A scatter-brained post: She’s cool, though. She, like. . . gets it.

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.