Macgyver

I often joke that I somehow ended up in Posh Corps.  Some of it has to do with my location and assignment, and some of it is due to the changes that the whole world has undergone since Peace Corps was founded.  I doubt that Kennedy ever imagined that I would be able to talk to my grandmother with video via the internet from a Peace Corps post.  I try not to let technology get in the way of my service, but being able to see my family from time to time certainly changed Peace Corps.  However, sometimes these technological advances make life seem a little backwards for me.  I have two cell phones and mobile internet, but I do not always have electricity or running water.  Being connected is a given, but some of the basics here (like furniture) often require a little creativity.

After several months of living in my new apartment and waiting for a wire organizer to be made (it never was), I could no longer keep using my travel bag as a dresser.  A few milk crates, a handful of zip-ties and a broom stick later, voila.

I'm similarly proud of my kitchen counter/storage area.  The two sheets of plywood with oil paint stacked between cinder blocks is nothing special.  Thanks to a friend who gifted me one of her old cortes, it's actually attractive!  Little by little, I'm getting organized and settled.  True to family tradition, I should finish the "basement" just in time to move home.  :)

A New View

This new view is both litteral and figurative.  There have been a lot of changes in the year (wince) since I last posted.  My new view (litteral) is a breathtaking view of two volcanoes from a cozy new apartment much closer to Antigua and the Peace Corps office.  This is because, as of the end of March 2011, I am in my third year of Peace Corps service and working as a Volunteer Leader.

As a volunteer leader, I no longer spend all of my time working with one community.  Half of my time is spent working to support Peace Corps and volunteers, and the other half of my time is spent supporting a national tourism organization.  My favorite part is being able to accompany people who are on a journey very simmilar to the one I started a little over two years ago.  I still don't have it all down, but watching them and reflecting on my own experiences gives me a chance to add another layer of perspective to all the things I have experienced.

This brings me to my other new view.  All this time in Peace Corps and I'm finally in a place where I can think about what development means.  We all go through it; personal, professional, emotional, economic.  We might spend lots of time focusing on an outcome we want from our development, but it seems to me that we spend very little time thinking about the process.  I started this blog when I was applying to the Peace Corps, so the title "In Pursuit of the Peace Corps" seemed appropriate.  I started a new blog when I was accepted.  Coming back to this original site, I realize that the title still holds.  I am continually in pursuit of the Peace Corps, it's meaning for me and the communities I serve, and what it means to be a Peace Corps volunteer.  I imagine these are things I will be contemplating even long after I have become an RPCV (Returned Peace Corps Volunteer). 

My search is far from over, but I have shared a list of resources I have found helpful to the right of this blog (under Re-Humanize Development).  Feel free to send me your views or resources on development so we can discover together.

Go well, give of yourself, god(dess) bless