I served in the Peace Corps from 2000-2002 in the small town of Smolyan, Bulgaria. It was gorgeous town nestled in the mountains of southern Bulgaria, about 12 KM north of Greece. Having spent a lot of years living around flat, Indiana cornfields, I enjoyed being in someplace so complete different.
As a Peace Corps volunteer, I taught English to middle and high school kids. I did other side projects as well, but my primary job was to teach English as a second language.
The United States Peace Corps has three goals for all volunteers:
1. Teach a sustainable skill
2. Bring knowledge of America, Americans, American culture, etc, to the people of our host nation.
3. Bring knowledge of our host nation back home to America.
Writing about my time in the Peace Corps definitely covers the 3rd goal. In fact, when volunteers return home, we all just want to talk about our two years of service to anyone willing to listen. Fortunately, there are RPCV (Returned Peace Corps Volunteers) groups filled with folks who never tire of our stories. I hope you enjoy what I include here.
Peace Corps. The toughest job I ever loved.
20 Nov 2011: What a Bunch of Turkeys! - Thanksgiving in Bulgaria. I'd already COS'd and was still in country, but the dinner was full of PCVs and RPCVs and plenty of of locals. What a fun evening. This is part of a letter I sent home - but in the form of an actual article. Yeah - I had a little fun with this one!
14 Nov 2011: Timisoara, Romania - I visited some PCVs here while in the middle of my own service in Bulgaria. It was nice to get an "insider's" perspective from another Peace Corps country.
03 Nov 2011: Pakistan - Not a place to which I've traveled, but a place about which I've learned a little bit thanks to the Calendar put together by the RPCV group in Madison, WI.
02 Nov 2011: 2011 Columbus International Festival - A fun festival here in Columbus that brings people from all sorts of different countries and cultures around the world.
26 Oct 2011: Third Goal - A bit more about our responsibilities as Peace Corps volunteers.
22 Oct 2011: So Hard to Quantify - What do we accomplish while serving as Peace Corps volunteers?
11 Oct 2011: RPCV Bulgaria - a general piece about my time in the Peace Corps.
14 Nov 2011: Timisoara, Romania - I visited some PCVs here while in the middle of my own service in Bulgaria. It was nice to get an "insider's" perspective from another Peace Corps country.
03 Nov 2011: Pakistan - Not a place to which I've traveled, but a place about which I've learned a little bit thanks to the Calendar put together by the RPCV group in Madison, WI.
02 Nov 2011: 2011 Columbus International Festival - A fun festival here in Columbus that brings people from all sorts of different countries and cultures around the world.
26 Oct 2011: Third Goal - A bit more about our responsibilities as Peace Corps volunteers.
22 Oct 2011: So Hard to Quantify - What do we accomplish while serving as Peace Corps volunteers?
11 Oct 2011: RPCV Bulgaria - a general piece about my time in the Peace Corps.
