Central & Eastern Europe
Ukraine, Bulgaria, Poland, and Macedonia are all places from which Peace Corps Volunteers tell their stories from the field, accompanied by lesson plans that enhance their classroom value.
- Enough to Make Your Head Spin
- "I'll have coffee," I tell the waitress at a cafe during my first week in Bulgaria. She shakes her head from side to side. "OK, tea," I say, thinking that maybe there's something wrong with the coffee machine.
- The Extra Place
- But it was a man, a stranger. He was a refugee from Yugoslavia, he said, and he was looking for someplace where he could spend the night. He had no money; he had no place to go. He didn't know anyone in Warsaw.
- Fate vs. Mind: A Macedonian Folk Tale
- Once upon at time on a high mountain somewhere in Macedonia, Fate and Mind crossed paths.
- Half Man, Half Limping Rabbit
- If I didn't mention Dracula in the same breath as Romania, it would be like disregarding a pink elephant in the room, so I'll say it ... Dracula!
- Ivan the Fool
- Once upon a time, there was a czar who had three sons. When the time came for the sons to marry, the czar called them to his chamber.
- Just an Ordinary Day
- Before I left the States, I tried to imagine what my life in Romania would be like. I envisioned joining the Peace Corps as two years of roughing it.
- Lithuanian Gardens
- A garden actually plays another role besides being a source of food. It keeps the family together because the children are needed to work there.
- Looking Back
- People here in Macedonia talk about the past a lot.
- Mr. John and the Day of Knowledge
- I can imagine how a high diver must feel standing at the tip of the board, poised on the balls of his feet.
- Reduce, Re-use, Recycle
- Romania has turned me into a pack rat. Not that I didn't collect things in the past.
- The Third Question
- There are certain conversations and key phrases in Romanian that you get especially good at repeating when you become a Peace Corps Volunteer.
- To Your Health
- Many customs and traditions in Bulgaria are related to hopes for good health. When you make a toast, you say "Na zdrave," or "To health." On your birthday, friends, colleagues, and even perfect strangers tell you "to be full of life and health."
- The Train Ride Home
- As my taxi slows to approach the train station, it attracts a crowd of young men who begin to run swiftly behind the car. Even before the taxi stops, they are opening the doors and the trunk to grab my bags.
- A Year
- Leaves draw into themselves and fall from still trees.