Peace Corps Volunteers do What now...

You have eaten in too many restaurants to count that had chickens/goats/dogs/cats running all over the place.  And you think nothing of it or that it would score a solid 100% in breaking every code; if that were a thing here.

You can eat a whole box of cereal/cookies/crackers in one sitting.  The real success is not eating your entire care package in one day.

You have love affairs with food when you are able to eat something you don’t normally.  And it’s probably not even that good, but you think it is amazing and it brings tears to your eyes.  (What do your taste buds know anymore after eating termites and minnows.) 

You have pulled a bug or a hair out of your food and continue eating.  No big deal.

You carry food around in your bag...Or you might be fasting for that day.

(True story.  One volunteer pulled out a pork chop from her purse.  Wait what? You just have a pork chop in there.  Mad PC skills!)

You drop your last bite of the meal accidentally in your bag and you dig it out and finish it.  You have to.  (I have scooped the top of a container of guacamole that dropped on the floor and ate it.  Some things you just can’t let go to waste.  It was totes fine. )

You continue to drink your beverage even after flies are swimming around in the glass.  You paid good money for that.   I don’t remember sending this drink over for you, fly. 

You have eaten things that you knew were gonna make you sick, but it would be rude to refuse.  Down the hatchet it goes.  

You carry a wine bottle in your bag, but lets be honest it is probably actually boxed wine you have.   Keepin it classy, Kenya.

Whenever you have a refrigerated drink it is too cold for you and you get a brain freeze that is in the big leagues.  It came to play and is not messing around.

You have used water bottles for many things.  Obvi, to mix drinks, or cut them in half and viola you have a cup, or for short calls.  If you haven’t peed in a halved water bottle I don’t know that you can really call yourself a PCV.

You have had entire conversations consisting of only sounds.  In fact, you are a master at wordless convos.

You have experienced emotions you never knew existed or that you were even capable of.  Your heart is exploding, your brain is crying, your feelings have no idea what is going on.  

You would rather have a choo (hole in the ground) than a western toilet because

they just don’t work properly here.

You leave shoes in strategic places around your house to fight off the bugs, lizards, bats, rodents, and any other creepy crawler that invites itself in your home unwelcomed.

You call it a night at 8pm because the power went out.  Maybe the first time this happens you worry about your food going bad, then you realize you don’t have a fridge.  And you are still alive without one. 

(Most of those involved food.  I guess you can tell where my head is at.)  

These tasks make you feel accomplished

Laundry – I mean how can you not feel accomplished you basically turn into a beast of a machine. 

Dishes – Again, you are THE machine and you don’t have a sink with running water so you use buckets. 

Purifying water – It’s a 30 minute process, yo.

Shopping in the market - You had to search and bargain for that weeks food.  And score you got a week of food for less than $5. 

You should then pat yourself on the back you did a lot of work today.

The day has also been a success when…

You send 3 emails.  Definitely pack up and call it a day. 

When not one person asks you for money or your phone number. – Seriously, go buy two drinks and cheers yourself for these days are rare. 

When you watch half a season of a show.

When you don’t watch a single episode of a show.  Remember not a whole lot to do in your house at night. 

You know you’ve been in country a while…

When you hear mzungu mzungu  (foreigner) and you look around saying “where?” and then realize ‘oh, they mean me.’

When your community calls you by your village name and you start to get sad thinking about how pretty soon, no one will use your village name and its back to your actual name.  (Don’t get me wrong parents, I’m a fan of my given name.)  But this happened yesterday.  Someone greeted me by calling me Nahulu and I nearly cried.  The end is approaching fast, people. 

When someone asks you where are you from and you tell them the name of your village and province in Kenya, but what they were really asking was your home country.

When you wonder if you will ever be able to go back to a set schedule and a 9-5 job.

When you can’t even fathom purchasing something anymore without bargaining for it.

Punguza kidogo, Bwana.

I could keep going with these lists but I don't know that you would keep reading so this is a short list of the Peace Corps Volunteer life.  If you have never done PC and were checking things off as you were reading , then um, who in the world are you!  I kinda want to shake your hand.