Stereotypes and Expectations

Confession: I lost my razor so I have not shaved in a long time. So long that my leg hair is soft. TMI? Probably, but it made me think about the stereotypes people have of PC volunteers.

When I think of PC volunteers I totally think of unshaven legs among other things. But the truth is, that is just not the way it is. Most of my PC friends shave their legs. There are so many ugly stereotypes of volunteers that are just not true. Most of us are young professionals (read: fresh out of college), and not very many of us are, what I would call, 'crunchy'. Lets define that though, crunchy is a hippy/vegan/hemp wearing/non shaving/ sometimes high/ sometimes preachy/ always eating granola and tree hugging type of people. There were a lot of very crunchy people that went to Umass. A lot. This is not a bad label by any means, just a lot of people think this is the only type of people that join the Peace Corps.

I have a little bit of crunch in me. I love granola (Uncle Paul if you are reading this you make the best granola EVER) and organic local milk. I have hugged a tree before. I was a vegan for a month my freshman year of college. But I do not think people would define me as crunchy based on my definition of the word. And I would not define most of the volunteers in El Salvador that I have met as crunchy. Some of them, sure, but the majority no.

Another stereotype (that I am also going to call an expectation for those of you volunteers who are reading this) (that sounded nice, but I do not think any volunteers read my blog) that we deal with is how 'hard' we are going to have it. Don't get me wrong Peace Corps is hard. It is hard to learn a new language and not be able to express yourself. It is hard not having clean water. It is hard leaving everything you know for something new. It is hard battling cultural norms. It is hard starting projects and finding funding. But I do not live in a dirt hut. I have electricity and internet. I live 10 minutes from a hospital and grocery store. Again, this is not the norm for all volunteers, but for many, it is.

I just wrote an article for the Peace Corps El Salvador magazine, El Camino, about expectations. It started out about the changing of what volunteer's lives have morphed into over the past 50 years. But ultimately it changed to an article on what people expect before they get into their country and why PC begs us to lower or get rid of expectations. I argue for a change in expectations. Peace Corps is not what it was 50 years ago, and I think that is the way it should be. Sure there are probably volunteers in Africa who live in mud huts, but that is no longer the norm. What have development organizations been doing for the past 50 years if not moving people out of dirt huts and lifting people into healthier lives?

Believe it or not, a lot of volunteers complain about how 'cushy' we have it. Some even call it 'posh corp'. But don't even get me started on that. Because these people are welcome to come take a bucket bath with my gross river water and I dare them to tell me I am living a posh life style. Sheesh



Also here are some obligatory pictures of Hoja. For all of you who have seen Baby Mama  this is how my covo with Hoja went down.
Me: Hoja, is that just a feather or is it a whole bird? Feather or whole bird? Aw it's just a feather!
(Because she did actually eat one of my chickens last week, so this is now a real worry.) Oy.

So tired of shenanigans. Hers and mine.
She is not amused.

Here is your Word of the Day:
Yard = Patio
I know that one is hard, right?