Peace Corps is not me coming to save a village. Peace Corps is me learning more from them than they ever will from me. Peace Corps is an inexplicable job description. Peace Corps is only partly about being a teacher. Peace Corps is trying not to disappoint my host family too much by not going to church. Peace Corps is sitting on my porch with my sullen but sweet host sister, pretending her mom isn’t calling in the distance. Peace Corps is failing miserably at every house chore. Peace Corps is not being perceived as a flawless white person. Peace Corps is experiencing enormous privilege as a white person. Peace Corps is people standing so I have a chair. Peace Corps is the school letting me do pretty much whatever I want. Peace Corps is appreciating my polygamist host dad and the time he walked my bike six miles to get it fixed. Peace Corps is not always knowing why I’m here. Peace Corps is sitting in my bed, wondering why I’m here, then a kid I never met shows up for help on his English homework. PC is showing my students American money for the first time. Peace Corps is working at a school that runs out of chalk and food. Peace Corps is feeling lonely and surrounded by love in the same hour. Peace Corps is reading more books in 10 months than I did in the last 5 years. Peace Corps is frogs living in my house and I don’t care. Peace Corps is the termite build up in my shower. Peace Corps is getting to witness a baby’s first steps. Peace Corps is finally owning a plant that I haven’t killed yet. Peace Corps is not running a bunch of programs by myself. Peace Corps is helping to make connections and facilitate discussions and watching the community do its thing. Peace Corps is suddenly knowing information about bike derailleurs and maize harvesting. Peace Corps is the kids you reference when you say, “Eat your vegetables, kids in Africa are hungry,” are sitting on my porch while I cook. Peace Corps is sometimes getting mad at hungry kids. Peace Corps is Googling “How do you know if you have bed bugs?”. Peace Corps is being confident that the community cares about me not just as a volunteer but as a human. Peace Corps is not me going off to save the world. Peace Corps
is, I think, being part of the world in a new way.
