Third Goal

New Year's Eve Fireworks

How I joined the Peace Corps--from Ecuador to Kyrgyzstan

  Up until the age of 16, I had no idea of what I wanted to be as an adult.  Then, in 1999, one event changed that and put me on an 11 year path towards serving as a Peace Corps Volunteer.  This is the story of that event.  I was living in Riobamba, Ecuador as a foreign exchange student.  I lived with a host family in a second story apartment on a street near the town’s market.  Every morning, after breakfast, I would sit on the family’s little patio outside the kitchen and drink coffee and w...

World Holiday Traditions Warm an American Heart

http://thirdcoastdigest.com/2010/12/world-holiday-traditions-warm-an-american-heart

Azerbyegone

Magical Azerbaijan

In a village just outside of Sheki, Azerbaijan lies this beautiful 13th century church set against a backdrop of the Greater Caucasus mountain range.  To get here, my two good friends and I took an old, rickety marshrutka (think Soviet-era cargo bus complete with side benches and holes in the floor) up the hill from Sheki to Kish. As we got off the bus to pay our nominal 25 cent fare, the driver smiled, politely refused our payment, welcomed us as his guests, and then continued rolling down ...

September 1st

September 1st celebration marking the first day of the school year in Kazakhstan.

Didube Bazaar

Village Art Day

Mountains in Naxchivan

This photo was taken during the 2010 Novrus holiday on our way to visit a holy place in the mountains.

Spring time in Azerbaijan

This photo was taken during the Novrus holiday in Naxchivan, Azerbaijan. The beginning of spring was warm causing all the trees to bloom early before a quick freeze just in time for the holiday.