First Comes Love, Then Comes Malaria, Eve Brown-Waite

Publishers Copy:

Eve Brown's dream is to join the Peace Corps…and maybe solve world hunger and win a Nobel Peace Prize along the way. But she secretly fears she isn't tough enough to survive the bug-infested jungle, much less live without toilet paper and decaf cappuccino. Then she falls head-over-little-black-heels in love with John – a dashing Peace Corps recruiter whose do-gooder passions outshine her own. She becomes more determined than ever to get into the Peace Corps – and to win John's heart in the process.


Assigned to Ecuador, she years for warm showers and cold beers (instead of the other way around!). And though she occasionally finds herself overwhelmed by her work reuniting homeless children with their families, she learns to delight in small successes. But a year into her service, a tragedy befalls one of her fellow volunteers, which unearths troubling memories from Eve's past and causes her to return, rather unceremoniously, to the United States. Back home, Eve attempts to settle down with John and get reacquainted with the joys of sushi and supermarkets. But faster than she can say "Pass the malaria pills," John accepts a job with CARE in a remote corner of Africa, and Eve gets a second chance to test her mettle in the Third World.

With uproarious wit and candor, Eve Brown-Waite details the (mis)adventures that ensue. From intestinal parasites and guerrilla warfare to culture clashes and unexpected friendships. FIRST COMES LOVE, THEN COMES MALARIA captures the thrills and absurdities of global humanitarian life in a story that any globetrotter - armchair or otherwise - will love.

Review:
This was the best book I've read in a long time.  Brown-Waite is so honest and so relatable.  She doesn't gloss over her failures or make foreign service seem like a cake walk.

What she does do is bring it to a level where you could acutally imagine yourself in her shoes.  The danger of living in Africa are handled with honesty and candor.  Getting used to having staff, communicating with family only rarely and living without a working telephone are the small things compared to her illness and pregnancy struggles.

This is a great book, check it out for yourself.