Tag: Primary project

Aspirations

For Part 2 of the MST essay series, we are going to take a look at one of the touchier-feelier activities we did on the last day of Mid-Service Training. This activity was rereading our original Aspiration Statements from the Peace Corps Application. I feel that it deserves capitalization and the be recognized as a […]

Underutilized and misplaced

First off, let me say, not me. Well, not me outside the office. The problem is that I don’t want to be utilized or placed in the office. More on this later in this post. I’m struggling a bit with tone in these essay posts. My voice is my voice, but it starts to feel […]

Day of Sustainable Technology Transfer

It just doesn’t have the same ring to it though. However, discussing Thanksgiving during my Spanish conversation group this week, we stumbled upon what the day is really about. Sure, there are the parts about sharing the bounty of the harvest, but the really lasting effects were the knowledge transfer and capacity building from the […]

Ingenuity inspiration

I looked up the definition of ingenuity to make sure I was thinking about it properly. in·ge·nu·i·ty (n): the quality of being clever, original, and inventive. (from googling “definition ingenuity”) Turns out I knew the definition. Knowing the definition doesn’t change why I was thinking about it. I can believe that sometimes I am each […]

Working… Expocyteq and Cinvestav

I don’t write a lot about work for a variety of reasons, but yesterday was a good primary project day. I worked at my site’s booth in a science and technology exposition for kids. The focus of our booth was alternative energy, and there was a hands-on activity where the kids got to see wind, […]

(tee hee) I found some sustainable development at the office.

I’ve been meaning to take my new, big zoom lens to work for a while to capture the amazing insect world out there. Finally I remembered this week, and then the problem was that I had a lot of work to do. I kept trying to leave the office a bit early in the evening […]

Out of the fire and into something…

This week is Early In-Service Training. That’s all I can say about that right now, except that tomorrow is my “presentation” on my center and how the first 3 months have gone. I’ve been feeling a bit prickly about it, but hopefully I don’t come away too burned. Enough with the semi-puns now and I had […]

The questions not asked – an essay on service (#1)

I browse a lot of other blogs by Peace Corps volunteers and applicants. What has struck me recently is the misdirection of the rhetoric surrounding the questions to consider when applying or as you are applying. I’m writing this over a period of time to ensure that this is not just a long series of complaints, […]

(More than a few) Thoughts on teaching my first English Conversation Class

One of the most obvious benefits that we can provide as Peace Corps volunteers is English teaching. This is also clearly an emphasis for the organization, and that is no exception here in Mexico, even though in Tech Transfer, we are almost exclusively “specialists” with a variety of technical assignments. A few were given English […]

Pre-class snack champions

I taught my first English conversation class yesterday, so of course I had to prepare beforehand. Coffee and a Colombian treat carried me through in excellent style. More on this experience in a bit – the teaching experience, not the snacking experience. I have plenty of snacking success stories, but not enough pictures.

Furniture delivered…with style

I would like to say that this is the last post about moving in, but I’m very excited about my futon delivery on Thursday, so there will probably be a picture of that as well. These moving-in pictures and posts are what is happening in my life right now, but they are not interesting for […]