Here's a random blog post I found. I wrote it back in late August and for some reason forgot to ever post it. :)
In
Peace Corps Panama, the biggest compliment us volunteers can pay our Panamanian
friends and colleagues is that they ‘get’
it, meaning that they kind of understand some unspoken aspect of us Peace
Corps Volunteers—why we’ve chosen to do what we do and why we live the way we
live.
The
farther I get into my Peace Corps service, the more I’ve come to value that
ability in a person: the ability to understand the crazy hippie-ness that is the
Peace Corps lifestyle.
Sometimes
I forget that other people differ from me in their way of thinking. Peace Corps
Volunteers (PCVs) can be very like-minded in some ways. When you constantly
interact with head-in-the-clouds PCVs, you end up kind of indulging your
metaphysically intellectual tendencies and loosening your grip on ‘reality’
(you know, whatever that is.)
Luckily,
there are gringos and Panamanians alike
that I meet in this country that reel me back in and remind me that people are different
and the Peace Corps hippie mentality is not the only way of looking at the
world.
There
are a myriad of groups that I’ve met during my time in the Peace Corps:
Panamanians – Obviously
most people I meet are Panamanian. One major difference between the ‘Peace
Corps’ culture and Panamanian culture is the collectivist, family-focused
culture of Panamanians vs. the slightly rebellious, restless nature of PCVs. A
lot of my PC colleagues and I are still looking to see what we can get out of
life. We want to explore the world and break/change/bend the rules. The fact
that we are in our mid-twenties and aren’t already married with kids strikes
Panamanians as odd. They don’t understand our lack of urgency in remedying this
issue. They worry that we’re all alone in the world. Why do we live so far from
our families? Shouldn’t we be looking for spouses? Will we marry Panamanians? PCVs
are not trying to entertain these questions. We can’t have kids right now—we’ve
got some exploring to do, first! (I’m not going to lie, though, Panamanians
have something in common with some of my family members in the States in this
respect.) Even if they don’t understand our craziness, though, Panamanians
always have our backs and are looking out for our best interest. We wouldn’t be
able to get by in this country without their amazing hospitality!
US Army – I’ve
translated for the US Army a couple of times during medical tours in Panama.
They have a myriad of personalities in the ranks of their reserve officers. I
think the biggest differences between PCVs and US Army reserves are that either 1) they (the
army) doesn’t understand what we’re trying to get done here. Like. . . are we just little PR ambassadors? Where are
the numbers? The results? OR 2) Oh my gosh our lives are so hard. We don’t have
hot water? We must be martyrs.
I
must say, I do enjoy translating for the army. While I teach them a little of
what I have learned about Panama, I also learn bits and pieces of the military culture.
It’s a cultural exchange!
Religious groups
–
There are a couple of religious groups that I’ve gotten the opportunity to
translate for while I’ve been in Panama. These people are super sweet. The
difference between them and most PCVs is obvious. Think about it. First, you
have the obvious fact that they are religious. Compare that to PCVs, who tend
to occupy a space left of center and off the beaten track. Would you really
expect most PCVs to subscribe to organized religion? Hence, the disconnect. Second,
religious groups tend to want to do charitable works. Great! Help people. Flip
that on its head and you have the Peace Corps. Sustainability is a concept that
is forced down our throats from day one. If the Peace Corps had a religion,
giving hand-outs would be a deadly sin—no charity over here.
Backpackers – Any Peace Corps
Volunteer can tell you that being a PCV can kind of make you a little snobby
toward backpackers. You know, us PCVs, *clears throat* we’re integrated in our community. We’re not just
tourists, ya know, we live here. We, like, speak the language and kick it with the gente. We are overwhelmed when we
encounter air conditioning, hot water and fast internet because our sites are
just so rural.
Anyway,
when you spend time in Panama City hostels from time to time, you occasionally
run across backpackers. They all seem to have the same story about how many
countries they’ve been to. Occasionally in Darien I might meet the random
backpacker without an itinerary who thinks they’re super hard-core for coming
out here and ‘How can I get to an indigenous
village, you know, and see some indigenous
culture?’
When
we talk amongst us PCVs, sometimes we wonder how other people don’t get ‘it’, but the more you think of it.
. .we are kinda. . .weird, huh?
I
started thinking that maybe only other Peace Corps Volunteers occupy the same
mental space as me, since the people in all of these other groups seemed to have
some fundamental difference. Then I recently met some other gringos in a small international
development organization. They really reminded
me of PCVs, but none of them had ever served in the Peace Corps.
That’s
pretty cool, maybe there are people like me outside of Peace Corps!
What
I’ve been reading recently:
Open Veins of
Latin America –
Eduardo Galeano
Shantaram – Gregory David
Roberts
As
far as listening, I’ve recently discovered that Sara Bareilles is more awesome
than the radio would lead you to believe. In other words, I’ve been listening
to a lot of Sara Bareilles.
