First things first. Here's Romeo about a week after I adopted her, on my lap in my hammock. Romeo was so named because of my brilliant plan to have a casual relationship with an outdoor cat that would jump up on my balcony to be fed. That way, I could not only amuse myself by standing on the balcony and calling for her, but I could avoid serious emotional attachment and the difficulty of coordinating international feline travel.

Anyway, as anyone could have told me, that plan was doomed from the start. Romeo is now an indoor-only cat, spoiled entirely rotten, and coming home with me next year. This is her at her current size, about six months old, with my neighbor, who is an only child with no pets and might quite possibly love this kitten even more than I do.


Moving on, these are real, un-doctored photos of me holding a GIANT TARANTULA. Why? Why would I or anyone do such a thing? Simply put: peer pressure. And if you can’t think of what kind of people would apply peer pressure for something like that, then you’ve never hung out in a tropical forest with a large group of bored biology students.

Next, see if you can spot the gringa amidst all the strangely clad Ecuadorians. A bunch of us from a community group spent a week dressed like this and going to all the elementary schools in the area as a "reading caravan." We wore silly costumes, we made lots of noise, and we read stories aloud, all with the goal of making kids excited about reading. If there's anything more up my alley, I don't know what it is.

Here's my eco-club! Is it even possible to get more cute than this? This photo was taken in Cerro Blanco, where we went as a field trip to celebrate finishing our vacation day camp. The other gringa in the photo is my trusty friend Kristin, a Volunteer in Guayaquil who I borrowed for the day to help manage such a large group. In exchange, I help her every week with a math tutoring group in her barrio.


Continuing with my effort to provide photographic evidence that I really do work, this next shot is of me helping a youth group build a bin for composting. Look at me building things! Picture me then teaching the kids proper composting technique! It's just like I'm a real Peace Corps Volunteer!


And finally, here I am with some friends on a gorgeous tropical beach, drinking giant, fresh, delicious mango milkshakes that cost less than a dollar. Since no one at the Peace Corps office even bothered to have us take vacation days for this trip, we were technically working when this photo was taken. I like to look at this photo whenever I start feeling sorry for myself, or when I hear people saying that they admire Volunteers because Peace Corps is so hard.