2017 Blog Challenge BONUS Round Up BONUS: Hospitality

Our final prompt of the 2017 New Years challenge has officially passed, however, we did issue a bonus prompt. A few intrepid bloggers took us up on the additional challenge, which we will share with you here.

The Prompt: Hospitality

Peace Corps Week is coming up at the end of February and they're celebrating with the theme: Highlighting Hospitality. So we took the opportunity to support that effort, as an optional Blog Challenge prompt. Although not everyone in the Blogging Abroad community are Peace Corps Volunteers, this theme applies to anyone with a host community overseas. PCV or not, this was an opportunity to share traditions of hospitality and inspiring stories of how our host community welcomes us and others. [caption id="attachment_423" align="alignright" width="227"]

New Years 2017 Blog Challenge Round Up #4: HOPE

Welcome to the Week Four Blog Challenge recap! This is officially our final prompt of the 2017 New Years challenge, however, there is a bonus prompt in the pipeline for those who want to continue their blogging challenge beyond January.

The Prompt: Hope & Change

For many of us, our worlds are going through some major changes and sometimes it's easy to lose hope. So we're focusing our blogging efforts on Hope and Change. Where do we draw hope from? And how do we create positive change?

Highlights

This week's responses were especially encouraging to me. It was clear that many bloggers have been "feeling the weight of the world" and yet, they're able to find hope, find ways to move forward, and encourage others. It's not an easy thing to published a balance of positives and negatives, or to keep yourself in check when emotions are running high. Here are just a few examples of great posts from the past week with a cool spin on the theme:

• This post focuses on one aspect of her life that gives her hope and gives 5 reasons why with clear, concise, bolded arguments for each. (Beth, Moldova)
• Here's a cool way to draw attention to the progress in your host country, with highlights listed by year - and bonus points for citing sources! (Tina, Namibia)
• A great way to keep a realistic balance in your post is pairing the challenges your host country faces alongside the hope and progress you see with each challenge (Cambodia, Karen)
• Sometimes poetry says it better than prose (Chris, Tanzania)
• This is a touching letter to the girl who gives this blogger hope (Olivia, Madagascar)

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New Years 2017 Blog Challenge Round Up #3

Welcome to the Week Three Blog Challenge recap! This January, bloggers living around the world are taking the challenge to start the year off with weekly blog posts on meaningful topics. Over the past week, blog posts on the new prompt have been pouring out into the blogosphere and we've rounded them up for you here.

The Prompt: Cultural Differences

The point of this prompt was not really to draw attention to how big the differences are between cultures, but actually to realize how we're all heavily influenced by the underlying, unspoken "rules" of culture. Understanding why people behave the way they do and empathizing with the values that inform their decisions is an important skill. This week, we used some social science and cultural communication resources, like the 10 variables of culture differences, to inspire our blog posts.

Highlights

It's not hard to find stand out blog posts among this community of passionate bloggers! Here are just a few examples of great posts from the past week, with a few notes about how you can apply their strategies, too:

• Here's a great example of sharing life lessons from abroad with folks who might follow in your footsteps. Also, a good reminder to always link back to your previous blog posts that relate to the new topic! (Liz, Mozambique)
• This is a fun, photo-centric post from the perspective of a village dog as a way to share cultural differences about pets. (Morgan, South Africa)
• The focus on one topic and the composition of this post, with super-sized quotes, super-short paragraphs to highlight ideas, bolded headings, plenty of space, etc. make this page really attractive. (Olivia, Madagascar)
• A "10 Things" tribute list with supporting stories and pictures is a great way to share why you'll miss your host country. (Mark, Kyrgyzstan)

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New Years 2017 Blog Challenge Responses Round Up #2

Welcome to Week Two of our second annual Blog Challenge!

This January, bloggers living around the world are taking the challenge to start the year off with weekly blog posts on meaningful topics. We now have over 90 folks living in about 30 different countries signed up, with more joining every day! One week ago, participants received the following prompt via e-mail:

The Prompt: The Danger of a Single Story

This week's prompt is based on a popular TED talk by author Chimamanda Adichie (see below). In it, she warns that if we only hear a single story about a person, country or issue, we risk great misunderstanding.

“The single story creates stereotypes, and the problem with stereotypes is not that they are untrue, but that they are incomplete. They make one story become the only story.”

 

Along with the prompt, Challenge participants also received some blog tips and a number of creative ideas to approach their response. Over the past week, their posts have been pouring out into the blogosphere and we've rounded them up for you here.

Highlights

Once again, there was so many impressive, thoughtful posts this week! Our highlights today focus on the note-worthy formats and techniques that certain bloggers have used in their responses:

• Mixing media always makes for an interesting post, as does letting your community members share their perspective in their own words via video (Christine, Ghana)
• If you know some common misconceptions about your host country, debunk those stereotypes one by one (Karen, Cambodia)
• This spin on the single story features a catchy title and well-organized headings (M., The Philippines)
• Here's another catchy title and an example of keeping a reflective text at a good length (Justin, Madagascar)
• This post does a good job of being guided by questions and highlighting key points to make it easily scannable (Morgan, South Africa)
• You can lead in with your own personal transformation regarding stereotypes and then interview a community member who helped you break them - bonus for another catchy title! (Gabby, Panama)
• The organization in this post is great with bullet points for the single stories, bolded key points, and concise paragraphs for each statement (Beth, Moldova)

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Blog Challenge Responses Round-Up #9

The Prompt

[blockquote text="Challenge #9 = Crazy Moments  When living abroad, unfamiliar experiences come with the territory. Tell us about it!" text_color="" width="80" line_height="undefined" background_color="" border_color="" show_quote_icon="no" quote_icon_color=""]

Highlights

• Jose in The Philippines discovers remnants of an usual, ancient tradition and successfully presents it in an objective yet interesting way
• SaraJoy shares her surprise at some of the roads in Moldova
• Beth reveals the ins and outs of A Life Unplumbed in Lesotho
• Beth in Burkina Faso depicts wedding traditionss with easy-to-read bullet point

There are many other fantastic stories and cultural curiosities in this week's responses! We encourage you to check out the Blog Challenge blog post links below and on our Boot Camp Blog Challenge pinterest board.  

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Blog Challenge Responses Round Up #7

The Prompt

[blockquote text="Challenge #7 = Money Tell us about the cost of living in your host country. What can $1 buy? What is surprisingly expensive or cheap?" text_color="" width="80" line_height="undefined" background_color="" border_color="" show_quote_icon="no" quote_icon_color=""]

Highlights

Our bloggers got especially creative with this challenge. Here are some highlights from their posts about Money in their host countries:

• Jess in Belize gives a new perspective on the cost of gas in her host country
• Justin explains the cost of living in Madagascar and shares a photo of his $2 Thanksgiving meal
• Michael polled his fellow volunteers in Colombia and put together great charts depicting how far $1 US will go
• Matt and Anne in Morocco created their very own Price Is Right game

We also encourage you to check out the Blog Challenge blog post links below and on our Boot Camp Blog Challenge pinterest board.  

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Blog Challenge Responses Round Up #6

The Prompt

[blockquote text="Challenge #6 = Community Member Profiles Tell us about someone in your community!" text_color="" width="80" line_height="undefined" background_color="" border_color="" show_quote_icon="no" quote_icon_color=""]

Highlights

As usual, we have a great set of submissions for this week's challenge. Many of the posts this week are especially touching, and it was hard to narrow down a short list of highlights, but here we go...

• Christine in Ethiopia translates a short but sweet video interview with her host sister
• Jett writes a lovely tribute about her Paraguayan guardian angel
• Julie's Community Member Profile from Mongolia shows how short and simple can be just as effective
• Robert and Julie share four mini profiles from their community in Morocco

We also encourage you to check out the Blog Challenge blog post links below and on our Boot Camp Blog Challenge pinterest board.

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Blog Challenge Responses Round Up #5

The Prompt

[blockquote text="Challenge #5 = I Never Knew What surprised you about your host country when you first arrived? What did you never known until you visited?" text_color="" width="80" line_height="undefined" background_color="" border_color="" show_quote_icon="no" quote_icon_color=""] Along with the prompt, participants also received a number of creative ideas for different ways to approach their response. After a week to work on their responses, we've rounded up their published posts in one place for you here.

Highlights

For today's series of higlights, we're focusing especially on creative and catchy titles. In the world of blogging, a post title can be the difference between someone clicking to read your post or ignoring it. Check out some of these great titles:

• 10 Ways to Use Heaven (Beyond Radio Codes)
• The Hitchhiker’s Guide to Mozambique
• 5 Community Codes We Never Knew About Morocco… And 1 We Realized About America
• Amazing what a piece of cloth can do
• If you drop your keys...you better stomp on them three times

We also encourage you to check out the Blog Challenge blog post links below and on our Boot Camp Blog Challenge pinterest board.

Join Us!

Want to participate? If you'd like to join the Blog Challenge and get the remaining blog post prompts in real time, sign up here and check the "more information about Blog Challenges" box.

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Blog Challenge Responses Round Up #4

Greetings from Ecuador, our home base through the remainder of the Blog Challenge! As usual, we have another great set of responses to share with you. And we're testing out a different method of displaying the list of posts - with a short excerpt instead of the author name. Hopefully we can figure out a better way to do both, but if not, let us know which variation you prefer.

The Prompt

[blockquote text="Challenge #4 = On The Road What sights, sounds, smells, and stories do you encounter out on the road in your host community?" text_color="" width="80" line_height="undefined" background_color="" border_color="" show_quote_icon="no" quote_icon_color=""] Along with the prompt, participants also received a number of creative ideas for different ways to approach their response. After a week to work on their responses, we've rounded up their published posts in one place for you here.

Highlights

As usual, we like to highlight a few of the many great posts that have come in for this particular prompt:

• Jett in Paraguay tells a sweet short story from a bus ride
• Katey-Red in South Africa penned A Field Guide to Amajuba Minibus Taxis
• Matt and Anne in Morocco share the US equivalents of things they see in the streets
• Rebecca and Chris in Moldova posted past instagram photos from the walk to school

We invite you to check out the Blog Challenge blog post links below. You can also find their posts on our Boot Camp Blog Challenge pinterest board.

Join Us!

Want to participate? If you'd like to join the Blog Challenge and get the remaining blog post prompts in real time, sign up here and check the "more information about Blog Challenges" box.

Posts