May 29, 2009 – Peace Corps Worldwide

A Writer Writes: Kitchen Diplomacy

May 29 2009

Kristin Ruger, who served in Kazakhstan, just received her Master’s Degree in Peace Studies and while it hasn’t (yet!) enabled her to get a job, it has helped her understand why “nations and people do the crazy things they do to each other.” Kristin currently lives, she writes, “with the woman of her dreams, whom she met while in the Peace Corps, and is currently searching for the ultimate brownie recipe.” Here is what Kristin has to say as she looks back at her Peace Corps career in Kazakhstan. • Kitchen Diplomacy by Kristin Ruger (Kazahkstan 2005-07) Very early into my Peace Corps training period in Kazakhstan, I got into the habit of walking through Qapshygay with my friend Greg. Qapshygay has seen better days. Although it is a “recreation zone” due to its proximity to a huge man-made resevoir, the main industry of the area had closed . . .

Becoming a Peace Corps Writer

May 29 2009

“Any clown with a sharp pencil can write out a dozen lines of verse and call them a poem. Not just any clown can fill 200 pages with prose and call it a [book]. Only the more determined clowns can get the job done.” Lawrence Block, from Writing the Novel: From Plot to Print We are all clowns in one way or another when it comes to writing. Here we are trying to “write a book” when we could be doing almost anything else that is more fun and less trouble. But our goal is important, if for no other reason than it will be recording and putting on paper a significant event in our life. I think that makes each of us special, saving on paper the Peace Corps experience. Writing Techniques In the course of this summer I will blog specifically about writing techniques and problems and possibilities . . .

Archive - May 29, 2009