Our Peace Corps Thailand Experience

Our experience as Peace Corps Volunteers from January, 2006, to April 1, 2008, was an incredible life journey. It was more than just a journey to a foreign land because it took us to places deep within ourselves. It altered our perceptions of relationships, customs (both foreign and domestic), religion, and the "American Way of Life". It taught us that a "simple" life is not necessarily a "poor" life and made us rearrange priorities in our lives. It taught us that poverty is not necessarily a lack of money, but a lack of happiness ... and in that respect, many countries that we perceive as being poor are, in fact, very rich.

Being a Peace Corps Volunteer, however, is not easy! You have to give up so many of your "comforts", but you will return as a much stronger and complete person. We strongly urge Americans to either join or support the Peace Corps. What you give to others will be returned a hundred times over in ways that you cannot imagine.

Since this blog was first published, we have taken the liberty to occasionally add reflection at the end of some of the posts. When we first published the blog, we were still adjusting to "culture shock". We found that during our first year we kept questioning the customs and practices of this foreign land. By the time we entered the second year, we were finally assimilating into the culture and began questioning our own culture. We soon discovered that many cultures have much to offer to us and that "Americanizing" another country is not necessarily in their own best interest. Ultimately, we discovered that our mission in Peace Corps was not to change the people we served, but to enable them to lead a better life while at the same time showing them that Americans are kind and sharing people that respect cultural differences.

Wise Guys Retreat

This is a view from our hotel where we stayed for the "Wise Guys" Retreat. Nine of the 12 volunteers in Thailand that are over 50 attended.

Peace Corps has started a "50+ Initiative" to attract more "baby boomers" into the Peace Corps. We met with a representative from the main office in Washington DC and gave him our views on the changes Peace Corps can make to attract more "wise guys" as well as suggestions that would help adapt procedures and practices to accommodate them. Currently, only 5% of Peace Corps Volunteers are over 50, yet they represent nearly 40% of all adults in the U.S. "Baby Boomers" have a lot to offer due to their skills and experiences and are highly respected in many countries served by the Peace Corps. Peace Corps is an excellent avenue to serve humanity and the 50+ group has much to offer. Thailand is one of 10 countries that has been targeted to begin the "50+ Initiative".

We Arrived in Thailand

This has been a goal of ours ever since graduating from college. The process took two years to complete (applications, interviews, and health screenings). We were notified in November, 2005, of our acceptance and told that we would serve in the Southeast Asia area. Later, we found out that the country would be Thailand. Carol retired from her job as Career Development Coordinator with Moreno Valley Unified School District, Bob opted not to teach another semester of anatomy/physiology at Riverside Community College. We arrived in Bangkok on January 13, 2006, with 52 other volunteers in Thailand Group 118 after an 18-hour flight from San Francisco. Thirty Peace Corps Volunteers from Group 117 awaited our arrival and cheered and greeted us. Our heads were spinning from all that had happened in the last two months. Are we crazy or just living out our dream?