Living Poor: A Peace Corps Chronicle

I was fortunate enough to grow up in Ecuador and was the daughter of a good friend of his. This book, like his others, brings out the curmudgeonly appeal he had for me as a young girl playing in his courtyard. His straightforward dark humor, playing on the subtleties of his life, is present throughout this book. I found this book to reflect the nature of South American Ex-Pats, new and old, bringing that fervent desire to belong and not belong to the adopted culture. To me this is also about trying to make an impact learning and teaching, creating and destroying.I highly prize this book, and am so saddened that I will never again read another book from this man. If you are interested in South America, the nature of Ex-patriotism, and living in a culture outside your own, this is one book to have in your library.

Down to Earth and very detailed account of this man's experience in Ecuador in the 1960s as a Peace Corps Volunteer. There are many things a person in the Corps can relate to regarding Moritz Thomsen's inner thoughts about his role and responsibilities, environment, and people he dealt with. He gave a lot of honesty in himself and his personal perceptions. I would recommend this book to those considering applying or serving in the Peace Corps. One note, is that the training today is much different than it was in the 1960s. There are numerous books about the Peace Corps experience from RPCVs who served and they also are worth looking into.

Thomsen teaches you a great deal about what living in a poor, rural, South American town is like. You can actually feel his sadness, elation and frustration gripping hold of you from the pages. I would recomend this to anyone, even if you are not interested in the Peace Corps. It was an extremely enjoyable read.

Before going to Peace Corps, I read every Peace Corps related book I could find. Although this book is the oldest of all that I read, it gave me the clearest, most realistic picture of Peace Corps life. Beyond that, it was a story that touched me deeply. Too many Peace Corps stories drown in sentimentalism or self-admiration or cutesy life lessons learned. Living Poor avoids these traps and is a great story, whether or not you are contemplating Peace Corps.

In 1988, my wife and I decided to join the Peace Corps. We were both in our early 40s at the time. When we found we were being sent to Ecuador we madly scoured the library trying to find something about the Peace Corps in Ecuador. We we lucky enough to find Moritz Thomsen's book, "Living Poor." As we devoured the book we both laughed and cried, looked at each other and wondered what we were getting ourselves into. Although every Peace Corps volunteer's experience is different (and our's was totally different from the authors) after our two years in Ecuador this book still rings true This book is brutally honost. Moritz makes no effort to glorify himself or what he accomplished or the Peace Corps. This is part of the charm of the book. We regret that we never met the author but we will always treasure his books.