Potential Peace Corps Volunteer
February 2nd, 2009 by theliberalartist.I am currently a third-year political science student and I am considering the Peace Corps when I graduate. This a great site with a lot of good information on it for people like me. My main concern is just what is it like living half-way around the world for two years? How often do you visit home or have visitors come and visit you? I am currently studying abroad in the UK so I can do at least 5 months but 2 years seems like a long time. What are your thoughts. I really like this site so I am putting it in my blogroll at www.theliberalartist.com I also wrote an article with my thoughts on the peace corps there.
Thanks
May 30th, 2010 at 10:03 am
I haven’t done the Peace Corps yet but have gradually shifting my lifestyle to prepare for the experience. Here are my thoughts. There are 2 main aspects of volunteering overseas. The first has to do with being in a foreign land – an unfamiliar culture, people and language. The second would be having to live off-grid in a very minimalist fashion. it’s this second one you need to come to grips with and embrace here before you feel comfortable doing it somewhere else. So, for myself, I have switched from a flushing toilet to a composting approach. Do an internet search for the humanure handbook by Joseph Jenkins. I do not use a dish washer to wash dishes and only use about 3 gallons of water for dishes each day. You should learn to live using less than 10 gallons per day. Cut severely back on electricity or energy usage. Grow your own food. Learn organic gardening and composting. Can you live that lifestyle day in and day out. Stop using your credit cards for a year. Reduce your driving habits, walk everywhere you can. Hang out with people very different from yourself, perhaps volunteering with inner city kids. Live more simply, go to bed early, get up early. Do more work with your hands and get more involved with neighbors. Those kinds of changes will help you figure out where you stand on that kind of lifestyle. Oh, eat very basic food, bake your own bread, eat rice and beans, see if you’ll like that, or at least see if you can make the adjustment and live with it for a good long time. Hope that helps.