Making mistakes when speaking the local language will make you feel like this… (But don’t worry, you’ll improve with time!)

You definitely won’t be able to get enough of the delicious new foods your host country has to offer.

You’ll find during service, bandanas are not only useful… they’re a fashionable accessory.

Making close friends in your community will come naturally with time.

And your soccer skills will vastly improve during service from all the pickup games you’ll play with the local kids.

At the end of some days, you’ll be totally exhausted.

But your fellow Peace Corps Volunteers and community members will seriously become your family for life.

If you’re more of a cat person, check out this Peace Corps Volunteer’s account of raising a pet kitten at his site. 

Ty Miranda, 24, is a Washington, D.C. native currently serving as a Peace Corps youth in development Volunteer in Thailand, where she adopted her new pug puppy, Pie. Miranda graduated from George Washington University in 2014 with bachelor’s degrees in religion and peace studies.