Photo by Ben White on Unsplash

Travel

Read more about our adventures.

Read more

Hi everyone.
My name is Caroline!

I am a Brazilian descendant of Italians, married to an American living in the UK after living in South Africa for 9 years. My life is the definition of "a cultural mess". A Cultural Mess is a blog about life as an expat, culture, travel, faith and everyday moments from our journey.  Welcome to my crazy beautiful cultural mess!

Read more

LOVE & MARRIAGE

Relationship

yeahyeah.co.za

Read more about our relationship and what we have learned along the way.

Read more
Faith

God’s plan is messy

Last week, when we were watching a Christmas program that my niece and nephew took part in, it totally hit me. God’s plans usually are very messy!
And I’m not saying, it’s messy like when we say to a guest visiting our house “Excuse the mess!” after we spent all day cleaning… I mean proper messy!

Read more
Christmas

12 Days of Christmas… movies

It’s 12 days until Christmas Day, a time to be with family, exchange gifts, eat way too much and celebrate the birth of Christ. And to get you (and me) in the Christmas Spirit I have made a list with my favorite Christmas movies of all time. Here they are:

Read more
Faith, Love & Marriage

God told me to use Tinder and other confessions…

My journey navigating the Christian dating world

Let me preface this post by saying that this tale happened before I was married to my wonderful husband, A-Aron, whom I love to bits!

Ok, so you may be wondering why in the world I would be sharing a post about dating?
I’ve always been pretty passionate about the subject and while I see hope in a slowly growing new vulnerability move in the church, it is still an area that has caused SO much hurt and SO much confusion in people’s lives that I feel my story should be shared to maybe encourage people who feel they’re alone. Also, this is my little corner of the internet so I guess I’m sharing about it because I can.

Read more
Expat Life, Travel

Our last days in South Africa

Moving countries is not for sissies, I know that now. When we decided to leave South Africa we were tasked with the mammoth challenge of getting rid of 95% of our belongings and doing all the admin involved in closing down a life in a country (i.e. closing accounts, making a plan if you need a document from that country while you’re far and booking tickets).Read more

Expat Life, Travel

We are moving!

After almost 10 years in South Africa, and finally being settled and creating a life here, we are again on the move!

If you had told me four years ago that I’d be gearing up to start all over again in a new country, I’d laugh in your face and say, “No, thanks. I’ve been there, done that, got the t-shirt”. But God laughs when we think thoughts like that.

Read more

Love & Marriage

Being in an intercultural relationship

Relationships are not easy. No matter the nationality of the parties involved. It takes an enormous amount of understanding to make it work. Intercultural relationships are no different, and if anything, they require an extra level of open mindedness, patience and understanding.
If you also find yourself in a relationship with a foreigner some (or all) of these points will reflect your reality.
Read more

Expat Life

The anxiety of feeling displaced

Living in a different country is a privilege, however, it can be dramatically romanticized (especially by social media). Simply open the Instagram of an expat and you’ll see how exciting their lives are.

But let me tell you a little secret… we usually only capture the best snapshots and the best moments.

Read more

Close