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The Great Adventure
an interesting collection of stories written by Returned PC Volunteers
242 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1997
65 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
January 27, 2024
I enjoyed this trip around the world. Written in 2002, some of these statements are surprising, but here's some quotes. Keep in mind that each essay was written even longer ago, as I notate.
p.21 There was a distinct advantage to being older in the culture of Central Asia. To these people, age and wisdom are assumed to be linked, and I was treated with respect and a certain deference, which I, of course, came to appreciate.
I tried to wear my doppas (sic) once in a while after I returned to the United States, but nobody at home told me that I looked like a wise elder. I miss that, a lot. - John Smart, Uzbekistan 1995-1998
p.38-39 Fetching water in the ink-black night and looking up the hill at our small hut, light from the lantern inside splitting the bamboo-thatched walls, I would think of the spiritual wealth of Maimafu and the material wealth of America: Can a community reach a balance of material wealth and spiritual wealth? Why do these two societies exhibit so much of one and not much of the other? Do those two ends interfere with each other? How much spiritual wealth can we have? How much material wealth do we need? How has the world evolved so that some people own mansions and others lack shoes? How many people have love in their souls but diseased water in their drinking cups? - Robert Soderstrom, Papua New Guinea 1996
p.46-47 For two years I lived in a country with no seasons. We measured time by other means than falling leaves or snow, new buds on trees. ...this place of 12-hour days and 12-hour nights. ... There will always be "now" and "today," while the names we give them, 3:15 of August 8, are only names, and names that change. -Katherine Jamieson, Guyana 1996-1998
p.56 They recognized my values even though they did not share them. -Donna Gessell, Fiji 1979-1982
p.67 In America, time is money, but here time is different. Time is just now, nothing more. -Roz Wollmering, Guinea-Bissau 1990-1992
p.79 Now, back home, I'm pressed by all the "instant" things to do. In Ukraine, accomplishing two simple objectives in one day - like successfully phoning Kiev from the post office and then finding a store with milk - satisfied me pretty well. ... Now it takes an hour of fast driving to get to work, as opposed to 12 minutes of leisurely walking in Ukraine. - John P. Deever, Ukraine 1993-1995
p.82 ...Tongan culture, where fat is beautiful. I tried to compensate for my lack of bulk by being very "anga lelei" (good-natured), which was their most cherished personality trait. - Tina Martin, Tona 1969-1971
p. 115-116 "Learn the language..." Once the language barrier started to dissipate, I began to see past my own comfort zone and my eyes opened to a culture much bigger and far more fascinating than I. ...
In "Beyond the Veil," Fatima Merniss writes:
"The Islamic Veil originated in 18th century Samaria. It was worn by Samarian women to symbolize a woman's freedom - that she should not be assaulted because she is shielded by the veil. Without the veil, she is tempting the man to think about sex. With the veil she saves him from the opportunity to have bad thoughts.
...What most Western women fail to understand is the freedom offered by a veil. Donning the shapeless sheet does not convey that women are not equal. A woman who chooses to veil is a woman who is convinced by Allah's word as it is written in the Koran, the holy book of Islam. It extends the idea of protection by secluding her in the holy world of Islam. She is not to be bothered. She is not fair game. She has made a conscious decision. Younger women in Tunisia are veiling. This, for the most part, is political support of fundamentalism. -Lora Parisien, Tunisia 1989-1991
p.160 Haiti was the slave ships' last stop before the United States, and the place and people have the look of Africa.
p.167-168 The Peace Corps' secret weapon is example. This example proclaims that in America, the color of a Volunteer's skin, or a human's religious or political beliefs, do not determine personal dignity and worth. ... Rarely have these decisions spawned discontent. Far more often, they have elicited admiration.
p.170 Living in the developing world, Peace Corps Volunteers have learned new facts of life. They have escaped from what is all too often a kind of cultural imprisonment, brought on by American affluence, and exposed themselves to the reality of life in much of the world. This is a world that, for all of its richness of culture, often still lives on the edge of survival.
p.171 ...they need not sit by impotently while others suffer. That, too, is an important lessons for America.
p.174 Is peace simply the abscense of war? Or is it the absence of the conditions that bring on war, the conditions of hunger, disease, poverty, illiteracy, and despair?
When fifty percent of the children die in a village before they are five, when women walk miles for water and then search for wood to cook by, when farmers leave their villages where there are no jobs to flock to cities where there are no jobs, when neighbors ethnically cleanse their neighbors, then let's face it, America, the world is not at peace.
And here at home, when fifty percent of our children live below the poverty level in many of our cities, when the homeless abound on our streets, when our nation's capital is bankrupt and our schools require metal detectors, racial tensions abound and immigrant bashing and downsizing terrorize loyal workers, then let's face it, America, we are not at peace.
p.21 There was a distinct advantage to being older in the culture of Central Asia. To these people, age and wisdom are assumed to be linked, and I was treated with respect and a certain deference, which I, of course, came to appreciate.
I tried to wear my doppas (sic) once in a while after I returned to the United States, but nobody at home told me that I looked like a wise elder. I miss that, a lot. - John Smart, Uzbekistan 1995-1998
p.38-39 Fetching water in the ink-black night and looking up the hill at our small hut, light from the lantern inside splitting the bamboo-thatched walls, I would think of the spiritual wealth of Maimafu and the material wealth of America: Can a community reach a balance of material wealth and spiritual wealth? Why do these two societies exhibit so much of one and not much of the other? Do those two ends interfere with each other? How much spiritual wealth can we have? How much material wealth do we need? How has the world evolved so that some people own mansions and others lack shoes? How many people have love in their souls but diseased water in their drinking cups? - Robert Soderstrom, Papua New Guinea 1996
p.46-47 For two years I lived in a country with no seasons. We measured time by other means than falling leaves or snow, new buds on trees. ...this place of 12-hour days and 12-hour nights. ... There will always be "now" and "today," while the names we give them, 3:15 of August 8, are only names, and names that change. -Katherine Jamieson, Guyana 1996-1998
p.56 They recognized my values even though they did not share them. -Donna Gessell, Fiji 1979-1982
p.67 In America, time is money, but here time is different. Time is just now, nothing more. -Roz Wollmering, Guinea-Bissau 1990-1992
p.79 Now, back home, I'm pressed by all the "instant" things to do. In Ukraine, accomplishing two simple objectives in one day - like successfully phoning Kiev from the post office and then finding a store with milk - satisfied me pretty well. ... Now it takes an hour of fast driving to get to work, as opposed to 12 minutes of leisurely walking in Ukraine. - John P. Deever, Ukraine 1993-1995
p.82 ...Tongan culture, where fat is beautiful. I tried to compensate for my lack of bulk by being very "anga lelei" (good-natured), which was their most cherished personality trait. - Tina Martin, Tona 1969-1971
p. 115-116 "Learn the language..." Once the language barrier started to dissipate, I began to see past my own comfort zone and my eyes opened to a culture much bigger and far more fascinating than I. ...
In "Beyond the Veil," Fatima Merniss writes:
"The Islamic Veil originated in 18th century Samaria. It was worn by Samarian women to symbolize a woman's freedom - that she should not be assaulted because she is shielded by the veil. Without the veil, she is tempting the man to think about sex. With the veil she saves him from the opportunity to have bad thoughts.
...What most Western women fail to understand is the freedom offered by a veil. Donning the shapeless sheet does not convey that women are not equal. A woman who chooses to veil is a woman who is convinced by Allah's word as it is written in the Koran, the holy book of Islam. It extends the idea of protection by secluding her in the holy world of Islam. She is not to be bothered. She is not fair game. She has made a conscious decision. Younger women in Tunisia are veiling. This, for the most part, is political support of fundamentalism. -Lora Parisien, Tunisia 1989-1991
p.160 Haiti was the slave ships' last stop before the United States, and the place and people have the look of Africa.
p.167-168 The Peace Corps' secret weapon is example. This example proclaims that in America, the color of a Volunteer's skin, or a human's religious or political beliefs, do not determine personal dignity and worth. ... Rarely have these decisions spawned discontent. Far more often, they have elicited admiration.
p.170 Living in the developing world, Peace Corps Volunteers have learned new facts of life. They have escaped from what is all too often a kind of cultural imprisonment, brought on by American affluence, and exposed themselves to the reality of life in much of the world. This is a world that, for all of its richness of culture, often still lives on the edge of survival.
p.171 ...they need not sit by impotently while others suffer. That, too, is an important lessons for America.
p.174 Is peace simply the abscense of war? Or is it the absence of the conditions that bring on war, the conditions of hunger, disease, poverty, illiteracy, and despair?
When fifty percent of the children die in a village before they are five, when women walk miles for water and then search for wood to cook by, when farmers leave their villages where there are no jobs to flock to cities where there are no jobs, when neighbors ethnically cleanse their neighbors, then let's face it, America, the world is not at peace.
And here at home, when fifty percent of our children live below the poverty level in many of our cities, when the homeless abound on our streets, when our nation's capital is bankrupt and our schools require metal detectors, racial tensions abound and immigrant bashing and downsizing terrorize loyal workers, then let's face it, America, we are not at peace.
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December 31, 2022Airport read while waiting & waiting.
September 12, 2011
I found this book uplifting and shed light on stories that I do not think we hear enough in our world. How does someone leave a country of such great wealth, often with great skills themselves and offers of money-making endeavors, to travel to the developing world to assist in small efforts to move people into a more fulfilling life? This book shares three or four page reflections from these lives. Receiving this book in college from a booth set up on the Peace Corps, I waited about 4 years to read this book and receive its tidings. I’m amazed by the effort, by the isolation, but by the relationships built in this experience. Could I do it? I’d like to say I could, but probably not right now. Thank you Peace Corps!
January 10, 2008
I must have read this free PC propaganda book a million times before joining myself. I think everyone joins hoping they will be that volunteer whose legacy lasts forever or is changed completely by the experience. After my own incredible assignment, I now understand that these stories are only a sliver of the whole experience and are that much sweeter when you live them for yourself!
If you want to join Peace Corps, I would still recommend learning about the less sugar-coated experiences, as those are far more common although they make everything far more interesting!
If you want to join Peace Corps, I would still recommend learning about the less sugar-coated experiences, as those are far more common although they make everything far more interesting!
August 5, 2010
If you're interested in joining the Peace Corps, but want to know more about the life of a volunteer, this is a great book to check out. It made me feel a lot better about my decision to begin the Peace Corps' application process. The book is a little dated, but is still full of good inspiring essays. A plus side of it being divided in essays is that you can read a little at a time and soak it all in.
April 10, 2015
The failings of this book relate entirely to the fact that it is clearly a propaganda piece, and therefore has the necessary government-approved blandness. Nonetheless, I enjoyed the collection of returned PCVs, and it's an overall decent collection of short travel stories.
October 27, 2007
an interesting collection of stories written by Returned PC Volunteers
July 20, 2009
So Peace Corps.
Want to read
April 24, 2015I registered a book at BookCrossing.com!
http://www.BookCrossing.com/journal/13094592
http://www.BookCrossing.com/journal/13094592
Want to read
January 29, 2008this one is always a good one to re-read; short, inspiring stories.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews