A Small Key Opens Big Doors: 50 Years of Amazing Peace Corps Stories

Book excerpt: The Cold War officially ended in 1991 and opened a world of fresh opportunities for the Peace Corps. The fact that PCVs could move seamlessly into a constellation of states that once comprised the USSR is a testament to the flexibility and durability of the organization. All Peace Corps needs is an invitation. Volunteers are always ready to step up, learn a new language, learn some new skills, and then go to work in unfamiliar lands. Of the 40 stories in this volume, some reach back to early Peace Corps years in Iran and Turkey. Others engage with the newness of democratic freedoms, drawing back the curtain on old suspicions. Here you’ll see why walking a Thanksgiving carrot cake through a revolution is easy. But following a whole new script for free market, democratic customs? Not so much. And meanwhile, in Mongolia, you’ll learn how to celebrate the Lunar New Year with a shot of fermented horse milk, Cheers!