Unless
you're an active Peace Corps volunteer or a returned Peace Corps volunteer, or
you have an unhealthy obsession with the Peace Corps, you've probably never
heard of the Posh Corps. The vision many people have of the Peace Corps is of
volunteers living in mud huts, cooking rice over an open flame, bathing and
washing their clothes in a bucket of cold water they have to walk three miles
to get, reading by candlelight, and sleeping in mosquito netting. To some,
volunteers who don't live in such a manner, or something reasonably similar,
are not true Peace Corps volunteers. They are members of the Posh Corps.
At a
minimum, Posh Corps volunteers are housed in homes or apartments blessed with
modern conveniences such as electricity and indoor plumbing (think running water
and toilets). They live in towns with grocery stores, cafés, and restaurants.
They not only have kitchens, but the kitchens come with refrigerators, stoves,
and ovens. Most have hot water heaters. Many have televisions hooked up to
cable, and most have internet not only at their worksites but in their homes.
The truly lucky ones even have washing machines and dish washers.
At
our close of service conference, we all drew questions out of a hat. They were
questions we were likely to be asked at some point by people in the USA
when we returned home. We formed a large circle and a volunteer started by
reading her question, which another volunteer of her choosing had to answer. We
went around the circle until every volunteer had asked and answered a question.
The question that I was asked was something like, "You served in Eastern
Europe in a country that’s part of the European Union? That must
have been real difficult (sarcasm)." At the time, I responded with an answer in
line with the question, saying something along the lines of, "Yep. They don’t
call it the Posh Corps for nothing." My response drew a smattering of boos and
hisses from my colleagues and rightfully so.
No
question. The volunteers serving in Third World
countries face different challenges than we face. But, having talked at length
with our former country director and our current assistant country directors,
all of whom are former Peace Corps volunteers, as well as some other volunteers
who have served in less developed countries, the primary challenges we face as
volunteers – corruption, apathy, indifference, malaise, hostility, jealousy, mistrust
– vary little from country to country. The work volunteers in less developed
countries do might fall lower on Maslow's pyramid, but that doesn't necessarily
mean it's more difficult.
Some
will undoubtedly disagree and cling to the perceived distinction between real Peace Corps
service and Posh Corps service. But how does one make such a distinction? Let's
start with a list of ten. Without putting too much thought into it, here are ten
things (all of which I've experienced during my service) that make one a Posh Corps
volunteer:
10.
You know you're in the Posh Corps when you heat your kitchen by opening your
refrigerator.
9.
You know you're in the Posh Corps when liquids, if left out of your
refrigerator in your kitchen, freeze overnight.
8.
You know you're in the Posh Corps when frozen locks prevent you from leaving
your home, and, at other times, frozen locks prevent you from entering
your home.
7.
You know you're in the Posh Corps when frozen pipes prevent you from bathing
for more than a week.
6. You know you're in the Posh Corps when you stop doing laundry, not only because you don't have water due to frozen pipes, but because even if you did have water you'd have no means by which to dry your clothes.
5.
You know you're in the Posh Corps when your tile floor resembles a skating rink and you have no idea what's happening
outside because two inches of frost have formed on the inside of all your windows.
4.
You know you're in the Posh Corps when you teach less than five days in an
entire month due to mandatory school closings ordered first as a result of an
influenza epidemic and then as a result of temperatures well in excess of -20° Celsius.
3.
You know you're in the Posh Corp when "breaking the seal" means peeing on and
breaking up the ice that forms in your toilet bowl overnight.
2.
You know you're in the Posh Corps when you sleep in long underwear, sweats,
insulated socks, and a stocking cap in a sleeping bag under several wool
blankets and you still wake up chilled and shivering because you're so cold.
1. You know you're in the Posh Corps when you lose any and all
motivation to do anything other than crawl as far under the covers as possible
in an attempt to stay warm.
All things considered, we live very well here. Lots of people, here and elsewhere, have it much rougher than we do. In that respect, our lives are "posh." But people who haven't served here and walked a mile in our shoes (at times through more than two feet of snow) are in no position to judge. The perception of the Posh Corp is far different from reality and is, quite simply, a load of bunk.
Winter was a bitch. Here's hoping Baba Marta is nicer. Честита Баба Марта!
The view from the inside looking out.
The way things have looked outside (even after a fair amount of snow melt).
