Returned Peace Corps Volunteers Check in!

[Taverner]

Thailand 1992-95 (group 102)

[Renew Deal]

1. You were in Thailand 7 years?

Is that right?

[Taverner]

2. LOL...actually no we travel backwards in time once we cross

the date line, hence the 1992-85 ;)

[MattNC]

3. i've thought about joining

have a friend in South America doing it now.

[Taverner]

5. Do it - you'll enjoy it

It will test you, but what things in life that are worth it don't?

[MattNC]

4. i've thought about joining

have a friend in South America doing it now.

[Senator Lamb]

6. question

im thinking about it. whats it like? what do you have to do?

[Taverner]

7. Hmmmm....well it will take 2 years

From when you fill out the application to when you board the plane. Unlike the military, they have a lot of red tape slowing the process. First you would complete an app (available at www.peacecorps.gov) and do a skills assesment. They would interview you and then pass you on to medical. When in medical, they go through your entire history and if you had any medical ailments, you are scrutinized on each of these. I had asthma once when I was 10, so I was on a restricted country list.

Often you won't get your first choice of countries, but that was OK for me - I just wanted to serve.

Every Peace Corps experience is different. I did HIV prevention in Thailand, so I lived in a city. My wife taught English in a rural village, so she was up in the mountains near Laos. I had friends who did everything from live in a makeshift shack for 2 years to living in a condo in Bangkok.

Thailand was different from a lot of Peace Corps experiences, as Thailand is not really a 3rd world country. Friends of mine who did Africa had much different experiences.

Best to look up some RPCV (Returned Peace Corps Volunteers) picnics and meetups and ask them about their experiences.

[Senator Lamb]

8. ty