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So I am cancelling my Peace Corp involvement after getting everything cleared in favor of starting another "big boy" job in an area I love with friends and all of that stuff. It feels right but I also wonder if I am going to regret it. Maybe I will volunteer at some point in the future, but I'm going white collar for now.
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Aug 21, 2013 04:34
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I'ma real PCV! Swore in last week, you can add me to the OP if you want;
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Sep 1, 2013 17:02
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Is anyone else staging in DC this Wednesday or know what to expect?
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Sep 7, 2013 23:37
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If its anything like mine you will spend the first afternoon doing icebreakers and paperwork with everybody, and then getting drunk that night with the cash PC gives you to live on until you arrive in country. And then the second day you will take a long bus ride to a large airport to grab your flight; we staged in Philly but flew out of NYC.
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Sep 8, 2013 08:01
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Monkey Fury posted:I'ma real PCV! Swore in last week, you can add me to the OP if you want; Congrats! Get ready for an experience you'll never forget. And man, do I hate the whole 'Posh Corps' thing. Here in Mongolia we only use that term to rip on people with apartments and showers and broadband internet, always as a joke. Without attempting to start any sort of "Well at MY POST..." discussions, I only ever hear it coming from African PCVs. I've chatted with a few online who just openly scoff at anyone not from their region. Every region is challenging, and just because we're not all living in mud huts doesn't mean we get a 2 year vacation. I'd be more than happy to let an African PCV come live in my glorified blanket fort during a -40 degree winter if I could vacation at their site for a couple weeks! I'm just over the one-year hump now. Our Mid-Service Training was at the end of August (Does everyone have that? It seemed like a Peace Corps wide thing) and now I'm back at my site. It's crazy to think I've been here for an entire year. I look back and see how much I've changed over the past 16 months, and honestly its kind of freaking me out that I'll be out of here in only 8 more months.
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Sep 13, 2013 16:34
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Anyone who thinks PC Mongolia is Posh Corps is either outta their mind or just bitter that they're stuck in sub-saharan Africa. You guys are nuts up there.
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Sep 13, 2013 16:49
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CronoGamer posted:Anyone who thinks PC Mongolia is Posh Corps is either outta their mind or just bitter that they're stuck in sub-saharan Africa. You guys are nuts up there. At MST we had some high up Security Officer from Washington who was a cop for so many years and served in Afghanistan come and talk to us and gave us a big speech about how he'd been shot at and seen suicide bombers and all this, but he would never voluntarily live in Mongolia. I always kind of feel like those guys say that wherever they are just to raise our spirits, but it's always nice to hear. Obviously none of us can really know what its like to live at a different post, but I've spent plenty of days huddled next to my stove thinking how much I wouldn't mind the threat of malaria if it meant I could feel my feet  .
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Sep 13, 2013 16:59
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grenada fucked around with this message at 03:22 on Oct 28, 2014 |
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Sep 13, 2013 20:02
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Tequila Sunrise posted:At MST we had some high up Security Officer from Washington who was a cop for so many years and served in Afghanistan come and talk to us and gave us a big speech about how he'd been shot at and seen suicide bombers and all this, but he would never voluntarily live in Mongolia. I always kind of feel like those guys say that wherever they are just to raise our spirits, but it's always nice to hear. Obviously none of us can really know what its like to live at a different post, but I've spent plenty of days huddled next to my stove thinking how much I wouldn't mind the threat of malaria if it meant I could feel my feet Eh, I've had malaria twice now. Its not that bad as long as you get it past the 6 months or so mark as you become about as resistant as the locals that don't have sickle cells. And the PCMOs give us the meds for malaria to keep in our house, so we get treatment immediately. Sub-Saharan Africa really isn't that bad except for two things: 1. Dry season. Its 107+ every single day (and night) for 4 months straight. Our houses are concrete blocks. They are bloody ovens. Some of our mattresses literally rot out from the sweat. Bearable with a fan, wouldn't trade it for -50 for 6 months.  2. Public transport. Buses, large haulers, taxis, etc all crash into each other weekly. I am absolutely terrified of getting into any transportation here; 'maintenance' and 'watching the road' are things that drivers here do not do. Is it true Mongolia PCVs get horses? 
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Sep 14, 2013 10:06
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Slaan posted:Eh, I've had malaria twice now. Its not that bad as long as you get it past the 6 months or so mark as you become about as resistant as the locals that don't have sickle cells. And the PCMOs give us the meds for malaria to keep in our house, so we get treatment immediately. 1. Haha, I live in the Gobi so all year around is dry season. In the summer it gets up to about 100, but at night it drops down to like 50 which is ideal for me. It's also kind of nice cause even though it's cold as hell there isn't a whole lot of snow in my area. The winter can be brutal though, especially with if you have any sort of respiratory problems. I used to get bronchitis about twice a winter when I was young, but luckily I haven't had too many problems here. I know a few people who've had a real rough time. I just really wish they would give us space heaters  2. I hear ya on that. Roads here are non existent outside of the capital city, and it's made worse by the fact that Mongolia is loving huge. I only live about 200 kilometers from the capital city, but it's about a 12 hour drive through the endless, roadless plains. I have some great stories from my road trips, though. Nothing like breaking down on a crowded bus when it's -30 outside, putting on every item of clothing you have in your bags and passing bottles of vodka around to keep warm as we pray for cars to come by and let us hitch rides. And no, we don't get horses, but buying them is totally cool. My neighbors have horses and they let me ride them if they're not using them. Kids really get a kick out of the huge American riding a horse to the store.
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Sep 14, 2013 10:30
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Hey, at least there was vodka! Over here we tend to survive the 5 hour dirt road taxi drives to my area with $1 box wine or $1 bottles of 'whiskey.' My close mate actually had a horse bought for her by a Prince of a local tribe. She thought they were just friends exchanging language help (English-Bariba). Apparently he thinks different. So now she has a horse sitting in a stable somewhere that she can't ride because she is afraid it will be seen as being available to this guy. She won't let me buy it off her/him, either. Jerk. 
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Sep 14, 2013 11:13
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Slaan posted:Hey, at least there was vodka! Over here we tend to survive the 5 hour dirt road taxi drives to my area with $1 box wine or $1 bottles of 'whiskey.' I am extremely lucky I got placed in a country where drinking is not only accepted, but very common. Though I would also state that the majority of the 'vodka' here deserves quotes around it. I've never heard of that happening here, but I've had quite a few sisters/cousins/daughters "offered" to me. It's always very awkward because Mongolians are an extremely forthright people so when I politely decline I tend to get a barrage of questions like "Why don't you like her? Is she too ugly? Why is she ugly? Is she too fat, too short, are her teeth bad? What?", and they fully expect me to answer them. One of my first days at work all of the females teachers had me in a room and they asked me to list off who was the most beautiful and who was the ugliest. That was fun.
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Sep 14, 2013 12:38
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I hope you told the story of how such a competition started the Trojan War to get out of it.  We also get offered partners all the time. Most of the times its joking around. Telling you the 5 year old girl is your wife is obviously facetious. And the women offering marriage, occasionally, for entrance into the States doesn't really bother me either. I would want to get out too. What bothers me are the female students I work with that try to seduce me because that is how a lot of them get through school- turning tricks to get teachers to pay their school fees or to bump up their grades slightly, etc. Something like 40% of Benin's high school females end up dropping out from pregnancy; a good chunk of those are by teachers.
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Sep 14, 2013 13:57
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Tequila Sunrise posted:The winter can be brutal though, especially with if you have any sort of respiratory problems. I'm pretty sure that everyone who went to Lanzhou got an air purifier! Hooray for burning tons of coal for home heating!
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Sep 14, 2013 17:19
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Slaan posted:I hope you told the story of how such a competition started the Trojan War to get out of it. Oh wow, that's really sad. Girls tend to get marry pretty young around here, but I haven't heard of things like that happening. I do constantly have teachers try to set me up with the 16-17 year old students though, and that's always a fun conversation explaining the numerous reasons why that can't happen. Monkey Fury posted:I'm pretty sure that everyone who went to Lanzhou got an air purifier! Hooray for burning tons of coal for home heating! I burn coal and dung, and I would imagine I breathe more than my fair share of coal dust. A little air purifier would be nice, though truthfully I don't know if my electricity in my ger could handle it, haha.
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Sep 15, 2013 07:18
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Monkey Fury posted:I'm pretty sure that everyone who went to Lanzhou got an air purifier! Hooray for burning tons of coal for home heating! Same goes for the PCVs living in Mongolia's capital. I wouldn't have survived last winter with out it. Still managed to get low grade asthma from being outside, though... thanks Ulaanbaatar!
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Sep 17, 2013 17:58
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CronoGamer posted:Anyone who thinks PC Mongolia is Posh Corps is either outta their mind or just bitter that they're stuck in sub-saharan Africa. You guys are nuts up there. I´m serving in the Dominican Republic, and during training more than one person explained to us how we had lucked out with our assignment, because "we could have ended up in Peace Corps Mongolia." We like to joke about how we are in Posh Corps here, but the truth is that most sites are pretty rough rides, which I'm sure is the case for the vast majority of volunteers the world over. Some people have fairly sweet setups in apartments in cities with big supermarkets nearby, but most are in living in podunk villages. I think there is always a volunteer who has it better and one who has it worse. On the other hand, when there is electicity, I blend some pretty awesome fruit smoothies (at other times I have to content myself with just eating delicious fruit). And if I have money, within the span of one day I can travel to absurdly beautiful caribean beaches. For the record, we can get horses if we wish, and I'm currently looking into it... because why not? Going price for a lightly-used horse from Haiti seems about $50. Question: Are any of you guys allowed to ride on the back of a motorcycle? We've been told that we are one of the few PC countries that allows it because it tends to be very dangerous, but it wouldn't surprise me if that's not ture. The issue here is that almost everyone travels by motorcylce because it's an island. We are all issued motorcycle helmets and if you're ever caught or reported to not be wearing one, you are immediately kicked out. Just happened to a person in my cohort. I just read that the DR is now ranked the most dangerous country in the world for drivers... mmhmm.
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Sep 17, 2013 21:20
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Thesaurus posted:Question: Are any of you guys allowed to ride on the back of a motorcycle? We've been told that we are one of the few PC countries that allows it because it tends to be very dangerous, but it wouldn't surprise me if that's not ture. The issue here is that almost everyone travels by motorcylce because it's an island. We are all issued motorcycle helmets and if you're ever caught or reported to not be wearing one, you are immediately kicked out. Just happened to a person in my cohort. I just read that the DR is now ranked the most dangerous country in the world for drivers... mmhmm. DR is definitely an exception to the rule. Cambodia has a flat-out ban on any motorcycle/moped transportation... which is pretty ridiculous, because it's the way 90% of the country gets around, especially if they're traveling any less than 20km. But the law of the land is, if any PC staff catch a PCV riding a moto, they're done, no second chances, admin sep. I would guess that at least 2/3rds of my group rode them at some point during service regardless, more out of necessity than anything else, but we were always very paranoid about it, and never did it in the major cities. What I heard is that, back when PC first started, volunteers were issued motorcycles to get around. But then at some point in the early 80s, there was a survey done and motorcycle accidents were the leading cause of death among PCVs, so they stopped handing them out and now most of us get bikes instead. That's how our AO explained it, at least. Also, as far as the PC/Mongolia thing goes, we used to get a lot of their PCVs coming down to Cambodia to visit and would often run into them at hostels, around Phnom Penh, sometimes stopping by the PC Office. Drinking with them was always a fun exercise in mutual respect because we would marvel over how brutally cold it would get, but several times the Mongolia PCVs were just blown away at how "the whole goddamn country is trying to kill you every single day!" Malaria, dengue, scorpions, snakes, landmines, giardia, ameobas, trichinosis, that thing you get from the snails and from swimming in fresh water that I can't remember right now... it was a lot of fun, rather than saying "you guys are posh corps!" to go back and forth demurring to the ruggedness of the other's posting. I like Mongolia PCVs.
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Sep 18, 2013 03:12
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^^^ Snail-piss is Schistomiosis. Mmmm, snail piss. We got everything you do over here, too. Except the landmines thankfully. Cambodia was actually the country I was hoping to get into, so its good to hear that I basically got it with Benin. Thesaurus posted:Question: Are any of you guys allowed to ride on the back of a motorcycle? We've been told that we are one of the few PC countries that allows it because it tends to be very dangerous, but it wouldn't surprise me if that's not ture. The issue here is that almost everyone travels by motorcylce because it's an island. We are all issued motorcycle helmets and if you're ever caught or reported to not be wearing one, you are immediately kicked out. Just happened to a person in my cohort. I just read that the DR is now ranked the most dangerous country in the world for drivers... mmhmm. Yep, Benin gets to ride on motorcycles too. But only if we have our ~$200 stuntman helmets on, and we can't drive them unless its an emergency (like your driver crashed and broke his legs, but you are okay). And the DR beat out India for world's most dangerous roads? Bon Chance!
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Sep 18, 2013 08:45
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CronoGamer posted:DR is definitely an exception to the rule. Cambodia has a flat-out ban on any motorcycle/moped transportation... which is pretty ridiculous, because it's the way 90% of the country gets around, especially if they're traveling any less than 20km. But the law of the land is, if any PC staff catch a PCV riding a moto, they're done, no second chances, admin sep. I would guess that at least 2/3rds of my group rode them at some point during service regardless, more out of necessity than anything else, but we were always very paranoid about it, and never did it in the major cities. That's funny, because our current Post Director is a Cambodian RPCV, who I think just left Cambodia like 1-2 years ago. She is super strict on the motorcycle thing, and even cited an example of when she was serving how a PCV who had a great reputation was AdSep'd instantly because she got caught riding on a motorcycle.
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Sep 18, 2013 08:51
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Old, bitter PCV posting from a literal mud hut in sub-Saharan Africa. I'm curious, do other posts have to deal with astounding levels of incompetence from PC staff? Our bikes are $300 Walmart specials that last 6 months until the wheels are so bent you can't have working brakes. PC has no replacement parts or anyone that knows anything about bikes, and they will only provide a bike in worse shape that was turned in for repairs by another volunteer. Medical is by far the worst. Our PCMO has given people the wrong shots several times and says "oops" and tries again. I just opened a malaria test kit and the testing device doesn't match the instructions at all so I have no idea if it's positive or negative. As a bonus, I only have half of a course of coartem in the medkit. Stuck with a broken bike, a useless test kit, and half the meds I need. ~Peace Corps~ Should I be reporting this stuff to someone in DC? The country director and medical staff/etc know of their lack of support and write a lot of words about how they are trying to fix it, but in all the time I've spent here nothing has actually changed.
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Sep 18, 2013 15:57
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Yeah. Our staff here in Benin are not quite that incompetant, but our PCMOs are pretty bad too. I gave up asking for medications to be sent to me after 3 months because they never did it. Our bikes are actually pretty good and rugged, too. However, our reimbursements for work travel are terrible. Our doctors are always slow and late and don't send medications. And none of them seem to realize that those of us up north are literally 15+ hours away from the main bureau. "Oh, want to turn in a grant/have [insert terrible disease]/ask a question? Come on down during visiting hours!"  e: Oh yeah, lest we forget. PC Benin literally abetted the murder of a volunteer a few years ago. Though something like 95% of the administration was obviously sacked after that one. http://www.katesvoice.net/background/ Slaan fucked around with this message at 19:16 on Sep 18, 2013 |
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Sep 18, 2013 18:15
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Our one PCMO just got forced to resign so,  . Without going too in to detail, I got an injury and he kept trying to diagnose it as migraines and told me to stop drinking so much coffee. After we swore in, I sat for two weeks on medical hold getting physical therapy because I finally saw the good PCMO who sent me right away to a specialist. Otherwise, our staff is absolutely amazing. There were some lovely people here a few years ago but they've all since been forced out. Our PTS was telling us that for the PC group before his group, there was almost a mutiny by week five because everyone thought training was absolutely useless. Good thing I didn't end up there.As far as posh sites go, I'm environmental health and my host family has a generator running from sundown to about 8:30, clean running water, and a food store only a twenty minute walk and ten minute bus away. I'd say that's pretty posh haha.
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Sep 18, 2013 18:27
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HAIL-eSATA-n, you should definitely contact Washington about any fuckups on the medical side. Check this email out that we received in my country:quote:From the Medical Office: Slaan posted:And the DR beat out India for world's most dangerous roads? Bon Chance! http://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2013/jul/22/dominican-republic-road-safety-law
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Sep 18, 2013 19:22
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Tequila Sunrise posted:That's funny, because our current Post Director is a Cambodian RPCV, who I think just left Cambodia like 1-2 years ago. She is super strict on the motorcycle thing, and even cited an example of when she was serving how a PCV who had a great reputation was AdSep'd instantly because she got caught riding on a motorcycle. Well, sure, anyone who is currently on staff has to toe the line. That's how our staff were, although if you were close enough with them most would openly add a kind of "wink wink, nudge nudge, if I don't see it it didn't happen" kind of attitude. If my knowledge of your post director is correct (she came 2-3 groups after me), she actually did abide by the rules pretty closely. But I'll guarantee she had plenty of PCV friends riding motos and knew about it at the time and didn't say anything. HAIL eSATA-n posted:Should I be reporting this stuff to someone in DC? The country director and medical staff/etc know of their lack of support and write a lot of words about how they are trying to fix it, but in all the time I've spent here nothing has actually changed. Like has been said, yes. You're supposed to try to handle things in country, but if you aren't getting results (whether because the CD/staff are incompetent, or because they can't do anything about it) getting in touch with Washington is the next step. It may even help because an outcry from PCVs could lend weight to any complaints or requests that the staff are making.
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Sep 19, 2013 00:18
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Slaan posted:
Ooh, I didn't know that Kate was in PC Benin. That was like Peace Corps' 9/11. Everything changed after that. Some of my parents' friends were in PC in the 70's, and their children in the 90's, and when I visited home a while ago and told them all about it their immediate reactions were "Holy poo poo peace corps was so different when we did it". The way we got it explained to us is that Peace Corps really had no regulations from it's creation up until that incident with Kate. They just kinda went as they felt like it and when a problem came up they were like "oh, well maybe we should do this". After he death 60 Minutes aired a big story on Peace Corps which was apparently extremely damaging to their reputation. After that it got an actual regulatory body and changed into it's current state. I agree that PCMO is mostly worthless. Luckily I don't have a lot of medical problems, but I have friends that do and I know just how little they help.
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Sep 19, 2013 07:09
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Tequila Sunrise posted:I agree that PCMO is mostly worthless. Luckily I don't have a lot of medical problems, but I have friends that do and I know just how little they help. I've had a lot of luck with the PCMO in my country. They are very responsive and caring, and as far as I know other volunteers here feel that way. They definitely err on the side of caution and would rather bring you in for a few days to check things out if they have reasons to suspect there is something wrong with you. Maybe the Caribbean tends to attract and keep better staff than other countries
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Sep 23, 2013 03:06
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My PCMO is great as well. I got free trips to Bangkok because of them!
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Sep 23, 2013 08:50
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They don't set bones or do anything close to surgery here, so we have to go to Thailand for anything like that. We always discuss what "accident" would be best to have happen to you. I always thought a clean break in the forearm would be perfect, as you would have full hand and leg mobility while you were there. That discussions comes up a lot during the winter time. And it's even like 75% in jest!
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Sep 23, 2013 10:30
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Tequila Sunrise posted:They don't set bones or do anything close to surgery here, so we have to go to Thailand for anything like that. We always discuss what "accident" would be best to have happen to you. I always thought a clean break in the forearm would be perfect, as you would have full hand and leg mobility while you were there. That discussions comes up a lot during the winter time. And it's even like 75% in jest! PCV conversations like these are the best
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Sep 23, 2013 18:06
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Yeah, we talk about getting to go to Senegal for medevacs here. For, you see, it's The Promised Land. It has a KFC! 
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Sep 23, 2013 20:35
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Slaan posted:Yeah, we talk about getting to go to Senegal for medevacs here. For, you see, it's The Promised Land. It has a KFC! The capital city here just got a Cinnabon AND a KFC. I haven't been to the KFC yet, but I've heard several people tell me that they went there and the guy behind the counter said, "Sorry, we're out of chicken".
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Sep 24, 2013 05:02
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Slaan posted:Yeah, we talk about getting to go to Senegal for medevacs here. For, you see, it's The Promised Land. It has a KFC! Heh, the current PCMO in Bangkok is from Senegal(via Germany).
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Sep 24, 2013 17:59
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Has anyone heard from their admins about what a government shutdown would do to us? I assume that local staff will be told to go home, but the country director, PCMOs and admin officer will be staying around as vital? E: Finally heard from Peace Corps admin here today. They said we will be fully staffed and remain so no matter what. Good to hear, though I bet trying to get financing will be slow. PC/Washington probably has a few guys furloughed outside of Medical. Slaan fucked around with this message at 12:57 on Sep 30, 2013 |
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Sep 27, 2013 09:05
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Spouse and I just finished our respective applications. Hoping to serve next year. We just started our medical stuff, both nearing the end, and the website crapped out. Still excited about the possibility of serving!
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Oct 1, 2013 02:36
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Tequila Sunrise posted:The capital city here just got a Cinnabon AND a KFC. I haven't been to the KFC yet, but I've heard several people tell me that they went there and the guy behind the counter said, "Sorry, we're out of chicken". Poor bastards. Santo Domingo has giant super fancy malls with all of the consumer pleasures and western brands that a PCV could ever desire. Last time my wife and I made the trek to the capital we went to IHOP... and it was as good as we had imagined. Just trying to rub it in here
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Oct 2, 2013 00:29
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Thesaurus posted:Poor bastards. Santo Domingo has giant super fancy malls with all of the consumer pleasures and western brands that a PCV could ever desire. Last time my wife and I made the trek to the capital we went to IHOP... and it was as good as we had imagined.  The capital has just about every fast food you could think of including Taco Bell. Also, I'm environmental health which is supposed to have some of the most out there sites possible.
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Oct 6, 2013 16:47
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My post mate is beginning her third year here, so she just got back from her 1-months forced vacation. She tells me there are these magical things in the states called "roads" which "cars" drive on. And that the cars are forced to obey "laws" by "police." She tells me there is more food than rice and beans, such as "meat" and "cheese." I think she is making fun of me.
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Oct 6, 2013 19:35
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Has anyone started taking anti-depressants while a PCV? Is this possible or do they send you home?
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Oct 9, 2013 07:23
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I had them offered to me by the PCMO, so I assume they're not against the rules.
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Oct 9, 2013 22:05
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