Last week, I told you about my experience on the Peace Corps Top Bloggers’ Tour in Washington, D.C., but I didn’t tell you a whole lot about the 7 other amazing bloggers I met there. If you’re reading my blog, you probably enjoy reading about Peace Corps, life abroad, travel, and unexpected encounters with oversized insects (ok, well maybe not that last one… #gottacatchemall). Thus, I’m quite certain you’ll also not only love to meet these awesome humans, but that you’ll enjoy reading their blogs and learning about their countries as well.
These bloggers came from literal opposite corners of the globe to DC for the same purpose: to share our experiences in many different cultures with people in the United States, and to get better at our jobs.
Without further ado, and in order from left to right in the photo at the top of the blog…
Coconut to the Head by Zach Agerton, Samoa
Zach Agerton hails from Gainesville, Georgia, from a family filled with people who have given back to their communities and their countries, and whose work focuses on students with special needs. Not only is his work impactful, but his photos are spectacular – pretty much every photo on the blog looks like a postcard. He brought a drink called Koko Samoa to DC for us to try, which is a special kind of chocolate that was introduced to Samoa in the 19th Century. It’s super simple to make, and packs an enormous caffeine kick, which we all learned as I grew progressively more and more hyperactive as I drank it.
Color Me Madagascar by Olivia Prentzel, Madagascar
Olivia is originally from New Jersey, and now lives in what she likes to call the “Deep South” of Madagascar. Her blog is particularly amazing for a few reasons: she is a journalist, so her approach and voice carries wonderful depth. Her internet is too slow to load the backend of her site, so she drafts her posts and WhatsApps them to her sister to post (shoutout to the BEST sister ever). And, she somehow got a SPEAR through customs. Before meeting her, I pictured jungle, beach, and lemurs. Now I’ve got a newfound appreciation for the fourth-largest island in the world. And for her host sister, Sylvie.
This Amharican Life by Bukhtawer, Ethiopia
Bukhtawer is another person who reminds me that Monday Bazaar is 100% amateur hour. Her name means “good fortune,” and she has no family name, so she is already on par with some of the coolest people in the world like Beyoncé, Björk, and Oprah. And then I opened up her blog and saw her post on Ethiopian coffee culture, which let’s face it, should be in Nat Geo. It was really cool hearing from her about her experiences as a fellow health volunteer, but also an on-the-ground perspective and recounting of some of what’s been going on lately in Ethiopia, which is not being reported widely in international media. Her internet access is very sporadic, but that means her posts are especially well polished. She’s still got over a year left in her service, so she’s someone with a lot of cool experiences ahead of her, and you can bet she’ll be nailing documenting them.
Letters From Guyana by Gabriella Miyares, Guyana
Gabriella is a New Yorker, an artist, and a writer, which means that she carries with her the most glorious wit into every conversation, drawing, and piece that she publishes. Gabriella provided us with endless enlightenment and entertainment not only by casually mentioning her omnipresent rides in speedboats to and from the ATM, but also by teaching us phrases of Guyanese Creole, which is a version of English that is the main language in Guyana. Some of the phrases are similar, some are different, and some we are all fully committed to adopting in our everyday life, in particular “Me na able,” which is used in the same context as “I literally can’t even.” For “Inktober,” she worked on a project sharing 31 of her favorite phrases in ink drawings, and you can see them over on her Instagram. I’m very seriously hoping we both wind up in grad school in New York together to confuse people at brunch with casual mentions of speedboats.
Siyah En Peru (Previously Siyah in Turkey) by Brittany White, Peru
Brittany is also from New York (though she’s quick to point out that she’s from upstate), but she also spent a good chunk of life living in Istanbul, Turkey (where she caught the blogging bug) and as an AmeriCorps volunteer in Philadelphia. In addition to putting my little post about Istanbul to shame, her insightful writing on the experience of traveling as an African-American woman has encouraged a lot of thought on my part on the different ways that people experience travel and the world. Not to mention the fact that she went from zero to full-on fluent in Spanish in less than 18 months. Her post on her 24 hour bus ride to Lima is a definite highlight, and makes me wish we had buses that nice in Kyrgyzstan.
Jennifer Myung, Peace Corps Mongolia by Jennifer Myung, Mongolia
Jenni is an English teacher serving in Mongolia right now, which right away got me super excited because of the chance to compare and contrast two of the nomadic cultures of Central Asia, how they are similar and different, and how the two societies differ after their different relationships with communism. Also, the stories she has about the volunteers there that live in yurts makes us here in Kyrgyzstan grateful for our comfortable beds and, at least in my case, my electric heater. Her blog is a wonderful trip into familiar territory like mayonnaise on everything and blowtorched sheep heads, but also into the differences of these nuanced and yet distinct cultures.
No Sleep Till Peace by Brooklynn Adelman, Peru
Brooklynn is an incredible third-year volunteer from Houston serving in Lima, Peru, after spending two years in a small village in the north of the country. In addition to being a social media guru, she also is an accomplished musician, and now works on a project developing a youth symphony in Lima. How’s that for a great example of you can make anything you want out of your Peace Corps service! I had no idea how diverse Peru was until she began to recount some of her stories of her village compared to Lima, and comparing them to Brittany’s stories. What a unique chance to learn about a country that is FAR more diverse than your friends’ selfies at Macchu Picchu would lead you to believe.
And in case you forgot who I am…
Monday Bazaar by Mark Jahnke, Kyrgyz Republic
Let’s face it, you either know my story, or you’ve already (or are about to go) read my About Me page or my Why I Joined The Peace Corps post.
Once again, here’s all the links to these amazing folks, who you should ALL follow and continue to read as they continue to step up their blogging game. I miss them like crazy already.
Brittany White, Peru: Siyah En Peru, Instagram
Bukhtawer, Ethiopia: This Amharican Life, Instagram
Zack Agerton, Samoa: Coconut to the Head, Instagram
Gabriella Miyares, Guyana: Letters from Guyana, Instagram
Olivia Prentzel, Madagascar: Color Me Madagascar, Instagram
Brooklynn Adelman, Peru: No Sleep Till Peace, Instagram
Jenni Myung, Mongolia: Jennifer Myung, Peace Corps Mongolia, Instagram
Mark Jahnke, Kyrgyz Republic: Monday Bazaar, Instagram
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