At the end of the chaos that was evacuation, in the peaceful and alarmingly quiet days of shutdown, I think often of where I was 2 months ago. And though I know I’m in the right place now—at home in Ohio—I yearn for the heat, liveliness, and fabulously caring community of my life in Myanmar.

Sometimes my fridge contains only an apple or two, but more often than not there are five, six, seven… or more. One day last week I counted 11 apples.

Volunteering with the Peace Corps isn't easy, but collaboration and inspiration can come from the most unexpected places.

I wake up at 6:30 a.m. to the sound of a woman shouting her wares as she walks by my house, a basket balancing high on her head. “Eggs!” she yells, “boiled eggs!”

The Thai phrase “jai yen yen” which literally means “keep a cool heart” is very special to me and happens to be tattooed over my heart.

Sports have always been my favorite way to connect with people. Soccer, Ultimate Frisbee, Tee-ball – it never mattered what the game was; instead, what mattered was the community and confidence it inspired.

I remember precisely the time and place when I got the news that I had received an invitation to join the Peace Corps in Myanmar. 

Recently, while settling in to watch the new Avengers movie with my counterpart at our nearest movie theater, I had a thought: you haven’t really lived in a foreign country until you’ve watched a movie there. 

Kyaikhto, pronounced “Jai-toe,” is a town of simple, yet entrancing, scenery filled with locals who share a collective appetite for celebration. 

Once upon a time, I applied to be a Peace Corps Volunteer, received an invitation, traveled to Myanmar, began pre-service training, and taught fairytale mad libs. Now, you may be wondering what fairytales have to do with Peace Corps. 

Recently I had the chance to build new partnerships through which I can help promote positive change in my community.  

To give you an example of how motivated my host family is to learn English there was one Sunday I went out for couple of hours in the morning and came back to find that my host mother had learned nearly 50 new vocabulary words. 

Peace Corps adheres to a strength-based approach, meaning that recognizing one’s (and one’s partners’) idiosyncratic abilities and how to share them is an integral component of pre-service training (PST).

I’ve been serving as a TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) Volunteer in Myanmar since September 2016 and I’ve loved every second of it.

My journey throughout Peace Corps Myanmar has been short but sweet. 

Daw Soe Soe Min and Daw Nwe Nwe Oo, two grade seven teachers assigned to be my co-teaching counterparts, ushered me up the stairs of our administration building and into the headmaster’s finely furnished private quarters. 

Peace Corps Myanmar welcomed our first group of Volunteers in an English education project in September 2016. 

Whether you're a Volunteer in Cameroon or Cambodia, Jamaica or Georgia, Tonga or Togo, there is one constant of Peace Corps service: you're going to see some pretty awesome sunrises.