Long-winded and wordy, but looking for advice from all of you PC experts!

[_effervescent]

Oh look, another one of these "I'm interested in the Peace Corps!!" posts. Hopefully you guys aren't sick of seeing these and probably repeating the same answers over and over and over again to tons of people

Comments

[christine]

Like many of the other commenters, I say you should apply now. You can continue to gain different experiences and focus your interests somewhat as you move forward in the selection process, but trust me... a broad set of interests is a good thing in PC. It will open more opportunities for you! Just remember your framing skills -- don't say that your interests are scattered... say that they're "broad" or "varied" :)

You've already heard about some of the amazing (and varied) experiences of our fellow members, so I'll just quickly give you the background on my own. I lived with a host family for the entire two years I was in my site (this wasn't a requirement in CR -- I just loved my family). My house was pretty basic, but it was a decent size, I had indoor plumbing that usually worked, electricity and telephone. I had a cell phone for about half of my service (although now in CR volunteers have cells practically from the day they get off the plain). There was an internet cafe in my community, and one of the organizations that I worked with also had wifi that I could use. There's no "typical" PC experience that fits all countries, but my set-up was fairly common in Costa Rica (although volunteers in more rural sites were less likely to have all of what I said above).

I decided to extend my service and when I moved to the capital city to do so, I had an apartment with two others (both students at local universities), internet and cable in my house and a washer and dryer. So there are many different experiences to be had.

All of that said, sometimes I fantasize about re-uping so that I can go to another country and get the "real" PC experience*. I've only been home for three weeks, and I'm already thinking about going abroad again :P

*I say "real PC experience" super facetiously, of course!