In the fashion of Facebook’s viral “25 Random Things About Me” notes, RPCVs of Colorado has started Peace Corps. Three. Ten., a chance for RPCVs to share some of their Peace Corps experiences.
In honor of Peace Corps Week and NPCA’s third goal, RPCVs of Colorado has started circulating the note, which asks people to list their top ten volunteer memories, along with their country, years of service, and assignment.
We’re encouraging people to write their own and post them to their Connected Peace Corps and Facebook profiles.
Here's what I posted:
Peace Corps. Three. Ten. (Goal 3. Ten Things) A project of the Returned Peace Corps Volunteers of Colorado
Let’s spread the word about our experiences overseas ~ it’s our Third Goal!
In honor of Peace Corps Week coming up at the end of this month (February 23 – March 2), take a few minutes to reflect on your Peace Corps service and come up with the top 10 memories/lessons/reflections of that time. Share them with your friends on Facebook and other social networking sites like ConnectedPeaceCorps. Write a note and tag other RPCVs and/or currently serving Volunteers. Upload a few pictures to go with your note. Use this opportunity to focus on the positive aspects of life in your country of service. Follow the format below or design one you see fit to call your own!]
Country (and location, if appropriate): The Gambia, West Africa
Years: 1987-1989
Assignment: Education
1. During training I started cutting hair for candy bars and would frequently have a line of customers at PCV gatherings. Of course, the joke was that everyone ended up looking like my husband, with whom I served.
2. Fed up with training and wanting to be alone, I faked sick one day. It was an utter failure. I had a steady stream of Gambian visitors.
3. My Gambian family was the best Peace Corps host family, and Bansang was the best village. Sorry. They just were. ;-)
4. There is nothing like the start of the rainy season. The gathering clouds, the smell of the dust, the way the wind roars through in the night like a freight train. A day later the entire landscape sports a fuzz of green and the croaking frogs in the rice fields are deafening.
5. I had a baby named after me.
6. I wish I had danced more.
7. I’m Erica Burman. My husband is Eric Burman. In Gambia, married women keep their maiden names. I once overheard a student explain to another, “Ms. Burman loves Mr. Burman so much, she took his first name AND his last name.”
8. My husband got a boil for every month we served. I got the mother of all leg ulcers our last week in country. So bad, that Eric interrupted his tetracycline course to give me his drugs. So big and so nasty that I still have a 1”x2” scar to show for it. The Peace Corps nurse commented, “Erica, you’re the last person I thought would ever get one of these.” Just thought you should know.
9. I cried at school on our last day of classes. And the next day everyone in the village knew.
10. I wish I had a do-over. I think I would be such a better volunteer.
Let’s spread the word about our experiences overseas ~ it’s our Third Goal!
In honor of Peace Corps Week coming up at the end of this month (February 23 – March 2), take a few minutes to reflect on your Peace Corps service and come up with the top 10 memories/lessons/reflections of that time. Share them with your friends on Facebook and other social networking sites like ConnectedPeaceCorps. Write a note and tag other RPCVs and/or currently serving Volunteers. Upload a few pictures to go with your note. Use this opportunity to focus on the positive aspects of life in your country of service. Follow the format below or design one you see fit to call your own!]
Country (and location, if appropriate): The Gambia, West Africa
Years: 1987-1989
Assignment: Education
1. During training I started cutting hair for candy bars and would frequently have a line of customers at PCV gatherings. Of course, the joke was that everyone ended up looking like my husband, with whom I served.
2. Fed up with training and wanting to be alone, I faked sick one day. It was an utter failure. I had a steady stream of Gambian visitors.
3. My Gambian family was the best Peace Corps host family, and Bansang was the best village. Sorry. They just were. ;-)
4. There is nothing like the start of the rainy season. The gathering clouds, the smell of the dust, the way the wind roars through in the night like a freight train. A day later the entire landscape sports a fuzz of green and the croaking frogs in the rice fields are deafening.
5. I had a baby named after me.
6. I wish I had danced more.
7. I’m Erica Burman. My husband is Eric Burman. In Gambia, married women keep their maiden names. I once overheard a student explain to another, “Ms. Burman loves Mr. Burman so much, she took his first name AND his last name.”
8. My husband got a boil for every month we served. I got the mother of all leg ulcers our last week in country. So bad, that Eric interrupted his tetracycline course to give me his drugs. So big and so nasty that I still have a 1”x2” scar to show for it. The Peace Corps nurse commented, “Erica, you’re the last person I thought would ever get one of these.” Just thought you should know.
9. I cried at school on our last day of classes. And the next day everyone in the village knew.
10. I wish I had a do-over. I think I would be such a better volunteer.
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