Living Poor?

Sorry if you were using a search engine to find information about Living Poor, the book. It is a pretty good book and I do recommend it. There is always the saying floating around other volunteers, “That's so Peace Corps!” That may make you wonder what constitutes “so Peace Corps.” If there was a scale from one to ten (ten being most Peace Corps), modern science would not be able to calculate where I fit on this scale. That's right I am so integrated these days, that I am practically Ecuadorian, or I just look like a poor white man.

Exhibit A would be my house. Many people have already passed through the hallowed bamboo gate into my sanctuary. What's the response I get: “Your house is SO Peace Corps!” Yeah, visitors even use caps lock in their actual words. Being the overachiever, or cheap bastard, that I am, I decided to add to the Peace Corps-ishness that is my house. How could I hang up my new mirror, spend $0, and up my awesome factor a notch- take a look at Exhibit A1:

 

Is that rope hanging up that mirror? No, that would cost a precious few cents at the hardware store. Luckily in training, I learned the center of the banana leaf was used as rope.
On to Exhibit B, my ingenuity and my desire not to shell out another $8 for a mochila. Recently, the arm strap of my prized and somewhat famous knock off Puma backpack ripped in half. Once again, how could I raise the bar on my Peace Corps scale? Spend $0 for one and look the part of an Ecuadorian while at it. Here it is, my German engineering remake of my backpack arm strap thread:

 

No, I did not spend any money for that string. I had enough sense to steal it from work.

Finally, we have Exhibit C- the white t-shirt, or what in the past used to be a white t-shirt. I came into this country with an arsenal of white shirts, hoping that they'd last at least until someone came down to visit me with a restock. Was I wrong. Four months into site and the army of shirts is about destroyed. Whenever I go to work, I look like a kid who is dressed up as a car accident victim for Halloween. This picture does not really give the messiness of my white t-shirt collection justice, but it gets the point across:

 

Here I am in Ecuador. I pretty much live at the same standard as the people, though at times I look poorer than just about everybody else. Whatever, it just adds to my ever increasing Peace Corps vibe that I emanate. Maybe if I find out I have hookworm or some weird parasite dancing around in my stomach I can win a lifetime achievement award.

Work, Work

When signing up for the Peace Corps, you are told numerous times, “Peace Corps is a 24/7 job.” During training, or summer camp as I like to call it, you would never believe this saying is true. Surrounded by other gringos with all sorts of cool activities going on, life is pretty easy in the first ten weeks. Then you become a volunteer. Life changes and reality sets in. You begin to realize the job phrase was no joke. It is not just a job in the sense Americans think of work, day-to-day living is a challenge.

However, I am not writing this to gripe about the daily challenges, that is what I came to this country and Peace Corps for. I am writing about my theory on the importance of work and why it means that much to people back in the States. As I have stated in a previous entry, it is easy to let thoughts and emotions get the best of you. In the good ole U S of A, we have so many things to take our mind off of those thoughts and emotions. Television. Internet. A car. Most importantly- work. Sure work causes headaches all on its own, but it occupies so much time that you do not have time to be engulfed in the negative.

How does this relate to my Peace Corps experience? For one, let's just say I have it a bit easier having some semblance of a job. As I tell many people, it may not be the most rewarding work (lots of manual labor), but I least I have work to keep me occupied. Many volunteers cannot say the same thing. They struggle to find even some form of routine and that is the real challenge, I think, of Peace Corps. Without work, it is easy for doubts and other forms of pessimism to creep into your mind. It is even easier here in Ecuador because, for the most part, you do not have all of the amenities of home to keep your mind at bay. As I said, I have found myself battling the doubts just like every other volunteer, but I am fortunate to have a job to go to everyday.

So, while work may suck at home for you in the States, it still has some benefit. Try to stay alone with your thoughts for awhile and see how hard that can be. It is a 24/7 battle against those everyday here for every volunteer.