Megyn Rodriguez is a Returned Community Economic Development (CED) volunteer who served in a pueblo in Atlántico, Colombia - It is said over and over during training the importance of integration and making good impressions. After all, we are representing our country. A volunteer is most aware of this concept during their first months … Continue reading Explosive First Impressions
Kellie Mahoney is a Practical English for Success (PES) volunteer serving in a pueblo in Atlántico, Colombia - When I applied for the Peace Corps I knew that it entailed future failures. Whether I liked it or not, it would happen. I knew that I would be stressed, have my patience tested, face work challenges, … Continue reading Screams Internally
Maya Sadagopal is a Community Economic Development (CED) volunteer serving in a pueblo in Sucre, Colombia - I’m sitting in a classroom surrounded by the rubble of a school day in coastal Colombia; candy wrappers, empty plastic water bags, and crumpled paper litter the floor. The primary students have just left, and those pelaos never … Continue reading Failing with Friends
Edith Duggan is a Practical English for Success (PES) volunteer serving in a pueblo in Sucre, Colombia - While thinking about failures we face in the Peace Corps – I thought I didn’t have any relevant stories to share because I haven’t had any major struggles doing what’s expected of me as a volunteer. At … Continue reading When Your Bucket Breaks
Claire Nutter is a Practical English for Success (PES) volunteer serving in a pueblo in Atlántico, Colombia - I have always had an interesting relationship with the word “fail.” What does it mean to really fail? Is it when you try something with good intentions, and it doesn’t work out? Or is it when you … Continue reading Los Fracasos
Kaleb Rogers is a Community Economic Development (CED) volunteer serving in a pueblo in Atlántico, Colombia - It’s October 25th, 2017. I’m sitting in a rare oasis of air conditioning in the coordinators’ office at my local high school, excited to co-plan a new entrepreneurship curriculum. It’s tightly packed, maybe 60 square ft. The two … Continue reading What is Weak?
Thomas Russell is a Practical English for Success (PES) volunteer serving in a pueblo in Atlántico, Colombia - This is what kept me going in my first few months at site. Schedules change, counterparts change, space and time actually changes, but these lentils stay the same. They’re perfectly good without the meat; in fact, that … Continue reading Lentils with Chicken
Nakita Naik is a Community Economic Development (CED) volunteer serving in a pueblo in Bolívar, Colombia - Peace Corps Colombia’s Volunteer Advisory Council (VAC) offers a mini-grant worth 50 thousand Colombian Pesos (~15 USD) each month to which any Volunteer can apply to support a project. September’s winning applicant was CED volunteer Nakita Naik. Her … Continue reading VAC Minigrant Spotlight
Jane Haines is a Community Economic Development (CED) volunteer serving in a pueblo in Atlántico, Colombia - At the end of September, 2018, a new group of community economic development trainees reached the end of their training period. Language? Check. Practicum project? Check. Site visits? Check. One million tiny Styrofoam cups of coffee? Check. During … Continue reading Committing to Failure
Eric Brown is a Practical English for Success (PES) volunteer serving in a pueblo in Atlántico, Colombia. - Atlántico I flow forth from giant stacks Of metal and plastic and wires Of neon paint and costeño pride I fill the air I possess your hearts I infect your minds Love me … Continue reading Deafening Happiness
Hannah Everett is a Community Economic Development (CED) volunteer serving in Magdalena, Colombia. - “DO. RE. MI. FA. SOL. LA. SI.” The seven musical syllables of a solfège spelled out in sing-song Spanish. That’s what he told me they were, anyways. I told him I couldn’t possibly work with those chords, that those were … Continue reading A Message For Musicians
Rebecca Nash is a Community Economic Development (CED) volunteer serving in Magdalena, Colombia. - Since I can remember, I’ve been a singer. I’ve sung in choirs, in quartets and ensembles. I’ve won scholarships, attended a private arts school, and even randomly sang Christmas carols one time with the woman who performed as Rafiki on … Continue reading Fiddler’s Stage
Kaleb Rogers is a Community Economic Development (CED) volunteer serving in Atlántico, Colombia. - I’m sitting on the bus with my headphones in, pushing just enough air past my vocal chords to feel the sensation of singing without actually producing words. It’s not that it matters; nobody on this ostentatiously decorated death machine would … Continue reading I’m Going Through Some Changes
Mixie McConnell is a Practical English for Success (PES) volunteer serving in a pueblo in La Guajira, Colombia. - The first and only time I have made a playlist was with my best friend in South Korea for our going away party. We had battled with feeling lonely and having too much free time, … Continue reading My Peace Corps Playlist
Cutter Ulhorn is a Practical English for Success (PES) volunteer serving in a pueblo in La Guajira, Colombia. - Mirah – Lonestar Texas bleeds in and out. They do not tell you this when you are born. There is no talk when you are growing up, just on the verge of discovering yourself through … Continue reading Texas: A Fiction
