Foreign Correspondent Turned Berliner with Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson

Tereré Talks: Part 6. In Paraguay, you can drop 50$ on a single linen shirt in a posh shopping mall, and you can spend 150$ on a hand-made, custom dining set that you picked up on the shoulder of a highway. Furnishing a home in Paraguay can be quite the adventure, full of Facebook Marketplace scams, artisans clustered by skill selling on the roadside, and buying plants in the middle of a forest. Next Thursday: the Paraguayan people! Read more about tereré here. REVIEW On Apple Podcasts On Podchaser CONNECT Email [email protected] Instagram @theexpatcast 

Tereré Talks: Part 5. Paraguayan food: the best-kept secret in international cuisine? Paraguay cuisine is a magical land where the sopa is cornbread, the soups have hidden steaks at the bottom, and gluten intolerant eaters can enjoy tapioca-based everything. Even beyond their own cooking, Paraguayans simply know what to do in the kitchen. There's a booming craft beer scene, heaps of top-rate international restaurants, and the best beef you'll have in your life. All of that for a price tag that will make you do a double-take, in a good way. And somehow, no one knows about it. No one talks about it. Until now! Next Thursday: shopping and commerce! Read more about tereré here. REVIEW On Apple Podcasts On Podchaser CONNECT Email [email protected] Instagram @theexpatcast 

Tereré Talks: Part 4. Zoe and Nicole discuss the oddities of getting around in Paraguay. You can walk - but not on the sidewalks. You can drive - but you can't turn left. You can bike - but watch out for the sinkholes disguised as puddles. You can take a bus - but you have to book it in person. You can fly - but the airport shops aren't reliably open. Next Thursday: food! Read more about tereré here. REVIEW On Apple Podcasts On Podchaser CONNECT Email [email protected] Instagram @theexpatcast 

Tereré Talks: Part 3. White chunky tile flooring, a special pavilion for the barbecue, and an old dude with a gun napping at the end of the street. Welcome to a Paraguayan home! In Paraguay, there are a lot of quirky things about a house, from the confusing but cool electrical outlets to dogs that are kind of pets, kind of security. Nicole and Zoe explain what a Paraguayan home looks like, plus a cost breakdown to compare rent and utilities costs among Paraguay, Germany, and the USA. Listen until the end for the wild tale of how far German government agencies will go to track you down! Next Thursday: transit in Paraguay. Read more about tereré here. REVIEW On Apple Podcasts On Podchaser CONNECT Email [email protected] Instagram @theexpatcast 

Tereré Talks: Part 2. Things Nicole read about Paraguay before moving here: it's the only landlocked South American, and it has an impressive mail system. Both "facts" proved to be untrue. So Nicole and Zoe are here to correct them! After going over basic geographical information, Nicole and Zoe share a short history of Paraguay, some fast facts about the population and places of interest, and a bit about safety in Paraguay. Plus, they discuss their first impressions upon arriving in Asuncion - including the unusual city structure! Next Thursday: we dive into the numbers for all things housing in Paraguay. Read more about tereré here. If you're visiting Asuncion, check out a free walking tour: here or here. REVIEW On Apple Podcasts On Podchaser   CONNECT Email [email protected] Instagram @theexpatcast 

Tereré Talks: Part 1. Exactly a year ago, Nicole packed up her bags and moved from Germany to Paraguay. She didn't know what to expect, because the Internet knows everything, except, apparently, things about Paraguay. After a year in Paraguay, Nicole has lots of love for this special place, and she's here to share about it in the Tereré Talks. Nicole's friend Zoe joins her as a co-host, and they start off by catching up on the last year. What did Nicole get up to? What did she find to do for work? Where has she traveled to in South America? Why hasn't this podcast come out for months?? And most importantly, what's the update on The Expat Cats!? Next Thursday: a crash course on basic information about Paraguay. Read more about tereré here.   REVIEW On Apple Podcasts On Podchaser   CONNECT Email [email protected] Instagram @theexpatcast 

Season 8, Episode 0. A new season + a new format! In this intro to the new season, Nicole shares what she's got planned for season 8. Plus, she walks you through what tereré, the drink that's inspired the name of the season, is and how you drink it (at least as far as she's learned so far!). Read more about tereré here.   REVIEW On Apple Podcasts On Podchaser On the website   CONNECT theexpatcast.com Instagram @theexpatcast 

Season 7, Episode 25. This week's guest is your host, Nicole! Nicole is from the US and lived in Germany for five and a half years. Just a couple weeks ago, she moved from Germany to Paraguay for a temporary stay. Over the course of seven months, Nicole recorded audio diaries about the move. The voice notes chronicle multiple moves, vehicle sales, paperwork stress,  figuring out how to quit a job in Germany, the oddness that is packing items to ship across an ocean, and sadness because of how a big move like this one impacts friendships. There's laughter, there's tears, there's an emptied bottle of tequila! Listen to the episode where Nicole announces her move here.   REVIEW On Apple Podcasts On Podchaser On my website   CONNECT theexpatcast.com Instagram @theexpatcast  Twitter @theexpatcast 

Season 7, Episode 24. "Last year, the world changed, and the awareness of the situation is there now. It wasn't there 10 years ago." Kateryna grew up in Kiev, Ukraine and moved to the Netherlands a decade ago to study. Before she could reflect on if she'd like to stay there longer after her degree, war broke out in her home country. But, weirdly, not many people around her knew about it or discussed it. Fast forward to 2022. By then, Kateryna had spent most of her 20s in the Netherlands and built a life for herself there. Suddenly, the war escalated, and thousands of fellow Ukranians were seeking safety abroad due to the war, including in the Netherlands. Kateryna discusses how experiencing her 20s abroad affected her, plus what it's like to be abroad as an expat versus to be abroad while feeling war.   REVIEW On Apple Podcasts On Podchaser On my website   CONNECT theexpatcast.com Instagram @theexpatcast  Twitter @theexpatcast 

Season 7, Episode 23. You might recognize her name and her voice from NPR, or National Public Radio, broadcasts across the US. Soraya grew up in the US, Iran, and Germany as the child of German and Iranian immigrants. She built an impressive career as a foreign correspondent, despite significant barriers keeping women from doing such work at the time. She persisted, and she succeeded. Soraya's career had her living for years in Afghanistan, opening up a Kabul bureau, before moving to Egypt, just months before the Arabic Spring broke out. After years of covering intense conflict and war, Soraya was eager to take a job in Berlin - but months after settling, the Russia-Ukraine war broke out for the first time. Now, she's been in Berlin for over 10 years, and she's the host of her own podcast, Common Ground Berlin. She joins us to talk about her extremely exciting life in such a wide range of fascinating places.   LINKS Common Ground Berlin   REVIEW On Apple Podcasts On Podchaser On my website   CONNECT theexpatcast.com Instagram @theexpatcast  Twitter @theexpatcast