Hi! My name is Stacy Leigh Hutchens, and I live in beautiful Zomba, Malawi with my husband, five kids ages 3-11, four cats, and a standard poodle. We had the rare privilege of getting to design and build our home here. It isn't extravagant, but it is my dream home, especially the kitchen.
Read MoreHi friends! I’m Sarah, and I live in the Horn of Africa along with my doctor husband and two kids. In my past American life, I worked in communications for a medical non-profit, but at the current moment, I’m about a year and a half into language learning, while helping my husband research and administrate a future NGO project.
Read MoreHi, my name is Courtney and I’m an expat living in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. I’m married and have four children. My kitchen is far from spectacular. It’s the hottest room in the house (we live on the coast of the Indian Ocean), water leaks all over the floor each day from a seemingly unrepairable sink pipe, and yet, somehow, it’s the space we all prefer to spend our time in together.
Read MoreHi! My name is Kristin! I live with my husband and three kids in Cairo, Egypt. This is our eighth year living in Cairo. My husband and I are teachers at an American International school here, and our kids attend school with us. It's great to all be together at school each day! I've come to love this dusty, busy, noisy city, and we all call it home.
Read MoreHi, my name is Abby. I moved to Western North Africa 5 years ago with my four girls (16, 13, 11, and 8) and my husband. Having four girls is wonderful, but we moved to a city that is a little isolated. There were not a lot of opportunities for girls and we needed some sort of outlet, so we took up cooking.
Read MoreIt is smaller kitchen and with the hopes of opening up the space I decided to go with an open shelf plan which is a fun way to be able to try and minimize my kitchen stuff and gives me a chance to try and be creative about how to store and display things I am using in my kitchen.
Read MoreAs of now, I don't have a lot of counter space so the kitchen table also acts as as prep station. I was gifted a Kitchen Aid mixer from a missionary friend who left the field. For so long I had wanted one but as you know, they are heavy! I couldn't contain my excitement when she said she was leaving me hers, along with a lot of other things she knew I would love and use. Community is a beautiful thing!
Read MoreI really actually love my kitchen!! This is our third home since we've lived here and the kitchen here is a VAST improvement over the first places we lived (think no counter space at all... so chopping veggies on the table). I spend lot of time in the kitchen, and have learned so much about cooking from scratch since the day we arrived here.
Read MoreWhen we first got here we were overly ambitious and attempted laundry by hand. 2 years in and we realized it wasn't getting easier and we weren't getting better at it. I guess growing up with a washer and dryer all your life makes such chores difficult to relearn. We were blessed this year to be able to get a washing machine! Most washing machines/washing stations are close to the kitchen in Nepal. Ours is on it's own little patio right outside of our kitchen!
Read MoreHey guys! My name is Maggie and I am from the great state of New Jersey. I came to Brazil in 2006 to help in an English school run by an American missionary. During that time I met my now husband, who is a Brazilian. We later married and moved a few times between the states and Brazil and finally settling here in Brazil.
Read MoreI’m Tina Ferry and our family of four lives in Ecuador. We’ve been abroad about five years and still feel like we are getting our feet wet. When I saw that Taking Route was planning “31 Days of the Global Kitchen,” I was thrilled to have the opportunity to participate. Food and the kitchen are central for our family’s hobbies, health, sense of home, and our ministry — which often centers around hospitality. Upon returning home from any trip or the start of any week the question is always, “What should we cook?” This is a family discussion with many opinions and much excitement.
Read MoreMy name is Anna Kate and I work in Nicaragua with abuse prevention and restorative care for women and girls who have survived sexual abuse. I started coming on mission trips when I was thirteen-years-old and my love for the people grew from there. I have lived in Nicaragua for almost five years now and, in that time, I’ve learned a lot about how to live in my host country, especially as a single woman.
Read MoreHi everyone! My name is Kara, and I live in South Korea with my husband and four young kids. We’ve lived here, in this apartment, for almost 8 years now. Our kids are 7, 5, 3, and 1 — so we are all about convenience and functionality in the kitchen. There are several design elements I would change (all the brown, the fluorescent lights, the storage cabinet doors...), but overall, this kitchen gets a solid A+.
Read MoreHi there! I’m Alicia and I’ve lived in Indonesia for the past eight years with my husband and our four children (8, 5, 3, 1.5). At some point, you will see almost all of them make an appearance in my kitchen tour — which is perfect, because it shows how often my kids gravitate into the kitchen. This is my fourth kitchen since moving to this country. I’ve experienced a little bit of everything at this point.
Read MorePeople do not entertain with an evening meal in this culture. I’ve tried over the years to invite people over for dinner but it has always been awkward. It involves them pushing the unusual western food around on their plate. Learning to adapt to the culture in this way has been hard. I’ve had to die to my own desires and culture of what “hosting” looks like and take cues from my host culture. Now I just host guests with traditional tea and cookies. At Ramadan we host a large “buka puasa” with local cuisine.
Read MoreHi! Sudah makan? (which means ‘Have you eaten?’ and, interestingly, is a common greeting in our host country.) My name is Kari. My husband, two sons (3 years old and 9 months old), and I have lived in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia for four years. If you come over on any given day, there’s a good chance you’ll find me a lot like this: in the kitchen, my hair in a mom bun, and a child hanging off of me.
The apartment we’re in now is the third one we’ve lived in since moving to Malaysia and this kitchen is by far my favorite! This picture is looking into the kitchen from the living room.
Read MoreWe knew about the state of the home before we moved, and we were confident in our ability to take this project on. We had renovated our kitchen in the states, how hard could it be in Cambodia?! As it turns out, it is very, VERY hard. The lack of online shopping alone is enough to drive you bonkers in planning for a kitchen. My sister-in-law is funding this project (thankfully) and requested a modern kitchen. I didn’t want to let her down, I wanted to create a Pinterest worthy kitchen.
Read MoreOur kitchen is actually rather spacious, and the two doors you see house our laundry room (I use that term quite loosely) and a squatty potty. I know you’re jealous. In the rural parts of Laos, indoor kitchens are rare. If you happen to get lucky enough to find one, basically it just means you’ve got a countertop and a sink. We have no cabinets or shelving, so we have to get creative with storage.
Read MoreWe moved into this rental house about eight months ago. It’s brand new, with a yard for our two little boys to run around in, and a great location near the lake— wow, so much to be thankful for! But of course, every home will have pros and cons. In this case, we had to put the kitchen in the “con” column. First off, I will say that I am SUPER grateful for the newness and cleanliness factor (nice to work with a clean slate this time around). I love the windows that let me enjoy the neighborhood’s comings and goings, and the windows bring in an excellent breeze while I’m washing dishes.
Read MoreWhen we first got here we were overly ambitious and attempted laundry by hand. 2 years in and we realized it wasn't getting easier and we weren't getting better at it. I guess growing up with a washer and dryer all your life makes such chores difficult to relearn. We were blessed this year to be able to get a washing machine! Most washing machines/washing stations are close to the kitchen in Nepal. Ours is on it's own little patio right outside of our kitchen!
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