Here’s is part of an email I wrote to a friend considering PC. It sums up my feelings about the experience thus far…
“In general it’s a great
experience that is probably the best decision I have made with my
life.
Where would you want to go? You’ll probably work most effectively here
in Latin America, so I would recommend asking for that. They may want
to send you to Mozambique (Portuguese), but I’m just speculating. The
thing about PC you have to realize before you come is that it is not
fully about doing development work. As a matter of fact, that might be
secondary. You are coming to mainly do cultural exchange. Some
volunteers have an issue with that, and want to be working on
develoment all the time. If you feel like that is the kind of work you
want to be doing, I would recommend against PC. Working for an NGO
would be a better use of you time.
But! If you are okay spending days and even weeks maybe not doing much
development work, and just hanging out and getting to know people of a
different culture, than PC is the way to go. The highlight so far is a
general feeling of personal growth. I am relying on myself more than I
ever had in my life, in terms of keeping myself healthy and happy, and
I’m getting pretty good at it. I feel like whatever I do in the future
I will now approach with a confidence that I would have had I not done
the PC. Interestingly, that confidence is still what my Dad talks
about when he reflects on his PC service, even though that was over 40
years ago.
Doing things that I realize I would not be doing in the states is also
really cool. Writing, reading a lot, learning languages, playing
guitar, gardening, beekeeping, rock climbing, traveling, cooking.
LEARNING. Would I be doing those things in the states? Maybe, but
almost certainly not to the extent that I do here. I would probably be
working a entry level job and not really enjoying it. I’ve now been
here for two “semesters” and I’ve learned more than I did in all four
years of college.
That’s not to say it’s not without challenges. It’s lonely sometimes,
and I miss things. I miss my family, I miss Kerry, I miss my friends,
I miss good beer. Language is still hard-I speak mainly Guarani, and
sometimes there are times when I still don’t have any fucking idea
what people are talking about. (That varies a lot though based on your
placement, that’s just my experience). Those two things are probably
the hardest parts of service thus far.
The way I like to think about those two things, though, is like this:
Loneliness is a good thing to learn about (That was said to m by a
RPCV before I came down here), and my language is SO MUCH BETTER than
when I got here. Both Spanish and Guarani. I am going to be fluent in
both by the time I leave.
Like you said, everyone’s experience is different, but I hope this
gives you a little picture of what I think so far. DO IT! Everyone
should…
paz, nhd”