Life is calling.

Hi guys!

I have a question. In the Peace Corps application it asks me about if I am prepared to serve in a site that is isolated and/or a significant distance from other volunteers. While I understand that sometimes Peace Corps volunteers are in isolated areas, I would really love to be placed in an area with other Peace Corps volunteers. Has anyone had experience with this? Do you have any advice?

Thanks!

Anyone returned or current volunteers located in Africa read this book? What are you thoughts? It doesn't really paint a positive picture for any type of aid organizations, is anything really being accomplished?

Hey everyone!

This is my first time posting on the group. First off, I want to say thank you for everyone who has shared their experiences and advice through this website - it is invaluable!

This week I had my interview and I went in so prepared and excited to speak to the recruiter. I heard great things about this conversation and that it would most likely be like speaking to an old friend about why you want to join. Unfortunately, the woman I spoke to seemed disconnected, bored with my answers, not energetic, and not interested in me or my passion for joining. I am really worried that this will affect my application process negatively and that I will not be nominated.

Has anyone had a similar experience? Or know of someone who went through this situation and did not get nominated? I know I could contribute so much to the Peace Corps and I believe that I am qualified. However, I feel as though she did not take that into consideration.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Thank you!!

Kerra

greetings - wannabe here. i've been to a couple of peace corps community sessions and have wanted to join since i was a weeee little one. i have two main concerns after reading and asking around:

1) i have had hip replacement surgery. the medical restrictions page states that a joint replacement can be accepted at least one year out from the surgery. by the time i get my degree in order it will be far more than a year out. but does anyone know anyone who has served with a joint replacement, hip or otherwise?

2) i read that people have been denied for having "too many tattoos" - well, that could be applied to me. is this a reality?

i lived as an unsupported volunteer in kenya for six months (through a small non-profit that arranges things but doesn't really support you while you are there the way PC does), prior to hip replacement but after multiple knee surgeries and with all of the ink i have now and was ok.

yes, the toilets are interesting - as someone who never went camping the bending is only one part of what needs getting used to, and i got used to it. and my skin tone alone would get me noticed - the tattoos did and did not in certain areas; my hair was much more of a fascination, as was my marital status and religious affiliation. at least that was my experience...but will the peace corps deny me because of these two issues? if anyone has any insight, knows anyone who served with either circumstance, i'd love to hear about it. thanks.

I am a future PCV waiting on medical clearances and just wanted to stop by to say "what's up, everyone?"

I have another blog outside of LJ that details in full my PC anxiousness, but I wanted to check in on everyone here, too. I've been nominated for C/SA Health Extension, but as well all know, in PC, any nomination is basically a crap shoot. Still, I cannot hide my excitement! . Are there any other nominees out there that collectively want to fret about our noms (only slightly j/k).

Hi guys, sorry about the back-to-back packing questions but I really want to double check some information so I won't be up creek without a paddle.

Automatic Voltage Regulators -- I can't remember where but I think I read some where that I should be able to buy one in country. Certainly HCNs do have to deal with the same problem, so that makes sense to me. What about step down transformers? Does anyone know anything about that? I know some AVRs come with that build in, but not all.

I'll be doing education, so I'd like to take some of my textbooks with me, but I wonder if it's worth the trouble to try to mail them to myself? M-bagging is no where as cheap as it used to be. It's about $40 for 11 pounds instead of $10. What do you think?

It has been a really long time since I have posted to the community. I have been really busy... Serving in Peace Corps Panama!  I finally made it after almost 2 years of trying and a defernment. The live journal has been here for all of it. Thank you guys for your support. I swore in on the 11th of March and I am in the CEC sector. I have been in site for almost a month. Still getting the hang of pasearing and my new schedule.   Here is my blog for more pictures and stories http://tempestpeacecorps.blogspot.com/  I will def try to be more proactive in posting. 


Peace
Tempest

Hello, peacecorpsfolks!

As some of you might remember, a few months ago, there was a call put out for a new moderator/maintainer for the community. I stepped in and agreed to be a co-moderator, but nobody else volunteered, so it's just me! As you can see, I'm fairly hands-off and unless there's spam or downright hatred, I don't really anticipate stepping in.

However, tags have recently been mentioned, and given the nature of the community, I think it's a fantastic idea, so I've enabled them and created a few. I've started to go back and tag past entries, but don't know if I will get around to tagging back to 2003. I've changed the setting so any member can tag. As long as this doesn't create drama, I don't anticipate changing this. Feel free to create your own tags, as long as they're worded in a way that will be helpful to people coming to the community to find information.

If any of you want to go back and change or add tags to your previous posts, you can find everything you've posted to this community by changing "xphilega" to your username: http://peacecorpsfolks.livejournal.com/?poster=xphilega

I'm on LJ every day or so, but please feel free to message me if there is something that needs moderator attention; when work gets busy, I don't always catch it right away. And, of course, if anyone is interested in being a co-moderator, has new icons to add to the community, or wants to volunteer to change the community's background, please let me know.

Thanks for making this a fantastic resource for people to come and get information!

K, Morocco RPCV 2007-2009 Health Education

Hey, I'm sure this is repetitive, but there's no tags being used in this comm I guess. :\

Can anyone give me an idea of what it means to decline an invitation? Is it the end of the world? Is there any chance of receiving another assignment? I am hearing conflicting reports on this.

What is the best way to explain to your PO that you want to decline? I feel like I don't have good reasons. Once I saw the assignment I just knew it wasn't "the one." It also is a country that doesn't use the language I'm fluent in. I want to say that, because of my plans to possibly have a career abroad and using that language, I really would like to use it during my service. But is that a bad reason? What else can I say?

I'm really feeling torn over this. Any help is appreciated. I really, really want to do PC, but I'm just sure this isn't the one. I'm at a loss for what to do.