What the actual F*ck am I doing here? It’s a question I ask myself daily, sometimes hourly, and occasionally every few minutes. Even now, I don’t have a clear answer. I’m a stranger in an area used to having Peace Corps’ trainees. As long as I stick to main roads and predictable schedules, all is…
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From Trainee to Volunteer 4: Home wasn’t built in a day
This is the last post in my series From Trainee to Volunteer relating the trials and tribulations transitioning from Peace Corps’ Trainee to Peace Corps’ Volunteer [See the others here: Swearing In, Site, Goals, and Expectations] Mbazi, Rwanda [now that I’m no longer an active PCV I can disclose my exact location of my Rwanda home]…
From Trainee to Volunteer 3: Expectations and living under pressure
This is the 3rs post in the series From Trainee to Volunteer [See the others here: Swearing in, Site, and Goals]. This one is all about expectations. During PST and even before, Peace Corps tell its trainees not to have expectations because whatever expectations you may have [good or bad] will not be met. Come…
From Trainee to Volunteer 2: Peace Corps Goals
PC | Rwanda is trying something new with our cohort of Health volunteers [He10] called site goals. In theory, PC and Health center staff work together to create site goals prior to a volunteer’s arrival. Once again, in theory, this gives the volunteer a little more direction on where the PCV should be focusing his/her…
From Trainee to Volunteer 1: Site announcement, first visit, and first week
I touched on the fact that I wasn’t altogether happy with my site back when we had the announcement. I didn’t pitch a fit, cry, or really display any type of emotion, but the fact was nearly everything I had said in the interview concerning site placement, I ended up with the opposite. I wanted…
Spaghetti with tomato sauce: Cooking in the Corps 1
Welcome to my first post in the series called Cooking in the Corps. By the end of the series, there will be [hopefully] a collection of 27 [see what I did there] recipes that I personally cooked in my kitchen either on the gas stove or the imbabura. A couple of these are of my own…
Swearing in
On Tuesday August 14, 2018 despite any reservations anyone may or may not have had, I, along with 22 others was sworn in as a Peace Corps volunteer in Rwanda representing cohort Health 10. I wore a fancy dress. I put on make-up. I danced on live TV. I listened to speeches given by my…
Learning a language that will never be used again
One week later… On our second day in Rwanda, our group of 24 trainees was split into six groups, and I sat beside three other trainees watched our Language and Cultural Facilitators, act out a short dialogue. They stood a few feet apart, facing away from each other, then turned around and began to walk…
Other duties as required
‘Other duties as required’… it’s a phrase I’ve always hated–that very vague part of the job description where an employer can ask to to do almost anything and before you can say ‘no’ they come back with ‘other duties as required’. As it pertains to a Peace Corps Maternal-Child Health volunteer, other duties as required…
By the numbers: One
This post is a little different than previous posts as I am currently visiting my future home. I thought I would quantify my experience in Rwanda thus far. Numbers 0-5 0: Number of pants that I brought that still fit. Note: I still wear all the pants that are too big so my outfits these days…