Acceptance Email
Yesterday, bored in my afternoon U.S. History Class, I opened my email and to my surprise I read “Congratulations! You have been selected to serve as a Peace Corps Volunteer”. The moment I saw this sentence my face lit up and I immediately started texting my close family and friends about the great news.
Update: Earlier in the evening I stopped by Barns and Noble to purchase a non-fiction book about Paraguay… not one in sight (but I was able to find a travel book with ten pages about Paraguay). Thirty minutes ago I accepted the invitation to become a Crop Extension Peace Corps Volunteer in Paraguay! So excited to begin research about Paraguay!
Agricultural Degree
Applying to the Peace Corps with an agricultural degree was a very interesting experience. Apparently a large amount of Peace Corps Volunteers have a degree in a general subject and not many have a degree in Agriculture. In my opinion this is occurring because students in Agriculture have so many job opportunities that joining the Peace Corps doesn't even cross their mind. Compared to an individual with a general degree, they will likely find themselves searching for their next step in life after graduation.
One challenge I think I might potentially face is having to relearn information. Certain techniques and practices of agriculture systems have now been engrained into my head for the past four years and going to a completely different country growing different crops than I am used to, the techniques and practices will likely change too. With prior knowledge I might be able to have a large net of ideas to pull from to solve problems. Overall I think a new agricultural environment will widen my perspective of what is considered a “correct practice” and allow for me to bring back new or lost techniques that could be beneficial in some agriculture setting in the United States.
Summary of Paraguay (from what I have gathered)
Paraguay is one of the least tourist driven countries in South America. I noticed there were more than ten different travel guides about most South American countries in Barns and Noble but there was not one book in the entire store about solely Paraguay. It is a tropical environment and is predominately humid. Temperatures in the summer (November-March) reach up to 105 degrees while temperatures in winter can hit the 30s.
Most rural communities are a 2–10 hour bus ride from Asuncion (the big city and the capital of Paraguay). There are two official languages of Paraguay; Guarani (spoken in rural areas) and Spanish (spoken mainly in the city). There is also a ‘language’ that is often spoken called Jopara which is a mixture of Guarani and Spanish. The diet of Paraguay people is explained in a paragraph from the Peace Corps Handbook below:
“Dietary habits and the lack of agricultural diversity often limit meals to beans, rice, noodles, meat (when available), corn, onions, tomatoes, and manioc. Manioc, or mandioca (more commonly known in other countries as yucca or cassava), is the staple food in rural Paraguay and is as ubiquitous at the table as bread is in other countries. Paraguayan food is not spicy and is quite different from Mexican food (for instance, in Paraguay, a tortilla is a kind of fritter). Most Paraguayans are exceptionally generous and will insist on sharing their food, no matter how little they have.”
Paraguay is the top producer of the following commodities:
- Soybean
- Meat Production
- Feed
- Vegetable Oils
- Honey
Summary of Service
I will be departing to Paraguay in September of this year where I will enroll in a training program with the other volunteers lasting 10–11 weeks. I will be given a monthly stipend along with a one time moving-in stipend that will allow me to maintain good health. During my training time I will likely be staying with a host family and will have full time language classes. In December I will begin my time with my community I am assigned and will live with a new host family for another three months. After these three months I will be able to choose to stay with the host family or live in a small house owned by one of the families. For the next year and a half I will get to spend 48 vacation days traveling South America and potentially meeting up with family and friends. The last three months of service I will be in my community tying up projects and preparing to leave. Once back in America I will be given a small amount of money to help get me back in the swing of things.
Deciding Factors
By coincidence (or maybe fait), I responded to a nanny job post Fall 2016. I applied to the Peace Corps January 1st of the year and I began to nanny a super cute one year old around the same time. On January 30th I heard back and found out I was being considered for Paraguay, where the parents of the child I just started nannying met. As soon as I told them the news they were so excited for me and wanted to answer any question I had. They told me about their experiences serving as Peace Corps Volunteers in Paraguay. I was so excited to have two sources of knowledge about everything I was questioning which helped me decide positives and negatives of becoming a volunteer.
While contemplating the idea of joining the Peace Corps as a Crop Extension Specialist in Paraguay I had the pleasure of talking to many friends and previous volunteers to hear their opinions. Many of my friends were excited to hear about my potential adventure and seemed to be 100% on board with the idea of me joining the Peace Corps. After I began to hear the confidence my friends had about me joining, my confidence that I should began to decrease. Most of my friends I talked too didn't and couldn’t understand the full picture of what I would be doing in Paraguay. I finally hit my low one day where I decided that Paraguay didn’t have the things I enjoyed in life; the beach, swimsuits, a comfortable society, and a plethora of hiking trails. For one night I was convinced that I wouldn’t join the Peace Corps and questioned if I needed to even interview at all. Thankfully I was on the phone with my mother so her motherly instincts telling me I needed to follow through got me to the interview. During the hour interview I struggled to recall situations but after the detailed questions I was able to ask some of my own. Speaking with the lady on the other side of the camera, I noticed her face light up when I asked her about the country as she spoke about the caring and giving people of Paraguay and the beauty of the country itself. That is when the decision was clear, I had to take on this adventure to not only change my life, but to try and create a lasting impact on a society.
