November 14, 2005: Headlines: Figures: COS - Malawi: Writing - Malawi: The New Yorker: The Best Year of My Life by Paul Theroux
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November 14, 2005: Headlines: Figures: COS - Malawi: Writing - Malawi: The New Yorker: The Best Year of My Life by Paul Theroux
The Best Year of My Life by Paul Theroux
"That year, I was at college in Amherst most of the time, but back home in Medford for vacations, still one of the family, working to pay my way through tuition bills, travel bills, food bills, room bills." Author Paul Theroux served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Malawi in the 1960's.
The Best Year of My Life by Paul Theroux
THE BEST YEAR OF MY LIFE
by PAUL THEROUX
Issue of 2005-11-14
Posted 2005-11-07
[Excerpt]
That year, I was at college in Amherst most of the time, but back home in Medford for vacations, still one of the family, working to pay my way through tuition bills, travel bills, food bills, room bills.
“It’s for you,” Mother said again, angry now, because in my reverie I had not taken the phone from her.
No matter who was closest to the phone, Mother, our gatekeeper, was the one who answered it. All calls were routed through her, and she insisted on a short cord to keep us visible and audible when we were speaking.
“A girl,” Mother explained to the rest of the table.
Father took his cue. He bit the meat off his fork and said, “Some dizzy blonde.”
“Jay?”
Mona’s voice was flattened, drained of vitality, but with an insinuating weight to it, a desperate muscle of sound, commanding me to listen.
“Hi, there,” I said cheerily, to throw my family off, because all eight of them were holding their knives and forks upright, no longer chewing, so that they could hear better.
“I missed my period. It’s been three weeks. I don’t know what to do. I’m a wreck”—her voice began to falter and break—“and you don’t even care!”
“Yes,” I said, my voice high and insincere, “I do,” and I could see Mother squinting at me, “as a matter of fact.” I stayed jaunty for the sake of the table. “I’ll see you in a few days.”
“No! Tomorrow! It has to be tomorrow. This is serious.” Mona began to cry, snorting and croaking in a way that stung my ear and rang against the fragile skull box of my brain.
As I hung up, cutting off Mona’s yell of complaint, I prepared a smile for the table, and turned to their silent faces. Even four-year-old Gilbert had stopped yammering. My eyes were glazed. I shrugged fatuously.
“Who was that?” Mother asked.
“Nobody you know,” I said. “Nobody special.”
Read the rest of the story in the New Yorker.
When this story was posted in November 2005, this was on the front page of PCOL:
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| PC establishes awards for top Volunteers Gaddi H. Vasquez has established the Kennedy Service Awards to honor the hard work and service of two current Peace Corps Volunteers, two returned Peace Corps Volunteers, and two Peace Corps staff members. The award to currently serving volunteers will be based on a demonstration of impact, sustainability, creativity, and catalytic effect. Submit your nominations by December 9. |
| Why blurring the lines puts PCVs in danger When the National Call to Service legislation was amended to include Peace Corps in December of 2002, this country had not yet invaded Iraq and was not in prolonged military engagement in the Middle East, as it is now. Read the story of how one volunteer spent three years in captivity from 1976 to 1980 as the hostage of a insurrection group in Colombia in Joanne Marie Roll's op-ed on why this legislation may put soldier/PCVs in the same kind of danger. Latest: Read the ongoing dialog on the subject. |
| Peace Corps at highest Census in 30 years Congratulations to the Peace Corps for the highest number of volunteers in 30 years with 7,810 volunteers serving in 71 posts across the globe. Of course, the President's proposal to double the Peace Corps to 15,000 volunteers made in his State of the Union Address in 2002 is now a long forgotten dream. With deficits in federal spending stretching far off into the future, any substantive increase in the number of volunteers will have to wait for new approaches to funding and for a new administration. Choose your candidate and start working for him or her now. |
| 'Celebration of Service' a major success The Peace Corps Fund's 'Celebration of Service' on September 29 in New York City was a major success raising approximately $100,000 for third goal activities. In the photo are Maureen Orth (Colombia); John Coyne (Ethiopia) Co-founder of the Peace Corps Fund; Caroline Kennedy; Barbara Anne Ferris (Morocco) Co-founder; Former Senator Harris Wofford, member of the Advisory Board. Read the story here. |
| PC apologizes for the "Kasama incident" The District Commissioner for the Kasama District in Zambia issued a statement banning Peace Corps activities for ‘grave’ social misconduct and unruly behavior for an incident that occurred on September 24 involving 13 PCVs. Peace Corps said that some of the information put out about the incident was "inflammatory and false." On October 12, Country Director Davy Morris met with community leaders and apologized for the incident. All PCVs involved have been reprimanded, three are returning home, and a ban in the district has since been lifted. |
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Story Source: The New Yorker
This story has been posted in the following forums: : Headlines; Figures; COS - Malawi; Writing - Malawi
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