Among us volunteers, we have our own little publication. I wrote an article comparing life in the Peace Corps to life in the university Greek system. Unfortunately the document is too large to upload here but I pasted the article below. Email me if you want full publication!
"During many of my out-of-site adventures with other PCVs (only 3 per month, I promise), late night Victoria Maestro-fueled conversation topics have turned back to the good ‘ole university days. Fellow volunteers usually take pause when I let it slip that I was not only a member of a fraternity but the chapter president. More often than not their response is the same as I received in college: why would you join a fraternity?”
Now I have a wittier comeback: why would you join the Peace Corps? Here I’d like to make the case that serving as a PCV is not such a world away from the Greek system, because, in fact, it is the international Greek system.
Let start from the beginning of the experience, shall we? All of us at one point or another receive our “bid” from the Peace Corps. Maybe that’s because you didn’t get that job offer (as Fulbrights are apparently only for “exceptional” candidates) or maybe you really are just that gung-ho on rice and beans. Either way, we join a community of like-minded strangers who quickly became our “brothers and sisters.”
Then comes “Welcome Week.” I think it’s fair to assume that orientation is an awkward moment for all of us. “Hey, guy/gal who just left his/her family, friends and most possessions behind. I – a person you have nothing in common with except wanting to serve the greater good, am going to be your personal support network for the next 27 months! Do you have more than 3 siblings? No? Ever met a celebrity? Sign here.” Thankfully that awkward moment quickly morphs into “brotherly or sisterly love.”
PST could just as easily stand for “Pledge Service Training.” Now that we’re in country, it’s time to prove our aspirations – we’re called aspirantes after all. For the better part of 3 months we have to attend “new member education classes” –aka charlas and language talleres. While this may be the most frustrating time of our service, it does give us a solid base of knowledge and skills for when we go “active.”
Ah! And then “initiation” finally arrives. Swear-in is a time to celebrate our hard work during PST and partake in a ceremony to officially become a PCV. Fortunately, there’s nothing Animal House-esque, but you better believe every reputable “social organization” has a rite of passage, oath and anthem, too.
And we can’t pretend that we don’t have a lingo that others don’t understand. “Hey can you tell the PCMO to give the stuff to my APCD at the IST or I’m getting MEDSEPED” isn’t a far cry from “Hey COMPOSITES are after RUSH but before CHAPTER.”
Then there is the centralized organizational structure. As some of you may not know, most fraternities and sororities have a “national headquarters” that governs them. Nationals’ responsibilities include making members attend “safety seminars,” sending out electronic surveys about the organization’s finances, and, perhaps most importantly, doing whatever they can to keep their constituents from having fun. Gracias a Dios the Peace Corps isn’t like that . . .
Living “in-house” at a fraternity or sorority house isn’t much different from living in-site. Just replace the noisy late-night upperclassman that doesn’t have Friday class with your neighbor, who decides chopping wood at 4:30am is a reasonable thing to do.
But perhaps the most important parallel is that we represent something more important than ourselves. Substitute those Greek block letters on my chest for my pale 6 foot frame and blonde hair – it’s the same concept. We stand out in a crowd, and therefore are charged to live a life that brings pride to our organization.
In conclusion, I’m proud to be both a member of the Greek system and the U.S. Peace Corps. Just remember, don’t rag on fraternities or sororities; you’re a secret handshake away from being in one."
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