Peace Corps volunteer in the middle of nowhere

poeticjustice_2001 · Jan 24, 2012

Hi ya'll,
I am so glad I found this site! (And happy I found internet).
I'm currently a volunteer in the US Peace Corps in the mountains in Nicaragua. Feels like the middle of nowhere most days. I'll be here at least two more years. I found a person in my little pueblo who has satellite, so I sit in the back of her pulperia among the sacks of rice and corn to use the internet. Or I take creeky old school bus to the nearest city to use an internet cafe. It's a great experience being here and definitely providing material for writing. No matter where I am in the world or what I'm doing, I'll always be a writer.
Anyway glad to meet you all and looking forward to reading the forums (I've already read a bunch for newbies), making my own posts and hanging out in the chat. It's really great to connect with other writers - and other English speakers!

Good luck with all your writing endeavors and may the muse be with you!

Cella · Jan 24, 2012

Welcome! What an experience you must be having!

Maryn · Jan 24, 2012

How great, that you have internet access during your Peace Corps stint! Our niece was in PC in the Dominican Republic, but she didn't even have electricity and running water, much less the internet.

Your experience is going to be a nicer mix of Doing Good and normalcy. Well, as normal as we get, anyway. You'll be pleased to know there's somebody around here most any time, and that we have a chat which can save the sanity of someone feeling isolated.

Maryn, glad to meet you

Ari Meermans · Jan 24, 2012

Welcome!

CACTUSWENDY · Jan 24, 2012

Welcome to AW. Hope you enjoy your stay with us.
How do you like your popcorn?

If you go to the bottom of the page to the 'forum jump' you can scroll down and find all the areas of this place. After you post 50 posts you can use the SYW areas to get help there. The password for some of the areas is…..vista. A word to the wise, it would be a good idea to participate first in helping others before you think about posting your own work. After you have been around here for awhile, then post something of your own for help. Good luck.

Sarah G · Jan 24, 2012

poeticjustice_2001 · Jan 24, 2012

Cella said:
Welcome! What an experience you must be having!

Thanks for the welcome! This is definitely the experience of the lifetime and at least I'll always have something to talk about at parties

Ari Meermans said:
Welcome!

Thank you!

Maryn said:
How great, that you have internet access during your Peace Corps stint! Our niece was in PC in the Dominican Republic, but she didn't even have electricity and running water, much less the internet.

Your experience is going to be a nicer mix of Doing Good and normalcy. Well, as normal as we get, anyway. You'll be pleased to know there's somebody around here most any time, and that we have a chat which can save the sanity of someone feeling isolated.

Maryn, glad to meet you

Yes, I am lucky to have electricity (usually). No running water but there is a handy river not too far. Finding the internet was a fluke but I'm not going to question it! Some volunteers here are in tougher sites than other. I am looking enough to be in busing distance from a city, though not large, it offers some contact with the larger world!
I am definitely going to use the boards and chat to save my sanity

thank you for the welcome!

CACTUSWENDY said:
Welcome to AW. Hope you enjoy your stay with us.
How do you like your popcorn?

If you go to the bottom of the page to the 'forum jump' you can scroll down and find all the areas of this place. After you post 50 posts you can use the SYW areas to get help there. The password for some of the areas is…..vista. A word to the wise, it would be a good idea to participate first in helping others before you think about posting your own work. After you have been around here for awhile, then post something of your own for help. Good luck.

Right now, I like popcorn any way I can get it! All the corn here, and no one makes popcorn. Just grind it to make tortillas- but they can get pretty addictive too!

Sarah G said:

Thank you!

PorterStarrByrd · Jan 24, 2012

Welcome aboard

Alessandra Kelley · Jan 24, 2012

Welcome and good luck! I had a friend in the Peace Corps in Swaziland, and it sounds like quite a job. I hope it works out.

alleycat · Jan 24, 2012

Welcome.

lastlittlebird · Jan 24, 2012

Welcome to AW

I'm a RPCV (Mali '04-'06). It's nice to meet you. How long have you been at your site? With two years to go I'm guessing you were only just placed there?
What kind of volunteer are you? (I was Small Enterprise Development, but ended up doing a lot of teaching and so forth).

Hope to see you around the forums sometime

dark_opus · Jan 24, 2012

Nice to meet you. Glad you are connected and able to keep up with your writing. Good luck and enjoy the experience!

Nickie · Jan 24, 2012

Hi there, and welcome to AW.

regdog · Jan 25, 2012

Take some time and read the Newbie Guide and the Stickies found
at the top of Forum pages. They are your best guide to learning about
Absolute Write.

Don’t forget to read the FAQ regarding posting pictures at AW.

Members who want to start a thread in Share Your Work to have work critiqued need
50 posts. Don’t make a mad dash to reach your 50 posts. Take some time to greet fellow newbies,
critique other members’ works, or join a discussion.

Abacus · Jan 25, 2012

Hello and welcome newcomer! :welcome:

Tepelus · Jan 25, 2012

Hello, and welcome!

ellisshuman · Jan 25, 2012

Hey, you've got to update your blog! I will be interested in reading of your experiences, but only if you write them down for us to see!

thehairymob · Jan 25, 2012

poeticjustice_2001 · Jan 25, 2012

Maryn said:
How great, that you have internet access during your Peace Corps stint! Our niece was in PC in the Dominican Republic, but she didn't even have electricity and running water, much less the internet.

Your experience is going to be a nicer mix of Doing Good and normalcy. Well, as normal as we get, anyway. You'll be pleased to know there's somebody around here most any time, and that we have a chat which can save the sanity of someone feeling isolated.

Maryn, glad to meet you

So,right after I finished my reply to you, we lost electricity here. Actually most of the northwest of the country! Haha, spoke to soon!

poeticjustice_2001 · Jan 25, 2012

Thanks for welcome, PorterStarrByrd, alleycat, dark_opus, Nickieregdog, Abacus Tepelus , and thehairymob !

Alessandra Kelley said:
Welcome and good luck! I had a friend in the Peace Corps in Swaziland, and it sounds like quite a job. I hope it works out.

It is quite a job. More than a job, it's a whole new life (for 2 years at least, then back to reality!). Thanks for the well wishes

lastlittlebird said:
Welcome to AW
I'm a RPCV (Mali '04-'06). It's nice to meet you. How long have you been at your site? With two years to go I'm guessing you were only just placed there?
What kind of volunteer are you? (I was Small Enterprise Development, but ended up doing a lot of teaching and so forth).

Hi there... Mali is so beautiful, lucky you

Thanks for the welcome! I am in the Enviro sector, official title is Environmental Educator. Though we work in food security (with school and personal gardens, like Ag volunteers), we spend a large amount of time working in the schools. We teach in the Natural Sciences- help implement the national science curriculum, train teachers in methodology and classroom management. I think it doesn't matter what sector you're in, almost every volunteer ends up teaching/working with youth. And really, they are where our biggest impact is made

As for your other question, I am 5 months in, so just about 2 years left- unless I extend. We'll see about that, too early to contemplate.
Now I have two questions for you - we can talk in PM if that's better

How was it readjusting after you returned? And were you able to get a job pretty soon after COS, if that was your goal? Just curious.

ellisshuman said:
Hey, you've got to update your blog! I will be interested in reading of your experiences, but only if you write them down for us to see!

Ok I'm working on it! Did you read the most recent entry, about bucket showers?

VP_Benni · Jan 25, 2012

Welcome

~Amber~

lastlittlebird · Jan 25, 2012

Sent you a PM.

And oh boy do I remember the bucket showers.

horrorshowjack · Jan 25, 2012

Welcome aboard! Peace corps sound both challenging and incredibly rewarding.

poeticjustice_2001 · Jan 26, 2012

xXVampyrePrincessXx said:
Welcome

~Amber~

Thanks!!

horrorshowjack said:
Welcome aboard! Peace corps sound both challenging and incredibly rewarding.

Thanks for the welcome!
It sure is - toughest job I've ever done.. I need to keep up my writing to keep me sane while I'm here

Jehhillenberg · Jan 26, 2012

Hi there and :welcome:

!!

Peace Corps volunteer in the middle of nowhere

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