An interesting topic related to being a Peace Corps volunteer is:
- How does it feel to be a returning Peace Corps volunteer?
I have read about the strange and unexpected reactions people have upon returning to the States. The following list is taken from a Peace Corps "Completion of Service" manual. It describes some common reactions and feelings experienced by returning Peace Corps volunteers.
Fifteen Symptoms of Chronic Peace Corps Withdrawal
- Guilty feelings about your indulgent lifestyle.
- Salivating when you hear poly-rhythmic music.
- Decorating more than two rooms of your house with host country memorabilia.
- The desire to do everything outdoors.
- Confusion between "immediately" and "by next week".
- Greetings exceeding three sentences or eight seconds.
- Making deprecating comments about American beer.
- Subscribing to magazines normally found only in libraries.
- Anxiety induced insomnia from lack of mosquito net in bedroom.
- A fixation with ethnic restaurants.
- Feeling nostalgic when your commuter bus is filled to over capacity.
- Involuntarily using foreign swear words and interjections.
- The inability to use the left hand when making cash transactions.
- Reaching for the pepper before the salt.
- Considering yourself better informed about third world countries than top level state department officials.
3 comments:
Those are interesting. My friends who I met when studying in London and I talk a lot about feelings of withdrawal and the random things that make you miss being abroad.
Funny and truthful list that after reading made me realize I have done a few of these things after being abroad for an extended period. American beer is tasting worse and worse every time I leave this place.
This is gorgeous!
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