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The posts below this are from a trip I took to Africa for my work as International Christian Science Group Coordinator at The First Church of Christ, Scientist.  Posts after this will relate to my preparation for and service in the Peace Corps. 

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January 14- "Bali Hai, It calls you..."

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When I was a Sophmore at Principia High School, a giant world map that filled up an entire wall was donated to the school.  It was put up in my history classroom, and the desk where I usually sat was right next to it - next to the South Pacific, to be exact.  I was fascinated by the little countries I had never heard of, and whenever I finished a test early I'd spend the rest of the time writing down the names of islands, to research later.  Tuvalu was the country that most attracted my interest, and when we were asked in English class to give a persuasive speech about an issue of our choosing I spoke about our responsibility to do something about climate change to prevent the entire nation of Tuvalu from sinking into the sea.  As I recall, my speech was pretty different from the others in my class - which tended to be about things like the need for changes to the school dress code (an explosive topic at Principia in my day). My interest in the Pacific Islands ...
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June 15 - Why Peace Corps is Hard

A lot of you have probably heard the “Toughest Job You’ll Ever Love” slogan about Peace Corps.   I’ve been here about a year now – one year on June 27 – and have done my best to share the experience through this blog.   I think most of my posts have confirmed the “love” part of that slogan – I do love this job.   It’s a truly amazing experience.   Whenever I leave or return to my village, I ride a motorcycle along beautiful red dirt roads, through fields that are now turning green again, past herds of white cattle and groups of brightly-dressed girls and women carrying big basins of water on their heads.   Dozens of people – the girls carrying water, men working in the fields or relaxing in the shade of trees – wave and call out my name.   “Gorado!   Gorado!”   The name I’ve been given means “One who has been sent from far away to achieve a mission, and returns with a good result.”   What a vote of confidence!   I have spent much of ...
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February 24 - What Peace Corps is Like Now

Was the last post I wrote really about Ramadan?   It’s certainly been a while.   I remember during our Peace Corps staging how we were told that you find lots of first year blogs online, about all the struggles of getting ones service started, but the writing falls off sharply once volunteers get into their second year.   I guess I’ve fallen into that trend.   So many things have happened that have made me think “what a good blog post topic!”   But that’s as far as the ideas have gotten.   So to get things going again, I’ll write about a very simple topic – what is Peace Corps like now, 4 months since I last wrote, and 6 months until the official end of my service?   1.        Peace Corps is Comfortable   It doesn't feel like a major accomplishment to get through a day now.  Sure, I have hard days - but it's sort of the same as having a hard day back in Boston, or in college - just a tough...
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