Remembering In July

This month, I want to reminisce about my life.

 A few days ago, I was looking for a picture of myself on a flight and realised I hardly have any. I usually travel out of the country alone, and I hate taking selfies, so there is almost no evidence that I have been anywhere.😌

 My mum has always intimated that people put too much of their lives online, and somewhere along the line I accepted that advice without questioning it.

Lately, though, I have wanted to hold on to the few good things I have experienced, especially the writing residencies.

As a writer, one of the greatest opportunities you can receive is an invitation to a residency. I have been fortunate enough to attend a few, and each one has influenced me in ways that go beyond adding another achievement to my CV. They have changed how I write, how I observe people, how I travel, and how I understand the kind of stories I want to tell.

In September 2025, I travelled to Turkey for two days before continuing to Algeria for the CANEX Writers Residency. The timing was exhausting because, just a week earlier, I had started the Mo Issa Writing Workshop. Somewhere in the middle of all that, another writing workshop came along, and somehow I found room for it too. Looking back, I do not know how I managed it all. I only know that I loved what I created during that period.

The residency gave me the chance to explore parts of Algeria while spending my days writing. There is  strangely reassurance in being surrounded by people who understand why you disappear into notebooks, stare out of windows for too long, or spend twenty minutes arguing over a single sentence. Writing can feel lonely, almost unmoored from the rest of the world, until you find yourself in a room full of people chasing stories with the same determination or even at a faster pace.

Cheraga

I hope my manuscript finds an agent one day. And I also hope someone picks it up; I publish it; people read it, and the royalties carry me back to Algeria. I want to be in Ghardaïa. I want to spend time there without watching the clock, learn more about the people, and write with a clearer mind.

I also loved Cheraga, and wandering through places on my own reminded me that solitude is not always loneliness – and that, it is exactly what a writer needs during specific times.

Turkey is still waiting for me. Next time, I want to stay longer and write my second novel there.

Is that really too much to ask? Or perhaps God has another plan and thinks the easiest route is giving me a job that pays in millions so I can travel twice every year and write wherever I find myself. I would gladly accept either. *clock it* 🙏

In March, I was in Senegal. It was too much but an unforgettable trip. You can read about it.

Then in May, I travelled for an investigative journalism programme. I can talk about the experience, though I cannot share the main details because the documentary has not been released yet. Even with those limitations, I enjoyed the trip. I wish I had spent more time learning about the people because the schedule attenuated any chance of slowing down and settling into the place properly.

In Kenya

One thing I have not stopped thinking about is pilau masala. 😋It is rice cooked with spices usually served with meat or vegetables. I really enjoyed it so much that I have been trying to figure out how to recreate my own version at home whenever I find a little free time.

The reason I have been thinking so much about these residencies is that I am currently enrolled in another one.  (Yas another one!)🕺

This time there is no travelling until the final week. It is an arts and writing residency, and it feels like exactly what I need right now, especially after spending so much time building my journalism portfolio.

I have discovered parts of myself through media work that I never expected. 

Once you begin working across different forms of storytelling, you start to see the ramifications of every creative decision. A sentence, a photograph, an interview or even silence can completely change how a story is understood. These have made me curious about exploring this path even further.

My current assignment is to review an album, so I am about to spend some time listening to Madonna’s latest album before I sit down to write.

Now, onto food.🥘

I baked a lot of pies this month. A lot.

I made all three pies: chicken pie, sausage pie and meat pie. Sausage pie easily became the favourite because I kept making it over and over again. I had plans for fish pie too, although the fish disappeared into sandwiches before that ever happened.

I also made granola, and it vanished almost as quickly as I made it.

Since I still have plenty of cinnamon powder and cinnamon sticks, cinnamon rolls are calling my name.

I also discovered a new way to make Indomie. One Sunday, I cooked it before church, left it waiting for me at home, and spent the entire service thinking about it. The moment I got home, I warmed it up before doing anything else.

Enjoy these videos. I might make a post out of this on LinkedIn. I might repeat some images. 

Sausage Pie 

Indomie

Granola 

Sandwich