Saturday, October 9, 2010

It's Official

It's been a long time coming, but it's finally official: I'm going to be a Peace Corps Volunteer! It's been so long since I first formulated the desire to join the Peace Corps, I can't even remember exactly when it started. I always assumed the Peace Corps would consume my first two years after college, but due to extenuating circumstances (aka my love of South Africa), I made the decision to spend my first year out of college living and traveling in Africa. I'm beyond glad I took that year to do what I did, especially now that I know I'm not headed back to Africa for the Peace Corps... I'm going to Panama! (To be fair, in my interview and subsequent communications with my recruiter, I did say I'd go anywhere. Wouldn't you?)

Here is a sort of timeline of my progress to eventually becoming a Peace Corps Volunteer:

August 18, 2008: Submit my online application
September 9, 2008: Interview
November 12, 2008: Nominated for an English Teaching program in Africa in July 2009; I defer for a year in order to go back to South Africa
July 15, 2009: Re-activate my application
August 3, 2009: Nominated for an English Teaching program in Africa for July 2010
May-June 2010: Return to the U.S. and get my medical evaluations
June 23, 2010: Informed that I will not be cleared for service until I have my wisdom teeth removed
July 15, 2010: Wisdom teeth removed
July-August 2010: Additional bloodwork and testing
August 17, 2010: Medically cleared!
September 16, 2010: Receive invitation to serve as an English Teacher in Panama from January 11, 2011 to March 18, 2013!

It's been a long and complicated journey. On January 11, 2011, I will be joining a number of other Volunteers in a city in the U.S. for "staging." We will travel to Panama together on January 12, 2011. We will spend the first two or three months as Trainees before officially being sworn in as Volunteers and moving to our sites around the country. I won't know where my site will be until near the end of the training period.

My reasons for wanting to join the Peace Corps are numerous and will sound pretty cheesy if I discuss them here. I'll try anyway. I believe that every human life on this planet holds equal value. I see the inequality that pervades our world. I believe that the most effective change takes place slowly but surely by individual action rather than politicans' well-intentioned but ineffective plans. One person can't do everything, but one person can do something. And I think that every person should try to do as much as they can to change the things about our world that they disagree with.

As long as I can remember, I have loved to travel and experience countries and cultures different than my own. My first international experience was a 5th or 6th grade trip to France. In 7th grade, I visited my brother who was living in Spain. In 10th grade, I went with my dad on a medical mission to Guatemala. The next summer I spent a month on a service trip to Costa Rica. 11th grade brought a service trip to Malawi. In 12th grade I spent a month in a student exchange program in Buenos Aires. It was obvious to me that I would study abroad in college and I chose to do one semester in South Africa and another semester in Prague. For my first year out of college, I spent half the year waitressing in South Africa and the other half traveling in Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, and Namibia.

During these travels, I discovered that I have the ability to mold myself to fit into any situation. At best, this can be called an ability to adapt easily. At worst, it's a lack of a strong identity of my own. Hopefully it's actually something in between the two. I have found myself in Southern churches and Turkish mosques despite my Jewish upbringing; I have been the only white face in a sea of black; I have held political conversations with groups of straight-laced Bible-thumpers as well as aggressive do-gooders. I feel as comfortable surrounded by a group of New Yorkers as I do surrounded by a group of Maasai cattle herders.

I am extremely happy to be invited to become a Peace Corps Volunteer in Panama. Many people have asked me if I'm disappointed that I'm not going back to Africa. Despite my expectation that I would be going to Africa, I am far from disappointed. I'm very excited to go to a country where I have never been and get to know its people, language, and culture. Now I just have to wait until January!