Archive - February 2014

Paradise in Front of Me – Realizing Life’s Beauty in an Unexpected Place by Kevin G. Finch (Honduras 2004–06) Peace Corps Writers $$12.95 (paperback), $4.95 (Kindle) 240 pages 2014 Reviewed by Ben East (Malawi 1996–98) The recurring image in Kevin G. Finch’s Paradise in Front of Me is that of an impoverished Honduran child looking up at a locked schoolhouse door. Shut out again. The author and the residents of El Paraíso repeatedly find their plans scuttled: by naked madmen in San Juan, cancelled classes in Monte Cristo, failed transportation to Cuyalí, striking teachers, impassable rivers, traveling gringo evangelicals . . . there’s no end to the obstacles in this Honduran state near the border with Nicaragua. “The teachers are on strike,” Finch writes towards the end, “and another day is wasted in the future of Honduras.  The child blinks his eyes to bat away the drops of rain running down from . . .

85 Days in Cuba: A True Story about Friendship and Struggle Brandon Valentine (Jamaica 2000–04, Panamá 2006–09) iUniverse $17.96 (paperback); $3.99 (Kindle) 264 pages 2006 Reviewed by Bob Arias (Colombia 1964-66) I was asked to read this book by the author in 2009 . . . and I did not. Bummer, the message was clear then as it is now! Friendship and loyalty to those around you are essential to who we are . . . as Brandon tells us in his “trip” to the island nation of Cuba . . . or was this trip just to be with his best friend, Carlos and his family in Cuba? Quien sabe! Brandon had spent three years as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Jamaica from 2000 to 2004 in a very poor section of Kingston teaching . . . and his neighbor was Carlos from Cuba. (An interesting note, Walt and Linda are Brandon’s parents, and they were Volunteers . . .

Marnie Mueller (Ecuador 1963-65) will be appearing at the Berkshire Festival of Woman Writers in a panel discussion entitled Balancing the Personal and the Political with writers Carol Ascher and Laurie Lisle, taking place on Thursday, March 6, 2014 at the Kirpalu Center for Yoga and Health, Route 183, Lenox, MA, 7PM. Seating is limited, pre-registration required.  Please call 866-200-5203

Frances, you were part of the short-lived Peace Corps experiment to recruit families to be Peace Corps Volunteers. When you joined how big was your family? My husband Paul and I had four children in 1971. Daniel had just turned 11. Our daughter Nancy was 8; Peter turned 6 right after we were in, and Matthew turned 3 that August. . With a large family, why did you join? We happened to be in between jobs deciding what we should do next when we found out about the Peace Corps taking families. The Peace Corps was  something we were always interested in and decide why not.  It sounded like the perfect thing for us at the time and we felt up to the challenge of contributing in this manner. We also felt it would be a wonderful educational experience for our family. . Where were you sent as Volunteer? We . . .

Wanderlust Satisfied by Kay Gillies Dixon (Colombia 1962–64) Peace Corps Writers 159 Pages $12.00 (paperback), $3.99 (Kindle) 2013 Reviewed by Helene Ballmann Dudley (Colombia 1968–70, Albania/Slovakia 1997–99) One aspect of a good memoir is its ability to identify commonality in the human experience.  I thought Kay Gillies Dixon had borrowed my mother and my life for the first section of her book.  Kay, like myself, wanted something more than the rather limited path laid out for her to follow. Her roots were deep in western Pennsylvania, but her eyes were scanning the horizon for adventures unknown and definitely not understood in her small town. While Kay paints a vivid picture of growing up in Pennsylvania, including more than I ever wanted to know about Thanksgiving turkeys, she left me wanting more about her Peace Corps experience.  Perhaps it was because, as she writes “Our efforts in urban community development work . . .

I Loved You More by Tom Spanbauer (Kenya 1969–71) Hawthorne Books & Literary Arts $18.95 466 Pages April 1, 2014 Reviewed by Marnie Mueller (Ecuador 1963-65) I began reading Tom Spanbauer’s new novel, I Loved You More, with high expectations. When I Googled him I had found that he was an acclaimed author with four previous novels. When I read the French flap of the beautifully produced book, I was even more intrigued.  It was a story of a triangle, two men and one woman, two of whom are straight and one a gay man who at times loved women. It was also partially set New York City in the 1980’s during the first confused whisperings of the AIDS plague, a time I remember all too well, when fear and later terror permeated all our lives. We didn’t know what was happening, why friends, lovers, neighbors, and family were getting . . .

[Paradise in Front of Me is a collection of inspirational, heartbreaking, and comical short stories about a Peace Corps couple’s experiences in a small  site in Central America called El Paraíso. The village is nestled in the mountains of southeast Honduras. Although its name means “paradise,” the town is a place of extreme poverty. In 2004, Kevin and Cristina Finch, were assigned to El Paraíso, and as PCVs focused on AIDS education and community development. Life in El Paraíso was at first a tough go, and Kevin and Cristina were about to ET when strange changes begin to transpire. Through a variety of characters, humorous events, and life-changing experiences, Kevin’s memoir describes how their lives were transformed. As Kevin writes, “Perhaps paradise does exist where one least expects.” Here is my interview with Kevin about his new book published by Peace Corps Writers.] Kevin, where are you from in the . . .