The students are gathered around the compound of the school, sheltered from the blistering sun under the 'peachy-pink' painted corridor. It’s the first general assembly on the first day of the new school year. The principal, a well-put-together and passionate man equipped with a handful of notes and a microphone, runs through the announcements and [...]
I adjusted my wide-brimmed hat to block the blinding early morning sun in front of me. The mud stuck to my boots like suction-cups with each step I took on an open path. Two tire-tracks were imprinted into the soft ground, evident of a vehicle having recently driven up the path. Beyond the various types [...]
I sit back on the beat-in couch, the fan quietly hums as it passes back and forth. A single candle on my table quietly illuminates the kitchen. Other than the candle, the small television across the room serves as the sole source of light. It was Friday night, and I was mindlessly watching episodes of [...]
The bell rang throughout the schoolyard, echoing into my classroom. On the surface I remained calm and collected as the students anxiously closed their day with a prayer and were dismissed. Meanwhile, inside I was overcome with relief that the day was over. I almost laughed to myself as the expression, “saved by the bell” [...]
“Please raise your right hand and repeat after me,” Linda Taglialatela, US Ambassador to Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean said. We raised our hands and recited the oath of becoming a Peace Corps Volunteer, thus officially swearing-in and beginning our service as full-fledged volunteers. One at a time, we made our way across the stage [...]
*Knock *Knock The bus veered to the side of the road while the conductor slid the door open. Squeezing past, my host brother Dexter and I climbed out of the bus, which again is really just a large van. Standing on my toes to stretch out my legs, I looked around to find myself on [...]
“Wanna go for a walk?” my host sister, Satera, asked as I ate dinner on the balcony of my homestay. “Sure,” I responded; pleased to have the opportunity to walk around and orient myself with the area. Together we walked down the steep drive to the main road, turned right and began heading up the [...]
Have you ever woken up in the morning from an incredibly vivid dream and wonder, “Did that really just happen?” It was early May, I had just graduated from Capital University and moved back home. I had about a month to prepare for the Peace Corps by condensing my life into two suitcases. Consequently, I [...]
Dear EC89, Seven weeks ago, I arrived in Miami not really knowing what to expect. You all were just profiles on Facebook until I began meeting each one of you face to face. I, like many of you, had just come from a farewell party where I said goodbye to all my friends, family, and [...]
I wander aimlessly around the training center, laptop in hand, hoping to connect to the wifi just long enough to find a copy of a short story. A dozen or so of the other trainees were scattered throughout the room in the late afternoon. Some were writing stories on flipchart paper, others typing worksheets, and [...]