Green Hills and Blue Lagoons: A Peace Corps Memoir - Paperback

by John Penisten (Author)

This is a reminiscence of life as a U.S. Peace Corps Volunteer in the Fiji Islands, South Pacific, in 1968-69. These sketches describe the experiences, difficulties, and rewards of earning one's living in a foreign culture where one must learn to speak the language, follow the customs, and adopt the lifestyle of the local people in order to survive. The text relates the adventures of three young Americans, fresh out of college and filled with youthful idealism, and how they came to be on an island called Vanua Levu, the "Big Land," in Fiji. These three young men, with varied backgrounds from different parts of the United States, came together for this one period in their lives. Far from their respective roots, they learned and shared much, about themselves and with others in a communal culture. These stories are true and accurate accounts of real experiences and adventures. They share the successes and failures, the joys and sorrows, the good and bad, as these young Americans break the cultural barriers around them and become immersed in a totally different culture. These stories reflect their dedication and resolve and their adoption and acceptance into the Fijian culture and society into which they were placed. This is a record of what they accomplished and gained under difficult circumstances as U.S. Peace Corps Volunteers in the small island country of Fiji in the South Pacific.