Twitter Experience

Possible Hashtags

Today I wish to share with you my experience promoting @Student_Sejours on Twitter! 

I began my twitter experience the way all of the twitter users do, with my very first tweet introducing me to the world of 140 characters.

Racking up list of possible hashtags, mainly #StudyingAbroad and #CollegeAbroad, I set out on my journey to promote my blog by extensive use of this platform. I made the choice to use those hashtags as they were directly linked to my topic and there was a good amount of posts bundled up by those specific keywords.

Feeling very enthusiastic about this project I followed others who have similar interest as mine, such people studying abroad, people setting out to share a little college humour and many travel accounts. I also decided to follow those who had no direct links to my topic, such as celebrities, news agencies and several others just to be updated on key issues that could be related to my topic later.

Using twitter to promote my own blogposts was quite fun, though  the 140 characters restriction proved to be quite impeding. It was only after a few hours of drafting several possible tweets, editing and re-editing, that a suitable tweet could be constructed. However, no retweets or responses were generated for my tweets. This could have been from the lack of hashtags at the beginning of the experience to bring people to my tweets. Yet, people kept following @Student_Sejours, with at least three followers per day, something which kept my hopes up for future interactions.

My First Tweet #Studying_Abroad

Promoting my post

Retweeting was another enjoyable part about my Twitter experience as it allowed me in some way to enter conversations on the platform even if discussions did not strike up on my own retweets. I did notice however, that when I retweeted content not directly link to my topics, this action was reciprocated by the author of the tweet.  

Retweeting a Funny Post

Retweeting an Informational Post

Overall, I would say my Twitter Experience was an interesting one though I could not generate much interaction around my posts. It allowed me to experience the exchange of information on this platform and to participate to some extent in the discussions reinforcing the participatory aspect of social networking sites, in that I could share and amend contents. Also, this experience has allowed me to be aware of others who are interested in the same topics as mine.

Spotting a similarity

I  have this habit of going around the web trying to find several people who are talking about the same topic as me, i.e. stuyding abroad. Usually I'm just trying to find new interesting topics that the authors wish to discuss or the wonderful stories they want to tell the world about.

Occasionally I come across some interesting contents that draw me in to read further and discover so many fascinating things. 

Many times those stories invoke within me a sense of familiarity (that I hope you get from my blog) and I relate with them to such a great extent. Today as I was doing my usual browsing on several blogs I came upon a post that I thought I'd share with you.

Written by Emily Daniels in Germany on the blog Temple U Abroad, the post titled The terms of friendship was very interesting and explored a deep explanation of various concepts between two cultures; the main concept here being friendships. It's always nice to come across materials that you can relate too as well as, share your own view about The author explores of the definitions of friendships across Germany and the US reminding me of my own post a while back about making friends while studying abroad.

I even thought I'd leave a little word of encouragement for the author to let her know that her post caught my attention and would definitely interest others to read as well.

My Comment on the Blog Post 

You should definitely check out this post as well as several others on the blog.

Also there are many other blogs or communities with wonderful posts that I sometimes take a peak at that I'm sure you'll enjoy as much as you enjoy Student Sejours including Her Campus and The College Girl's Guide to Study Abroad. Be sure to check them out and let me know what you think of these suggestions.

Manze, Manze, Manze and more Manze!

*Manze = Food

I won't lie and say that I was diving headfirst into the pool of dishes that there is on the island.
I was a little skeptical of food that I hadn't seen or heard of before and I kept missing my white rice and beef stew, grilled chicken/fish, fried fish and my "bouyon bred".

Ah, once I was over my attachment to the things I was comfortable with I discovered a whole other world that I know for sure I will miss when I go back home.

While studying abroad, you will come across a lot of local vendors selling things that you must try at least once. No matter how unfamiliar and sometimes 'unappetising' the food looks. Maybe they will taste bad and you'll regret ever trying it (but at least you did) or the dish will wow you to the extent that you will find yourself becoming a usual customer to a small vendor.

Here are a few of the dishes that I like and I want to share with you.

Roti

A Delicious Roti

This one I was all for trying! Technically I'd eaten a version of it before, which I also happen to make

 on occasions: chapati. 
Though I prefer to take it without the sauces (they say I'm strange that way), it is still wonderful. If you ever happen to study in Mauritius you need to try this at least once! Though I know you will want more.

 

 

Pain Kebab

This is definitely something I will miss when I go back home! Before I came to Mauritius, my friends would talk about this bread with meat and salad all the time. Yet, I tried not to get my hopes up to high though, because you know what happens when you're looking forward to something right?
Well, it really didn't matter cause now if I could eat this every day, I would! It really didn't disappoint.

 

Mine Bouille

Mine Bouille from Blond Boullette

With this one, I came a long way. It was finally curiosity coupled with a little push from a friend that got me to try it and now I love it. Yes, love it. Even crave it sometimes when I go back home.

 

 

Boulettes

Dry 'Boulettes' from Blond Bloulettes

Although we have this back home, it is not prepared in the same fashion. In Seychelles we fry the 'Boulettes' while in Mauritius they consume it in a soup. It took me two years to muster up the courage to try this one, and it is still a work in progress. Though I've found that the fish one is really good. If you happen to be in Mauritius one day and want to try it to see if you like it better than I do, stop by Blond Boulette in Quatres Bornes. There are other wonderful dishes on the menu as well!