A Conversation, Elaborated Upon

J: My cp says hello but that's about it. Oh and she asks why I haven't gotten a grant yet.

M: Classic. My official cp just says hello to me too, that's it. This pc life is very different than how I imagined it

J: I couldn't agree more.

Elaboration: This was a text conversation I had with one of my friends today.

I think anyone who applies to Peace Corps prepares themselves for a very different experience than what they may ultimately end up with. My regional manager asked me where I had wanted to be sent, ideally, and I said, "Latin America or Africa." He replied, "That's what you all say!"

Most people, when applying, have asked themselves if they want to live in an environment where they may be the first and only white person there, where they won't have reliable electricity and/or water, where they'll see landscapes and wildlife drastically different than in the U.S., where the closest volunteer is a day or two of travel away, and so is internet, where they won't be able to shower, where they'll have to wear the local, colorful dress.

You know why? If you go the PC web site, or picture what "PC" looks like in your mind, you'll see images of volunteers living in very rural, basic environments in developing countries. You know what you don't see? Pictures of Eastern Europe, and more specifically, of volunteers in Ukraine.

Want to know a fun fact? PC/Ukraine is the largest PC program, with about 400 volunteers currently serving.


Most volunteers in Ukraine have mostly reliable water and electricity, some even have high speed internet! Yes, we shower less than we would in the U.S. but we are also expected to be dressed professionally the majority of the time. I've ironed t-shirts here. Wearing local clothing would entail me sporting mini-skirts, patterned tights, and see-through blouses. This would not help me blend in. I have three volunteers in the city over from me (though I've chosen not to spend much time with them because I am antisocial). I have internet. I have access to a television with about 100 channels. Programming is in Russian or Ukrainian but I can watch Ukraine's equivalents of So You Think You Can Dance, X Factor, Dancing With Stars, and How I Met Your Mother, and American originals dubbed, such as The Simpsons. Travel is long and not always easy but it's survivable. When Ukrainians ask me about the weather in Ohio in comparison to Ukraine, I say it's about the same, because it is. The only truly different "wildlife" I've seen was at the Kyiv zoo. It also had a raccoon on display.

I guess I don't appreciate that PC sells their program as certain ideas and images, when in reality, the majority of the young, recently graduated, not-specifically-skilled-in-any-one-area applicants will end up in an Eastern European country teaching English as a foreign language.

Don't get me wrong. I LIKE living in Ukraine. I like the food and the people and the history and the scenery. But as my PCV friends and I like to joke, we're jealous of people who end up in Real Peace Corps.

It's okay, though. The Real Peace Corps kids like to joke about how my friends and I ended up in Posh Corps.