But communication really hasn't been too much of a stumbling block for Blaschke. He loves his job.

"[I'm enjoying] the utter immersion into a culture so incredibly different than my own and finding a family there," he says via email from the Gambian capital of Banjul, about 350 kilometers and a 12-hour bush-taxi ride from his home village. And Sinchu Malik Barry is located an hour from a paved road and three hours from electricity, though even that's not a guarantee.

Blaschke was born and raised in Sunnyvale, graduating from Fremont High School before attending college at the University of California at Santa Barbara. He got a leg up on his international experience with a year abroad in Leeds, England, while in school. His parents, Jim and Kathy, are both teachers in the Sunnyvale area.

The family got a taste of Gambian culture and Blaschke's lifestyle when they visited him this past winter. And that culture takes soccer seriously. Blaschke saw the ramifications when the Gambian soccer team lost an away match to rival Senegal in a stadium rife with violent fans. Once word reached The Gambia, mobs threatened anyone Senegalese and looted stores and cars in the capital. "I never felt in any danger, but it was sad to see so many places destroyed and people injured in a country that is already suffering so much," Blaschke says.

He says that he hasn't been targeted simply because he is American, but the current political climate surrounding U.S. foreign policy does make for interesting situations. "[It's difficult] having to both represent America and not agree with them at the same time, which is hard for most people here to understand," he says. Security concerns forced the U.S. embassy to cancel its Fourth of July party and have severely limited gatherings of Americans.

Much of Blaschke's time is spent working on his current project, which is instituting chicken farms—something that's never been done near his village. The aim is to sell the eggs laid by the chickens. "So far, I have two satellite [farms] up with over 150 birds and will be expanding to over 500 birds in the next few months," he says. "I'm currently trying to organize the marketing and financial aspects." He has also worked in various agricultural roles, such as planting orchards and gardens, landscaping and planting trees at a local school and digging a 55-meter well in his village.

He does find the chance to sightsee, but the transportation options can require some creativity. On a recent canoe trip, the 120-degree heat and torrential rains provided challenges. Blaschke and a companion were heading through a strait laden with hippopotamuses—the most dangerous mammals in Africa. He says a Fula man gave them a magical juju hippo rock to ward the beasts away. Fittingly, there were no more hippo sightings that night.

Blaschke just returned to The Gambia from a backpacking trip in Guinea and has also toured areas of Mali and the Sahara. His contract with the Peace Corps lasts through December, but he's trying to secure further aid work in the West African region. His experiences in The Gambia have already added texture to his view of the world, which he hopes to prolong by continuing to serve. "I have realized problems are neither as simple as many people make them out to be, nor as complicated as others say," he says. "I have learned the value of all things different."