One of the most rewarding aspects of the Peace Corps experience is that you live life as close to a “local” as any foreigner ever could. Your housing, your transportation (horses, the bed of a pick-up, motorcycles from 1972, your own two feet), your food, your network of friends, they are all local. By the time you finish your two years, you are an insider. And it gives you a tremendous feeling of pride.
Living and working in a small community is a uniquely exquisite experience and I recommend it to anyone with the time or career-leanings to make the commitment. It’s an intimate experience we can’t match in the US; it’s just not feasible. For those thinking of working outside the US, especially those looking to developing countries, there is no better destination. Leave the capital and its crime, pollution and chaos behind. You won’t regret it.
After beginning in Haiti’s crowded capital before relocating to the countryside, I’ve had a second awakening of sorts on the capital-countryside issue. The air is cleaner and the people are friendlier. And in Haiti where it can be so difficult to move beyond being generally referred to as “blan” – a general term for foreigner - the countryside offers me the chance to be “Kaveh” or also acceptable “blan Kaveh.” It’s all very refreshing.
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