Life in Alien Territory

Book excerpt: Retired university professor Renate Schulz is looking for something to do with her life, some way to give back. She decides to rejoin the Peace Corps forty-six years after she first served. Life in Alien Territory: Memories of Peace Corps Service in Mali chronicles her eleven months in Mali, West Africa, a predominantly Muslim country. At age seventy-one, she is the oldest Peace Corps volunteer among 180 other Americans. Schulz weaves the highs and lows of her life as a volunteer in Africa into her daily journal entries. Her personal struggles with the challenges of living in third-world conditions, particularly at her age, are woven into her real-life concerns about human rights in West Africa, particularly for women and children. Her time in Mali, with all its challenges and frustrations, are offset with her growing appreciation for this "alien" culture. In this wonderfully readable travel narrative, Schulz captures the spirit of the culture, education, and people of Mali. At the same time, she shows how you are never too old to have a life-changing adventure.