Polyglot
12 Reasons to Date a Returned Peace Corps Volunteer
By Erica Burman on Tuesday, February 14th, 2012
(credit: http://laurapruittdesign.blogspot.com)
It’s Valentine’s Day! A day when we celebrate friendship, love, and romance. Through the years here at the National Peace Corps Association, we’ve heard countless stories of Peace Corps romance. The couples that met at the airport on the way to training. The couples that met while serving. The Peace Corps Volunteers that fell in love with a host country national. And the Returned Peace Corps Volunteers that connected in the States, discovering that the shared bond of Peace Corps service was the spark that led to a relationship.
Peace Corps is a life-changing experience that develops a unique set of skills and attributes. So it goes without saying: Returned Peace Corps Volunteers make GREAT dates. And just to prove it, we’ve started a list.
12 reasons to date a Returned Peace Corps Volunteer:
- We can woo you in multiple languages. Who else is going to whisper sweet nothings to you in everything from Albanian to Hausa to Quechua to Xhosa? That’s right. Only a Returned Peace Corps Volunteer.
- We’re pretty good dancers. Yeah, we don’t like to brag, but after 27 months in Latin America or Africa we know how to move it.
- We’ll eat anything. Seriously. No matter how bad your cooking, Returned Peace Corps Volunteers have had worse and will eat it with nary a blink. Sheep’s eyeball? Water buffalo gall bladder? Grasshoppers? Bush rat? Bring it.
- We know all about safe sex, thanks to our very thorough Peace Corps health training. In fact, there’s a chance that we’ve stood unblushingly in front of hundreds of villagers and demonstrated good condom technique with a large wooden phallus.
- We’ll kill spiders for you. Well, actually, we’ll nonchalantly scoop them up and put them out of sight. Same goes for mice, geckos, frogs, snakes. Critters don’t faze Returned Volunteers.
- We have great date ideas: wandering a street market, checking out a foreign film, taking in a world music concert, volunteering…. Romantic getaway? Our passport is updated and our suitcase is packed. With us, life is always an adventure.
- We like you for “you”… not your paycheck. Especially if we are freshly back from service, a local joint with “character” will win out over a pretentious eatery. Living in a group house? No problem. Does it have running hot water? What luxury!
- You won’t get lost when you’re with a Returned Peace Corps Volunteer. Navigating local markets on four continents, we’ve honed an uncanny sense of direction. Or else we’ll ask for directions. We’re not afraid to talk to “strangers.”
- Waiting for a late train or bus with us? Don’t worry. Been there, done that. We can share lots of funny stories about “the bus ride from hell” that will make the time go quickly and put it all into perspective.
- Our low-maintenance fashion style. Returned Peace Corps Volunteer guys are secure in their manhood and don’t mind rocking a sarong. Women often prefer flip flops to high heels. We don’t spend hours in front of a mirror getting ready to go out.
- Marry us, and you won’t just get one family — you’ll get two! When we refer to our “brother” or “mom,” you’ll want to be certain we’re talking about our American one or our Peace Corps one. You might even get two wedding ceremonies, one in the U.S. and one back in our Peace Corps country.
- And last but not least, we aren’t afraid to get dirty.
Do you have a story of a Peace Corps romance? Other reasons to add? Share in the comments section below!
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So true! I met my husband as a PCV and it’s been going strong for over 20 years!
You guys rock! This email made my day. I think I will put it on my POF website lol Shauna
What a great Valentine’s Day feature! Thanks for nudging some great memories.
All true, plus with PEace Corps such an important part of my life, it is great to be reconnected to the one I shared that first PC experience with a short 44 years ago.
this is funny! My husband was a PCV, and we got married after his service. I don’t think there are many returned PCV’s that are looking to date. Most of them got married overseas.
My girlfriend will probably take issue with #8.
Who needs a sense of direction when there are only 4 roads?
Met my husband in training for P.C. in 1963. Still going strong 47 1/2 years later. Our oldest daughter was in P.C. Hungary I and married a host country national there. Plan to return to COS for 50th anniversary. Third Goal going strong here!
Yes PC is life changing! Married my site supervisor in the Philippines 30 years ago. We had two weddings one in the Church and a tribal wedding at our project village.
I had been back (Lesotho ’06-’08) in the U.S. for nine months and was finally able to have a beer after concluding INH treatment for Latent TB Infection. I had a date planned for that evening, but decided to first pop into an RPCV event in Cambridge, MA so that I could have my first drink in the U.S. with fellow RPCVs. I ended up having two, was approached by an RPCV (Paraguay), we chatted briefly, I then left for my planned date. That RPCV and I e-mailed one another for the next three months while I was away for the summer, on break from grad-school, and we eventually connected over a lunch… we have been together ever since and that was 2.5yrs ago! During one of our first truly intimate moments, she whispered “would you like to see the photos from when my Mom came to visit my village and I slaughtered a pig in her honor?”
I met my Costa Rican husband while working in Costa Rica in 1963. We have been married for 46 years!
Thanks for reminding me what a wonderful catch I am!
I met my future wife in Peace Corps. Will be married this year! Best thing I ever did!
We were warned, Sierra Leone is in the hot tropics so what you think is love might just be the steamy heat. Met Jenny, a cute little VSO gal in September of 67, we married in December 67, and recently celebrated our 44th year. Still in love.
VSO, Volunteer Service Overseas, the UK version of Peace Corps that actually started the year before PC, so I’m reminded.
Wow! I’d forgotten that I’d developed such snazzy life skills until I read this.(Thailand, 91-93)
I also met my husband in Costa Rica while serving in 2010. We’ve been married for 5 months, this posting is so true!
My husband and I married one month before departing for Sierra Leone, W. Africa. We call our PC tour our two year honeymoon. A few rounds of malaria, some driver ants in the bedroom a spitting cobra in the garden all help strengthen a relationship! We are still seeking new adventures together after 32 years.
#13 could be, we won’t be offended if you fart in front of us. Met my wife in training 24 years ago and we’ve been together ever since.
Bravo! I can think of two possible additions:(if approved, I leave it to NPCA experts to write them up):
#x: how fun we can be “en tête à tête” and in groups with our exotic (and not putting-down) anecdotes of life “out there”
#y: what great general fix-it-alls we are. We can repair, jury-rig just about anything in an emergency, and find innovative and startling solutions for overcoming/improving daily-life challenges.
The comments previous to mine – as few as they are – also seem to demonstrate convincingly that PC experience makes us ripe for mature and long-lasting relationships! (I myself, left PC in September 1969 and got married with a person met in the same month in November, and we are still going strong …) (Note: No shotguns were involved in the ceremony.)
Dan and I met during our PC training. We were a couple during most of our service, sometimes traveling up to 6 and 10 hours to meet each other. Once we were stateside, we waited a year to become engaged just to make sure it wasn’t simply the romance of Peace Corps. This July, we will celebrate our 12th anniversary! I’d do it all over again – Peace Corps, Dan, our two amazing children!
Wow, what a wonderful feature! Thank you for the memories. I married the man who sent me the most books and letters while I was overseas! Peace Corps, marrying Chuck and having my two children have been the best things I’ve ever done!
I met my boyfriend right after he got back from PC Kaz almost a year and half ago, and i must say dating a returned volunteer is where its at. And even though I’ve never been a volunteer, I love that he was. This article has made my day.
<3
Yes, the Peace Corps is a life shaping experience.
I had a much better feel on who I was when I came home and found my life’s match – still going strong after 39 years!
And we head back to my host country (Costa Rica) for a wedding next week (all Costa Ricans except us) on the beach. Our extended family.
I think the 12 reasons to date a PCV is a great idea. At least Rpcvs and PCVs enjoy each other.
Back in ’69 I introduced myself to an Indian national whoem I had seen on campus. We were both getting lunch at the student center and I wanted more to talk with an Indian than any other student. We started dating the next week and married 3 months later. He wen home to try to get a job in India. He had a PhD and a year post doctoral study at the University.
Our daughter was born in June of ’70 and he was able to come home to us in October of ’70.
It’s been 43 years this year, a daughter and 2 sons all on their own. We took them to India to meet my husbands family two times and we spent 4 months there last winter. Came home a year ago tomarrow. Would love to hear and read more happy couple stories.
Great list of reasons to date RPCVs.
“Do you have a story of a Peace Corps romance?”
Actually I do, but it’s long enough to fill a book. In fact, it does. “Dodging Machetes: How I Survived Forbidden Love, Bad Behavior, and the Peace Corps in Fiji,” will be published by Peace Corps Writers in a month or two. If you want to be notified when it is released, please email me at [email protected].
I met my husband at staging in Washington D.C. We never really dated in Peace Corps… We just decided one day, 4 months into service that we were meant for each other. We’ve been together for over 7 years and married for 1 and 4 months now! Go Ukraine PCVs!
I think I will keep my RPCV (if she will have me),but I always knew that. The 50th was special for me since I was not in the Corps but met the most amazing people I have ever been with. God bless ALL of you!
Met my husband, a fellow PCV, when he came to the training center to meet the mostly female new training group. 21 years later we’ve raised 3 kids who all travel independently abroad and plan on service projects along the way. Still volunteering with the local RPCV group. Happy Valentine’s Day to a great man and thanks PC for bringing us into each other’s lives.
Great idea!! But Moke Chee, (aka She who will be obeyed says she didn’t know what happiness was until she married me but then it was too late and since correcting my faults is a full-time job with no end in sight and besides she learned her lesson she has no interest in dating another RPCV and what’s worse is she won’t give me permission to date a merciful RPCV even in the unlikly event one would date this pitiful old wretch.
And so now the question is, how many of you are NPCA members?
If you like this blog post, make sure you join and help the cause.
12 reasons NOT to date an rpcv (just for fun)
-You might get tired of hearing “In peace corps….” stories all the time.
- While you like sharing with your partner you don’t want to catch whatever creepy contagious disease we got from living like the locals (parasites, giardia, guinea worm, the plague)
- Peace Corps volunteers are nomadic by nature so if you seek stability, have plans to settle down, or have considered home ownership (really even a 1 year lease), we aren’t your kind of people.
- Before going on vacation with us you will probably need to get a vaccine, at least one.
- We will insist on preparing you food from our host country. You will never know if we are just bad chefs or if the food was really that terrible.
- You might get offended when we have pictures of adorable barefoot kids all over our apartments, but none of you (or any other Americans)
- We genuinely believe that tevas/chacos are appropriate for work, dates, exercising, weddings, and everything else always.
- We will complain about easy life is in America and how everyone takes everything for granted.
- We love foreign music no matter how squealy, shrill, or bizarre it may be.
- When we hang out with our rpcv friends we get sucked into a vortex of nostalgia that lasts for weeks. – We don’t believe careers in developed countries are meaningful, this includes yours
- It will be very difficult for you to get us to talk about any part of our lives besides peace corps
Wow. You nailed this. 1-12. While not a RPCV, I think my husband would agree to all of these. Happy Valentine’s Day, PC and to my lovely man. Together we are striving to raise our little global citizens.
I fell in lust in the PC/Namibia. Problem was he was a pastor. As all potential lovers would do, I “stalked” him by attending his church with some of my learners. That Sunday, he preached that HIV-AIDS was a US/Euro conspiracy. Sigh. So much for love…
My husband used to live on a Kibbutz, it prepared him to marry a RPCV.
My husband and I met in training in Brazil in 1976 and have now been married 32 years. We are getting ready to retire to begin a new round of adventures. I have always thought that how we think and live our lives is a result of prolonged peace corp syndrome! Glad to know we are not alone …….
I met my wife in grad school, but we got married in a traditional tribal ceremony in my Peace Corps village, up in the mountains of the Philippines. (Where else would a returned Peace Corps volunteer want to get married?)
It was her first time out of the country, but she liked it so much that we later joined the Peace Corps as a couple and went to Africa.
During the five years we lived in Zambia, we hosted PCVs in our home frequently. What a blessing they were to us! This article is SO true. There will always be a special place in our hearts for PCVs.
RPCV Thailand here. Married RPCV Honduras.
On our first date, he blocked the path as I peed in the woods. LOVE.
And we even got “shh” because we were talking so much during a folk concert.
I married a HCN while serving in Bulgaria. Going on five years and one kiddo. Peace Corps is really a dating service, just admit it. Like match.com for the adventurous types
I married my host brother’s best friend–10 years after i left Peace Corps! I went back to my host country (Philippines) and he was waiting for me. We’ve been married for 15 years (this June) and have three kids. We’re all big Peace Corps fans!
I was obsessed with a particular second-year volunteer since the moment I arrived in the airport in Benin and she was there to greet my group. Romance was not in the cards, however, and I had to be satisfied with a great friendship.
Little was I to know that three years later she would visit a friend in New Orleans, where I was living, for Mardi Gras. Let’s just say I put the voodoo on her. Now, almost a year later, we are celebrating our first valentines day together
Love It….sweet memories that will always touch my heart and soul!
This was a great list! My fiance and I met as we were both going to serve in Uganda in 2006. I’m so glad that he and I shared the experience of PC. I’m excited to marry him in Four Days! And to begin the next great adventure!
Met my husband, Jeff, at the airport in Nashville, TN, in July of 1978 when we arrived for 6 weeks of Peace Corps training. We went our separate ways for the first month, then shared a canoe on a weekend field trip on the Duck River. We liked each other’s paddling skills and married withing the month, in Nairobi, Kenya. 33 years ago. Happy Valentine’s Day, Jeff.
This article brought us many laughs this evening. All so true! Met my future husband during one of the ice breakers during the first hours of Staging. We have been married for almost 28 years and our experiences as PCV’s have always given us a special bond. One of our daughters has just completed her first year as a PCV. I guess all those stories of “When I was in PC..” had an impact. I still have a special place in my heart for Ice Breakers…..
My husband and I met on the dancefloor after midnight where a group of RPCV friends and I ended up after a ‘despedida’. Erick married me despite the Peace Corps stories.
El Salvador 2002-2005
When I told my parents/family/friends that I was marrying a host country national 8 months after we started dating (and by the way, he didn’t speak any English and couldn’t converse with them) they all thought I was crazy. Now we’ve been married over 3 years and are expecting our first child. Everyone adores him and we couldn’t be happier. It’s something I DEFINITELY wasn’t expecting for my Peace Corps experience but I’m glad for everything that happened. Senegal ’06-08
Doing peace corps was the 2nd best decision I’ve ever made, no.1 was marrying my beautiful wife I met while in peace corps!
Dominican republic 06-09
Poor leaves on the picture. Wouldn’t it be better to PUT leaves in the shape of heart than CUT leaves in the shape of heart?
love this one…those volunteers who finished and enjoyed their 2 years (and sometimes 3 years) fit the description. I was a staff and am a sponsor to quite a few weddings involving Peace Corps volunteers.
I like all kind of love stories, but our story is my favorite! It was like some hollywood romance trailer with falling in love, dating, getting married, being temporarily separated by the revolution, escaping the uprising on the cargo plane and after all reuniting with each other again. Distance made us closer and difficulties made us stronger, now we appreciate and love each other even more…
P.S.: By the way, my beloved husband is a RPCV who served in Kyrgyzstan (2008-2010).
My son was a PCV in Latvia. He is living proof that the power of love can change the world. Happy Valentines Day Randy!
When I met my husband, I let him know Sorry, we can’t date for very long – I’m joining the Peace Corps. His response? Huh, sounds fun! We enjoyed a whirlwind romance in the states, got married a year and a half later, traveled cross country for 100 days on our honeymoon, and a year after that served in Cape Verde together (2008-2010). Now we’re back home and it’s wonderful to be able to share stories and experiences with someone you love!
My experience as a PCV was a tad bit different. My boyfriend of the time had to agree to going into the Peace Corps with me in order for me to agree to marry him. We married, completed our Peace Corps experience in the Commonwealth of Dominica, 84-86 and have had a lovely marriage (two kids) since. PC did change our lives!
Love this. But as too many of my ex-girlfriends will attest, #8 does not apply to me! But in my small town, I learned the best way to find my way was to get lost first, and to ask for directiions!
My husband and I met in Cameroun, West Africa. He was a seasoned volunteer (one year) I was green, just out to post. He lived 50 KM out in the bush, so I guess I looked pretty good on weekends in the “big city” where we had electricity! We got married in 1993 and will be married 19 years this year!
I love how popular this is! And I can woo you in Xhosa!
My husband is a HCN that I met during my service in Kazakhstan. We dated for about a year while I was there, and did the super long distance thing for another year. He saved up money by working 120 hrs a week, applied for a passport and visa, then came to visit. We have now been married for two years and I would say that this list could apply to HCN’s too.
So true! I married the very first RPCV I met: my Peace Corps recruiter! And after my service (how do you win the heart of a Peace Corps recruiter? You JOIN the Peace Corps!) and several more stints for both of us as trainers and staff, we’re still going strong 25 years later!
So….I’m laying with my pcv wife now.
Ps..i worry about no.12
I think every single reason on the list is true, had me laughing in a waiting room! I met my Malian husband about a year into service while he farmed in a hamlet nearby. He just got his USA citizenship this year. We now (13 years later) live in USA with 2 kids, but travel to Mali every year. I am going over to meet him there in a few days! Can’t wait to get back! So many of my fellow RPCVs from Mali either married another volunteer or a Malian or West African!
Being a PCV in Ukraine actually MADE being number 10 wrong. By the time I left Ukraine I realized I wouldn’t leave the house without putting on my makeup. The ladies there showed me that that extra few minutes caring about your appearance makes a difference. hehehe I also left rockin the 2 inch heels to work. I felt classy!
I suppose that’s a byproduct of living in a developed center in Ukraine.
The real reason to date a freshly returned RPCV (especially the ladies) – is that they’ve probably been a bit starved for love and aren’t at all picky by that point.
Are there any republican RPCVs?
Sold!
Although, I think I’ve actually gotten worse at dancing while serving in Madagascar’s highlands. Clearly, this isn’t like the rest of Africa if I’m not being schooled by 4-year olds on the dance floor.
I LOVED both lists (12 Reasons to and 12 Reasons not to date). I agree with Julia–living in the campo of El Sal sometimes gave me the urge to go the other way and get really dressed up. I never realized why I never wanted to settle down, and now I know!
Jen
El Sal 06-08
All so very true…as well as the entry that said (in fun!) why NOT to…reminiscing is what we do best!
Met in Sierra Leone a long time ago. We have been married 35 years, but we count our “real” anniversary to be the time we started out together in Africa…37 years!
I love these. I have to share a story from my dear friend and college roommate who served in Afghanistan (1965-1968), part of the time while I was in Ecuador (1964-1966). He met his wife and mother of his two children there. She was in a similar program from her home country of West Germany (Do you remember that division?) Alas, the marriage ultimately did not last forever, but it undoubtedly had a profound effect on the lives of these four individuals.
Wonderful post, thanks! My girlfriend and I are both RPCVs. We served on different continents in different decades, but met at our local RPCV group’s annual meeting here in northern California, and definitely appreciate all these attributes in each-other. Now we get double the benefits of dating an RPCV!
I posted to this site, yesterday, but neglected to actually describe the romance which is the focus of my upcoming (in the next month or two) socio-comic memoir, “Dodging Machetes: How I Survived Forbidden Love, Bad Behavior, and the Peace Corps in Fiji.”
The following paragraph from the back cover sums up my Peace Corps romance:
Will Lutwick, a quirky misfit, gets an MBA at 22, but soon realizes he and the American corporate world are a horrid mismatch. He joins the Peace Corps and is sent to the Fiji Islands, the quintessential tropical paradise. Will finds himself attracted to prohibited pulchritude when Rani Gupta, a beautiful, rebellious 20-year-old from a traditional Hindu family, begins working in his office. Dating is taboo in Fiji’s large Indian community, and an interracial couple would be unprecedented. But Rani and Will soon discover their mutual attraction impossible to resist. Their liaison is clandestine, but word gets out, and Rani’s community becomes enraged. The two lovers are under constant threat of attack, and violence ensues. Will must confront his personal demons about courage and commitment, while Rani is treated like a pariah by her people. Will the besieged lovers stay together, or will a hostile world tear them apart?
If you want to be notified when it is released, please email me at [email protected]
This is sweet – though still awaiting my Peace Corps amor – current PCV Mexico COSing Nov ’12. I got time.
Oh yeah, this top ten list brought me a rush of memories of my service in Peru, ’70-71. The 1st phrase I was taught in Quechua was “I love you”, which the trainer told me was how to greet people. #3 is a good one, I ate everything in sight and still lost about 40 lbs.
My husband and I served in different Peace Corps Countries and met in grad school in a Secondary Education Masters’s program for Social Studies teachers. We were both on fellowships and he was an anthro major. We have had fun for 41 years now and have visited each other’s host countries and met people who remember us fondly. Our kids went to a NPCA meeting in Eugene a few years ago and even though they were in elementary school turned and said, “They are all like you!” Your list explains a lot.
I can think of a few of my own:
1. We don’t blabber on or otherwise talk too much. In fact we are very quiet. A combo of way too much alone time and 27 months without speaking proper English render us almost mute. The perfect girlfriend!
2. When we DO get the courage to speak, our small talk is top notch. No more musings about the weather and the Super Bowl, let’s chat about rural beekeeping methods and how to make paper from elephant dung. Have you ever retrieved something you’ve dropped into a pit latrine? Let’s share!
3. I may have latent schistosomiasis but….it’s not contagious!! At least I’m pretty sure…. Can you give someone parasitic worms? Welp. Take it or leave it.
4. Not only will we be impressed that you have a car, we will be impressed when you pick us up and we’re the only ones in the vehicle—hey, you could fit 13 more people in here! But we appreciate that you did not.
5. A dinner/movie date is no longer boring to us. Food that isn’t mashed plantains or boiled cornmeal??? A movie that’s not a pirated version with Chinese subtitles??? I’m in. Let’s go somewhere with shrimp.
6. No bride price! As Ugandan men frequently remind me, I’m free. Form a line, boys.
Get over yourselves development tourists. I have never met a peace corps Tourist who has actually ever contributed something to the society they lived in, besides getting ‘an experience’ for themselves for their CV. Or teaching English to people who don’t need to learn English. yuk.
Development tourist, this great grandmother believes you should turn your personality weapon back towards your own heart – or do a stint in PC with that open heart – to get proof . ps I don’t need a CV!
I am not pcv but i participated a training in Gondar, Ethiopia. That was a meeting I never forget the pcv’s were celebrating American Independance Day the games, bonfire were special too me! The training was crucial too. But now I miss the facilitator returning to USA.
Yeah, I second Development Tourist. Peace Corps wouldn’t sicken me so much if the participants admitted the only development taking place was personal. Two years drinking beer, being told not to ride the night bus and getting sent home for not taking malaria medication isn’t development. It’s having a babysitter. Admit it: It was better to join the PC than get a job.
Many of these could represent ‘Earth First’ relationships! =)
I totally agree, I am a current volunteer in the Philippines, and my my fiance, a local, over a year ago, and we are getting married this summer. Great post and totally true.
Met my husband Mike on the way to PC Ethiopia. Just good friends in PC, but when I’d been home a couple of weeks, he persuaded me to visit him. We married a month later, on Valentine’s Day! That was 41 years ago. Liked PC and Africa so much that we went back, this time with Mike as a country director in Malawi. It’s remarkable how often Amharic and Chichewa phrases still creep into our conversation.
Rekha Shah age 67 rpcv Morocco 2004, Philippines 2007 and current PCV Swazilznd, Africa 2010. wow, you made my day. Erica i wrote to you few mo ago it would be nice to have rpcv pc dateline. My friend Shauna Steadman Morocco pcv made comment on this thread. I have hope now and also am a good catch.
I know when I came back there was a real pretty girl who was all into my long hair (after not cutting it for 2 years away) when I came back in the summer of 2000.
We hit it off, went camping and travelled around the country for 4 and a half months. This coming April, we celebrate 11 years of marriage!
In response to Development Tourist II above, I am curious if you even served in the Peace Corps. While there are such things set in place for the protection of the volunteers, such as evacuation during civil events, I know first hand that the lesson plans I prepared, the classes I taught, the field trips I took students on to see nesting leatherback turtles are definitely not the Peace Corps babysitting me.
I will not disagree with you in regards to the effect that the Peace Corps has on a CV or Resume, but while others may be struggling to work their way in, we busted our humps in ways you are seemingly not willing to partake in, so that we could prepare for our futures as well.
Every year I participate in Peace Corps week and share my story with current students and explain life as a volunteer. Most people in the US have no clue what life is like outside their comfort zone, so to put it into perspective for them helps.
*I had no power, except for 2 hours generator each night
*I had no refridgerator
*I usually had no running water
*I had cockroaches, fire ants, geckos, mice and a snake as unwanted guests in my house.
*I had parasites and anti-malarial drugs (people did die while I was there of malaria!)
*I drank beer every 3 months when I made my quarterly trip back to town.
*I spent up to 31 hours on a boat getting there
*I lived dehydrated for most of my time and took electrolyte packs to keep me going
*I learned to respect other cultures and custom even though there were times of extreme frustration.
*I could go on and on, but until you give up your lifestyle at home, you might not really ever know what it truly means to live as a Peace Corps Voluneer.
Anyways, it is these experiences that make me not only more appealing as a job prospect and definitely more appealing to the opposite sex.
So the question I have for Development Tourist II is what are you waiting for?
Very funny! 35 years later and I am still called upon to scoop up the spiders.
Development tourist? Do tourists learn local languages? Do tourists find out what the community needs and help them achieve it in a way that is sustainable? I could go on. It may not always work out perfectly, but we do our best. Yes, PC does look good on a resume and we earned it. If all we wanted was a vacation and something to improve our resume we could have found something easy and closer to home. I love this list, it’s funny and true! I’m proud to be an RPCV.
In my 25+ years in the international development field (some of them as a Peace Corps volunteer) I once did meet a PCV who was a true “development tourist.” He was gone after three months, though. Didn’t want to put in the work needed to make his project succeed. The other few hundred volunteers I’ve known busted their asses day after day, month after month, year after year on scores of different projects requested by local communities.
Every returned Peace Corps volunteer you meet will tell you that the people they worked with gave them far more than they got from the volunteer. But nobody ever mentions the second part of that equation — that, paradoxically, the local people will tell you they got far more from the volunteer than they gave. Peace Corps is a true win-win for all.
And, just speaking for myself, I am pretty sure there are people alive today who wouldn’t otherwise be, because of projects I and local people worked on together. I am positive that many people live much better lives, at a much higher standard of health and wealth, because of our projects. I have the hard data to back that up, too.
Is Peace Corps a two-year “vacation”? Not even close. But I’m damned proud — and lucky — to have had the chance to be a Peace Corps Volunteer. Peace Corps changes a lot of lives for the better. Mine is one, but there are many others.
MJ you are also right on with the 12 reasons to not date and RPCV. So funny and most very true. Philippines 06-08
I think there is tremendous value in having 200,000+ Americans that have spent more than the proverbial 2 weeks of vacation in a foreign country, learning about what hard work is like without the modern day services and conveniences. The Third Goal of Peace Corps is to bring these experiences back home and while I think the agency needs more work expressing those intangible benefits, I have never met a RPCV that did their two years and weren’t fundamentally transformed by the experience. It’s a little bizzarre to read these anonymous comments on an otherwise fun thread, but I think it’s a good example that the RPCV community has a lot more work to do in dispelling these misconceptions. So to reiterate an early point I made, hope everyone is a supporting member of this association… it’s the only one you got!
Absolutely well said! Every reason is confirmed!
Honduras 93-94
Would it be fair to say that my wife and I were ahead of this curve, given that we married first and then served in the PC together?
TO: Erica Burman, I really enjoyed everything that you wrote, but you forgot to mention the size of the heart that each Volunteer carries which help them touch their host country’s people and be touched by the people. I married one and has been a wonderful experience. Thanks for your list, it is really good.
Maybe we could add to the list the understanding of the value of family. Look how many are still together. I married a host country national employee of Peace Corps and we have been together more than 22 years. Perhaps the most important legacy past onto me from her parents on the passing was an unquestioned position in the family. Peace Corps definitely changes lives.
Don’t forget the number of us that have relationships that survived 2 years of separation!
I met my wife on the airplane on my WAY TO TRAINING in my host country. She was a host country national returning from a trip in Germany, and we just celebrated our 4th anniversary. After COS, I stayed for another 3 months and got married in country. Immigration, family, and politics were never so important to me before, but now that is my life. She is my life, and if we never would have sat next to each other on the plane from D.C to Guatemala, who knows what I would be doing right now. I can’t imagine life without her or our daughter.
I married a RPCV. Apparently a worldly Girl Scout and RPV make a great match. I went to India as a USAGS liason and my hubby was a volunteer there. We’re coming up on our 18 wedding anniversary. We share lots of stories and made a few of our own. Our honeymoon was in Greece. Hubby totally oblivious to all the attention I received from the natives. (He’s older than me by much and most males in Greece thought I belonged to the oldest profession for women.) Yep love my RPCV.
Great post! You’ve convinced me, I need to find a returning Peace Corps volunteer and put her in my life. Now, the question is, where do I find them…?
David Johnson: There are indeed Republicans in Peace Corps. I’m not one (by a long shot), but I’ve known many. In my experience, they’re usually very nice people who join Peace Corps because they want to help others who didn’t get the breaks they did in life.
For instance, one Republican volunteer I know got his church to ship books to his site to start a library. Another is a life member of the NRA … and a really great and fun guy I get along with well (as well as a very effective volunteer who started a scholarship fund for disadvantaged girl students).
So Peace Corps is not just for Democrats — and that’s reflected in the overwhelming bipartisan support for it in Congress for these past 51 years.
Peace Corps is really for any American with a desire to work with others to better their lives (and, perhaps, to transform their own at the same time). One might argue that this description doesn’t necessarily reflect the stereotypical Republican we tend to see on TV at this particular time in our political history, but it still accounts for plenty of good people.
And yet another reason….
All the ‘poop’ talk as volunteers prepares you for ‘poop’ talk as a parent, with other parents, and for other parents.
RPCV living in CT here. Former Congressman Chris Shays (R) is an RPCV.
Hi Becky,
Yes he is. He was a moderate Republican, I believe there are only a few left and they’re all in captivity. I understand the GOP sterilizes them so they can’t multiply.
Chris was in my PCV group in Fiji 1968-70 and in keeping with the original theme of this board, he was married when he started in Fiji and is still married (I think) to the same lovely woman as way back in the day.
Will
Love it, how much more true could it be?
What about an RPCV dating someone who starts training in 8 weeks? I was volunteering at a food pantry and a cute little thing overheard me telling some friends the big news about my invitation. She said “You’re going to Uganda with the Peace Corps? I was in Tanzania for 3 years.” This led to dinner that night, which led to a walk at a wildlife refuge a few days later, which led to having Tanzanian makande cooked for me which led to . . . well, I’m not sure where it’s led yet.
Okay – perfect! Yes, I love all of these things. How do I find said RPCV if I’m not one myself?
Where are these men hiding??
Jamie– I know, right!? I would love to find out ways to meet these people. My sister, who’s in the Corps right now, suggested that I find RPCV events to recruit volunteers in my city as a start. Great idea! Trouble is, how do you show up at something like that and not seem creepy…since I don’t really want to volunteer for the Corps.
Peace Corps, can you help?!
Peace Corps is not a dating service! If you are not interested in what the Peace Corps is or does, look for dates in a place that reflects your real interests!