My Peace Corps
You really want to scare your parents? JOIN THE PEACE CORPS! I kid I kid (right mom?). In all seriousness I joined Peace Corps to get away from a small town of 249 people, earn a Masters Degree and experience strange new and exciting things. I grew up in the country where everyone knew my name and decided to go to a big school to blend. I had a GREAT time there at the University of Cincinnati, earned a Bachelor´s in International Affairs and upon graduation decided to take a year off before Law School. In the time after graduation I just happened upon an opportunity to do Peace Corps and earn a Masters Degree with a program called "Masters International." At the last minute I applied to both George Mason University and the Peace Corps and was accepted to both. After studying a year in DC I sold EVERYTHING I owned except what could fit in my bags to go to Paraguay and caught the flight to destiny. My life has gone from the smallest of small towns to the busiest of the busy to thatch roofs and swimming in ponds...can´t wait to see where this course takes me next!
More about this RegionWhere am I?
- Country
- Paraguay
- What you do
- Municipal Services Development: MSD (Municipal Services Development)
- What inspired you to join Peace Corps
- I had always wanted to see the world which I am doing a lot of here. I also wanted to see how the poorest of the poor truly lived so I could use that information towards International Politics one day. I think it is important to have a first hand account of what the rest of the world goes through each week so you know how decisions affect everyone. Without this insight the global economy can never grow to its fullest potential.
- People you've met there
- Some of the most amazing! I like to include the people I met in DC on this list because without the PC I would not have gone to DC in the first place to get my MA. Those people are great and the other volunteers I met here in country are now some of my best friends. My group of friends has only expanded and yet become more closely knit from this experience. I wouldn't trade any of them! The Paraguayans that I have met are great too and I know I have made life long bonds with many of them.
- One thing learned so far
- PATIENCE! I know that it is a virtue and everything but did we really have to take it to this extreme? I have to remind myself every day to be more patient with people. Just because I understand things immediately, does not mean that someone else that has NEVER been exposed to such concepts as "supply and demand" will understand right off the bat. The life here is super "tranquilo" and if you try to run at the pace of New York City you are only going to upset a lot of people and ultimately not accomplish anything because people will not work with you and you'll burn out too.
What am I doing?
- Favorite New Meal
- Beans and Rice! I eat it constantly these days. It is a good source of protein, cheap, filling and keeps the flies away (little joke the locals just love). I especially like it when people throw the good old pig fat in there for flavour!! Before I came to PY I was a bit of a health freak. I didn't even have salt or sugar in my apartment because I wouldn't eat it. Now I tell them to throw a little extra fat on with that salty goodness! HAHAHA oh how times have changed. I also love that they put a fried egg on all their sandwiches with some ham and cheese and mayo. MMMMMM-M!
- Food you miss the most
- Chipotle is one and Skyline Chili (Cincinnati chili cheese coneys) is the other. Those two were my "cheats" and I miss them so much.
- Strangest thing you have eaten
- COW TONGUE! Yeah…you read that right. I know that there are people even in the US that eat that but it is sick. I had cow tongue sandwiches and thought I would lose it. I didn't mind the fish cooked with their heads intact (that includes eyes and feeling whiskers) as much as the cow tongue with the taste buds still on. Yuck!
- Favorite new thing
- I love clear nights here. Sitting outside with the clearest stars you ever will see is amazing. I grew up in the country so I know what good stars look like but here there is NO light pollution and you can see stars just over the treetops and clearer than if you had a telescope.
- What you miss the most
- I miss friends and family and staying connected. I think it is hard to be here where you can only email or talk on the phone once a week or so. I have it better than most with the internet access that I have but it still takes a lot of time to come in and sit down and write out 20 emails instead of having a computer right there in your room and writing constantly. Also, not having regular news is hard to deal with.
- Biggest surprise
- I am freezing cold in 80-degree weather. It is a new phenomenon for me because back in Ohio I would be sweating at 70 and here I literally have a sweatshirt on! You get used to 100+ weather and anything less is just cold.
- Pets
- I have adopted a dog now to help with security. It is my first official pet though I have been made fun of for feeding most of the animals in the neighbourhood.
- Transportation
- Good old trusty bicycle. It helps keep me in shape I guess and is reliable…that is if it doesn't rain. With all dirt roads it is impossible to ride if there is even an inch of rain.
- Travel plans
- I just got back from Buenas Aires and Iguazu and my next big trip is going to be Santiago, Chile and then Montevideo, Uruguay. I have a HUGE trip planned for Carnival next year in Rio…counting the days!!
- Clothes
- flip-flops and shorts of course. Though it is getting colder so flip-flops and a sweatshirt with jeans might be in order. Things are casual here. I do wear nicer clothes for meetings and such but daily wear is light and breezy.
- Most essential thing you brought from home
- If I could go home for a month and completely repack I would. I think I messed it up something awful. I think the Nalgene bottle was a great call though! If I had thought ahead I would have brought duct tape…that would then be the most essential thing I brought. But alas!
- Best thing you've received in a care package
- The best thing I have received would be a multi-tool much like a "Leatherman" from my mom because that has come in handy a bunch of times. It is a close winner to all the spices I have received. Those spices make SUCH a different in the quality of eating here and I am so glad I have them.
- Worst...
- No such thing! A care package is like a mini-Christmas every time you get one. Even if all I got was a lump of coal you better believe I am going to burn it and make myself some beans and rice!!!
My Interests
- General
- Whew! The list is long yet distinguished. Love biking, fishing, playing volleyball or soccer, reading in my hammock, drinking terere with the neighbours, starting new projects and trying to stay cool in this heat! Avoiding large tarantulas is the leading interest story in this day and age.
- Music
- I hate to admit this but I am a top 40´s kinda guy. I know it goes against all my friends out there but I just listen to the radio!
- Movies
- Few Good Men, My Cousin Vinny, anything Vince Vaughn (the man is hilarious), and at this point anything in English or with English subtitles!
- Books
- Right now I am catching up on the classics. Literally JUST finished Bram Stokers, "Dracula" and enjoyed 100 years of solitude and am on the first 10 pages of Moby Dick. This is a good time to find out what the classics are all about. When I go back to the states and bury myself in law books I will pick up the Steven King stuff again.
Before Peace Corps
- About me in high school
- In high school I was a club junkie or something. I was the President of Environmental Club, President of Friends Helping Friends, Editor of the school paper, Co-editor of the Yearbook, Vice-President of Drama Club, Captain of the soccer team, went to college classes and high school classes (post-secondary option), had two jobs and STILL had time to help out around the house (despite what my folks might say). There wasn't all that much to do around town so I found things to do in school.
- About me in college
- College…oh how I miss thee. I was heavily involved in college too with clubs as the list goes on and on and even tried my hand at crew. I had to work through school despite scholarships so much of my time was spent studying, working and hanging out with the best guys on the planet (2429 you know who you are). After graduation I had decided to take a year off and then go to law school but a great professor of mine told me about an opportunity to get my MA in Political Science and serve in the Peace Corps at the same time. Both of which I had always wanted to do! I decided to look into it and applied to George Mason University just outside of Washington DC. The deal is to treat PC like an internship and get credit. I moved to DC to start that up and met amazing people who were mostly doing the same thing with Peace Corps (COUP…miss you guys) and a few other members that completed an excellent experience for me. We are spread out all over the globe now doing our own things with Peace Corps and other government agencies but we will come back together in 2008 for a great reunion.
