will bailey, rpcv?

Anyone who has served in the Peace Corps in the age of the laptop and external hard drives knows the value of a good t.v. series or two. I have been working my way through The West Wing for more than a year. In an episode somewhere around the middle of the 7th and final season, now Press Secretary Will Bailey is having a (flirtatious) conversation with Kate Harper. In the middle of a few quick camera cuts I caught a glimpse of a logo that has become all too familiar in my tenure as a Peace Corps Volunteer...

what's the joedown?

It's been some time since I made some kind of public update about My Peace Corps Life. I suppose it's because I've been so incredibly busy living it, I haven't had much time to write (or even think) about it. Here's a quick rundown... 

why do i climb the mountain?

Somewhere toward the beginning of my time in Ethiopia, I fell into a dream within a dream. During my Demystification trip to Wukro, a small town 45 minutes north of the Tigray regional capital, I shared a beer with my pre-departure mentor, RPCV Ben Morse. The beer was called Dashen. It has since held its own as my favorite (mass produced) beer in Ethiopia. I asked Ben the meaning and he told me it was a tribute to Ethiopia’s highest mountain, Ras Dashen. From that moment on, it was absorbed into my being: I must climb that mountain.