Now, this makes me laugh--it is so true. The guy is speaking more from the idealistic/nostalgic/romanticised idea of Peace Corps, and the woman is speaking more on the negative, but completely realistic experience that Peace Corps is. Not to say it is all bad and I am miserable or that I would trade this experience, but there are some truths that can´t be denied.
Sometimes I feel like when I´m expressing frustrations and anxieties to those back home, they are the guy in this scenario, and I am the woman. Don´t get me wrong, I really appreciate the words of encouragement and love from back home, I don´t know if I could survive without it. But sometimes ¨Keep your chin up!¨ and ¨you`re doing a great job!¨ and ¨you´re helping so many people!¨ just doesn´t even work on the same level of what I´m going through. There´s just too much involved to really understand the experience of Peace Corps from the outside. And I suppose this is what I´m trying to acheive with my blog, which is express what it is to live in another country and work as a volunteer. But I feel sometimes while expressing what it is to be a volunteer, people mistake it as pessimism and negativity. Obviously, being a complete cynic can´t work if you´re a volunteer, you have to have some shred of hope and optimism in order to survive. And Peace Corps obviously is a great thing, otherwise so many people wouldn´t do it and stick with it and use the experience to grow and move forward in life. Peace Corps isn´t all shitting your pants and hiding in air conditioned restaurants in developed cities, but it also isn´t all organic farming, ¨the community development¨, and being a town role model. It is the most complex, challenging, self-esteem destructing thing I have ever done in my entire life. Period. I feel like it is slowly breaking me down bit by bit, and then building me back up again. I know even the neurons in my brain are making new connections, creating pathways and firing off in parts that never had activity before. And as often as I hate it and wish I could jump on the first plane back home where I can flush my toilet paper, drink out of the tap, and escape from the heat and the insects, I love it here and feel in complete awe and wonder of this country and it´s people, and those small things are exactly that--small things.
This may be a cheesy video with obnoxious monotone robotic voices, but it is the closest thing I could think of to relating this experience (especially right now, as I am in a major slump) so that those back home can understand that the hard times aren´t always just a mindset, and the good things aren´t always related to having accomplished an awesome project.
I miss everyone lots, and I hope your New Year went well. Hope to hear from you all in the near future, as I´m hiding in my room checking facebook.
(And for the record, I haven`t used corporal punishment.)
(And for the record, I haven`t used corporal punishment.)
Hey! I"m a PCV in Paraguay and absolutely understand this post, as only PCVs can. I just went through a major slump myself. One thing that really helped me get out of the slump was identifying stress relieving activities and then trying out to see what made me feel the best about myself. I wrote down a bunch of stuff that I like to do to relieve stress, such as 'writing, reading, drawing,' etc. None of these were helping me however, until a friend of mine pointed out that exercise was a stress-relieving technique that I could try. Since then I've been running every day and it has helped SO much- helping me establish a routine, gives me a rush of endorphins, a great stress-reliever- totally helped me get out of the slump. So anyway, I just wanted to pass along something that worked for me, maybe you can try to find some stress-relieving thing that you like to do that will make you feel better about yourself. Otherwise hang in there! Cheers~
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