1. Jordan Separation of Church and State

    1st graders learning how to pray...

  2. Jordan Bright and Cheerful

    Adorable third graders waiting for a photo opp (and any excuse to be distracted from their lessons)

  3. Fiji A Hike, 2

    My parents, after coming out of our hike into the woods.

  4. Fiji A Hike

    My parents came to visit me during my second year of service, in December 2009.  Two of the young men from a neighboring village led us on a hike to a waterfall.  It was an adventure for my parents (and me!) and we all felt successful and tired after finishing the hike.  But the water was cold, the sun felt great (my parents live in Wisconsin), and it made for a fun afternoon.  They got to see some of the challenges of my integration through this hike, which was physically demanding, and enco...

  5. Fiji My two families

    My father huffed and puffed, my mother “ooh”ed and “ahh”ed, keeping her scrapes and scratches to herself.  We filed in line, one village boy leading my father, my mother, me, followed by a second village boy as our guide.  We traipsed through the rainforest on a barely worn and overgrown trail.  We were bound for a hidden waterfall. I was fortunate to have my parents visit me in Fiji.  I was fortunate to have them visit me when I studied abroad in Rome.  That was my father’s first trip out o...

  6. Guatemala La Gringa

    The heat rising from the pavement was visible as I made my way along the winding road. The smell of kerosene hung like a cloud around my head in the stagnant air. Breathe in, breathe out. One, two, one, two; all of my efforts focused on the common goal of putting one foot down in front of the other as I made my way up a rise. At the top, salvation awaited me in purple shorts and a dingy Comunicaciones fútbol jersey. Don’t stop now. Almost there. The muscles in my calves winced as I begged the...

  7. St. Lucia Greasy Pole Madness

    This is a picture of me and a couple of friends erecting the greasy pole as part of Independence Day activities in St. Lucia.  While it looks difficult putting it up, it certainly proved much more challenging for community members to scale to the top and claim the cash prize, and of course, a bottle of rum. 

  8. The Gambia Roots Tour

    Some friends and I went to the Roots Tour.  There, they did cultural displays for the tourists.  These Fulla boys had just been circumcised, and were dressed up in their post circumcision outfits.

  9. The Gambia My Alarm Clock

    These three vultures would land on my roof every morning.  The sound of the claws on my corrugate roof (think fingernails on chalkboard) would wake me up every day.  I named them Lamin, Malamin and Mohanadou.

  10. Niger Next to the chief

    My view in the chief's entryroom on the first day of Eid al-Fitr (the celebration of the end of Ramadan)

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“Sunset at the Railroad” by PCV Nicholas Baylor Hall. Namibia, 2011.