More than 30 TIAA members crowded into a conference room at the Plano Event Center on July 24 and welcomed Linda Smittle home (again!) We spent two hours listening about her 27-month fascinating adventure while serving with the Peace Corps in Thailand. Linda joined TI in 1984 and worked in PC Training, Personal Development and Manufacturing Communications before retiring in 2008. She became a TIAA member just a few days later and was very active with our volunteer, travel and membership committees! Linda certainly brings a unique perspective for retirees when she joined the 8% of the Peace Corps volunteers who are > 50 years old. In Thailand she rode a bike 12 miles to and from the school where she taught English — and was bitten once by a loose dog — but still felt safe in her various activities. She tried to teach us a few words in Thai, talked about her Thai community, showed pictures of her home and then how to make sticky rice which is a staple three times a day! The beloved Thai king died after 70 years on the throne and she said the country wore black and mourned for one entire year. She is now studying Spanish in preparation for her next assignment in Peru. There were 300 applicants for the Peru openings with only 60 accepted so she is really looking forward to her next adventure. A slideshow of her time in Thailand may be viewed here.
Linda Smittle’s Adventures in Thailand Seminar on July 24, 2018
