Archives
Since I have come to Perú my media intake has increased quite a bit. I find myself using my cell phone a lot more, and relying on my computer to entertain me. For some people I think this might sound like the opposite of the Peace Corps experience. In fact, I never would have predicted that my media intake in the Peace Corps would grow to be larger than it was when… Read More
It’s pretty bad. My attention span that is. I have noticed a big difference in my ability to stay focused since I became a volunteer. I think the change is easy for me to see because my lifestyle is so different than what it used to be. Going straight from being a graduate student in a Master’s program to a PC volunteer was not the easiest thing. As a student I was… Read More
I already sort of shared about this concept in a different blog post I wrote. Sharing is one of my favorite things I like about living in Peru. I think that because it is all around me that I tend to share more often now myself. The most obvious thing is food. If I buy a drink, popcorn or some ice cream it has become really normal for me to share with… Read More
One of the more obvious changes I have noticed in myself is my ability to speak Spanish. It is by far one of my favorite skills. And one of my favorite parts about living in Peru and traveling to other Spanish-speaking countries. After living for almost 2 years in Peru, it makes sense that I would speak the language. I have become fluent. But it’s the little things within my new fluency… Read More
Body Awareness The amount of times I have been sick during my Peace Corps service is innumerable. During pre-service training, I was sick every month. For a while during my first year, I was sick every couple of weeks. My body was having a really hard time adjusting to the water, the food, climate and bacterias. I would get colds, fevers, chills, body aches, diarrhea, headaches… the whole enchilada. I took lots… Read More
I spent a lot of time putting together my PC resume. Before I knew what program I would be applying to I tailored individual documents for each program. I attended multiple resume workshops, collected example drafts from PC recruiters and received direct feedback on my resumes until they were ready to be submitted. The fact is that the PC has very specific things they look for in a resume. It is crucial… Read More
Perhaps one of my favorite changes I have seen in myself since I started my service is that I seem to have more confidence and higher self-esteem. I think a lot of this gets manifested when I speak in public. Public speaking has never really been a big issue for me. I could present in front of groups, participate in skits, improvise etc. I got comfortable and good at that. But that… Read More
Cellphone Dependency I think there is an overall expectation that when you join the Peace Corps you will be completely disconnected. That you will be tossed into a world without cell phone service, wi-fi and/or other basic technologies. That you will become independent from this technologies and learn to live without them. This might be true for some Peace Corps posts around the world. But part of me doubts that one would… Read More
One of the things I have had to comes to terms with is probably not being able to see visible change in the behaviors or lives of some of the students I work with during the short time I am here. Two years might feel like a long time, but in reality, it’s just a blimp on the life course and maturation of the students I get involved with (even tinier blimp… Read More
Teddy Dondanville 