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. 

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.