Skettios

So here's the skinny...

I've been nominated to serve in the Carribean region. I just got my medical clearance, and my legal clearance taken care of. Currently I'm waiting to hear from my placement officer on where I'll actually be going. I'm dying with excitement. I check my toolkit on www.peacecorps.gov everyday, waiting for that status change.

I know there are several members on this board that have served. Would you be so kind to share some advice with a prospective PCV, and let me know what your experience was like?

For those of you who are wondering what my experience has been so far. I applied in October. I was nominated by november, but it took me until February to get my medical stuff done. The interview wasn't a big deal, my recruiter and I had a blast, and he nominated me within several days. The medical clearance was harder. I'm a big guy, so I had some additional hurdles to jump through, but not anything that made it impossible for me to serve.

I received my medical clearance 2 weeks ago, but haven't heard from the placement people yet. I was supposed to leave May 31st, but don't know if they'll have the paperwork done by then.
In the meantime, I'm working out, brushing up on my spanish, picking up some french and substitute teaching. I'll be in the education branch, and feel pretty confident that when it's my time to get in front of my own classroom, I'll be pretty well prepared. If you've served, I would love to hear from some RPCVs.

Thanks,

Skettios

__________________
Convictions are more dangerous enemies of truth than lies.

Frederich Nietzsche

KellyC

My god, all the sunshine and beach. I don't know if serving in the Peace Corp is rough or not, but any roughness would disapear when the word "Carribean" comes into play (I assume). Well...I don't have any stories to share. So good luck bud, it'll be quite an adventure from what I read (another assumption). Good luck again.

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Him: Ok, I have to ask, what do you believe?
Me: Shit happens.

Soggybagel

Trust me KellyC Carribean can also mean hot as hell sweltering in a Jungle...not some 5 star resort...where mosquito's attack you relentlessly!!!

Skettios

Thanks KellyC.

Soggy, you're very right.

From what I've heard the Carribean has one of the highest drop out rates. It might have something to do with the dengue flu, malaria, tumbo worms, or maybe just the proximity to home. People just don't seem to want to stay down there. I however (knock on wood) have nothing keeping me here, and am anxious for some adventure, so we shall see.

__________________
Convictions are more dangerous enemies of truth than lies.

Frederich Nietzsche

bparker805

the only experience i've had with the peace corps is that i am the product of it. my folks did it in swaziland. and yeah, i mean did it... i was born there.

dy156

I had a very good friend that did it in a small asian country that's best known for having a big earthquake many years ago. When he talked about it, I thought, man, that's really great, the toughest job you'll ever love, helping poor people, etc... Until he came home for Christmas break after a year and a half and told me about it.
He learned to speak a dying language that's spoken by fewer people than live in a major U.S. city. His meager monthly stipend was enough to let him afford one of the largest apartments in town. He worked part time teaching English, and the rest of the time was spent playing his guitar and growing pot. When asked about helping the people, he talked about how one time he was working with some friends he had met who were putting hay into sacks. The hay was full of stickers and although it didn't seem to bother the calloused hands of the locals, he didn't like it, so he picked up a flat rock and used it to pack the hay in. The locals thought he had come up with a wonderful invention, and started using similar rocks. You can't make this up. He was formerly a devout Christian, but decided that he is basically an athiest now. (However, his morals are so ingrained into him that I joke that if he's going to Hell, he may as well earn it and have fun!) He's now waiting tables.
I wish you luck, but I hope you do it for the right reasons, and not just as part of a life postponement plan.

rsl12

skettios--i finished my stint in peace corps jamaica about 3 years ago. one year was one of the worst of my life, the other was the best. everyone's experience will be different, so it's hard to give advice, other than that it's good to be flexible, but also to realize that, within peace corps, you will (hopefully) have the flexibility to change your circumstances, if you need to. if you have any questions, let me know.

__________________
oh baby oh baby, i like gravy.

lurkette

No Peace Corps experience here, but I just have to say "Good for you!" and congratulate you on your acceptance. You'll be making such a difference, and I hope you have a wonderful, fulfilling experience.

Will you have internet access? Can you keep us posted?

__________________
"If ten million people believe a foolish thing, it is still a foolish thing."

- Anatole France

onodrim

Same as I lurkette I can't offer any advice, but I too just want to say congratulations and I think it's wonderful that you're commiting your time to such a great cause. I hope all the best for you.

__________________
"The world is so exquisite with so much love and moral depth, that there is no reason to deceive ourselves with pretty stories for which there’s little good evidence. Far better it seems to me, in our vulnerability, is to look death in the eye and to be grateful every day for the brief but magnificent opportunity that life provides"
-Carl Sagan

Skettios

rsl12

About a billion and one questions actually...

When you were in Jamaica, what language did they teach you?

Were you in a town or village?

Did you get sick while you were there?

Can you give me details as to why your first year was the worst?



Anyway, that should get you started.

I'm also interested in whether you hooked up with any host country nationals or other PCVs while you were there. But will understand if that's too personal of a question.

Lurkette

I'm crossing my fingers on internet access. I doubt 3 years ago rsl12 would have had it, but things change so quickly these days. If I do, I plan on keeping an online journal.

dy156

I know if sounds horrible that your friend had so much freetime, and a nice place, but I've heard that these luxuries are afforded to you, otherwise most volunteers would lose it.

Anyway, this isn't a life postponement plan, it's a 'never got to travel/enjoy teaching/ help me get into gradschool' plan.

__________________
Convictions are more dangerous enemies of truth than lies.

Frederich Nietzsche

Sparhawk

I'd like to add another whopping CONGRATS and a hearty THANK YOU for serving your country. I'm a foreign service brat, mostly in latin america/carribean, and I've had a couple of Peace Corps friends. I might be mixing this up, but the friend I met in Panama told me the range of jobs even within one country is pretty vast. Some work in the city, but the one that stuck out in my mind was this one guy who had to take a bus for 10 hours from the city, then hike for several hours to reach his work/home. But that's during the dry season. During the rainy season it took the better part of a day. The guy learned spanish and the local indian language, which is probably only spoken (as a first language) by 20,000 or so people.

That's one end. On the other is a guy, who, upon the local administrator (I think that's the title of the mission director...) learning that he had computer skills, was put in charge of revamping the headquarters to a paperless system, which took the better part of his tour (and also meant that he got to party in the city with me ).

Like anything though, you get out of it what you put into it.

__________________
"In Iraq, no doubt about it, it's tough. It's hard work. It's incredibly hard. It's - and it's hard work. I understand how hard it is. I get the casualty reports every day. I see on the TV screens how hard it is. But it's necessary work. We're making progress. It is hard work."

Mephisto2

Not to be picky, and also to clear up a poor understanding of the specifcs of the PC, but isn't the idea of serving in the Peace Corp that you're "serving humanity", rather than your country?

Isn't the Peace Corp effectively a charity organization?

Just curious...

Mr Mephisto


PS - Congratulations either way. It takes a strong person to volunteer to help others for long periods of time. I'm humbled.

rsl12

mr. mephisto--make no mistake, the reason the us govt funds peace corps is in large part because the peace corps serves a diplomatic function. it offers a chance for people in other countries to get a favorable view of us citizens.

mr. skettios--jamaican is not even considered as corrupt as creole, and everyone understands you if you talk the king's english, which is what is used in schools. however, a person's ability to understand jamaican requires a few months of careful listening. there was very little language training, which is just as well, if you ask me, since it's more polite to use english with strangers anyways. it's ez enough to pick up on your own after a bit.

1st year i was stationed in the finance district (i use the term lightly) of kingston, where i lived in very 'luxurious' circumstances--hot showers, cable tv, a maid who cooked and cleaned for me, in a neighborhood full of doctors and shopowners. my job consisted of implementing an environmental management plan (iso 14000) in a government tourism organization. this included getting energy audits and doing integrated pest management for golf courses. to me, this was not what i wanted at all and it was really depressing. the people i associated with were not save the world people at all, and were actually a bit contemptuous about that kind of thing.

2nd year i was living in port royal, which can be considered a suburb of kingston. it takes an hour to get there by bus, 1/2 an hour by ferry. it's a community of about 2000 people, and it's TIGHT. so i had a community of people with whom i could become part of, even though i was still working in Kingston (now for the Ministry of Health). This time my work consisted of organizing the wastewater treatment plant workers to form a national ww operators association (my idea completely, and i'm proud to say still in existence). so it was more working with people at a grassroots level, even though there was still a technical bent to it, and i had the best community ever to live in at the same time.

re sickness: not too much happened to me--one time i got (i think) amoebic dyssentary for some reason--i spent a day on the toilet, and was fine after that. jamaica has chlorinated water (kingston has it piped in most places) so that's not an issue.

re hooking up: i was a good boy--partly i have problems hooking up with people who aren't at the same education level as me--is that snobbish? the two or three women i was interested in turned out to be 1. married or 2. prone to attacking ex-boyfriends with a knife when she got upset. there were enough offers that came my way however--if you want to fuck like a bunny, it's ez enough to do.

again, you might find this interesting, but i doubt your experience will be anything like this. everyone's is different (mine more so than many others). also, you haven't even gotten a country yet--there's a large difference between parts of haiti and parts of jamaica! so don't expect anything yet. knowing you're going to the caribbean shouldn't mean very much to you yet, other than that it will be ez to travel back to the US if you want. (also: i was assigned to go to asia, and ended up in jamaica, so take it all with a grain of salt.) what kind of job are you being placed in?

__________________
oh baby oh baby, i like gravy.

rsl12

ps. jamaican--listen to sean paul sing. you can make out every other word? he's speaking about 75% jamaican, 25% english in 'let's get it on'. bob marley sings 100% english.

__________________
oh baby oh baby, i like gravy.

Mephisto2

Yeah, I was kinda thinking that as I was typing. It makes sense I suppose.


Mr Mephisto