September 18, 2024 – Peace Corps Worldwide

Paseo Maritimi (Majorca Poem)

Sep 18 2024

The woman in the hotel pool swam in steady lengths, Mindless of the Mediterranean, The yellow sun on harbor walls, The dance of docked white yachts. Mindless as well of my gin and tonic, Or Robert Graves, buried in the thick crust of Deya. Her blond hair combed the turquoise water. Beyond the high tips of palm trees, Palma de Malorca rushed by, While she kept pace in her wet world. Swimmers know nothing but their breath, The pull of muscles, coolness of flesh. She did not know us, watching her slight body, Tan limbs framed in red. I moved my drink with the care given antiques, Wanting to hold the yellowness of light Caught in the glass, Wanting to hold this last image Of the island, the woman, and the sea. Then she rose from the water with a rush, Spraying . . .

In That Time of Their Lives — Jeremiah Norris (Colombia)

Sep 18 2024

RPCVs in the news — by Jeremiah Norris (Colombia 1963-65) . . . The Peace Corps came into existence through an Executive Order from the President of the U. S. in March 1961. It had three complimentary goals, the 3rd of which stated: “To help promote a better understanding of other peoples on the part of Americans”. This Goal, often summarized as “bringing it back home”, has always been something of an afterthought—because it lacks documentation, though it is worth documenting …it represents a Return on Investment (ROI) that is unmatched by any other Congressional appropriation. In the decades that followed, it passed through two events of global consequence, either one which could have resulted in its organizational demise: the Viet Nam War and the Covid-19 epidemic. In the past several years, one would have to have been an expert in forensic sciences to find any article in the press or social . . .

Archive - September 18, 2024