Earlier this month, I gave a lecture to a group of United Methodist Men (and later to a local Rotary Club) about my experience with the Peace Corps. I am publishing that lecture here with only a few edits. I have also spliced in Wikipedia links every here and there. Please don’t regard those links […]
Category: Peace Corps
Collection of posts formerly titled under the blog I ran called “My Moroccan World” that detailed my time in Morocco as a Peace Corps Volunteer.
Some Thoughts on Reverse Culture Shock after Being Gone for Two Years
So, I know you’re all wondering what it’s like being back. I’ll do my best to explain it briefly. In a nutshell, it’s this strange sensation that makes you feel like you never actually left. But there’s this huge gap in your head and, to a lesser degree, your body that makes you feel like […]
Home.
I have so much crap. Like, seriously, why do I have so many t-shirts? So, yeah, my parents and sister picked me up yesterday in Nashville. Our first stop? The Bi-Centennial Mall, where I bought some Chinese Gun Powder tea so I can make Moroccan tea (cause yeah, they just buy the Chinese stuff). Then, […]
Also, this:
Many of you know I returned from my Peace Corps experience via cruise ship. I snapped this short video last night. It was a nice way to end the cruise:
St. Thomas of the U.S. Virgin Islands, or How I was Technically Home in America for Five Hours
How much can you really say about a place when you’re only there for six or seven hours? Honestly, if there’s one big critique I have about cruises, that might be it. At least stay overnight. Then again, St. Thomas was the first time I felt that way the whole cruise. Eight hours in Madeira […]
Hamza.
My host brother, Hamza (Omar’s brother), died a few days ago from internal bleeding in his kidneys. I just found out, so I thought I would share. Hamza was 18 and the nicest kid I think I ever met. That’s all I can really handle saying about it right now.
A Barbadian Thanksgiving at Sea
I’m not sure how many people know that Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. I was standing on deck earlier leaning over the railing and staring at the open sea trying to figure out why that is; I’ve discovered that staring blankly into a few thousand miles of ocean feeds my brooding mind. I went out […]
The Open Sea
Yesterday, when I was headed to board the MSC Poesia in Barcelona, there were two large buses shuttling passengers to the harbor. I stood in line next these absolutely beautiful Spanish girls and just thought, “Awesome.” Then when I showed the bus driver my ticket, he said, “No, no, your bus is the next bus. […]
Barcelona.
It’s honestly just a bit weird being back in a culture again where I don’t know the local language and can’t easily get around. Every time I take my change from someone at the restaurant, I have this awful tendency to say “Chokran” instead of “Gracias.” I really hope I don’t do that in America. […]
Driss.
When you live in the countryside of Morocco, and someone approaches you speaking English, I have to admit, I’m always just a little skeptical. A lot of the folks who want to use English with you will want to try out the five words of English they know, and that turns into a somewhat annoying […]
saunterings 