My rental car, a Toyota Cami, of unknown year and kilometerage. These used right-hand drive are flooding the Samoa market, as Samoa turns to Japan and China as a main trading partner.When Mary and I were living in a rural village from 2007-2009, we felt like” real Peace Corps Volunteers”. We were out there amongst the natives, trying as best we could to understand them. We tried to use our skills in some way to help them. Objectives and goals were unclear, wondering what I am doing here. Our reception met with both joy and trepidation. We had the “Peace Corps experience”.
My first couple of months was a transitional period. There were some objectives and goals, albeit rather hazy. I worked in an air-conditioned office in “the city” surrounded by stores and people who would rather speak English than Samoan. I had a job description, a budget, and a title. Still I took the bus, rode my bike, and walked. I mixed with the locals and other volunteers easily.
Now I have a car with a schedule to meet the objectives and goals for which I was brought here to do. I have a “job”!
I knew this was going to happen and indeed I am progenitor of my own situation. I am really not sorry, but a little nostalgic for the Peace Corps Volunteer I was.
It is time for me now to hit the road and help those Peace Corps in their own villages as they grapple with their own and other people’s Challenges, to be a Peace Corps Response Volunteer.
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