Going into Peace Corps we expected to learn about African culture from our Mozambican hosts, and we have. Just this weekend our Congolese priest called us in front of the 500+ people congregation at the main John the Baptist mission church down in the district seat to tell everyone how integrated we have become in our community, making everyone laugh by telling them that we have become like Africans, eating local food and communicating fluently in Chewa, which is stretching the truth a little. All Peace Corps Volunteers strive for real connections with their host communities, so hearing this public recognition of our cross-cultural achievements confirming the success of the often times unappreciated efforts we have made to bridge so many cultural divides gave us a little glow. What we weren’t expecting coming into service was to learn so much about own country and American culture, but that is exactly what has happened. We have colleagues representing all the varied facets of our nation, with individuals of every race, sexual orientation, geographical origin, language group, religion, and political bent our vast nation nation has to offer. Last weekend it was our chance to learn about Kentucky as our Peace Corps cluster celebrated Derby Weekend with one of our volunteers who grew up not too far from the famous Churchill Downs. She introduced us to such southern staples as cheese grits, fried green tomatoes, sweet potato fries, and mint juleps. Apparently the derby has its own pie, which has all kinds of unavailable ingredients, like pecans and chocolate chips, but our proud Kentuckian made a delicious Mozambican version with local substitutes. We got to hear all the lore associated with the event, see pictures and hear anecdotes, and even receive live updates from our buddy’s family back in Kentucky. Neither of our equine picks did much in the actual race, but that failed to put a dent in the good times.
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