My First Day of Peace Corps
After living a city life for 36 years, I decided to join the Peace Corps. I wanted to experience something completely different, and that is exactly what happened.
I was offered a place in Belize and at first, I was disappointed. I had never been to Belize, but I googled it and it looked like a beautiful vacation destination and very modern. I wanted something really rustic so I could push myself, but I accepted the invitation anyway.
I immediately fell in love with Belize and discovered it wasn’t ‘modern’ out in the villages, so I was able to have new experiences daily. Many of those experiences were embarrassing and still make me laugh to this day.
On the first day after arriving at my host family’s hut at my training site, I attempted to take my first bucket bath. I was butt-naked, scooping water out of a bucket, and I put my hand on the wall to support myself so I could clean my muddy feet. I didn’t realize the ‘wall’ wasn’t a wall, and it was actually just a bunch of giant leaves strung together. So when I pressed my hand against it, the whole shower area tipped over with me in it. I lay in the yard of total stranger's house, naked as a newborn baby, and just as confused.
After picking up my clothes, and my dignity, I got dressed and went to my room to relax. I was laying on the bed with the fan blowing on my face and I was in pure bliss. My clean hair was tickling my face from the fan blowing on me and it felt so nice. I thought, “life is perfect”. I enjoyed my hair tickling my face for almost 10 minutes until I saw something out of the corner of my eye. Then I realized it wasn’t my hair on my face… it was a GIANT cockroach! A cockroach the size of a small rat had been crawling on my face the whole time!! I flung it across the room and it landed in my backpack!
The cockroaches there were much bigger than the ones we have in California. Their behavior is also much different. I was in the latrine later that night and I saw one. I moved away and it followed me. I made a small squeal and it came right for me. I started screaming and it really came after me. I couldn’t get out of the bathroom because I was being attacked by a bug. My host family “shhhh-ed” me. They didn’t speak English but it seemed like they were trying to tell me to stop screaming and it would stop. It seemed to work, so now I am silent around bugs.
I have many, many more stories that will make you cringe, so keep an eye out for more to come.
Don’t let my stories of bugs or embarrassing moments keep you from joining the Peace Corps. It was the best time of my life and I want to do it again someday.
If someone you know is in the Peace Corps and you are looking for gifts to give them, I wrote an article on Gifts for Peace Corps Volunteers that you may enjoy. Check it out! https://gifterworld.com/best-gifts-for-peace-corps-volunteers/
