“I took this photo at my host family’s home in a village in Armenia. I have lived with my host family for one year, and plan to stay with them until the end of my service. There is so much love and understanding in this village, and whenever I miss home, being around the locals clarifies any doubts I have about my service. My work here, it is important to me, but my relationship with the locals means so much more.”
Meet the Istratis. These are my host parents, Victor and Galina. They have 3 children, all married and living abroad and part of the many who have left the Republic of Moldova in search of greener pastures. Victor and Galina are both retired. He was the former mayor of the village while she previously worked as an accountant while he’s in office. Since retiring, they have spent all of their time in the farm cultivating crops, tending their vineyard, and feeding their farm animals.
For the past year, my host family ensured hot meals for me to eat, a comfortable room for me to rest, a huge extended family for me to feel at home with, and an experience for me to cherish and remember for the rest of my life. I still have another year left of service but I will miss them immensely without any doubt.
Momma’s House in Kavre, Nepal ममको घर 💖🏡🏔🌾 I’ll never forget what it feels like to come home to these people. So grateful for the time and love shared. 🌻🌺🙏🏼#foundation #home #nepal #nepali #peacecorps #fbf #flashbackfriday #alwayshome #alwaysremember #community #love
My new baby host-bro…welcome to the world, Abdessamad! #tiny #3daysold #baby #babiesofmorocco #peacecorps #PCmorocco
It may be late but I finally got them uploaded. Here are some photos of my host family in training village. And yes this photo is fairly indicative of the attitudes of most Gambians - they are constantly smiling and laughing.
This was one of the most awkward but greatest days here in Cambodia. My old host family from Pre-service training drove all the way to my province to visit me and meet my new family! About 20 people piled into a van and threw me a party in my new house.
My two host families are complete opposites so I was really nervous about my old host family coming to visit. My old host family was very loud, hyper, loved to dance and party, and very outgoing while my new host family is very quiet, conservative, and polite. When they came over to my new house, everything was so awkward because my two families were so different. But they both loved me so they both tried to get along with each other which I truly appreciated. In the last picture you can see my new host mom (pink shirt) and my old host mom (light blue shirt) talking about me. My old host mom was giving her advice on what to cook for me and what I like and don’t like.
It was such a fun day filled with cooking, dancing, talking, and drinking! Even though it was awkward, we made the best of it and it will always be one of the coolest days of my service!
There are people who impact your service in ways that you never thought they would. Both good and bad. This woman is the best of the best. A tutor, a counter part, a rock and our Mom. #peacecorps #peacecorpskyrgyzstan #howiseepc #Апа #кыргызстан (at г. Каракол)
My host father works as a cook at my primary school. For weeks he’s been asking me to take a picture of him as he sokas, or stirs, the gigantic pots of papa with a sekoane, a specially trimmed branch. Every day, our school cooks make enough food for 300 students in the kitchen’s huge cast iron pots. For breakfast everyone gets porridge, or lesheleshele. For lunch, there’s always papa, and then a protein - beans, canned fish, or split peas. Underneath the cooking pots are fires that must be constantly tended. So, in addition to preparing the food, the cooks also split wood in the school yard. The worst part of the job is clean-up - having to scrape and scrub those pots.
“No Electricity…No Worries. This photo was taken in Fiji during my sewing workshop. I am teaching this mother and daughter how to fix their beautiful old sewing machine.”
Candid - rainy afternoon spent in the cooking hut with a fire. Host papa has a cold so I gave him some peppermint tea.
I could not have asked for a more perfect host brother. Arjhay is hysterical, mischievous, and intelligent. I will miss playing make believe with him and how he would tell me obvious things in loud/slow Tagalog (”Kuya James, wash your hands before you eat!”).
We shared a birthday for a reason!
Almost everyone from my village after harvesting my host family’s fish pond and small dam. Fish harvests draw a big crowd… everyone wants to eat some fish!
“We went on a summer hike in the mountain surrounding a lake in the Republic of Armenia. After the hike, my younger host brothers and I were enjoying some summer watermelon. I asked to cut the watermelon into slices with the rind, told my host brothers about a watermelon game (eating contest) and we went at it. It was a great cross-cultural experience that was one of my last moments before I COS’d. On this day, my host sister, who was 12 years old at the time, captured this event without us ever knowing. I had given her my camera and she caught us in the moment of our first watermelon eating contest in a small village in Armenia.”
