Integration. The process of becoming a part of a new community through introductions, interactions, and involvement in new things. A buzzword in the Peace Corps, usually said with a capital I.These last three weeks I have spent in my home-to-be for the next two years, taking the first baby steps in this process of integration. I've been…Read more A Taste of Things to Come
What I’m doing
Proofs of a Small World
The world is sometimes a very small place.When I first arrived in the Drakensberg (already more than three weeks ago; the time does fly!), I could not believe my eyes. The landscape of rolling hills, dry grasses accented with the lushness of Spring and agriculture, the fences along the road to keep out the cattle……Read more Proofs of a Small World
The “Yes Man” philosophy and other things
I have no pictures today, only a lot of words. And a link to a map. Perhaps you have heard of the "Yes Man" philosophy, a practice of unhesitatingly saying "yes" to whatever comes your way. The term, named from the book and movie adaptation Yes Man, was not one I had heard until recently,…Read more The “Yes Man” philosophy and other things
Where I’ve Been Lately
Dear Readers, I have been terrible about writing. Hostels, for all their benefits, are not the most ideal places to find the quiet I need to focus. Also, I'm lazy. For the last three weeks I've been hostel-jumping up the coast from Cape Town to Durban, then inland to my current location of Pietermaritzburg, Kwa-Zulu…Read more Where I’ve Been Lately
What I’m Doing, Part II
This is Part II. I'd recommend reading Part I first. The close of July marked the end of two weeks of teaching. A week ago, when I first drafted this post, I closed with the following paragraph: You will never meet a class more enthusiastic to be in school, even if 'school' is more enjoyable…Read more What I’m Doing, Part II
What I’m Doing, Part I
If you asked me what I would be doing before I came to Zambia, I probably told you some of the following: Teaching preschool Teaching elementary/middle/high school English Teaching adult ESL Teaching literacy Teaching elementary school math and/or science Teaching middle school math and/or science Teaching sex ed or, as it was delicately put, "reproductive…Read more What I’m Doing, Part I