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Some thirty Kazakhstanis and four Americans were in charge of our training in a village near Almaty, home of Kazakhstan’s international airport. But first, we had to get there. The Peace Corps brought us to Washington DC … Read More
We knew we’d be able to come home whenever we wanted, theoretically. The Peace Corps does not want volunteers who don’t want to be there. It’s not the army, after all. In practical terms, though, it would be … Read More
“Flexibility, patience, and a sense of humor characterize the successful Peace Corps volunteer,” or PCV, as the recruiter actually said, using the acronym that would soon became part of our everyday vocabulary. He may have been referring to … Read More
The teacher’s lounge turned out to be a narrow room in the back of Room 46. Long and narrow, with windows at one short end, it was the size of the coatroom in my fourth-grade class at … Read More
In the Peace Corps, my official job was Teacher Trainer: I taught English at a teacher’s college. A few of my classes were taught in concert with a local teacher. Over my two years I team-taught with five different teachers. One … Read More
Here’s another of my many Deleted Scenes (they are growing weekly, as I continue to fine tune my manuscript). This one features two of my colleagues, Gulzhahan and Gulzhan. Their names are so similar, my readers often get confused. … Read More
My friend Abby once suggested that I add recipes from my time in Kazakhstan to my blog. “Everyone loves recipes,” she told me. A popular potluck dish has been on my mind lately, perhaps because the omnipresent eggplant has … Read More