First Blog Post Peace Corps...

When I first returned to America after serving two years and three months as a Peace Corps Volunteer, I found there were two common questions people typically asked:
 'How was it?'  & 'Do you feel changed?'

Excuse me while I check out reality for about 3 minutes trying to figure out how in God's name I would answer these. 3 minutes later....'Umm soo, yeah man..' How do I share 2 years and 3 months worth of outrageous experiences with someone who probably can't relate in too many ways and also will probably be checking out of this conversation if I talk more than 2 hours? After much pondering, I came to my soundbite: 'It was the most challenging yet rewarding two years & three months of my life thus far.  I went on a lot of adventures, met a lof of truly wonderful people who I someday hope to help. But for the time being, I am enjoying just being in America.'

It's been almost a year now since returning and it's definitely been a whirlwind, like everyone says it is.  I think each person is different, though, and experiences different challenges at different times in different ways. I think my challenges have been with this slump of an economy & employment. At first it was not knowing what I wanted to do and just needing a job. Then it turned into having too many great ideas of what I could do but not knowing how to achieve them as they are WAY out there and not on your typical path. I've now arrived at the path of just needing to fix my 'right now' situation and that's what I've been working on at present.

And after being back for almost a year, I've more often gotten the question, 'Are there things that bother you about our society?'  The answer is most definitely YES, but it's a weird, mixed feeling. I love America and it's amenities; I truly value things like fresh running water, AC, cars, etc. but what I don't love are people who DON'T appreciate them. People just don't even know...

There's also something random that has REALLy stuck out in my mind & I often find myself thinking about it:  Makes me sick...

For one, America has WAY too much advertising with a focus on clothes. But what I really hate is when they exploit locals from developing countries in magazines for these clothes. When I look at these ads, I immediately start thinking 'Where did the locals come from? Were they near a local village and these Americans just popped in for the day with their nice white teeth, expensive clothing, and nice cameras? Did people have to put off their daily lives (of probably very hard work) so that they could stand with these random, beautiful people smiling as if they know them??' AND I think what bothers me most of all is that most people in other countries don't SMILE like Americans do...so did the camera people have to tell them to show their teeth like Americans do!? It's so weird to think about how the elements of this photo came together. AND more than likely, that women's clothing was probably not culturally appropriate. Every other girl in that photo has her shoulders covered-- so get it together. Lastly, I think my favorite part of these photos is how in some/maybe all of them...the models seem to be leaning away from the people...It's like I can see them thinking, 'ewww these children probably have diseases.'


And honestly...it's probably true...sadly.


Cheers,
Courtney