The following Peace Corps volunteer reflections were compiled from the manual, Culture Matters. They are listed here for student reference.
1
The post office offered the usual experience: a cluster of people mashed together in front of the sullen clerk, all thrusting their business in his face, with a line of the less determined off to one side, standing patiently in the belief they would be waited on sometime. PCV Morocco
2
In urban America, five minutes is the basic unit of meaningful time. Turkish time is built on considerably longer meaningful units. Waiting thirty to sixty minutes for a well-placed official is normal. Highly valued time is, after all, a byproduct of industrial society. PCV Turkey
3
The American seems very explicit; he wants a Yes or No. If someone tries to speak figuratively, the American is confused. HCN Ethiopia
4
Koreans were Confucian and therefore lived their lives according to the five Confucian relationships, while I lived my own life pretty much according to the personal pronoun “I.” PCV Korea
5
It is shocking for me to see how the father and mother in America kick their own children out when they become eighteen years of age. The most surprising thing about it all is that the young people do not seem to mind or think it is too cruel to be thrown out of their own family but accept it as the natural and normal way of behaving. HCN Cameroon
6
I feel my neighbors are rude, coming and asking for things from my garden. They believe I’m selfish keeping my first harvest to myself. PCV Fiji
7
I had more than one Senegalese friend who owned only two pairs of pants but gave one away to someone whose only pair had become too ragged to be decent. PCV Senegal
8
This independence is something Guineans cannot understand. Making it on your own is not valued. PCV Guinea Bissau
9
Being an African American in Africa has its frustrations and rewards. I have been chal- lenged to define my identity as a person of African descent and as an American. I had to come to terms with many personal issues, like my whiteness in the eyes of Africans and in my own eyes. PCV West Africa
10
Resting and gossiping under a tree, the medical aides would sometimes refuse treatment, saying the clinic was “closed for cleaning.” It was a lie; no cleaning ever went on in that miserable mud-brick clinic. But having been appointed by relatives, the aides knew no work was required of them to keep their jobs. PCV Senegal
11
It would be a social insult for a campesino to tell a gringo that he’s not going to come to a meeting. He says “yes,” and so the meeting is scheduled. Twenty-five people said they’d come and two show up, and those two are not among the twenty- five who said they’d come. PC staff member
12
Some social situations require body contact between members of the same sex. This entails being held by the elbow, kissing on both cheeks, being kissed on the hand, talking at unnaturally close range, or occasionally holding little fingers. PCV Afghanistan
13
It’s just not in their culture to tell or even suggest what they think you should do. Even when you are asking for advice, I don’t think they feel comfortable giving it. The direct American style is often taken as impolite. PCV Papua New Guinea
14
Coming from brash America, we have to look hard to pick out the subtle feedback we don’t even realize we’re being given. PCV Fiji
15
People tell you what they think you want to hear, which may not be what you need to know. PCV Fiji
16
As Americans, we think we can pretty much do whatever we set our minds to. In Romania, things operate more [cautiously]. There is a great fear of risk. PCV Romania
17
The Yapese concepts of time, work, and plan are radically different from ours. Yapese time means an hour or two later; work is a mixture of performing the task and getting updated on everyone from the coconut wireless; plan is a general discussion of something to be done without the details, the doers, the tasks, or the timeline. PCV Micronesia
18
How can she understand our culture? She has only seen the rains fall once. HCN Guinea-Bissau
19
What did I know? I wasn’t sure. And then it came to me: I knew how to get along with people. I knew how to bring people together. No, I didn’t know a great deal about gardening or almost anything technical, but I was sure I could bring together those who did with those who wanted to learn. PCV Chile
20
Be sure you have what you need for your home and job, and then keep your mouth shut and watch carefully for a few months. If you don’t fit in, you’ll be ineffective. PCV Fiji
21
“To neni moznal/It isn’t possible” is one of the first phrases I learned in the Czech language, and a lot of my ideas were met with this response. PCV Czech Republic
22
I awoke to the faint sounds of small hands clapping three times, as custom requires upon entering a home. PCV Paraguay
23
Each night I sit with these four old men and learn their language. We go over simple phrases like, “How is the body? The body is well. I tell God thank you.” But it is this small effort which brings us together. PCV Sierra Leone
24
Remember that just as you judge from your cultural standpoint, you are being judged from theirs. PCV Fiji
25
Expect to feel embarrassed, foolish, and sometimes inadequate. It’s all part of the experience. These trying times are what we eloquently call “adjustment.” They’re difficult, natural, and useful. PCV Kenya
