Well here we go! I write my first post as I sit in the lobby waiting to fly off to Panama to work as a Sustainable Agriculture Extension Agent. I am armed with more quick dry clothes than I have every owned, a water filter and a pretty sweet hammock. It has a mosquito net. No big deal.
I have been asked many times why I am doing the Peace Corps. I usually stumble through an answer about building personal skills, job development and something about graduate school. There has been a sort of subconscious logic to my decision that I have not been able to verbalize, but if I were to enumerate (GRE word, thank you Kaplan) the things I want to get out of my experience they would be: to learn Spanish, to explore and learn about a new culture, to challenge myself, to live somewhere I would never otherwise, to learn new things about myself and to prove to myself that I can. I have grown up used to the creature comforts that many Americans take for granted, and I want get a taste of life as most of the world lives it (albeit with my solar panel, water filter, computer, iPod, etc, but you get the idea).
People have also asked me what the Peace Corps does. What it does is not too complicated – send people who don’t want to be in the job market to “developing” countries to “help” – but why it does this is little harder question. The Peace Corps public relations office has come up with three public-friendly objectives: to provide technical skills to developing nations, to enable Americans to learn something about other cultures, and to teach other cultures about America and American culture. I think that there were originally some secondary motives as well. Peace Corps was created by Kennedy in the 60’s, during the height of the Cold War. What better way to fight communism then go to rural area in Africa and Latin America and integrate communities into the global capitalist economy? My cynicism aside, I think the role the Peace Corps plays today is largely a positive one. I doubt our service will make much of a material difference in the communities in which we will live, but I do think it will help to bridge gap of understanding between our cultures. I think this cross-cultural understanding is an important piece to creating a world that is truly sustainable.
Panama is an interesting country to be stationed in because of the very cozy relationship the US has had with Panama since before Panama existed as a country (more about that in my next post!). I will get a first hand view of the effects of American imperialism, get to meet some of the people of who have been affected by this imperialism, and play my part in perpetuating our global dominance. I ended my night, my last night in the US, by walking around the Capitol and the Washington Monument. It seemed fitting. ‘Murica.
I have been asked many times why I am doing the Peace Corps. I usually stumble through an answer about building personal skills, job development and something about graduate school. There has been a sort of subconscious logic to my decision that I have not been able to verbalize, but if I were to enumerate (GRE word, thank you Kaplan) the things I want to get out of my experience they would be: to learn Spanish, to explore and learn about a new culture, to challenge myself, to live somewhere I would never otherwise, to learn new things about myself and to prove to myself that I can. I have grown up used to the creature comforts that many Americans take for granted, and I want get a taste of life as most of the world lives it (albeit with my solar panel, water filter, computer, iPod, etc, but you get the idea).
People have also asked me what the Peace Corps does. What it does is not too complicated – send people who don’t want to be in the job market to “developing” countries to “help” – but why it does this is little harder question. The Peace Corps public relations office has come up with three public-friendly objectives: to provide technical skills to developing nations, to enable Americans to learn something about other cultures, and to teach other cultures about America and American culture. I think that there were originally some secondary motives as well. Peace Corps was created by Kennedy in the 60’s, during the height of the Cold War. What better way to fight communism then go to rural area in Africa and Latin America and integrate communities into the global capitalist economy? My cynicism aside, I think the role the Peace Corps plays today is largely a positive one. I doubt our service will make much of a material difference in the communities in which we will live, but I do think it will help to bridge gap of understanding between our cultures. I think this cross-cultural understanding is an important piece to creating a world that is truly sustainable.
Panama is an interesting country to be stationed in because of the very cozy relationship the US has had with Panama since before Panama existed as a country (more about that in my next post!). I will get a first hand view of the effects of American imperialism, get to meet some of the people of who have been affected by this imperialism, and play my part in perpetuating our global dominance. I ended my night, my last night in the US, by walking around the Capitol and the Washington Monument. It seemed fitting. ‘Murica.