoping for a home birth. Many of our friends and supporters in the US were concerned for us.

We thought we would live here for 2 years, and then try to move to the US.

#LifeInMalawi #CrossCulturalMarriage #MissionaryLife #OurStory #lifeoverseas

Who doesn’t love a good origin story?

There’s a few new folks around here, and I can never tell a short story, so I’m starting at the beginning.

The question is, how much younger than me do you think he is?

#thisgloballife
#biracialcouples
#agegap
#agegaprelationship

Who doesn’t love a good origin story?

There’s a few new folks around here, and I can never tell a short story, so I’m starting at the beginning.

The question is, how much younger than me do you think he is?

#thisgloballife
#biracialcouples
#agegap
#agegaprelationship

Our pages have never really been about what we do.

They’re about who we are.

The people we love.
The places that have shaped us.
The unexpected adventures that have become our ordinary.

A few years ago, we left a beautiful life in the city—a home we loved, a community we cherished, and friends who felt like family—to build a home on a hill in rural Malawi.

Were we looking for adventure? Absolutely.

Did we know exactly what we were stepping into? Not even close.

Somehow, in the unknown, we found a place that feels like home.

Thanks for following along as we share this beautiful, messy, surprising life with you. 🤍

#Malawi #LifeInMalawi #MissionaryLife #VillageLife #CrossCultural

Our pages have never really been about what we do.

They’re about who we are.

The people we love.
The places that have shaped us.
The unexpected adventures that have become our ordinary.

A few years ago, we left a beautiful life in the city—a home we loved, a community we cherished, and friends who felt like family—to build a home on a hill in rural Malawi.

Were we looking for adventure? Absolutely.

Did we know exactly what we were stepping into? Not even close.

Somehow, in the unknown, we found a place that feels like home.

Thanks for following along as we share this beautiful, messy, surprising life with you. 🤍

#Malawi #LifeInMalawi #MissionaryLife #VillageLife #CrossCultural

One thing not everyone knows about us…

When I was pregnant with the twins, a casting producer reached out to us because they were pitching a new TLC show about cross-cultural marriages starting families.

They asked if they could send a film crew to Malawi to document our lives—and even film the birth of our twins.

So, a week or two before I gave birth, a crew arrived and captured our simple, ordinary life in Malawi.

In the end, I don’t know whether we were too peaceful, not dramatic enough, or if TLC simply decided not to make the show.

But just imagine… we could have been your favorite reality TV couple. 😂

So tell me… did TLC miss out? 😉

One thing not everyone knows about us…

When I was pregnant with the twins, a casting producer reached out to us because they were pitching a new TLC show about cross-cultural marriages starting families.

They asked if they could send a film crew to Malawi to document our lives—and even film the birth of our twins.

So, a week or two before I gave birth, a crew arrived and captured our simple, ordinary life in Malawi.

In the end, I don’t know whether we were too peaceful, not dramatic enough, or if TLC simply decided not to make the show.

But just imagine… we could have been your favorite reality TV couple. 😂

So tell me… did TLC miss out? 😉

My favorite time of year in Malawi is the months of May-July. It’s when the humidity dries up, and sunset strolls become magical.

On a walk the other day, we passed by these kids playing soccer with a ball of rolled and tied up plastic. Naturally, Kossi had to step in and play a bit.

#slowdown
#slowliving
#malawi
#simplemoments

My favorite time of year in Malawi is the months of May-July. It’s when the humidity dries up, and sunset strolls become magical.

On a walk the other day, we passed by these kids playing soccer with a ball of rolled and tied up plastic. Naturally, Kossi had to step in and play a bit.

#slowdown
#slowliving
#malawi
#simplemoments

You have taken me out of the ordinary.

Out of my country.

Out of my comfort.

In to a life full of adventure.

In to a life full of love.

There is so much that this little girl never would have imagined that her life would come to be, and I owe that all to you! @kossi akpi Happy 9 years!!

#marriag #interculturalmarriage #lovestory #couplestok

You have taken me out of the ordinary.

Out of my country.

Out of my comfort.

In to a life full of adventure.

In to a life full of love.

There is so much that this little girl never would have imagined that her life would come to be, and I owe that all to you! @kossi akpi Happy 9 years!!

#marriag #interculturalmarriage #lovestory #couplestok

Two years ago I posted this video on TikTok and somehow it went viral. Even in the many months I didn’t use TikTok, I would get notifications that people were watching it. Many said that none of my kids look like me 😂 which is funny, because everyone who knows us say they look so much like me.

Two years later, more wrinkles and grey hair, our family is spread across the continent, but we are still family. And love lives here.

So let’s settle this! Who do they look like??

#blendedfamily
#biracialcouples
#multiracialfamily

Two years ago I posted this video on TikTok and somehow it went viral. Even in the many months I didn’t use TikTok, I would get notifications that people were watching it. Many said that none of my kids look like me 😂 which is funny, because everyone who knows us say they look so much like me.

Two years later, more wrinkles and grey hair, our family is spread across the continent, but we are still family. And love lives here.

So let’s settle this! Who do they look like??

#blendedfamily
#biracialcouples
#multiracialfamily

Therapy.

Sometimes therapy can just be slowing down, following the church to the river to celebrate in baptisms. Taking a motorcycle ride to the village soccer match. Being present in the moment.

I love this life.

I love that the unfamiliar is becoming familiar. That acquaintances are becoming friends. That the unknown is becoming known.

#slowliving
#simplemoments
#seekbeauty
#LiveWithWonder
#quietmoments

Therapy.

Sometimes therapy can just be slowing down, following the church to the river to celebrate in baptisms. Taking a motorcycle ride to the village soccer match. Being present in the moment.

I love this life.

I love that the unfamiliar is becoming familiar. That acquaintances are becoming friends. That the unknown is becoming known.

#slowliving
#simplemoments
#seekbeauty
#LiveWithWonder
#quietmoments

I don’t make a lot of permanent posts a lot about our ministry, as this page for me is mostly about our family.

BUT-this video is just so beautiful, and represents so much.

I say this a lot.

When Kossi and I moved to Malawi, we didn’t know what we would do. We thought we would be here for 2 years and then move to the US.

But we love Malawi so much, we have been here 8.5 years.

In this video, a woman is sharing her testimony about the business she started by being a beneficiary of @familyhopeinternational . Last Friday, she was able to purchase rice, beans and a few other things to sell. She quickly sold everything, and purchased more to sell.

She concluded with saying that she can now drink tea with milk. Adding the milk was a luxury she didn’t have a week before.

This video is so special to me not only because of this victory, but also because of the way our brothers, who lead @familyhopeinternational in Malawi, responded to her—With such celebration, love and excitement.

I’ve moved around the entirety of my adult life, until these last 8.5 years in Malawi. In this season I am so thankful for the fruit of these years, the relationships that have been built and all the beautiful things that are growing.

I don’t make a lot of permanent posts a lot about our ministry, as this page for me is mostly about our family.

BUT-this video is just so beautiful, and represents so much.

I say this a lot.

When Kossi and I moved to Malawi, we didn’t know what we would do. We thought we would be here for 2 years and then move to the US.

But we love Malawi so much, we have been here 8.5 years.

In this video, a woman is sharing her testimony about the business she started by being a beneficiary of @familyhopeinternational . Last Friday, she was able to purchase rice, beans and a few other things to sell. She quickly sold everything, and purchased more to sell.

She concluded with saying that she can now drink tea with milk. Adding the milk was a luxury she didn’t have a week before.

This video is so special to me not only because of this victory, but also because of the way our brothers, who lead @familyhopeinternational in Malawi, responded to her—With such celebration, love and excitement.

I’ve moved around the entirety of my adult life, until these last 8.5 years in Malawi. In this season I am so thankful for the fruit of these years, the relationships that have been built and all the beautiful things that are growing.

Moments of June in Malawi ☀️ ⭐️ 🌕

#blendedfamily
#lifeoverseas
#thisgloballife

Moments of June in Malawi ☀️ ⭐️ 🌕

#blendedfamily
#lifeoverseas
#thisgloballife

Hopefully this is the last time walking to this toilet!! The builders are working on the bathroom and 🤞 it will be ready next week! Is that having too high of hopes?

Hopefully this is the last time walking to this toilet!! The builders are working on the bathroom and 🤞 it will be ready next week! Is that having too high of hopes?

I’ve loved our African Monarch journey. How beautiful to watch this journey unfold. Our butterflies are now happily flying in our garden, drinking from the flowers blooming on our avocado tree.

Now I just need to find some milkweed for our garden! #africanmonarch #homeschool

I’ve loved our African Monarch journey. How beautiful to watch this journey unfold. Our butterflies are now happily flying in our garden, drinking from the flowers blooming on our avocado tree.

Now I just need to find some milkweed for our garden! #africanmonarch #homeschool

A beautiful Sunday Birthday Matinée. Breathe. Bend. Brunch. Banter. @matchboxlifestylemw

A beautiful Sunday Birthday Matinée. Breathe. Bend. Brunch. Banter. @matchboxlifestylemw

Our lives would be tragic without you in it. You are our provider, protector, friend, husband and father. You are the rock of this family. A light in the darkness. An example of fatherhood. An example of a good husband. An example of a good human being.

I love you!!!

And for all of you ladies who are afraid of marrying a younger man-do it! If it’s the right person, who cares what the age gap is!

Our lives would be tragic without you in it. You are our provider, protector, friend, husband and father. You are the rock of this family. A light in the darkness. An example of fatherhood. An example of a good husband. An example of a good human being.

I love you!!!

And for all of you ladies who are afraid of marrying a younger man-do it! If it’s the right person, who cares what the age gap is!

“Our hands are the brushes, and the air is the canvas. We speak in shapes and stories.”

What a privilege it is to know Kati and her heart for the deaf community. I love you even more after tonight! Check out @tikonzeapapa to see what they are doing amongst the deaf community in Malawi.

And @swaswa.icetea3 @g.h.thrift.fashion I love what you’re doin girl coming alongside Tikonze Apapa!

#deafawareness
#deafcommunity
#deaffashion

“Our hands are the brushes, and the air is the canvas. We speak in shapes and stories.”

What a privilege it is to know Kati and her heart for the deaf community. I love you even more after tonight! Check out @tikonzeapapa to see what they are doing amongst the deaf community in Malawi.

And @swaswa.icetea3 @g.h.thrift.fashion I love what you’re doin girl coming alongside Tikonze Apapa!

#deafawareness
#deafcommunity
#deaffashion

May is my favorite month.

It’s the month I became a mother.

It’s when the rain stops, the air dries up, and sitting in the sun is refreshing instead of torture.

People have recently harvested their maize. The remaining stocks are in the fields, golden in color, with sweet purple flowers blooming up around them. It’s time to harvest Khobwe, cow peas, while Nandolo, pigeon peas, are drying on the bushes.

Fire season has only just begun, so the skies are still blue…soon a haze will settle across the country as people burn their dried leaves and fields.

It’s a moment in time, the changing of seasons, from warm and humid to dry and cool, and I love it.

#seasons
#southernhemisphere

May is my favorite month.

It’s the month I became a mother.

It’s when the rain stops, the air dries up, and sitting in the sun is refreshing instead of torture.

People have recently harvested their maize. The remaining stocks are in the fields, golden in color, with sweet purple flowers blooming up around them. It’s time to harvest Khobwe, cow peas, while Nandolo, pigeon peas, are drying on the bushes.

Fire season has only just begun, so the skies are still blue…soon a haze will settle across the country as people burn their dried leaves and fields.

It’s a moment in time, the changing of seasons, from warm and humid to dry and cool, and I love it.

#seasons
#southernhemisphere

Loving my life every day. #thisgloballife #lifeabroad #adventureintheeveryday

Loving my life every day. #thisgloballife #lifeabroad #adventureintheeveryday

Over the hill and to our home

Over the hill and to our home

Can’t believe these two are 8 tomorrow, although it feels like an eternity ago that we were all crying ourselves to sleep at night.

Eight is already revving up to be full of curiosity and questions, testing boundaries and growing in independence.

I can’t believe the years of them being little becoming fewer and fewer.

Thanks to these two for making me a mama 8 years ago!

Can’t believe these two are 8 tomorrow, although it feels like an eternity ago that we were all crying ourselves to sleep at night.

Eight is already revving up to be full of curiosity and questions, testing boundaries and growing in independence.

I can’t believe the years of them being little becoming fewer and fewer.

Thanks to these two for making me a mama 8 years ago!

“They say that no matter how old you become, when you are with your siblings, you revert back to childhood.” – Karen White

#homeschool
#thisgloballife
#adventureintheeveryday

“They say that no matter how old you become, when you are with your siblings, you revert back to childhood.” – Karen White

#homeschool
#thisgloballife
#adventureintheeveryday

“I have always believed that a blighted urban jungle of concrete destroys the human spirit. We need the greenery of nature to lift up our spirits.”

-Lee Kuan Yew

Singapore. The garden city.

The most humid place I have ever been.

“I have always believed that a blighted urban jungle of concrete destroys the human spirit. We need the greenery of nature to lift up our spirits.”

-Lee Kuan Yew

Singapore. The garden city.

The most humid place I have ever been.

I won’t stop talking about how good all the food is in Taiwan. These photos are mostly of my favorite childhood snacks that I came across.

What is your favorite thing to eat from Taiwan? 🇹🇼

I won’t stop talking about how good all the food is in Taiwan. These photos are mostly of my favorite childhood snacks that I came across.

What is your favorite thing to eat from Taiwan? 🇹🇼

Formed in Formosa: Values rooted within me from my birth and childhood as a cross cultural child living in Taiwan

Part 3:

As we visit this mountain town, my dad and I are always racing against our hosts to pay for our meals. It is common at restaurants to see full blown arguments break out between friends over who will pay.

Splitting the bill? Inconceivable.

There is a fluidity between friends and family over who will pay for things.

My best friend and I lived this way in college. We never kept track of who paid for what, but out of friendship with each other we had found a stream of sharing expenses.

It is jarring to me to keep track of who paid for what. I love the foundation of love and sense of community that comes from generosity, hospitality and shared expenses.

Formed in Formosa: Values rooted within me from my birth and childhood as a cross cultural child living in Taiwan

Part 3:

As we visit this mountain town, my dad and I are always racing against our hosts to pay for our meals. It is common at restaurants to see full blown arguments break out between friends over who will pay.

Splitting the bill? Inconceivable.

There is a fluidity between friends and family over who will pay for things.

My best friend and I lived this way in college. We never kept track of who paid for what, but out of friendship with each other we had found a stream of sharing expenses.

It is jarring to me to keep track of who paid for what. I love the foundation of love and sense of community that comes from generosity, hospitality and shared expenses.

Taiwan is known as the food capital, having top tier food.

Before our trip, I told Kossi; be ready to eat…all the time.

And we did.

You can find restaurants on every street corner, and if it’s not a restaurant, it’s a 7-11.

We enjoyed each meal, so thoroughly.

Taiwan is known as the food capital, having top tier food.

Before our trip, I told Kossi; be ready to eat…all the time.

And we did.

You can find restaurants on every street corner, and if it’s not a restaurant, it’s a 7-11.

We enjoyed each meal, so thoroughly.

Part two: Formed in Formosa: Values rooted within me from my birth and childhood as a cross cultural child living in Taiwan.

Food as community:

As a young adult living in the US, there were two things that would cause my heart to sink; ordering individual meals at a Chinese restaurant, and sticking chopsticks straight up in a bowl of rice.

Naturally, as we began to plan our trip to Taiwan, my mouth would salivate as I thought of beef noodle soup, dried tofu, squid on a stick and all the other delicious foods that awaited me. It wasn’t until my mid 20’s that I learned that Taiwan was actually a food tourism destination; people from Asia flew to Taiwan just to enjoy their food.

Street food is a part of life here. It’s impossible to be in a location without a small shop selling…something. One can’t go far without finding a 7-11 or small shop selling breakfast, or beef noodle soup, or tea.

Each restaurant we go to is always packed. People love to eat, and eat in community. Every table is full with at least 10 dishes, and people scarfing down tofu, chicken, duck or vegetables with their chopsticks as they tell or listen to a story.

Food is central to life. Something to be shared.

It was at the same camp where as a young girl, I remember walking into the kitchen and being scolded for having chopsticks sticking straight up in my bowl of rice. I quickly learned how offensive it was, death to the chef. Unto this day, it makes me uncomfortable to see chopsticks standing in a bowl of rice.

So for those of you reading this; next time you eat Chinese food; please. Order as a table and share. You’re not meant to eat a whole plate of kung pao chicken.

Part two: Formed in Formosa: Values rooted within me from my birth and childhood as a cross cultural child living in Taiwan.

Food as community:

As a young adult living in the US, there were two things that would cause my heart to sink; ordering individual meals at a Chinese restaurant, and sticking chopsticks straight up in a bowl of rice.

Naturally, as we began to plan our trip to Taiwan, my mouth would salivate as I thought of beef noodle soup, dried tofu, squid on a stick and all the other delicious foods that awaited me. It wasn’t until my mid 20’s that I learned that Taiwan was actually a food tourism destination; people from Asia flew to Taiwan just to enjoy their food.

Street food is a part of life here. It’s impossible to be in a location without a small shop selling…something. One can’t go far without finding a 7-11 or small shop selling breakfast, or beef noodle soup, or tea.

Each restaurant we go to is always packed. People love to eat, and eat in community. Every table is full with at least 10 dishes, and people scarfing down tofu, chicken, duck or vegetables with their chopsticks as they tell or listen to a story.

Food is central to life. Something to be shared.

It was at the same camp where as a young girl, I remember walking into the kitchen and being scolded for having chopsticks sticking straight up in my bowl of rice. I quickly learned how offensive it was, death to the chef. Unto this day, it makes me uncomfortable to see chopsticks standing in a bowl of rice.

So for those of you reading this; next time you eat Chinese food; please. Order as a table and share. You’re not meant to eat a whole plate of kung pao chicken.

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