A Memoir
- By Alumni
At first glance, "My Alexandria Tales" looks like a children’s book with the colorfully illustration of Barbara Cousens’ dogs peeking from behind the door of her Alexandria townhouse.
However, "My Alexandria Tales" is actually a memoir of her first few months settling in Old Town after emigrating to the U.S. from South Africa in 2001.
She used personal letters home to family and friends in the United Kingdom and South Africa to create anecdotes along with colorful illustrations to vividly portray experiences faced by any newcomer.
Cousens is a native of South Africa and has a BA degree in English and Art from Wits University.
After completing college and a secretarial course, she traveled around the world that included a visit to the U.S. She worked in personnel consulting jobs as well as publishing material in mining, print and export journals.
Cousens then started her own public relations company specializing in mining, industrial design and medical sectors as well as the hotel industry. She’s been in the U.S. for 10 years during which time she worked sporadically to put together this memoir.
She is now a Realtor with McEnearney Associates.
INITIALLY the area’s diverse climate drew her to Old Town.
The plethora of arts and cultural activities within Old Town and the D.C. Metropolitan Area sealed the deal; Cousens admitted that she’s a big opera and arts lover.
"I love being close to musical events, museum exhibits, and other cultural activities in Old Town and D.C.," she said.
She came to love the sense of community and other qualities the area has to offer.
"I love the ambience of Old Town. I love the historic houses, cobblestone streets and the river. It has a great community feeling," Cousens said.
In addition, she loves the dog-friendly nature of Old Town and the closeness of the parks. When she first arrived, she would spend many hours walking her two dogs — a male Siberian/ Alaskan named Kiote and a female golden retriever named Lucinda to and from the local parks.
Cousens credits both dogs with helping her adjust to her new home.
"Having the dogs with me kept me grounded. I didn’t have time to be homesick because I had to take their needs into consideration," she added.
HER DOGS also provided a way for her to meet people and helped her meet her partner at a local dog park. She was amazed that her dogs settled in within a few weeks — considering that they weren’t used to living such close quarters.
Besides her dogs, her hobbies — swimming, playing tennis and entertaining — keep her busy.
Whether you move across the country or to a new country, one naturally misses what one had. "The people there [South Africa] have a wonderful earthiness about them, they love to take their shoes off and feel the earth beneath their feet," Cousens said.
Besides missing her family, Cousens also missed the easy-going nature of the people in South Africa and the game reserves. "Spending time watching game is a wonderfully healing past-time and allows you to glimpse a much bigger world that we are only a small part of," she added.
Her biggest adjustment was learning how to deal with the pace of life in the U.S. and different sense of time. In South Africa, no one works on a Sunday unless they really have to.
"My Alexandria Tales" is available at the following Old Town stores: The Christmas Attic, Classics & Country, The Virginia Shop, Hooray for Books, Fetch/Chateau Animaux and Olde Town School for Dogs.
It is also available as an ebook online at www.atlasbooks.com.