The Peace Corps sent Gail Wallace to Zaire (now the Dem. Rep. Of the Congo) as a fisheries extension agent
Gail Wallace
Upper School Spanish Teacher
I grew up in the suburbs of New York, and attended Wesleyan University in Connecticut. I took a few detours on the way to my diploma, volunteering in Canyonlands National Park in Utah and in the village of Old Crow in the Yukon, and working and studying in Berkeley, California. After my first few years of college I decided that I wanted to enter the Peace Corps, and switched from a very abstract major (philosophy) to an independent major that focussed on issues of international development. I wrote a thesis on fish-farming in Latin America.
The Peace Corps sent me to Zaire (now the Dem. Rep. Of the Congo) as a fisheries extension agent. It was a great job and truly an adventure. I could go on and on about living in a mud hut in a small village in Bandundu, eating strange foods, learning new languages, slowly figuring out a very different culture...but I won't. I discovered that I liked learning languages-after two years I was fluent in Kikongo, and could get by in French.
When I returned to the states I taught English to adult immigrants in New Haven, Connecticut, and built cabinets at a wood shop. Then my husband and I selected Asheville as our new home, and we spent a few months in Guatemala where we began to learn Spanish (a much more useful language here than Kikongo!). I continued to study the language here at UNCA, and I'm still learning. I taught Spanish in the Buncombe County Schools for three years before coming to CDS; I've been here since the fall of '96. Teaching is completely engaging work, and my colleagues here are an inspiring bunch of people to work with.
A few words about my husband, Harry McDaniel: He's a remarkable guy, a sculptor, who has a keen interest in just about everything. (Check out his art on his website, listed below) He's worked on organic farms, made renaissance recorders, invented numerous items and tools, made slit drums and other musical instruments, among other things. We have two children, Tyler and Kinana. Their interests bring a lot to our life-soccer, our dog Sandy; bugs and nature projects, camping trips, their friends, and more.
A few great CDs (world music)
* Cesare Evora
* Willy & Lobo
