Poll
Now I have a question for all of you applicants, nominees, and invitees. I’ll be very upset if you read this post and don’t reply.
What kind of environment are you hoping to live in once you reach your post? Electricity? Hot? Cold? Running water? Humid? Dry? Basically, what do you envision your post to look like? I know a lot of you want to keep your options open, but there has be some idea you’d be expecting.
I’ll answer my question first. I hope to live in a small community that speaks its own language,something other than the national language. I’d definitely be okay with no electricity and running water. I’d be okay with any climate; I just hope my experience will be different than what I’m used to. My friend wanted to rough it for 2 years, but he ended up with a nice home in the city with electricity, a fridge, and an inside toilet. He said everyone wanted his post except him. I think it’s kind of funny.
Okay, your turn.
I pretty much just don’t want to be in a desert environment (living in Las Vegas has me over the whole desert landscape and weather scene). I’d be okay with no running water or electricity, although both or just one would definitely be nice. It’s funny. when I think about actually being in the PC, I imagine being in one of the “lucky” situations, but I really think that I would be entirely okay without all of the luxuries. I will be honest though, bugs are going to freak me the fuck out!
Haha! Bugs are horrible. I’m just going to ignore the fact that they exist in my whole idea of the PC experience. I know that scorpions aren’t really bugs, but I read a blog in Togo how these PCTs were walking into town to get sworn in, and one of the got stung by a scorpion! Scary!
Hey there!
I’m definitely down without electricity; it’d actually be nice for a change. Not having to worry about email, phone service, charging every night would be a relief from my everyday activities now.
Running water though, that’d be tough, not because I couldn’t live without it, quite the opposite, rather because being an du-athlete (running and bike racing) it’s hard to come home from exercising and not having water to clean up. Being self-conscious of B.O. also kind of makes me wish there were a way (be it sponge bath or bucket showers) of becoming hygienically clean; i.e. not having to worry about filling up buckets before exercising, haha.
But really, being in a new country and culture brings many surprises and I’m sure I’d survive with or without anything.
You know, I read a blog once where this girl was hoping to live the hippie life and not shower all the time, but to her surprise and mild disappointment, people there shower 2 to 3 times a day. I don’t remember the country, but maybe the hygiene thing won’t be an issue.
I also heard the neighbourhood children help out a lot with carrying buckets of water. Maybe you guys can work out a schedule. lol
Good luck with placement!
I’m kind of cheating, because I already know my country…I will be heading to Lesotho on November 2nd
Anyways, I am imagining living in the highland mountains in a small rural village. I’m hoping for a cute little rondavel (stone round house w/ thatched roof) to live in, most likely without electricity or running water… a bed, a stove, and a small heater inside…probably a tin sided pit latrine in the yard. I’ll be layered up in lots of clothes for the winter….which is going to be a challenge for me since I’ve lived in FL my whole life 
OMG! Florida to Lesotho. That’s going to be interesting. I’ve only lived in FL for about 4 years, but I grew up in th DC area. Last winter, I went to DC and the cold was almost unbearable; I was so used to the sunny FL weather. Good luck. I’ve been reading your blog, so you better give deats on the weather!
I missed my original nomination, so I may wind up anywhere at this point. I hope that I wind up somewhere warm (I’ve never lived in a cool climate). I would like to be in a more rural part of the country and I would like running water, but no electricity. It’s been tough since missing my nomination, now I really have no clue where I will go. At least before I had a continent (Africa) that I would serve in, and now it’s hard to picture what my service will be like.
Wow. That sounds exciting, actually. I feel like one morning I’d waking up feeling Morocco. The next, China. The next Fiji. Good luck with placement. I hope you’ll like where you get placed!
Dude, ive been a PCV for over a year now and ill say your pretty much mimicing what i said last year before i got my site placement.
I know that when people gave me advice it was hard to hear because of my dedication and zeal but ill give it to you anyway.
You seem to REALLY know where and how you want to live. This is not a bad thing, and good luck to you. Let me just say though that if your dedicated to the mission of the Peace Corps and to the assistance of your fellow man and the betterment of all mankind then regardless whether you find yourself exactly where you wanted to end up or in the exact opposite you should be happy.
Your site should and hopefully will matter so very very little. Dont let a site thats not your dream site be the thing that deters you from service. I was initially bummed out about my site placement, and it became everything i could have ever hoped for.
Good luck though, you definitely got the zeal you will need.
Right on! I’m currently waiting to be cleared medically and invited to somewhere in Sub-Saharan Africa in January and refuse to spend time thinking about what my site is going to be like because I want to avoid creating any expectations that might let me down.
Actually, I have absolutely no idea where I’m going to live. All the countries that are within my nomination are different. The fact that a friend of mine didn’t even get placed where he wanted was definitely something I put into consideration.
Thanks for give your input. I just made a poll because I was curious about other people’s thoughts and preconceptions about the PC. PC always says things aren’t definite, but I know that to some extent, we get our hopes up. Sorry if this sounds a little defensive, but I guess that you portrayed this post in a different light than what I was going for.
The fact that you love where you are, not because of the location, but because of the work that you’re doing makes me really excited. This is all I wanted to do for years; it’s so hard to wait!
I always hope for a very rural site. Small tight knit community. Probably the same housing structure as the local community–hut, brick, concrete, apartment, whatever…with the same amenities as the majority of the community. I mean if 80% of the community has no electricity or running water I wouldn’t want to be that foreigner with the best home in the town that included running water, electricity, the one flush toilet, wireless, a fridge, and printer.
I suppose I would hope for a very rural site, but when it comes down to it, as long as it was a site where my living situation was the same as the majority of my community and it was a community in which I could truly become a part of, I’d be thrilled.
Yeah, I think it would be important to live in the same conditions as the people within your community. I was reading a blog I think was in Niger or Mali and this girl was literally living in a mud hut. It blew my mind. That was the day that I realized that PC was no joke.
Honestly, I am just happy to recieve an invite. I don’t mind not having running water or electricity. I would like to live somewhere in the tropics vs the desert or somewhere cold
Haha I know. An invite would be nice! Deep down, I’m just hoping that my nomination date isn’t postponed at all. The fact that something like that isn’t guaranteed scares me a little.
I would like to live alone. If I am placed with a family for my entire service, I will have to pull out a big bag of coping strategies!
I could do without running water and electricity in my home, but access to it once in a while would be nice.
I would love to go to a country/ site with an ocean very close by. Being land locked really makes me miss the beach.
I would prefer my school to have heat if I am sent somewhere cold, although I do know how to layer clothing!
I am in the same place as Kelly above. This is the hardest part of the application process for me- waiting during placement. Not knowing is crazy. I can’t prepare because I have NO idea what I will need. During the past year I have almost perfected the skill of waiting patiently. Training has already begun!
Good luck on your PC adventure.
I went to one of those PC information meetings and someone asked about water. They said the a PCV is required to have access to those types of things, so no worries about that one I guess. Good luck to you too! Like I was telling Kelly, I think my mind would go crazy everyday wondering where I’d be going.
I really have no idea what to expect/wish for. I’m hoping to be somewhere I feel safe so that I can concentrate on what I’m there for rather than feeling the need to be on guard all the time. That being said I’d like to have varied climate, I’ve lived in Florida my whole life and have heard that seasons are nice. I’d *like* running water and perhaps electricity, but neither thing is a deal breaker. I’m with Amber on wanting to live alone & be in a country with a coast, I can tell when I’m landlocked and it’s an odd feeling. I have narrowed down four countries I think are more likely than others, but again, this is the government we’re talking about -nothing is set in stone until it’s all over with and it’s what happened. And to Josh – I don’t think any of us who are speculating are dead set on what we’re describing or will be deterred if it doesn’t end up this way – I think this part of the process has our imaginations running wild while we wait and are asked over and over by those around us where we’re going to live, what it’ll be like, and how will we deal with it all. I’m expecting to have any and all preconceived ideas be blown away, it’s just hard to NOT think about what the experience will be like
Climates are nice! Safety used to be a huge concern of mine. I did a lot of research initially on all the deaths that occurred in the PC and why. There was a research paper dedicated to it. Anyways, it made me feel a lot better about my potential post. I heard that your post is your safest place to live.
Also, that’s exactly where I was going with this entry. Thanks