Peace Corps Kayla

I knew going into this that evacuation was always a possibility, but I didn’t think it would ever happen to us. This feels like a fever...

Written May 2019, edited March 2020 - hour+ long commutes (my house is a five minute walk from school) - sitting in front of a computer...

Peace Corps Volunteers around the world are pretty much in charge of their own schedule. For Peace Corps Indonesia specifically, since...

Dogs are considered unclean in Islam, there are cats with some loose affiliations to homes and families, but they’re mostly feral. Here...

I’ve tried to start this blog post multiple times. I’ll write a sentence, delete the whole thing, then exit out of my notes on my...

Here’s some highlights from the past few weeks: Went to Jogjakarta with family, specifically my ibu and bapak, and forty other people,...

That smell after it rains Burning trash, as its smoke spreads onto the main street Fresh terang bulan on the street corner, like vanilla...

Last month, I walked to school as I usually do. My typical route includes a walk through the entrance, greeting the guards, then entering...

Similar to the US, Indonesian Independence Day is not only celebrated on the day, which is August 17. It’s pretty much celebrated...

Earlier in August, Hima, Manisrenggo’s CL during PST, and I planned “American Diversity and Culture Day” in Pare, East Java, where...

Almost a month of no blogging, say whaaaat? Well, I’m here now and that’s all that matters. It’s been a busy month. I feel like I say...

If there’s one thing I didn’t expect to happen as often as it has during service, it’s getting sick. It’s been this way since the third...

Selamat Pagi/Siang/Sore/Malam to my many devoted readers! I’m home from the beach and want to document my travels while the trip is still...

The big day has come and gone. For Christians, it kind of feels like the end of Christmas Day, when you realize all the anticipation for...

Before I packed up my life and boarded the (four) planes to Indonesia, two family members jokingly told me, “I give it [my time in...

Ramadan is the holy month for Muslims, which happens once every year (although the Islamic calendar is different than the Gregorian solar...

Gina is one of my good friends here in-country. Originally from Arizona, she applied to Peace Corps under the 'send me anywhere' option...

"Mau ke mana? Mau ke mana? Heiiiiiiii mbak, mau ke mana??" Welcome to my how-to on riding the bus in Indonesia! If you ever find yourself...

I wore a uniform almost everyday from when I was five until I was eighteen. I liked the predictability of what I was going to wear and it...

March was a whirlwind. I feel like I end up saying that about every month while here, but it really was. At least I’ll keep saying how...

Not too much has been going on around these parts. Midterms are currently happening, so I haven’t taught this past week and will not next...

While January felt like the longest month ever, February has flown by, and I’m really enjoying service as I get more into the swing of...

Buckle up, folks. This is a wordy one. ‘For if one were to offer men to choose out of all the customs in the world such as seemed to them...

A lot of people have been asking me how school has been so far, and have a lot of questions about my school specifically. Since the next...

I’ve been called Popeye three times here so far. I have a small, quarter-sized tattoo of an anchor on the inside of my left heel. I got...

Peace Corps service is essentially a long accumulation of both funny and awkward encounters between myself and Indonesians, especially...

Whenever a person moves to another country, they are bound to experience a wave of emotions and feelings about what they’re doing there,...

If you asked me before coming to Indonesia if I’d be posting about bathrooms on more than one occasion, I’d have laughed in your face and...

2019 has been a tough one so far. On New Year’s Day, I joined my site-mate, Chelsea, and her family to a cave in our county. It was...

Hello All! I hope you all enjoyed Christmas. I spent my birthday and Christmas in Pacitan, East Java. The town of Pacitan is tucked away...

Five days before swear-in, I sat down with my CD, or Country Director, for one final interview: a reflection on the last 10 weeks. “Tell...

Swear-in was last week, on December 10th, and with the busyness of training, packing, and saying goodbye to friends and host family, I’m...

Eight more days of Pre-Service Training. Eight more days. Eight more days??? Time is an interesting thing here in Indonesia. One moment,...

Site Visit! PST follows a organized schedule, and our days are jam-packed. On “hub days”, every Friday, we meet back with all 57...

The little room. Kamar kecil. There's the toilet, several inches from the ground, and there's that big basin of water, usually overflown...

One of the number one things I was concerned about, if not THE number one thing, was living with a host family. From my last two...

(written last week) Selamat siang! I am safe and sound in Indonesia, specifically in Kediri, East Java. This is where I’ll be living for...

This is the question I’ve been getting the most during the past several weeks. My answer is always the same, though. I always say no, and...

The process of packing has probably been my favorite thing so far. With research from the Peace Corps website, from blogs of past PCVs,...

I’m back to the blogging world! After a two year hiatus since my last long-term adventure in Germany, I’m ready to start a new chapter....