So as almost
every Peace Corps volunteer who blogs their experience has most likely written,
what you are about to read: The post that is dedicated to those who are
interested in joining the Peace Corps, the process of applying and the life
once you are. Now every volunteer has a unique experience with the application,
the interview, and most definitely the 27-month commitment they make to their
host country. I
have known about Peace Corps for several years, since the beginning of freshman
year in high school, Peace Corps was an organization I dreamt of being a part
of it, the idea of living in a third world country, working with people in
hopefully an area that I am passionate about and above all traveling.Over the years as I progressed into
college at UCSB, I targeted all of my volunteer work and job experiences to the
requirements of the Environmental sector in the Peace Corps, if you’re
interested you can check those out on the website. Once
it came to my senior year in UCSB it took me three months to complete my
application which consisted of a resume, a long series of essay questions,
references, and some medical questions.After submitting, my three references (work, volunteer, family/friend)
were contacted to answer various questions of me. This all happened in the
frame of August- October. In November or so I was asked to go to Los Angeles,
for my interview in the So Cal office which lasted about three in half hours
about my past experience, the ten characteristics/ peace core mission and how
it fit well with my personality and what I want to do in Peace Corps. Shortly
after in a week or two, my interviewer nominated me for a program in the
Environmental Sector set to leave in September 2013 and also told me that I had
to sign a contract saying that I would learn Spanish to the best of my ability.
Between then and May, I spent a lot of time not knowing where I was going,
going to the doctors office countless times for medical service, the obligatory
background checks, a financial clearance and using Rosetta Stone to help
refresh the high school days in clase de español. In May, I found out that I
was going to Paraguay, this is when I accepted my service and knew the date of
my departure and roughly what I would be doing as a part of the Medio Ambiental
sector in Paraguay. Between that moment and up until September, I was so
preoccupied with completing my degree at the University of California, Santa
Barbara that what I knew of Paraguay was from what people had told me. My last
10 days in America was my chance to read up on Paraguay, prepare my bags and
say my goodbyes. To anyone interested in applying I would highly suggest
allowing more time to prepare your bags, there are things I wish I would have
left behind and made room for, that I could have easily been avoided if I had
the time. Also, Peace Corps does
their best to prepare you by giving you papers on your country but the truth
with every abroad program, no paper, no youtube video, or even talking to
return volunteers, can fully prepare you for the experience you’re about to
embark. You
set off for your host country and on the way you meet people in the airport,
that either have chacos strapped to backpacking packs, way lindo ropa de REI or
some other outdoor store, an instrument, or the occasional lost but excited
look that someone has when the only thing they can do is to tell themselves
don’t look back. These people are your family, the other 20-40 people that you
will get to know so fast its almost terrifying how quickly you are comfortable
sharing the terrible changes your body is going through, the love you left
behind, or escaping from the fact that some people need a break, or aren’t
quite sure where there life was going, so this seemed like the best idea. From
that point on you spend your first ten weeks in a training community, living
with a host family, learning the language, and preparing yourself for your
site. As many of you have read in my previous post, I’m not going to go deeply
into this.